Catriona's Credit Card Countdown

catriona79

Orange_Ena wrote: »

Ooh mixed bag there. :beer::j Enjoy your date tomorrow night :D

Ha, my date's camper van broke down and he's off to pick it up from another town. So no date. In his favour, he did text me a picture of it on the back of a rescue truck. I guess it's not meant to be!;)
Meanwhile, my ex wants to do another walk this Sunday. Grr.

My lovely friend who moved back to Newcastle is coming back this weekend only for a couple of days so catching up with her on Sat. Whoop whoop.

Also, feeling a bit down, as been propositioned by someone who I would have considered a friend. Married, with a child. Obviously bored of his life. Makes me think that here I am working so hard to find a relationship, and that's what it's worth anyway. Grr. Got to get back to focussed, positive action. Time to get up for work!

catriona79

Orange_Ena wrote: »

You're not far off having half the amount of your debt in savings, well done :T:beer::j

I reckon I'll be half way there next month you know! Whoop whoop! :beer: happy days! Not been in this position for a long time, it's so empowering. :T thank goodness for lodgers!

catriona79

Non spend day. Get me!!! :cool:

catriona79

Good morning everyone,

Hope you're having a good start to your weekends. :beer:

Whoop whoop!

So, another payday has been and gone and we are heading for the end of October pay day now. Not wishing my life away, but that's when my savings are going to cover 50% of my total credit card debt. Which is a nice thought! (Thanks Ena for spotting this).
It's one of the little ways in which we need to cheer ourselves on I guess! Like working out the percentages etc.

catriona79

My studying has started now, fully, and I need to get myself motivated for it all. First today, a trip to the coffee shop with L1, and hopefully a fab chat. Then meeting an old friend in town and then a date with the FB messenger guy. Hopefully that will be a good evening.
Tomorrow - and feel free to slap my wrists! - I'm going for a long walk in the countryside with my ex. I hope it's not a decision I will regret. Long and complicated reasons which boil down to us being unable to stay away from each other, while being quite toxic to each other.
I hope I will be in control of all this, this time. I'm dating and taking it seriously. Eeek. I know it all sounds weak. Moving on.

catriona79

Mini pay day 1 yesterday, as L1 paid her rent. Wonderful feeling of getting closer to the goal of being debt free. Or neutral.
Mini pay day 2 hopefully in two weeks' time, around the 14th. May use that to pay a bit off one of the cards. Santander needs paying off before January next year, so that could be my next goal. With only £900 left to pay on it, I should be able to do it by November, given other expenses, mainly uni fees.
I'm going to beat this debt and be free again! Hopefully within the next 12 months.

One more thing that motivates me is that then I'll hopefully be able not to have lodgers. Maybe move out of this house and buy somewhere tiny, without a mortgage. Maybe reduce days at work or do something more fulfilling. You can't ever plan that far ahead, but I know one thing: it will be great to not have hundreds going to credit card payments. Psychologically it will be a huge lift!

I also have to say that I love having something to aim for, so this isn't too bad, I'm enjoying this journey.

I am decent at delaying gratification too, so who knows, I'll probably do something else that I'll be paying off, another venture! Oh dear!

AspiringButAnxious

You are doing really well Have a fabulous weekend!

catriona79

Whoa. Spendy day yesterday!! Bought a dress and went out for 3 drinks. It all adds up! It's not terrible, but hey ho.
Went on a date with the FB friend. Hmmm. Him and his ex broke up because she was an engineer and earned 75k and he probably earns half that. She didn't like it. Nothing he could do about it. But I think he got a little bit knocked about. Mental note I was making to myself was Not to (Ever) go into this sort of detail on a first date. Or second! Light and breezy is definitely better!! Vulnerability is fine, but it needs to come last. I appreciate depth in people, but this was too personal too soon. That's not how attraction is created.
I think I'll see him again at some point, and it will be nice I'm sure.

This Wednesday I am seeing the social worker, as had been arranged. He at least seems to be reliable. Oh my dear me. The search continues.

Meanwhile the ex and I are going on a day trip.

catriona79

Well, I'm organising myself better. Sent out a cleaning rota to my girls, who will hopefully not think I'm overly bossy! But got to be a bit bossy, as otherwise I can't manage it all.

Money wise, I was good on Sunday as went for a long walk with the ex and then he took me out for a nice meal and refused being given any money towards it. I did try!

It was also good diet wise, as thankfully lots of exercise and no snacking!
Run tonight after work, possibly! Or maybe not, and I'll just go home and watch a film. Got fever pitch on dvd, that I still haven't watched!
So no spends.

I've started getting lots of ready low calorie and high protein meals instead of cooking. I did this experiment last week where I cooked a pasta dish with bacon, all fat trimmed, and some passata and pesto and a portion came out at 900 calories! Horrifying. So I'm trying to have the 300kcal ready meals that actually keep me going, also because they are hot.
This mornings breakfast, granola, 0% Greek yoghurt and a chopped up peach used up 85% of my daily sugar allowance! Ouch! Will be going back to eggs and ham for brekkie. And maybe blueberries!

I have been finding that there isn't any wastage with them, versus all the fruit and veg I used to throw out. But I'm going to have to use up

Time to get back to work!

Hope everyone is having an mse week!

AspiringButAnxious

My breakfast this morning was... More chocolate chip hobnobs than I care to admit!
That will be stopping though, because I am not buying anymore. Nope. Not even if they beckon me to them in the supermarket!