Ultimate Challenge. 457 days / £16600!!!

NinjaSavingKat

Good morning all!! It's a bright and breezy Sunday afternoon hear in Hertfordshire!! I miscalculated my timings this morning in a sleep deprived stupor so didn't make the one I wanted. An hour later here I am contemplating the world and putting myself to rights in a almost unknown time of relaxed (if not a little sleepy) few hours!!

I had a brush with FEAR this morning having hit some black ice on my two wheeler. I was heading home off a night shift and the road was clearly wet but as I had headphones, wasn't really thinking and was more concerned about how I was going to spend the last day of my travel card in the trains. I managed to right myself but suddenly realised I might actually be free-wheeling through life, not paying particular attention to what its trying to warn / tell me and only managing a thought to the unknown when a sudden jolt awakens my mind.!

This isn't good! Being this far into my challenge, realising it's a long hard slog ahead of me I mentioned to a friend that I wasn't sure if being this determined, stubborn about my goals, unappreciative of interruptions to my particular goal and so headstrong is healthy! Is it dear reader?? I'm not such a stick in the mud that I don't understand and manipulate plans to suit as my situation changes.. I'm just so stuck on achieving that goal ( of becoming debt free ) that I might be missing the people and life that's occurring around me.

But who am I doing this for? Me. That's who!!! I'm not out to please anyone else, friends are beginning to show their real selves and to be honest I appreciate that. Am I insular. Yes very much so! I appreciate my own time so much that in company of others my mind wanders when people talk to me. So much so that my blank expression usually gives way to a stumbling of words, a ( is that even a word ) on my part and the resultant factor of that person assuming I'm weird. And keeping their distance! Lol!!!!

But I have had a revelation, in my countdown to 30.. That it's okay just to have a few close friends, desire a higher depth of friendship from those friends and not need to like EVERYONE!!! This alleviates any inherently acquired belief that you need to please other people and frees a person from caring as much. This gives you ample time to get your own s*#t done!!!!

I do like other people by the way. I'm not a complete hermit. But there are times when I switch off to witterings of the banal variety and come across as rude. I apologise in advance dear reader should u assume this of me from my own witterings...( have u switched off??..) lol!!!

So I'm chugging along! Incorporating incessant overtime, saving to move house and go on holiday, selling my wares on eBay ( not the tea-cups just yet ) and dreaming of a better life.!

Cause that's what we're all aiming for aren't we. Just depends on how determined you are to get it!!!

Onwards and Upwards!!!

abundant1972

Wow - can resonate a *lot* with what you've just said Kat...

I too am in the void that is paying off debts - channeling *everything* into clearing my debts as fast as possible... What it does mean is that I've stopped going out...

Am finding it hard to justify spending £50+ on a night out clubbing, + money on a new outfit, + petrol to/from Bristol. It's like my whole outlook over the last 12 months has changed. It would be lovely to not have to think about it and just 'have fun' but living beyond my means is kind of what got me here.

I'm thinking this time next year when I am debt free... I'll have £xxx.00 pounds a month spare to play around with... some I want to save - but at least then I can say this money is legitimately MINE!!! To do with as I please - not owed to someone else. For me that places a whole new emphasis on it.

Good on you Kat for sticking to your goals!!! If your friends are true, they'll be ok with what you're trying to achieve... I keep the proverbial door open on friendships... but if they are not happy with texts/phonecalls... or cheap nights in then that's tough.

When all this is over I think we should get together and share a nice glass of champagne!!! Well earned and much deserved!!!

:beer:

NinjaSavingKat

Hello Abundant! Nice to see you here. Will have a look at your thread today as well. Been so busy its been hard to even keep track of my own.

I know what you mean. I spent £6 on food on Sunday whilst in London and actually thought to myself I should have stayed at home to eBay. How sad am I. But having a re-think about things, as you said, you are ultimately doing this for yourself and there is no one else you should answer too.

If I am debt free by the 31/12/2013 I will happily come and meet you for a drink ( alcohol free ) somewhere and anyone else who would want to join me! But I need to be debt free first otherwise I would see it as cheating..:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

I have a friend who is £8000 in debt and happy to plod along and wait until it pays itself off ( at £300 a month mind you ) yet he is desperate to get back to Oz, another has £35,000 in savings from a dead relative yet has £10,000 of debt and a horrific credit rating... I do despair sometimes but leave them to it. One of my resolutions this year was to worry about myself and myself only...

So there!

Siouxsie32

Evening everyone...It's been a bit quiet in here recently. I took that as a good sign that everyone's been busy enjoying life

So, the zero balance drink at the end of the year? Count me in (even although I'll still have another year to go, I'll be just 365 days behind you - that's got to worth celebrating!!). I'm hoping to smash this current challenge by October and get rid of another debt before the year's out just to give myself a head start for 2014!! My next mini-challenge was to get rid of the current Capital One debt by Day 150, which by my reckoning, is 15 days away. Hmm, the balance is currently sitting at £436 - not sure how doable that is but I'll give it one heck of a good attempt!!! I was a bit curtailed this month as I had a domestic issue to the tune of at least £150 so that money got diverted from Debt Busting But, it's getting sorted so I'll be back with a bang after payday, which is precisely 8 days away (...and counting!!!).

