Losing £'s and lb's and gaining a life

poptart_2

Where to start? I wrote a diary ages ago half heartedly but real life got in the way and, until recently, I've found it quite hard to discuss my real life on a website. This is going to be a debt free diary, but also a personal one so apoligies if it sounds too gooey! I think I'm going to start from the very beginning and go on from there.

In 2009 I weighed 15 stone 9 pounds and had £13,000 saving. I had a long term boyfriend but we both lived at our parents homes. For years I believed him when he said he wanted to have a family etc but every month he would continue getting more & more into debt, drinking too much and doing drugs. In fact, towards the end of our relationship he said he'd wished he'd told me about his debt problems sooner as I would have - and I quote - 'nagged him into paying it off sooner'! It came to a head when I imagined my 'walking down the aisle' song as the funeral march! I no longer talk to him but as we were together for over 7 years I'd be lying if I didn't say that the relationship didn't have some kind of impact on who I am now.

About a year before we broke up I started following a very extreme diet and gym routine and got down to 11 stone. After we broke up I discovered that I wasn't the old mare I had led myself to believe and decided to blow all my savings on travelling, rather than on a property I would no longer be able to afford anyway.

So I went travelling, had an amazing time, drunk lots, ate good food, met amazing people and then came home.

I stupidly believed I would find a job very easily when I got back, so as I had no money left I just used my credit cards to pay for everything. I was still living with my mum so treated myself to a new double bed, clothes, etc. It took 4 months to find a job and by then I was £4250 in debt.

The job I got was with my old employer and, at the time, I was still under the impression that my life had taken on a new meaning and that working for my old company would only be a temporary measure.

Fast forward 2 years and I was still there. Earning a fraction what I was earning before I left and only having paid the minimum repayments on my credit card. Oh and when I had regained all the weight plus. I then weighed 16 stone 2 pounds.

At the beginning of 2013 I chose to start working on my credit cards and as of now I owe a total of £2358.

In July 2013 I was dragged along to a slimming world meeting by my mum. We both started the same day and I was extremely hesitant as all anyone had ever said about it was that you could eat all the pasta etc you could want, which sounds ridiculous. But as of 2nd January 2014 I now weigh 13 stone 8.

So - now I get to the point of my diary, which I suppose just sounds like a whole load of new year resolutions so I will just list them like that:

1)I want to pay off all of my debt before the end of the year (£2358).
2)I also want to lose all of my excess weight for the same time (70lbs).
3) In April, when I'll hopefully be at a weight I'll feel more comfortable with, I will try internet dating
4)I want to go to university, something I missed out on as I thought I was too old - bearing in mind I'm not quite thirty! This is something that I will work on over the next few years whilst I complete an access course and save money so I can quit my job comfortably.

This is starting to look like the ramblings of a caffeine fueled madwoman and I'm sure alot of it doesn't look relevant so I will just leave this here for now. I'll hopefully continue to expand on everything in the next few days.

Mara_uk7

Welcome to the madhouse, I think you'll fit in just fine.
Im envious that youve done the travelling thing, Ive done it wrong, had the boring sensible life and will do the exciting stuff once I get rich enough to retire ! (Wont be this year !)
You'll get loads of fantastic advice & encouragement here, theyre a nice bunch Welcome

Sedge123

Just wanted to say good luck. You found as though you have lots of courage and motivation. X

stewby

Wow... you sound a lot like me in some aspects.

I am fast approaching 30, this year in fact. (I feel like I should be more mature for my age).


I lost some weight and have now gained it all back (and a wee bit of interest). My aim for 2014 is to lose 72lbs (or a fair bit of it anyways).
:shocked:

I also spent beyond my means on holidays and things and have about £4,000 debt.
:embarasse

I will be subscribing and I wish you all the luck in the world.


p.s - very jealous of the travelling. It is something I would love to do.

poptart_2

Thank you for the kind replies.

Ahh travelling is something I wanted to do since I was little - gave up on the idea until about a year before I did it. I would love to do something like it again but not for a few years.

stewby - I'll take a look at your diary too!

poptart_2

Perhaps I should be doing a SOA?

