Learning to pretend, in a good way

Suziebabe

Thanks Shaz - lovely weekend, although yesterday I realised I've perhaps relaxed too much, so have livened myself up a bit more, now I'm raring to go for the new year!

Some years I don't really believe in the resolutions I make, they're just statements of good intent - but this year feels more like one of those where they might stick. Many years ago me and OH planned to give up smoking as a New Years resolution - having made the same resolution every year for at least a decade before without success. But that time, we both reached the stage a couple of days before New Year's Eve where we couldn't wait anymore, so we actually gave up 2 days before the new year, and that time it stuck - reckon its a good 7 years ago now. This year feels the same, and the thing I'm most looking forward to is not drinking alcohol or snacking on junk anymore! It feels like it'll open the door to so many other things - losing weight, getting my energy back, saving money - which in turn will open the door to clearing out clutter and clearing debts quicker through having my act together enough to sell at car boots/eBay etc. it's like I'm holding myself back from turning a corner I can't wait to get around!

Here's hoping I still feel the same in the middle of January!:rotfl:

Happy New Year all!

Suziebabe

... And just so I remember, here's my 2014 goals from the main thread ...

1. Give up alcohol for a year
2. Pay off £10k of debt
3. Declutter the garage (eBay/car boot/tip) - to help clear the debts. Easier to get my act into gear at weekends if I haven't got a thick head from red wine.
4. Healthy eating 90% of the time - to lose weight and have more energy. Staying off alcohol helps me stay off the snacks in the evening.
5. Do more knitting - saves on snacking, uses up some of the wool mountain stash, and might even make something useful for next winter
6. Be more frugal with food - use up leftovers better

Suziebabe

Weekend update from me - I'm trying to keep in the habit of writing at least every week, to keep me on the straight & narrow.

I know it's early days, but I'm still giving myself a big pat on the back for sticking to my plans for this year so far - I've done pretty well on eating healthily, used up loads of leftovers, stayed off the alcohol and kept on track with the budgeting. It's becoming a compulsion to check my spreadsheets now - I've already planned out February, and at my current repayment rate, by the end of March I'll see the debts go below £30k, and our mortgage go below £100k - major milestones for us! So now I'm challenging myself to get listings done with eBay & Amazon to try and bring that in sooner - that's this afternoon's challenge, which I can only tackle because I didn't have a drink last night, so got up early and got the grocery shopping out the way before lunch.

I 'enhanced' my spreadsheets over the Christmas break (can't help but smile, there must be so many excel experts on this forum ) so now, underneath my debt total, I've got 3 figures showing how long it'll take to clear the remaining debts at (1) my current repayment rate (2) my target repayment rate and (3) a challenging repayment rate. It's really spurred me on - I've got an £8 credit coming from selling an Amazon book, and I'm checking my bank account every day so I can pay it towards a CC and update the totals! The penny dropped on making my additional planned payment off the CC at the start of the month, rather than waiting to see what was left at the end - and my month count dropped immediately with an extra £99 payment made - now I want the next one!! I'm hoping to get bring my debt free date in to May 2016, just before a milestone birthday - that's around 20 months, so a bit of a challenge, but it would be so sweet to have them all gone by then. I worked out last night that I could afford to go down to working 4 days a week then, which would be lovely. I might not want to when I get there (I suspect I'll want to maximise my earnings to clear the mortgage early next) but it would be great to have the option.

I've also set up my expenses purse, ready for the travelling that starts next week, fingers crossed it helps keep it on track. Just remembered I've got £17 to claim from last year - that'll go off the debts before the end of the month, whoohooo, another nibble at the debts:j

Right, off to get listing! Let's see if I can keep this momentum once work really gets going next week, when all the top bosses come back from their hols :rotfl:

Suziebabe

This weekend's update ... still keeping on the right track, despite a week of travelling with work I'm just about keeping my head above water and remembering to keep on with all the challenges!

Watching my EBay bids roll in is very exciting, if everyone pays it'll be over £100 extra to go off against the debts :T:T:T Plus another book sold on Amazon, so I should be able to make extra payments against debts by the end of this week. Can't wait to update the spreadsheet!!
It should guarantee that in Feb the total debts will go below £30k, and I'll get to update my signature. Ridiculously excited about it, just hope I can sustain this for the next 2 years to get them gone!

Off to refresh EBay again, see where my totals have got to ....

in_need_of_direction

Hi sb, just found your thread. I had the LBM last May / June time where I was, for the first time, faced with the possibility of not being able to stay in the same job due to a health matter. This is now being addressed following surgery on 03 jan but I realised how precarious things are even though my only ongoing debt is the mortgage. I've found your writings easy to relate to and have subscribed. Hopefully we will both see you progress every week.

mizmir

Just found your thread and felt I could have been reading my own story! Like you we have been in debt for many years, managing the payments fine, clearing big chunks then building them up again. The difference is that we are now in the position you were worried you might be - I had to leave my job and now am self employed earning less than half what I used to! The lightbulb that has flickered for years is suddenly burning bright!

I'm a few months behind you but our DFD is set for January 2018 and this time we have to do it. I will be following your diary - wishing you all the best.

Suziebabe

Hello! Thank you so much for posting and reading! Hope you're on the mend and the op went well INOD? And sorry you had to leave your job mizmir, and I'm sure being self-employed is lots of work and scary - but it must be nice being your own boss sometimes? My parents were self-employed, so I know it's very hard work, but there are times when I'm chasing around after bosses that it looks very attractive! I know how lucky I am to still have a wage coming in though, I just want to make the most of it to clear debts as fast as possible!