I'm supposed to have two nights out this weekend (hmm, don't know what happened to my one night out a month plan???). I managed to talk one friend into paying my train fare and in return I'll be the designated driver for the night I have £20 credit in my redspottedhanky account so I'll use that to pay for the train ticket and the £20 cash I get from my friend can be used for night out number 2 Cheating or entrepreneurial? Either way, my friend's happy to pay my train fare as taxis for them will cost more than £20...and they get the pleasure of my company thrown in for free :rotfl:

I spent the afternoon in London walking through the parks yesterday - it was such a nice afternoon - and it made me more determined to get rid of the debt so that I can move closer to the centre and do things like that more often. I met up with a friend in the evening and we went to a gig (unknown band, free) and generally had a fab day/night. I want to do that all the time...I want to be debt free!!!

Oh, one last thing...can anyone suggest a cheaper alternative to leg waxing? I don't want to shave as I can't dedicate the time to the upkeep of that (plus I shower at the gym a lot and don't think they'd take too kindly to me whipping out the razor :eek:). I had some hair removal cream and used that on my legs (pretty much used the whole £4 tube on both legs) and the hair's starting to come through a week later so that's neither cost effective nor much better than shaving. I also thought about buying wax strips but they're pretty rubbish and also about a fiver a pack (and I'm not sure I'm brave enough to pull the strips off myself!). I'll probably just keep getting them waxed but just wondered if any of you know of a cheaper alternative. Over to you oh wise ones.....

NinjaSavingKat

Good Morning Kittens...

Priorities...Siousxie why on earth would a gym care if you shave in the shower? Are they communal showers?? I used to work in a gym for 5 years and as long as you didn't loofah yourself in the sauna we didn't care what you did! The place was adequately cleaned though too! With things like this I don't compromise though - I cannot "shave" certain areas and would hot wax at £20 a go, although not very often. If you need to wax then keep at it... although maybe locate your local college and get the students to do it for free. Usually just as good just sloooowerrrr!

You have basically hit on what I need to start doing. I am not the sort to get my nails done ( ever ), never fake tan, hardly buy new clothes and my make-up is Rimmel and Bourjois.. however for my birthday holiday I want to look SUPERB!!!.. I will be in Italy surrounded by thin beautiful women... now I have been likened to Sophia Loren ( by my Dad bless him ) and am not exactly ugly but I am determined to focus entirely on myself for that one week..

So the plan....start fake baking now.. few minutes on sunbed a week. This will also help dry out my bad skin. I know I know I sound like a dream! :rotfl:.. I will visit a few places to see about fake nails ( never have them usually as I have heard of horror stories where women have come off their motorbike and had the fake nails ripped off ), waxing and a simple trim haircut. Although my local college is sounding more and more like a great idea - but my usual issue is finding cheap places, heading to them individually on different days and feeling rushed not relaxed.....

So this will be fun research for me which I shall be getting on top of before the beginning of March and setting a budget and making relevant bookings. Although if Groupon have a good deal I could be tempted elsewhere...

This will be a budget paid for by more eBay sales though once I have reached the holiday hotel amount.. hopefully by the end of the month!

Right enough now I am getting too excited!!


Onwards and Upwards!!!

squinky

I don't think you can underestimate the worth of a bit of pampering. I tried a few DIY things before my holiday in order to save money but it's never quite the same! I spent money on my hair cut and colour and eyebrow threading as these are things I really can't do myself. With a bit of veet, self tanner & nail polish I just about managed to pull off the rest! I don't know why I ever wasted money on pedicures now!

PS There's no such thing as too excited

his_missus

Hello all!

Sorry, I have been absent for what seems like ages. Life and work have been really busy these past few weeks and I've barely found the time to visit MSE let alone the forums!

Kat - re: your post #1382, wanting to get out of debt can be all-consuming and maybe you miss out on parts of life now but you will be able to enjoy life to the full when you're debt free. Make sure you don't miss out on time with those people who matter to you though.

Work is offering me and Hubby overtime every other weekend and evenings. So he does a week of evenings and a weekend, someone else does the next, I do the next and a fourth person does the next. Does that make sense?

It means every other week our social life is virtually non-existent (in that we can't go out together as one needs to be home though the one not working can go out) as we have to be available to check proofs but it also means an extra 13 hrs each a month overtime pay. This is guaranteed until at least September.

I've already done a lot of overtime on this promotion and have just been rewarded a bonus of £350 (before tax) and earned 3.5 days hols for time in lieu.

What I have noticed though is that being so busy and not having time to be accountable to people on these forums, I've really let my MSE ways slip. Accountable sounds wrong but do you know what I mean? I've stopped menu planning, shopping budget's gone haywire and I've lost a bit of focus. We had a splash out this weekend and treated ourselves to a night away, meal and drinks out etc. Expensive but we needed it.

However, on the positive side, I've paid another £400 off the CC, managed to save £50, haven't bought unnecessary toiletries, no clothes (apart from a pair of cheap boots the night we went away and I found out that the boots I was wearing leaked!) and I'm still on track for June 2013.

