The Ultimate Incentive part 10. The only thing holding you back is you.

Dinah93

I returned from holiday this week with something clear in my mind. This is now no less than my tenth debt free diary. And you know what, in the very first diary I did it, I got debt free. I cleared over £16,000 in less than 9 months, so how has it taken another 8 diaries and 4 years to build up a huge amount of debt and then just to and fro and not really clear anything.

This last week I feel like a lightbulb went off. Not the big first one that says ‘you’re in debt, lets clear it’ but a second one, the one I didn’t even know was there, which has shown me WHY I haven’t cleared it. The first time I cleared the debt I had my Ultimate Incentive, my boyfriend, now husband, told me he’d move from Ireland to England when I did it. Since then I’ve not had the Ultimate Incentive, we got married, we have a lovely home, we have an amazing daughter who lights up our world, we can meet all our bills, all our debt is 0%.... so there’s no real reason to push on with it.

Then while I was away I read a book recommended by one of my threadies and I realised all along the real Ultimate Incentive should have been to achieve financial freedom, not achieve some arbritary number on a spreadsheet, and that being free from money worries will enable me to achieve all we want in the rest of our lives too.

I also realized that we do challenges every month, and so much of the time I give myself short term goals, and then long term can't keep it up, kind of like the quintessential yo-yo dieter. As the debt is 0%, and as every minute with our daughter is precious I'm not going to put a time frame on this, swear to be done by Christmas, or 12 months from now or whatever, but rather I'm aiming to completely restructure our lives, so that our money no longer holds us hostage, but is simply a tool to help us achieve what we want from life.

So this is it. The big Diary 1-0. And by God it’s going to be the last one where we’re in debt. Well…. unless we natter too much, then I'm calling a 10B

Dinah93

So, one of the things I plan to do is address at the start of the month where I want to be at the end of it. So, by 30th June I'm going to:

1. Have a complete, up to date list of all our debts
2. Have finished transferring all our direct debits to the 123 account
3. Have reduced the debt from where it is on June 1st
4. Have finished the blog restyle
5. Have written at least 5000 words of my ebook
6. Feel on top of our home
7. Have completed a complete profit-loss budget for our household finances for the past 6 months, and for future scenarios based on different employment options
8. Have evaluated objectively NIM and I's life priorities to make purposeful decisions moving forward, rather than automatically following the obvious or assumed path
9. Have requested all of Grace and I's medical records from the hospital

totallybonkers

#subscribed xx

shrimpy_80

Ooooh Happy New Thread! I love what you've done with the place So glad I'm sneaking on at work today, would've been so sad if you'd all moved without me!

Lovely to hear you sounding so positive Dinah, you're right that family time is the most precious thing.

wendz86

Sounds like the holiday has done you some good and you are now focused on what you need to achieve.

I definately think you need a reason to do things and sounds like financial freedom is something you have to aspire to.

MagicCat

*Delurks
Dinah, you are an inspiration as always!

A lot of what you say really resonates with me, I love my short term really feeling like I'm getting on top of it goals, but in the long term I don't seem to have moved forward at all.

I won't say good luck, because you know you can do it, it's just working out how to do it in the way that works best for your family and all the things you want to achieve.

Wishing you Happy New Diary, for all the right reasons I hope it's the last one (although as an interested reader I wouldn't say no to a 10b...)

Birdie85

Happy new thread! Love the new goal of becoming financially free, sounds just right for you.

Looking forward to hearing your new plans that you cooked up on holiday.

Quickly going back to the old thread... love the dress you're planning to make Tete! Can't wait to see you in it (with big 60s hair I hope!). I'm growing out my fringe now as it just doesn't work with any of the 'dos I've been trying to recreate! There's a good YouTuber called Cherry Dollface whose hair and make-up tutorials I've been watching (and failing to copy! I look more drag queen than vintage vixen!), has anyone else come across any good inspiration? :cool:

Dinah93

I've resisted the draw of the sofa and working through the 2300+ emails which have built up on holiday today. Have had lots of playtime with Grace, although it's feeling more like being beaten than playing. I've also started writing our possible goals and priorities on little cards so we can spread them on the floor over a bottle of wine and work out which are important and which aren't important to us. I've written the first few hundred words on my ebook. Not good words, but it's just about getting something on paper right now. I've also been trying to get the holiday clothes washed and iron the two boxes that were there when we went away.... that's not going so well as after about 30 mins the iron went very hot (as in the plastic body, not the plate) and it's not producing steam.... hmmm.

Took Grace to the docs and she does indeed have hayfever, so she's on a new medication for that, was kind of enjoying fewer medications and now we've got a new one. She's having a miserable afternoon, sick a fair few times despite eating nothing but milk all day, and very cranky. It's a shame, she was so happy this morning.

kavics17

Shiny new thread!!

As always, I will follow you though can't promise I post often.

Though 2 things I have to say:

Birdie, I'm so very pleased for you. It's been a long journey, I remember when we were both on that thread and I got my positive over a year ago.

Tete, love, love the dress.

Poolie

I hope we remembered anyone from the old thread as you do not want to see what is happening to that place! (checks padlock on the door!)

Tete_en_l'Air

Happy New Diary! I love the title - can definitely relate to that on some things

You sound a lot more focused than you did before you went on hols so that's good. I like the idea of writing medium-sized monthly aims. Like you and Magic Cat, I'm another one who can get bogged down in the daily to-do lists full of things that don't *really* matter in the great scheme of things, but take up all your time. What is the ebook about?

Birdie85 wrote: »

...has anyone else come across any good inspiration? :cool:

I'm basing my whole hair and make up on pictures of Brigitte Bardot from the 60s :undecided