ok 31 £145k in debt and overweight need to change

JustinCredibleGillespie

Hi ya :hello:

Just wanted to give you a wee tip. I used to smoke cigarettes and it cost between £200-£260 per month. I decided to change to tabacco and now I only spend £32 per month, plus I now smoke alot less cos I have to roll them myself.

Just a Thought

JCG

xx

JustinCredibleGillespie

Apologies for my post. I didnt see the one by Antonia.

JCG

xx

MRE_2

Antonia do you still miss smoking - people I have spoke to say that you miss it forever,

I bought a exercise bike and don't use it other than as a clothes dryer

Started spending diary today will see where this money is disappearing to - some months I'm convinced that I have been robbed until I double check.

the £400 includes lunch - I tend to spend £5 a day and £10 on friday

Justin & Antonia - tried rollies don't seem to satisfy the craving want cigarette after one - thanks for the suggestion though (Malboroughs think must love the formaldehyde )

I have chinese supermarket round corner will take a look and see if I can get cheap spices - mainly cumin, salt and peppercorns.

remote_control do you mind me asking how heavy you were and are now, did you give up fizzy drinks and chocolate and just have main meals?

Again thanks for all the suggestions and support very helpful. x

Just moved banks to first direct so made £100 straight away, think get after 3 months,

Going through to visit friends in edinburgh this wknd will try and keep an eye on my spending

JustinCredibleGillespie

Try a strong tabacco ie Amber Leaf. You wont have to light up one after another I promise. Anything is worth a try to get you on the right track and out of debt

JCG

xx

antonia1

I miss smoking occasionally, usually when I've had too much to drink. Never enough to be tempted back though. I was a Marlboro' Lights person, so I never really got on with roll-ups either (and I couldn't actually roll the darned things). Things I don't miss include:

The smell
The cost
Having to go outside every hour when friends are having fun inside the pub
The coughing
Worrying about what it was doing to my insides, my teeth, my nails
The feeling of addiction - I like to be totally in control

If you are a gadget person you might find an app that you can use as a spending diary rather than a proper notebook.

eyeopener2

I quit smoking twice, once on my 20's and final time in my 30's (now in 40's). Do I miss it? No, could I start again tomorrow? yes. Its a stupidly addictive drug, after all your having a fag just to feel normal, and i'm better off without it.

You can stop smoking, you just have to have a reason, and wanting to become fitter/lose weight and saving £200 seem excellent reasons to me.

Go for it.

E2

SpagBol

I would keep the gym if you actually use it, the social and health aspects are invaluable and actually it seems fairly inexpensive to me. If it's something you just intend to use...ditch it.

I would however justify the cost of the gym by smoking less, moving to roll ups or giving up altogether. Honestly, the running is so much easier without it!! I would also say that £100 on groceries is a lot for one, I spend less than that on a family of four, all lunches and dinners included. Convenience food is very expensive but lots of food is very healthy, convenient and inexpensive so these are areas you can really save. Try stirfry but from scratch (buy a cabbage, head of brocolli, mushrooms etc and stirfry 3 times that week with varying accompaniments either frozen sausages, beanburger, chicken portions etc and add dried chilli, fivespice and sesame seeds to taste) the stuff that is going out of date to go in the freezer, buy everything economy range because it is fine or even better go to lidl, I really struggle to buy more than £65 there no matter how hard I try!! Or mix it up at the supermarkets with loyalty cards, I alternate between Tesco and Sainsburys and they always print off a "save £9 with a £60 spend" or something voucher when I go back after a few weeks break for a few weeks after- they are trying to tempt me back lol.

Good luck, and don't worry about your mortgage as part of your "debt", it seems maneagable and you have a lodger, let's get the rest sorted for now :-)

vintagegirl

MRE wrote: »

Thanks again to everyone for support and ideas, trying to write at work without people seeing broke fat 31yr old needs help on my screen

I am usually negative every month so yes think I am spending somehow but honestly dont know where

I am guessing food and drink is where most of my money goes with the occasional purchase - just spent £100 on fire alarms as mine are 12 years old, also spent £80 on two ps3 games, and £150 for charity event.

I love electronics but will only spend say once a year and then big say £500-£1000

I just cook for myself so quite expensive occassionally I will cook a lasagne which will last for four days, love to cook and Id say Im pretty good, I also do buy take aways say once a week,

I have lots of cookbooks by Ramsey and Oliver and the like

Oh yeah I smoke so there is £200 straight away

I play poker on Fridays usually evens out over the month just a night with friends every week,

£430 is including all bills - yep a lodger - for area seems about right we split cost of household toiletries etc

I do go on the voucher websites and use quidco

I like the debt diary idea, will start asap.

everyone is against the gym and I can see as unnecessary expense but also thought might meet someone there - sad I know

awww i think you sound great actually

caledonian_princess

I always liked to smoke so it was a real wrench to stop but when I did I sort of felt liberated. You can get free help from your local surgery if you can't manage cold turkey and there's a support thread on here somewhere. As for the exercise bike, get it plonked in front of the tv and do a few minutes while you watch. This time of year I have my bike set up on a turbo trainer, sometimes I balance my laptop on the handlebars while I read forums and sometimes I get my kindle but either way unless I'm busting a gut (it doesn't happen often, way too lazy for that) it's easy to do.

...and you do sound great, you don't need a gym membership to meet people.

thriftychap_2

FireWyrm wrote: »

Personally, I'd ditch the gym. Go for a walk in the countryside, swim at your local pool, or ride a bike to work if you can. Walk up the stairs instead of taking a lift and Hoover the whole house more than once a week...free exercise and if youre cleaning the house properly, you should break a sweat. I wash my kitchen floor by hand, not because I don't have a mop, but just because I can and it gets the heart pumping. Little and often and I guarantee that the weight will fall off. You don't need gyms and weight-watchers, just do things the hard way for a bit. Needing dough for bread is hard work, so is baking cakes if you don't have an electric whisk. Walk just a little faster than normal everywhere, enough to feel uncomfortable. If you can get your heart up to more than 120 for at least 30 minutes a day, you won't need the gym...trust me. I've always tended towards the porky side, but just a little bit of hard work each day seems to keep it in check. Give it a try.

This is probably the worst advice i have read on this forum, I am laughing out loud reading it again!

You sum up the results of you personal exercise regime in your last paragraph.

'I've always tended towards the porky side'

The bloke obviously needs structure, guidance and motivation. Stick with the gym buddy!