New diary for 2013: The year of keeping things simple

heyjude2013

Good on you for sitting down and going through everything! These things can be so easy to ignore.

At least you have assessed the damage and have a plan to sort it out.

X

Hiddenidenity

At least you've caught it before it got out of control xxx

Ruby789

Yes you're both right. It is very positive that within the same month as going off the rails i've been able to face up to it. Now to do the same with the diet!

I've found a way to pay off most of it, leaving me with £60 I haven't yet found a way to pay. A small amount really, but I still need to make sure it doesn't come out of my savings.

I also desperately, desperately need new work clothes! I need new clothes full stop actually. I have a small amount put aside each month for clothes, but its enough to replace my wardrobe, and will take far too long. Need a plan!

Ruby789

So much for the plan .... can add another £66 to the debt pile.

But got four dresses, three for work and one for going out. Bought online so who knows what they really look like. The going out dress I am worried will be too short for me, and can't decide if I should just cancel that one now.

But to pay for this, will use all of next months clothing allowance, and all of my frivilous funds, and then find the remianing £10 from spending money.

Which means I'm still short of clearing the credit card bill! Grr. My own fault.

Ruby789

Really starting to slip now. I'm spending when I know there's no budget to cover it.

The rule was to find the money first. I actually wrote that down here in my diary just last Friday. :mad:

Anyway, I now have to choose how to deal with this. Best I can work out (as it's now a massive muddle) is that I'll be £125 short of being able to pay the credit card bill off in full this month. Not a mountain, but substantial enough.

Need to get it cleared, draw a line under it, and start afresh asap. In a normal month I use it responsbly to get cashback, and to keep a track of things that I need to pay for out of a pot (and not my current account). I will keep the card and I need to be able to trust myself.

Ruby789

Just checking in to report a mixed bag of stuff money wise.

The good: I have had to get various bits and bobs done recently, like a haircut, an eye test etc.... and the budget for personal care has coped! So far. I have to build the pot back up a bit more so I can afford glasses and a dental check up.

The bad: I've been quite wasteful with my pocket money. I really need to reign this in as I need that money for other things coming up.

The ugly: Most of the clothes I bought have had to go back :-( I'm really not in good shape at the moment. So, clothes went back, and I am on a diet! Why it costs more to eat on a diet than not is a mystery, but there you go.

heyjude2013

Well you seem to have lots of positives in there - you've kept within your budgets and also are back posting on here. It would be much worse if you were burying your head in the sand and continuing with thoughtless spending!

Almost a new month, a fresh start, and there is the promise of sun, which for me means that I can be outside and not shopping!

catriona79

Ruby

You've done really well changing your approach to spending and then being really strict
I think you need a break every now and then, so don't be too strict on yourself.
Re being single minded about money owed - this was an amazingly helpful trait.
I have a tendency to have an all or nothing approach. I either do really well and stay on track, check my bank each day, check in here etc or I go a bit wild and spend spend spend. I need to be a bit more balanced...
It's the 1st today so I'm going to check my bank as all bills would have gone out today and download them onto Microsoft money

Happy 1st May! Good luck

Ruby789

I fell off the waggon .... badly. Managed to dribble away nearly £500 (in 2-3 months) and I really don't know where most of this went! I can account for £150 (things I wanted and hadn't saved for that I put on credit), but I have nothing to show for the rest of this money. :mad: I'm so annoyed with myself!

In terms of triggers, when I get stressed I overeat and overspend. I'm now fat and poor and more stressed overall. Guess I need to look at this more closely to stop it happening again.

Digging myself slowly back out of the new hole (well as of this morning anyway). I wasn't actually debt free in the first place, but I was doing really well.

From now on I will report in here every monday morning! If I bring myself back to finances once a week it should help to re-focus a clearly prone to wandering mind.

Luckily it's so nice out, so many free ways to keep entertained. So back to frugaldom it is!

What makes me so angry with myself is that I was given £200 as a gift, all wasted paying off this nonsence. And I'd earned an extra £100 (again completely wasted). That alone is two months savings installments. And the rest will need to come out of savings for next month.

Positive actions

• Research stress and see what lifestyle changes can help stave off another decent into self sabbotage
• Ebay 4 items (again, this would have been profit to savings - wasted!)
• Take back anything and everything that can be taken back to the shops.
• Be increadibly tight generally. Sooner I'm out of the overdraft the better. Must not allow myself to get comfortable with debts again!

Ruby789

Already finding myself being a bit lax.

Was doing really well when when I was micromanaging my money, but life was a bit (read very) dull. I'd often skip the meal and turn up after for drinks, or not at all. Even though I have £40 a week pocket money, in London this doesn't really go far.

But those few strict months showed me that the ends can and do meet, and that if I really put the effort in I can manage to put something into savings each month too.

Just need to watch out for the tipping point, when I start to feel i'm missing out on life right now, and then hopefully I won't fall off the waggon again.