Right off to catch up with everyone else on here. Enjoy the weekend xxx

NinjaSavingKat

Hello all... His_Missus - that makes perfect sense. It's all well and good when you are single like me hammering the OT as I only have a cat to worry about but when you are married there is obviously another person you need to think about. This is like a perfect example of working together.

My OT has been booked I just have to wait and see as to whether I get it. I have booked up 7 days out of the coming 10 weekend days available. I am away this coming weekend so can do nothing... I am however intending to make up for it ten fold. It means I will have no life WHATSOEVER but when it comes through I might be able to rid myself of my remaining £1579 bike loan. It apparently amounts to an extra 56 hours on double time. Phew!

I have my March challenge up and awaiting contenders. In the meantime I have created a budget. This means getting back to basics, ensuring I have ALL my food planned for the month and am ruthless. A budget of £200 covering extra travel @ £45, food @ £80, £25 emergency money, £25 for a girlfriends birthday and £5 bolster as I can't get fivers out of the ATM ( wish a bank was nearby but it ain't ).

So that will be withdrawn and kept seperate as I want another "clean" bank account month where my last "outgoing" should be the 8th of the month.

I have found a house offering everything I need with the opputunity of down-sizing my sizable belongings to fit in the small double room thats on offer. In the long run i am saving money but I need to eat my own advise of "save save save" - so at £475 a month all inclusive I couldn't pass it up AND it is back inside the London zones so should be cheaper should I need to do a week of train travel...

So all being well I will have enough money by Thursday to hand over the deposit ready for my move around the beginning of April...

I just have so much going on now I have to be super ruthless. Will be doing my shopping via Tesco online I think as I have a voucher to use for money off which might cover the delivery charges... can't risk over spending anywhere this month..

Right I need to crack on.. Hope all is well with everyone.

Onwards and Upwards!!!

liltdiddylilt

I have about 10 minutes before mademoiselle wakes from a 2 1/2 hour nap and starts terrorising the house again... so I thought I would pop on and check how you're doing!!

All I can say is... oh... my... gosh!! You're under 10k Mrs!! I do hope you stop to look back all of 5 months and think about where you were when you started all of this!!!:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T

As of Tuesday my Capital One card balance will be completely paid off. The money is sitting in my account, waiting to be taken! This makes me... drumroll please... DEBT FREE!!!!!!!! Woop!! The best bit of all is that, even with that final £130 extra payment going out, I still had the extra money in my account to pay £50 for 2 train tickets and £35 for a wedding gift and not flinch!

Other news... DD is crawling, actual hands and knees style rather than commando dragging herself around as she was a few weeks ago. She has learned to sit on her bum by herself from crawling, and so her favourite thing to do right now is crawl into any room I am not in, sit down, and wait for me to come and find her, with her hands over her eyes!:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

I have my annual review at work next week, as if I don't have enough on with it being my company year end on the 28th Feb. Wish me luck for a payrise! My meagre pro-rata 3 days per week salary could do with a boost!!

We are still trying to save some money, however have dropped the ball completely and have been doing DAILY :mad: shops at SAINSBURYS when ASDA is a hundred yards further down the street... So I have just completed a week and a halfs worth of shopping online to stop me buying no end of stuff I don't need every single day!

If I don't manage to come back for a while, know that I am trying my best to pop on but life keeps taking over! I need to get my spending in check though so I think I need to make a concerted effort to find 20 minutes a day to sit on here and read through your inspiring threads!!

Thinking of you all!!

NinjaSavingKat

Hello Lilt! Its been ages but I love your updates. Especially about Madam. She sound super cute - bets it's awful having to leave her everyday! She sounds like she is a clever little monkey and will no doubt keep you on your feet!!!

I hope all goes well with our review though. Any sort of money coming in is good and I have no doubt they will see your worth and pay you accordingly!

Yes I am under £10k now and well chuffed with myself. I do have £1400 sat in an account though waiting to be paid into a new rental property and my holiday. It would basically pay off my bike loan so I am a little gutted but I have to move and I will only turn 30 once! ( Thank goodness )..

SO I am thinking... the house I am in was taken when I was stuck, in a very bad place and in desperate need to change where I was. It came with temporary depression, doubting myself and an unknown angst surrounding friends that I trusted who ultimately let me down...

I now realise that that particular feeling is like a cloud hanging over this house which can only be lifted with the change of location. I took this house to solve a problem. That problem has now gone and I need to ship out... I feel the depression it slowly taking hold again. Doubt as to whether I am who I want to be or formed and molded too much by others and what they want me to be...parents, friends, men...

There is a feeling of constraint with my challenge. I am not living really - I am existing. I know though how amazing it will feel ( as I am sure it does for you Lilt ) to be debt free so I push on and push on and push on. What else can one do. No-one else is going to help me if I can't help myself..

But you do wonder sometimes when you can catch a break. WIll I meet someone who thinks like I do or enough to pull in with my train of thought and want to live along side me.. Am I ever going to find that forever home and settle without the concern of being turfed out unless I want to leave...

I guess only time will tell.

Just keep aiming high..Onwards and Upwards!!!