Income: £1248
Rent: £300
Electric: £30
Food: £150
Phone: £37
Toiletries: £20 - £25
Gym: £46
Minimum CC's: £50 approximately
Slimming world: £4.95

Total outgoings: £658 a month approx

This leaves me with £590 to pay for extras, credit cards etc.

I'm going to reduce my food expenditure to £125 next month. My phone contract runs out in may, I really like my phone although I did crack the screen slightly so will get the same type of phone on a cheaper contract. I'm thinking of cancelling my gym membership for a while as well, to help with a few big spends coming up soon. With my slimming world fee, I'm actually on a 'countdown' where you pay for 10 weeks in advance and get 2 weeks free so I'm not currently paying anything for this.

poptart_2

My main problem is tea & coffee out plus magazines. I worked out I probably spend £20 on mags each month :eek: and £5 on coffee! So I promise this month not to buy vogue etc - gosh this is gonna be hard.

Another expenditure is music. I love music and download alot from itunes. This is really daft because if it's an album by one of my favourite musicians then I will inevitably end up buying a hard copy of the album anyway. I've downloaded spotify so will use this until I know I have worked hard enough to warrant buying the actual copy.

poptart_2

I don't really have much cash left over this month, so my desired purchase of the new Mark Lanegan anthology (is this the right term?) will have to wait, as will my craving for the thick of it boxset .

Next month is my mums birthday. We aren't doing presents, just a day out to sunny Brighton and Hove - my favourite place in England :j

I reckon train tickets, a nice lunch somewhere, coffees etc if its wet will come to about £80. I like to overestimate, so I might not spend this much but at least I know I've got a bit spare. My sister and niece wont be able to make it due to work & school so we may also do lunch the following day, this will be about £25.

Also, we have booked our first family holiday (bearing in mind I'm 29!) to Disneyland, Paris for this August. Now, this has a bit of a back story to it - just in case you're wondering why I booked a holiday whilst paying off debt! Basically, my nan took myself & my little sister to disneyland when I was 15. This was very kind of her and I had a really nice time. My mum was not invited at all, which was wrong in my opinion, considering we have never had a holiday together. Of course my mum would have paid her way if she needed to, so it's not a matter of cost, but of morals. I didn't particularly get on with my nan (& am no longer on speaking terms) and there were several moments during the weekend where it would have been nice for a 15 yr old & 8 yr old to have their mum with them. So - now my niece will be 6 by the time we go & myself and my mum came into a small amount of extra cash we thought it would be a nice idea to finally book it. I've paid off £300, just another £700 for that part. Then I have overestimated an extra £500 for spending money (again - a huge overestimate as I don't like to be cut short!) so this all needs to be saved for August.

Before then myself and my mum have an unplanned move to a smaller house in May. This will mean, for me, £50 for the final gas bill for our current house, plus £350 for removals. It is only us two - no men or delivery drivers in the family - so, as much of a feminist as I am, we have to occasionally pay someone to do things for us , much to my disgust.

The next few months will be quite tight but I will just have to keep an eye on my personal spending as much as I can.

Now - just need to work out what I'm doing to my signature

in_need_of_direction

Well done for what you've already cleared and also for setting out your aims. Like you, I still haven't tackled the signature but like you, I'll get there.

poptart_2

in_need_of_direction wrote: »

Well done for what you've already cleared and also for setting out your aims. Like you, I still haven't tackled the signature but like you, I'll get there.

Thank you, I feel it helps to have it all written out in front of me. I think I've added one now, hopefully!

lulabelle

Hi pop tart. I'm subscribing and wishing you lots of luck. I'm no longer in debt but fritter money away like water and was in debt for many years so trying to be better. I'm also trying to lose weight and have just taken up running.

Re magazines, have you tried reading them in the local library? Ours stocks some fairly popular ones. Or you could make friends with a hairdresser and see if they mind you sitting in reception reading theirs!