Goals for 2014

Betwattled

Good wishes to all those who are currently struggling at the moment whether it be emotionally, physically or spiritually. My life is going 'relatively' smoothly at the moment, so I have a lot to be thankful for. Ok... an early May update

1)Become self-employed: I now have a small amount of stock organised and I now have £60 saved of the £100 I wanted to save up for stock before my Ebay shop goes 'live' next month.

2)I need to lose 42 lbs: Lol erm not going so well, I now have 45lbs to lose. However I bought (from a birthday Amazon voucher) Paul McKenna's 'I Can Make You Thin.' I do reckon it is going to take hypnotism or jaw-wiring to make me stop over-eating. I will try the former first...:D So, as soon as that book & CD arrives I shall get stuck in.

3)Heal hiatus hernia naturally. See above... I really need to lose weight to stand a chance at doing this.

4)Finish writing my sit com. Nothing as of yet.

5)Clean and de-clutter house and keep on top of it. House is looking generally tidy and the de-cluttering is an everyday event.

6)Pass my driving test. I am booking lessons on the 31st May as that is when I will have £200 towards my lessons. (Gift from kind Aunt.)

7)Stick to grocery budgets every month. Still struggling with this...but I refuse to be beaten. I have a house full of food and £50 left for food and £40 left for other groceries for the rest of the month. I SHALL NOT WILT AND OVERSPEND.:mad:

8)Add to my full & final settlement fund. Added to my F&F Fund yesterday... grand total of £129.78 at the mo. :cool: It's ticking over... slowly.

9)Give love, patience and kindness in abundance and hopefully receive the same. :heart2: I am letting my 2 year old's tantrums just wash over me...even when they occur in a crowded supermarket. I am Mrs Chilled 2014:cool:. Fortunately... these tantrums do seem to becoming less and less as her powers of verbal communication improve daily.

I also had a meal with the Ex to discuss situation and we both acted like mature adults and agreed we would both move forward in opposite directions but with the common goal of ensuring our little girl is nurtured and well loved. That means not taking nasty little swipes at each other and sending sarcastic texts. We shall see how long that lasts....on his part anyway.

I have donated to three charities in the last month and picked up some coins off the shop floor that a little old lady dropped... and yes, I did pass them back to her... you MSE lot tut tut. Lol.

Onwards and upwards throughout May everyone. xxx

in_need_of_direction

Great to read the positive update. Thanks betwattled.

Newyorkdreams

Hey Everyone, thanks for the messages of support and the kind thoughts, it really does make a difference to me.


I feel really low right now. I'm normally a very bubbly and positive person. I can't stop thinking about my dear dad and the massive mountain he has to climb. I then start thinking that he's never going to get better and I feel like I'm grieving for the person that he was before the stroke happened. I know that's silly and not good for his recovery but that's how I feel. Of course, I haven't mentioned any of this to him.


I've just sat all morning and looked at our finances. We were originally aiming to be debt free by Dec 2015. Due to the recent hits to our debt busting plans, this has now jumped to April 2016 and possibly March 2016, as long as our current job circumstances do not change. We are hoping to start a family this year/next year so have factored this into our planning. Again, if this doesn't work out then that will mean extra money we can throw at our debts.


Debt-busting is such hard work and I'm sick of it. I'm sick of not being able to buy things you need without first working out a budget or a plan because you have to do without something else to buy it. I hate having to say no because all of your hard earned money goes on paying back money (yes, which I spent). I get frustrated when people have thousands knocked off their debt through final settlements or when they deliberately run away from their debt when I try my damnest to pay everything back at over £1200 a month being paid. Sorry, I'm ranting now.

The biggest thing is that I want to go out and SPEND. This is my irrational brain talking because I feel so rubbish, I think that spending money will help me feel better. Again, I know this is silly and definitely won't help my dad's recovery. We are actually on track with our goals for 2014.


On the diet front, I decided to give Atkins a whirl for 2 weeks as I know it can really kick start your weight loss. I've accomplished day 1 fairly easily but today is more difficult. I'm just struggling to know what to eat. Hadn't realised before how carb-loaded my diet really is. I strangely don't feel hungry though - possible headache but that could just be because I'm tired etc


Anyway, enough of my ramblings. I'm back to work tomorrow so going to try and sort out some clutter and that will hopefully make my mind feel less like fog.


Take care and thanks for listening.


