Lina's Life Improvement Diary

Lina_T

I've decided to start a diary after reading through some of the other ones. I think it'll be a good motivator to keep me on track to achieving my goals and hold me accountable.

I'm starting this officially on 15th January 2014 (Wednesday) as I get paid then and can see it as a clean slate. I'll make a plan in the next couple of days.

My short, medium and long term goals so far are:

1. Pay off my £100 overdraft by 15th February 2014 (1 month)
2. Get my car serviced (ASAP)
3. Lose 1 stone in weight by 15th March 2014 (2 months)
4. Put £30 a month away for best friends hen party and wedding in June (target £150)
5. Me and my boyfriend to pay his car loan off in the next 6 months so we can apply for a mortgage (deadline August 14).
6. Have as money-neutral a year as possible in terms of gifts for birthdays, weddings, Christmas etc.
7. Generally be as frugal as possible and keep track of all spending - the main one

I have a cash book ready in which I can track all my expenditure.


I am also not drinking alcohol in January so that should cut down my expenses [STRIKE]a bit[/STRIKE] a lot.


Thanks in advance to anyone who is kind enough to read and advice is always always welcome throughout my journey

Domayne

Seems like you have a pretty solid plan in place - I haven't much useful advice to offer you as I am not all that far into my own journey and keep falling off the cliff at times, but what helps me is to think of my goal at the end - to start saving for a house deposit, Thinking of all the interest I won't be paying to some overpaid banker anymore and treat myself occasionally so I don't go completely insane
I also find writing in my diary here quite therapeutic! It keeps me on the right track...even if nobody reads it, I can see how far I've come and that's good enough for me!
Good luck on your journey Lina, I look forward to seeing how you get on!

Lina_T

Thanks Domayne, do you have a link to your diary?

I've just printed off my bank statements for the past year and am looking through them, highlighting and adding up certain groups of items (lunches, clothes, fuel). Trying to find areas I can cut down on.

The amount I've already highlighted for clothes shopping is making my blood run cold :eek: and that's just what I've paid by debit card. And I still think I have nothing to wear.

I'd also like to add that I'm an accountant, so to be in so little control of my finances is doubly-shameful.

Some cold hard truths coming my way I think ...

Lina_T

From highlighting my bank statements the two totals that stand out are:

£118.67 on lunches per year. This is what I spend on card so I can easily double that figure for the total spend. This is on top of my normal food budget. I find that I take a lunch to work, eat it by half 10 because I've skipped breakfast and then going buying more lunch from the local deli at lunchtime. Obviously this doesn't help the waistline either This can easily be solved straight away:

Plan: Get into a routine of making my lunch the night before, getting up 10 minutes earlier to eat breakfast and leaving my card and money at home so I'm not tempted to nip out for more food.

£872.35 on clothes per year, and again this is only what I pay by debit card. This feels like a kick in the stomach, I actually feel sick and I can't remember half of the clothes I spent it on.

Plan: I'm not sure yet. I'm thinking some sort of rule to only buy one item a month I really want. I tend to go mad in sales and buy rubbish quality stuff that doesn't last, rather than going for the better quality more expensive things. But then I'm half tempted to go cold turkey completely on buying clothes, or at least for a few months. I'll have a think about that one. My only problem is work clothes, which I have a bit of a shortage of and I have to be smart for work.


I think another step might be to pay EVERYTHING on debit card, so I can see exactly what I waste money on. Obviously I'd write it down too.

My other issue is nights out including take-away and a taxi. I pay for these in cash, so whatever money I take out ends up spent. I have no restraint with my money when I'm having a good time. I need to find a way to reduce this silly spend.

Domayne

It is quite scary when you add it all up and see where the money has gone and just how much :eek: !! I never added all of mine up because I knew it would be scary reading, I do keep a spending diary now though (on my phone) which helps. Particularly when it comes to food at work and smoking, which were 2 of my worst areas, I hate seeing that £7.15 spent on slowly killing myself with cigarettes lol
It hasn't stopped the cravings however xD
There is a motivational tool thing around here somewhere, were you add in what you spend say on a coffee or cigarettes and it gives you the weekly/monthly/yearly totals of what you are spending, that was pretty scary stuff! Just my daily coffee and cigarettes were over 3k a year!! :eek:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4802768

That's my diary - Gotta warn you though that it's not particularly interesting or enlightening

Domayne

£872.35 on clothes, and again this is only what I pay by debit card. This feels like a kick in the stomach, I actually feel sick and I can't remember half of the clothes I spent it on.[/QUOTE]

£872.35 IN 1 MONTH? :O
That's a lot!! lol

What I've done is to allocate myself a spending account...I give myself £140 a fortnight so when that's gone, it's gone, I can't touch my debit card for things other than I have to pay...so this includes toiletries, going out, clothes, games, etc...maybe you can give yourself a weekly allowance (that's realistic for you) to include everything you will need and when it's gone...that's it, gotta wait for next 'pay day'

Lina_T

I read your first post Domayne and we are in quite similar situations. I'm 25 and living with my parents, contribute to bills and food. I suffer with depression (currently controlled quite well by medication) and I had a little niece born in September too! It's been lovely to have a baby in the family this Christmas. I'll have a proper read through later when I'm home.

P.s. It's only expected that the diet goes slightly off track when you give up smoking, I don't think our brains are built to tackle too many things at a time. Well done on 13 days smoke free! :T

Lina_T

Domayne wrote: »

£872.35 on clothes, and again this is only what I pay by debit card. This feels like a kick in the stomach, I actually feel sick and I can't remember half of the clothes I spent it on.

£872.35 IN 1 MONTH? :O
That's a lot!! lol
[/QUOTE]

Oh no that's for the whole year, I definitely couldn't afford £872 a month. I'd be very well dressed though! :rotfl:

I edited the post as it wasn't very clear!

Domayne

Thank you! I still feel like a failure because I've been trying to stop since I started my diary and have been on and off them since then :rotfl: Though the last 2 weeks of December, I was smoking roll ups, which aren't the nicest thing in the world tbh...I just have to keep reminding myself of that £50 a week I'm saving by not smoking
Congrats on your little baby niece as well! It is lovely having them around - especially since I can't have my own (diagnosed 'unexplained' Dr said it's probably my weight and lifestyle) but I don't really want my own if I'm really honest, I love my nieces and nephews to bits but get exhausted after a few days...imagine 18 years!! :rotfl: I prefer being able to give them back I think

Domayne

:rotfl:
£800 for the year sounds a lot more reasonable! When you have added it all up, you should fill out a SOA so you can see where you can cut back and save, you don't have to post it if you don't really want advice and just want to use your diary to get on track, but it is pretty useful

http://www.stoozing.com/guides/soacalchelp.php

Lina_T

I'm the same, I do all the fun stuff with her like buying her clothes and playing and then take great pleasure in handing her back over when she needs a nappy change :rotfl:

I will do an SOA. My only problem with doing one is that we're planning to buy a house (with mortgage) in the next 6 months so our situation will change massively then. Any short term changes will be helpful though so I'll rustle one up over the next week