I need a kick up the ****! Storm's DFW Diary

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Storm wrote: »

Just back from a couple of weeks off over Christmas, and quite a few things have completely fallen into place in my head.

I was fighting against admitting it, but for the last several months I've been fighting depression/stress type stuff, and with nearly 2 weeks off I can say quite categorically that it's work that's causing it. I'd got to the point of not caring about myself at all - hence I was overeating, started smoking again, not really paying much attention to my debt and generally taking out my mental misery on myself!

I realised just how bad I'd got last weekend when I suddenly realised I was back to being me again - Even though I had nothing specific to do I got up, showered & dressed and made something of my days (cleaning and hunting for a cheap replacement winter coat as mine had ripped!) Whilst this might not sound much, it's not that long ago that I would have just not even bothered with the shower (eeeew, I know) and sat around on the sofa all day watching TV.

Going back to work I can already feeling the stress descending on me again, and so I've made a decision.... The job hunting has got to crank up a gear, and I reckon I can have the remainder of my debt paid off by the end of March, so if I've not found anything by then I'm resigning anyway and I'll go temp again. I've shaved my monthly outgoings to about 2/3 of my salary, so I can stand to take a pay cut if necessary, and to be honest I think it's more important that I take a job with less stress than earn a 'good' salary at this point.

So, 2008 is going to be MY year I've decided - new job, debt free and only doing stuff that I want to do, not what others want me to do!

Wish me luck!

As a fellow depression sufferer I know where you are coming from, I have learnt over the years some of the things that make me fee worse and your right - work/extra responsibilities etc, and try to make things as settled as possible...good luck xx

Storm

Well, I'm managing to remain in a fairly positive frame of mind (but only been back at work less than a week :rolleyes:) in that this evening I've done some job hunting on the net (unfortunately not much out there at the mo) plus tidied the flat a bit.

January is also a bad month for me as I have loads of family birthdays, but this year isn't quite as bad as I'd bought most of the presents with my Christmas shopping - still, at least everyone's in the same boat, so none of my friends are expecting me to go for expensive nights out or anything!

Storm

Good news & bad news the last couple of days money-wise.

The bad news is that I've just checked my online banking & I've only got £65 left for the month, which is less than I thought. Thankfully all the bills have been covered this month, but I'd forgotten a cheque for £50, so it's thrown my budgetting out a bit! Hmm, not got much food in at the moment, so will be raiding OS board for ideas methinks, and I MUST take my lunches to work with me for the rest of the month!

Good news though... I got an email from a company I've done a bit of work for in the past asking if I'd be interested in 3 days work at £200 a day! Ummm... let me see... am I interested... oh, OK then, if you insist Dont know yet exactly what it is or when, but I've got 8 days leave left to take by the end of March & was wondering what to do with them, so it all fits perfectly!

Storm

Not huge amounts to report - managed to have a couple of minimal spend days, plus a NSD on Sunday, so still got £60 of my £65 left - though I've not gone food shopping & am on interesting combinations of whats in the freezer & cupboard for dinners!

I'm hoping that I can get away with spending about £15 on food to get through the month, which leaves me £45 for petrol, a night out for a friend's divorce celebration and a bit of tobacco - gonna be tight, wish me luck!

Storm

Hmm, well I took a different approach to having virtually no dosh left for January by being ill for the best part of 3 weeks! Only spent about £10 on some food and stayed lying on the sofa!

Anyway, finally got round to sorting out February's money today and I've got down to £1000 :j I've cashed in today about £20 from Paypal & £9 from GreenMetropolis too, so once they arrive in my bank account I'm transferring them so I get below the thousand mark I may be able to pay off more this month, but it's dependant on some money from siblings that I'm owed showing up - but if it does hopefully I can pay off another £50 or so.

I'm definitely having some problems with motivation at the moment though, I think because the end is in sight I don't tend to think of my debt as being as big a problem as it was before. I've got some extra work coming up soon though, which will help so I should be on target to clear everything by the end of March

Gemmzie

Hi Storm, I'm in a similar situation - being ill really helps the bank balance sometimes.

Glad to hear the debts are still going down And March! That's sooooo close :T

Storm

I have this week off work, so have only just got round to sorting out my finances for this month! Anyway, good news is that I'm down to £580 debt left, though it's higher than I'd hoped as the work I was promised kind of hasn't materialised - apparently it will happen in the summer term (hmm, not holding my breath!)

Anyway... lots of things have been happening in Storm-land - I'm going to be moving at the end of May as my lovely flatmate is going to move in with his other half (grr!) though I can't really complain as I've started seeing the most wonderful man myself - 6 weeks now and I'm still a bit in cloud cuckoo land!

All this has added up to mean that as I'll be debt free by then for definite I want to look at getting a 1 bedroom place to rent by myself - I know it's not the cheapest way of working things but with what I've been paying off the debt for the last 18 months I reckon I can afford it, plus still put some money into savings each month.

With everything in my life seeming to get back on the straight & narrow, I'm also looking to the future a lot more. The time has definitely come for me to leave my job as it's getting far too stressful & the only reason I've not jumped now is because I'll need an employer reference when I move into a new flat. However, this has also got me looking at what I want long term career-wise, and I may instead start saving up so I can do a Masters degree - I absolutely adored my degree which I did in my late 20s, and the masters I'm thinking of would give me a definite career - however it will cost around £9K, plus living expenses, over 18 months, so I need to look carefully at how I'll manage it.

Anyway, there's lots of variables in all this, not least that if things work out with me and my gorgeous new man it throws a huge spanner in the masters plan as there's not a local uni that runs the course I want - it may mean commuting to London each week to do the course, then back down at the weekend to see him, and he probably wouldn't want to move to London as he's got a son down here... Oh well, life is never simple, but I'm happy at the moment and am determined o try and keep myself in the same state!

Storm

Really enjoying my week off, though I do have a stinking cold. Spring cleaned yesterday and it's amazing what a shiny gorgeous flat does to morale, and it's giving me plenty of time to job hunt too, which is great!

One of my plans for the rest of the week is to sort through a load of stuff that's been sitting in cupboards for ages - partly cos I don't want to move stuff I don't use anymore, but also so I can hopefully get a load listed on ebay, amazon, greenmetropolis etc.

Today's plan however is to meal plan & shop around for stuff - the plan is written out, and I'm going to really enjoy having the time to go to lots of different shops to get the bargains (something I don't always find time for at the weekend). Tomorrow is my main job hunting day, though I'm going to intersperse this with cooking up loads of healthy cheap meals I can freeze (hmm, though may need to get some more boxes or freezer bags...)

Decided to give myself a goal of getting below the £500 mark by the end of this month with selling stuff, counting up change & generally being frugal - may pop over to the £10 a day thread for inspiration!

Storm

Super excited at the moment - got my payslips today... and... on Wednesday I'm going to be debt-free!!!!!

:j

I can't wait - may have to stay up until midnight tomorrow when the money goes in just to do the transfers!

Oh, and i have to confess that I'm one of the winners from the recent tax changes - I got £16 more this month in my main pay packet!

Guesty6

Nice one, BIG WELL DONE TO YOU!!!