I learnt a bit of a lesson this month - not to oversubscribe myself to too many challenges! While I've managed to stick to most of them, I've been beating myself up and feeling bad for not keeping up to date with them, but since I was actually doing good debt-busting things like ebaying, balancing the mega spreadsheet, making packed lunches to make sure I didn't spend, or knitting baby presents for my new nieces/nephews due in spring, I thought I was doing the right thing!!

I've done my reckoning up for January, but haven't managed to clear as much debt as I'd hoped :( - OH had to have some emergency dental work that took some of the planned debt clearance away, and has emptied out the piggy bank I'd built up for health cover. I started getting quite fed up, but then I tried to get some perspective ...

- this is the first January EVER (well, since I've had a bank account!) that the debts have gone down. Almost 30 years and I've never managed to get through Christmas without overdoing it, then totting up the damage in January and getting depressed.
- I've branched off my main spreadsheet, and created a second one that tracks each of my piggy banks, the amount saved and how much I've had to take out each month, so I can see at what time of year the expenses fall, and try to get them built up for when the expenses happen. So I've learnt yet another budgeting trick!
- I have managed to stay off the wine all month, and am thoroughly enjoying both the improved sleep, and extra time I've discovered at the weekend! I've also lost the 4lb I put on over Christmas by sticking to the no snacks in the evening rule, and eating much more healthily - and quite cheaply since I've been batch cooking and heating up at work, as well as using up the many xmas leftovers in the freezer.

And fingers crossed, no more unexpected emergency spending, and I'll get more of the debt cleared in February - and while I'll stick to the challenges, I might need to scale back on the subscriptions so I don't feel so guilty! :rotfl::rotfl:

mfmaybe

I'm really enjoying your diary so have subscribed. I like your thought process and am looking forward to reading more of it

mizmir

Well done for getting through Christmas/January with the debts still going down - that is huge - and something to be proud of.

I know what you mean about challenges - I have made that mistake every time I have been on MSE before - I signed up for everything - managed a few - got deflated and eventually stopped showing up. This time I am limiting myself to a couple of challenges and just a handful of diaries and I am going to focus on simply showing up and reporting in. That will help me keep going for the long term I think.

Self employment is great actually. If it wasn't for the debts I would be having a ball. In fact I am having a ball - I just wish I didn't have to worry about financial targets! Finally doing what I really want to do but as with all things - takes time to build up. Left the job because we relocated (OH dream job) - it was the right time for me personally - just not great for us financially.

Suziebabe

Thank you mfmaybe and mizmir! I really appreciate you reading my ramblings and telling me what you think - it really helps me keep my focus on this journey!

Good for you on enjoying being self-employed mizmir - life's too short not to take chances and follow your dreams! I alternate between really enjoying my job, and then getting really down about the politics that gets in the way of getting things done - the downside of working for a big company! Mind you, quite a few friends are in teaching & nursing, it's sad how much they also have to put up with politics, and gives me a healthy perspective on my tribulations!

So, weekly update time! Still on the wagon as far as having a drink is concerned - Friday was a close shave, as I'd had the week from hell at work & was very tempted to go to the wine aisle at the supermarket Friday night - but I resisted :T:T:T And I'm really glad I did - I had such a good sleep Friday night, it was lovely to wake up so refreshed!

And I've scaled myself back on my challenges - I'm concentrating on the make £10 a day one, although I still can't bring myself to target more than £5, since I'm not doing surveys, just cold hard cash from selling things that I can use to pay off my debts. I really want to make about an extra £250 this month, since that will bring the debts down below £30k. I don't mind if they end up as £29,999.99 - just to see the big step down would be wonderful! So yesterday I cleared out a bin-bag of DS's old dressing up outfits, plus some games, plus another box of books for Amazon - and thanks to being sober, I'm up in time to do my update, then I'm off for a nice soak in the bath, and can crack on with the listings!

Un-officially, I'm going to set myself a goal of 18 no-spend days, and a grocery challenge of £200 since the freezer's still well stocked (although OH has started grumbling about there being nothing in he wants to eat, but that might just be the remnants of man-flu leaving his system ) Despite not posting, I found the Janus challenge that NinjaSavingKat ran in January a really good way of bringing the different challenges together - I just couldn't keep up with the board! :rotfl:

Oh - and I nearly forgot my other good news - finally I've been offered an allotment plot! I've always had a dream of getting as close to self-sufficiency on fruit & veg as possible, but while DS was little I didn't want to spend time at the allotment that I could spend with him. Now he's a teenager, (yes, I still want to spend time with him, despite the hormones :rotfl:) he sleeps til lunchtime, so my plan is to get up early and get digging Sat/Sun mornings - plus he's offered to come and do some of the heavy lifting with me (in the afternoons, obviously!) it's a half plot (125 sq m, not 250) and at least half of it is in quite good shape & shouldn't take too long to get productive - can't wait to go and buy some seed potatoes! I also want to get some fruit trees going on it - while I'm working full time I'm going to aim for things that don't need regular watering (I've got space for things like beans & tomatoes etc in the garden) like root crops & fruit bushes, and the big things I don't have space for at home (rhubarb, pumpkins, sweetcorn etc) Give it a couple of months and I'm sure I'll be moaning about having no free time at the weekends, but for now I'm all fired up and itching to get the keys! (As you might have gathered, I'm a bit eager on this one :rotfl:)

Anyway, if I don't shift my behind, I'll end up using my peaceful morning online instead of eBay listing - have a good week all, and I'll update again next weekend! :wave::wave::wave: