pickle me's diary

mfmaybe

pickle_me wrote: »

Just updated my signature with the totals for May. So nearly under £10k! I considered trying to find £75 from somewhere to get us down to 4 figures but we don't really having much leeway in our budget and we're on track to pay it all off when we need to, so I'm going to be patient. Debt-busting has taught me a lot about patience ...

My husband is buying himself some sort of Gameboy accessory for his birthday; he's budgeted for it and commented to me yesterday that previously he would have put it on a credit card without a second thought. His attitude to money has really changed I think he's even more excited than I am about the prospect of CC1 being paid off.

My attitude to money has changed too - I lived within my means before (when I was the main wage-earner) but didn't pay much attention to how I spent my cash otherwise. Now I don't spend any money without thinking hard about whether I can afford it, even £1 on a packet of biscuits.

More and more of our conversations start with 'when the debt is paid off ...' In fact we have just over a year to go as the last credit card should be paid off in June 2015. A whole year away - but somehow it doesn't feel that long. £10k is still an horrific amount of debt but we've made it this far and our budget is working *touch wood* so I feel as though I can see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel

Just read your diary and will subscribe Pickle, you are doing really well! I'm glad your OH is changing too. Mine doesn't seem to get in debt particularly, but is struggling to accept my new mentality; and we still have the odd row about whether buying something because we will need it "at some point" is really the right way to go

SerafinaJayne

Hello,

Just wanted to say congrats on your job and well done on your May totals. I've really enjoyed reading your diary, I'm at the start of my DFW journey so it's nice to read from the perspective of someone who's living it and doing it!

SerafinaJayne

pickle_me

Thank you, thank you, thank you mfmaybe and SerafinaJayne, and everyone else who has subscribed and continues to drop by to read my ramblings. It's a funny thing, writing down all this stuff and putting it out there for anyone to see. I'm not very good at commenting on other people's diaries so I'm all the more grateful for comments on mine.

mfmaybe, I hope your husband 'gets it' soon. It took my husband a little while to get on board wholeheartedly - I think at first he was simply doing what I said because he knew how upset I was about the debt. But now he wants to be debt free for himself as well as for me.

SerafinaJayne, good luck with your journey! If you don't have a diary on here yet I'd recommend it. It helps to get things off my chest when I'm having a bad day, and I like being able to shout about it when things are going well! I'm looking forward to being able to look back - reading through past entries when we're finally debt-free and remembering what it felt like, and being grateful for reaching the end.

I was driving through town earlier and drove past Starbucks. I don't drink coffee (or tea, come to that) but every now and again I used to like to buy some large syrupy milky drink, ever-so-slightly tasting of coffee but mostly tasting of syrup and whipped cream. And that got me thinking how easy it would be to go for a wander round the shops - like I used to do - and mindlessly spend so much money. White chocolate mocha in Starbucks, a basket full of edible goodies from M&S that wouldn't even last me the weekend, a new pair of shoes (also M&S, I have big feet and most shoe shops never have my size in stock), some new clothes from Monsoon or Jigsaw (ah, those were the days, I haven't set foot in a Jigsaw in years and it was always my favourite shop), toiletries from Boots, nothing frivolous but stocking up on cotton wool and mascara and maybe a new nail varnish as a little treat (ok that is frivolous), a magazine. That would constitute a satisfying shopping trip. It would be so easy to spend £200-300 without really thinking about it; and if I said it didn't appeal and I'm completely reformed from my previous love of shopping, that would be a lie :rotfl: I would love to be able to go shopping like that again. Maybe I will, eventually; when we're debtfree, when I've saved up and when I can do it guilt-free

charmedlassie

Congratulations on getting the job!! (Sorry I'm a bit late to the party!)

NHS_worker_bee

pickle_me wrote: »

Just updated my signature with the totals for May. So nearly under £10k! I considered trying to find £75 from somewhere to get us down to 4 figures but we don't really having much leeway in our budget and we're on track to pay it all off when we need to, so I'm going to be patient. Debt-busting has taught me a lot about patience ...

My husband is buying himself some sort of Gameboy accessory for his birthday; he's budgeted for it and commented to me yesterday that previously he would have put it on a credit card without a second thought. His attitude to money has really changed I think he's even more excited than I am about the prospect of CC1 being paid off.

My attitude to money has changed too - I lived within my means before (when I was the main wage-earner) but didn't pay much attention to how I spent my cash otherwise. Now I don't spend any money without thinking hard about whether I can afford it, even £1 on a packet of biscuits.

More and more of our conversations start with 'when the debt is paid off ...' In fact we have just over a year to go as the last credit card should be paid off in June 2015. A whole year away - but somehow it doesn't feel that long. £10k is still an horrific amount of debt but we've made it this far and our budget is working *touch wood* so I feel as though I can see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel

Just read your diary - I'm in a similar position and next month I will drop under the 10k amount and I can't wait. The debt is all going down and staying down from now on! Keep up the good work

pickle_me

Thanks charmedlassie (cute name!)

NHS worker bee, nice to meet someone at the same point! Do you have a diary? I'd like to cheer you along We can have a little under-10k party next month. Hooray for having only four figures of debt

pickle_me

I have just started a new folder on the laptop to bookmark interesting webpages. The folder is entitled 'Shopping'.

:eek:

I haven't bought any new clothes yet in 2014. Since LBM (October last year) I have bought one dress and two jumpers, all on ebay. So for me even to be contemplating shopping, buying new clothes for myself, even allowing myself to look at clothes online is a big deal.

I promised myself I wouldn't buy any clothes this year unless I could wear them on holiday. We are going on a fabulous, all-inclusive, long-haul-destination holiday in August, courtesy of my very generous parents, and I would really like some new clothes to wear. My summer wardrobe is fairly pitiful - some of my tops literally have holes in them and there's not much that feels special enough for a once-in-a-lifetime holiday.

However, this doesn't mean that I am going to whip out my long-neglected credit card and lose sight of my debtbusting quest. What I am going to do is try to work out how to put together a fabulous holiday wardrobe for as little as possible. It's a challenge, not least because it's been so long since I bought myself anything really lovely (or really anything at all!), I feel slightly nervous about opening the floodgates and letting myself go shopping :rotfl:

Sorry, I think the photo is going to come out huge but how pretty is this? And only £20. Nice way to bling up a simple maxi dress for a romantic dinner by the sea .....

NHS_worker_bee

pickle_me wrote: »

NHS worker bee, nice to meet someone at the same point! Do you have a diary? I'd like to cheer you along We can have a little under-10k party next month. Hooray for having only four figures of debt

I don't have a diary yet because I wasn't feeling brave enough to start one when I joined the forum, but I think I feel inspired and ready to start one now... then I could celebrate the good days and keep motivated on the bad days too...

So look out for my diary, coming soon

Ps - Well done on the budgeted shopping, the necklace looks beautiful. I'm a big eBay and charity shop fan, I love a bargain. I think I will always be a bargain hunter even when I'm debt free, it's so much more fun finding unique pieces. And nobody else will have the same holiday wardrobe as you!

Fortune_Smiles

How beautiful!


Fortune x

pickle_me

NHS_worker_bee wrote: »

I don't have a diary yet because I wasn't feeling brave enough to start one when I joined the forum, but I think I feel inspired and ready to start one now... then I could celebrate the good days and keep motivated on the bad days too...

So look out for my diary, coming soon

You should do it. I'll be your first subscriber