NYD x

in_need_of_direction

OH does Atkins from time to time. He gets carb withdrawal headaches for the first three days or so.

in_need_of_direction

Hey NYD, how's things?

in_need_of_direction

1. Get sugar control (I'm diabetic)
not been at all good and have had to reschedule my bloods bringing them forward by a week. this won't be a good result but will have it around the start of June
2. put savings in best place possible
we now have £8k earning 1.3% more pa than our mortgage costs. Still hold £1k in current account and need another £85 to hit the real cash target
3. Make mortgage annual overpayments equivalent to 4x monthly payment plus interest
managed q1, q2 progressing slowly but i'm determined on this one
4. Lose weight. Now at 14 stone 10lbs on 03 May. Need to start averaging a loss of 1lb a week.
no change at all this week
5. Declutter
brought some empty boxes to recycling today. bag ready to go to charity shop of various bits and bobs
6. Take garden in hand
does picking up 2 free bags of compost from council count?
7. expand 'flylady' daily routines
I wish:sad:
8. Get rid of ugly clothes bought because they fit and not cos they were nice.
one item on ebay as we speak, 2 en route to charity shop
9. Appreciate my home and make it nicer
another few things tackled e.g. poster on wall as opposed to sitting in a corner
10.be more disciplined in my job
struggling at present. feel really overwhelmed
11. Be less wasteful
had in house dinner when contemplating takeaway as there was food that needed eating
12. Donate
see 5
13. eat out less, fewer takeaways (inc lunch)
see 11 but lots of room for improvement re lunch
14. Move, as in exercise, at least twice a week

So, things are ticking over but still room for improvement. I've renumbered and have added one in. Hopefully. if I revisit at end of August, no 14 will go up to 3 or higher:eek::eek:

hope things are good with you all. Thinking of you NYD

Newyorkdreams

Hi there - I'm doing ok, thank you for the positive thoughts and vibes. My dad is making small improvements but nothing massive. It is so slow. I am beginning to feel like myself again though, just so tired. The Atkins lasted 2 days, lol, and I'm back on the wine and pasta. ha ha ha. Trying to get back on the plan though and not put any more weight on!!! xxx

in_need_of_direction

V quick update. This week I paid £100 op to the mortgage, brought some stuff to charity shop, identified three books to go and put 1 item in clothing bin at supermarket. Also chucked some stuff in recycling. Did minimal but a bit of exercise and weight stayed constant. Need to stop coasting and get my !!! into gear.

Newyorkdreams

Excellent progress In Need of Direction! It is so quiet in here these days! I'm assuming some have fell of the wagon but I secretly hope most are debt busting quietly behind the scenes. I'm not doing too badly, whilst coping with the rollercoaster of life, I'm still roughly sticking with it. I've made all my debt repayments this month and have started to move the pennies at the end of each working day into my savings account. I've scooped up £2.91 so far this month which I'll pay towards my debt on 31 May. I'm going to re-assess my financial goals as I've had to allocate an extra £1500 to my budget to cover my weekly trips to see my father.He will always be way more important that any credit card company or debt. I've started my AVCs! Just £30 a month but it only costs me £18 in my pay so that's good (being a higher rate tax payer). My reading has been pap to be honest but I'm giving myself a break on that one. I'm now an expert (self-appointed lol) in stroke so I think I've read enough stuff about it on the internet to last a a lifetime. My weight goal is pretty much at a standstill although I lost 0.5lbs in the last 5 weeks. Not bad for someone who normally comfort eats. I'm still a sucker for an apple, so that's a great thing. Normally in cider but not always. I've not seen inside a gym in 3 months. I pray daily now, often several times a day and I say no far more easily. Fools are no longer tolerated like they used to be and I have far less patience with people who are clearly taking the pee-pee. My spare room is getting gutted on the bank holiday, it's starting to multiply and divide and I'll soon lose myself in there if I don't watch.

Think that's it for now, will update after payday.

NYD xxx

KT2802

Hi all - I'm still here. Been lurking for months as don't really feel I have made much progress with my goals. Still keep reading the thread though to try and keep myself motivated.

Well done to everyone, people are doing really well.

Quick update on how I am doing -

1. Seriously start to tackle my debt using the snowballing calculator. By this time next year I want to have paid off all of my store cards and at least 1 of my credit cards. Aiming to reduce my debt by at least 50% (roughly get it to about £7000 or less). This isn't going too badly but not great either considering we are nearly half way through the year, nothing has been paid off completely yet

2. Cut up all my cards and not get into anymore debt (starting this from now) Done

3. Save enough money to go on holiday next year (could be argued that I shouldn't be doing this but I would rather pay back my debts slightly slower and have a holiday) Holiday is booked!

4. Start to save for a house deposit (same as above but this is also very important to me) Not done

5. Budget properly and save some money each month towards car repairs, presents etc. rather than using credit Not done really either although I haven't been using credit

6. Similar to above but I also want to give myself a small budget each month for small treats. If I deny myself any treats at all then the urge to splurge will take over I think. In general though, I really want to cut back on clothing and toiletry spends and use this money towards my debt instead. Time to start a new spreadsheet!!
Hmm don't feel I am doing too well with this either

I will keep going!