What will you change in 2012?

purplenicnak

Okay so I'm off to a good start, onwards and upwards to a debt free life!

purplenicnak wrote: »

1) Start my DMP £7,164.77 to payoff by December 2014 (hopefully sooner).Now stands at £6854.77 - was given a money from some family members for Christmas so used it towards my DMP

2) Sell as many off my old clothes/shoes on ebay or to cashforclothes shop near my house - about £5 per big bag of clothes! Setting myself a goal of making £30 a month selling old clothes on Ebay.

3) Remain optimistic about becoming debt free.Not felt this content for years.

4) Remind myself to never get into this mess again & help campaign for Financial Ed in schools - my debt began when I went to University & Natwest gave me a £1500 overdraft on my student account without me requesting it in my 3rd year banking with them. Free money seemed great when I didn't have any!

5) Continue to buy only what I need, not what I want.I had a habit of not taking lunches/tea to work (I work shifts between 7am-9pm) and just buying it there, which was eating at my balance. So leftovers and prepared meals it is, not taking my purse with me so can't buy anything.

I'm only 24, I still have time to fix my mistakes; by the time I'm 30 my credit score should be a lot healthier and attractive than it is now and during my DMP.

ms_london

Hello all.

I am in the middle of buying my first home, so this year will just be adjusting to managing these new set of bills on my own and keeping my outgoings down to a minimum - also want to concentrate on setting a proper food budget so I stop having to buy lunches at work, be more organised and try not to waste so much food!

Would also like to lose weight and start exercising again, also going to look into yoga and meditation.

Overall though I would like to appreciate life and not let the little things get to me, and not take friends and family for granted xx

kersplatt

Hi I'll join in too, great thread idea

1) Clear 10k of debts
2) Finish the divorce process - I can apply for the absolute any time now but I'm waiting to find out whether my ex is going to offer any contribution to the debts he left and get the house deeds changed to my name as well as tenants in common on the mortgage
3) Start doing regular exercise. Since I have the kids the majority of the time and it changes weekly I can't commit to classes but I can do the 30 day shred dvd every evening with a view to going to the gym when my base level of fitness improves enough
4) Start looking after me a bit more. Eating better, reading more, moisturising..........
5) And I think I'm going to try to learn to use a sewing machine - had one for a few years but never tried to use it

missrlr

Right managed to do weeks shopping for nearly half the cost we usually pay, and found cheaper supplier of dog food on line, so bought several months supply for about £8 more than cost for 1 result!
Went to cinema and didn't spend in food / drink in there so managed to keep the theme.
Still have fingers crossed for dog insurance payout otherwise the money I have earmarked for the slush fund will be credit card bound as will some of the savings ... Come on Tesco insurance you know you want to pay!

QueenB.

I have really enjoyed reading this thread and seeing what everyone is trying to achieve. I have quite a few goals set for 2012 but here are some.

1. Keeping to our budget.
2. Get my online spending under control--may keep a spending diary just for this.
3. Pay car insurance/tax in one go
4. Go on a family holiday--we haven't been for a proper one for 10 years:(
5. Put another £1000 into savings--hopefully more.
6. Achieve all NSD targets.
7. Spend more quality time with my kids/OH.
8. Become more organised.
9. Learn 3 new things.
10. Meditate more.

but above all smile:) and remain positive:D

good luck everyone.

cutestkids

Great thread

The things that I would like to change this year are -

• Budget properly and be able to pay car and house insurances in yearly lump sum as opposed to monthly.
• Use the 2 free council tax months to pay extra to the cc
• make sure I save for Christmas and Birthdays and dont put it on the cc
• Pay off at least £5000 from our current debts
• Get a little emergency fund going for those little things that always seem to end up on the cc.

I am sure I will think of many more but these are the main ones.:)

camuk81

I'm loving this thread, so here goes my commitments:

1. Get to the stop smoking clinic and stop smoking
2. Keep a daily spend diary and cutting down on my frittering spend
3. Aim to get debt free by Christmas 2012 - even if it kills me
4. Lose that stone and get back to under 11 stone
5. Get fitness back up for 2nd Dan next year
6. If money permits go to kickboxing and try and be a black belt
7. Read more - then sell all the books under the bed on amazon/ ebay
8. Plan for Christmas 4 months in advance
9. Stop stressing and over analysing

Also seen a few on here I may have to hi jack!
Queen B - love the meditate bit
Kersplatt ditto on the sewing machine!
Bobytwo shoes - wholly agree on the treat! Had a £34 haircut and feel like a new woman
KM- packed lunch a must
KJP - Husband now admitted he wants to go to the great barrier reef. Bucket list coming up!
Susieq10. We all need to smile more
plshelpmesave - Try Coveys habits - Take smart to a whole new level.
Sharon87, Step ladder might be a cheaper option though not quite as romantic.

Cheers for making me smile today. Keep up the great work.

fakeplastictwee

Great thread, it's interesting seeing other peoples goals.

Mine are:
1. Save some money. I'm 27 and just about to pay off the student overdraft which never seemed to leave me, so it'll be the first time I've been able to save. Won't be much but better than nothing!
2. Eat more healthily - I got the River Cottage Veg book for Christmas and I plan on using it A LOT as I don't really eat a lot of meat.
3. Cut down on alcohol. It's making me feel bad, wasting my money and I'm not particularly happy with how I look so combined with 2+4 should help me lose a wee bit of wobble!
4. Go outside more. Sometimes I feel quite down and then I realise I haven't been outside of my house all day or all weekend. Sounds daft but my weekdays are so busy as I'm a full time student and work 24 hours a week too, I don't have time to go anywhere or do anything.
5. Watch less TV. I hate celebrity culture and I'm not interested in soaps etc. yet still find myself staring at the idiot box a lot of the time but not really enjoying it. So I'm hoping this will tie in with no. 3 and also hoping I'll find more time to read.
6. Make more time for my fella as he's supporting me no end at the minute.

iwannanicerlife

I'm loving this thread!

My resolutions are:

- Lose at least a stone
- check online banking at least once a week
- begin to clear debts/pay holiday
- improve meal planning and treat take aways as a treat rather than regular occurrence
- spend less time online!
- use my gym membership regularly
- declutter house (plus loft)

I've also written myself a separate list of short-term goals for January.

2012 WILL be our year!!