Overfeeding the debt instead of ourselves :)

crazycatlady2014

Hi everyone :wave:

:mad::eek::mad::eek::mad: LBM!!!!!!

It is finally here, the proper bright shining lightbulb that has been flickering for far too long! I am a regular lurker on these boards, have picked up so many tips and so much inspiration from the diaries so am now starting a diary of my own

A little about me, am early 30's, live in a beautiful house with DH and DSS (here half the time) and have 2 gorgeous cats that I love to bits. No children yet but working on it

We have good jobs that pay us pretty well but have really had our heads in the sand when it comes to money. We had approx £13k of debt before we moved and paid it off using the mortgage (I know :eek:) We then had NO debt and even a little savings! Due to our blase attitude to money, we have managed to rack up debt again. Not huge amounts but more than we should have.

Evil CC 1- £1902.68
Evil CC 2- £432.58
Evil store card- £465.98

Total-£2801.24

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!

I think I'm pretty savvy at getting the right insurance deals, buying good offers, using quidco, searching for the best deals and generally being good at managing the household pennies- it's the pounds that cause me the bother! Simply, I spend too much money on food, entertainment, house and just STUFF!!! Not clothes funnily enough, my clothes have seen better days due to me buying the bare minimum as my size gets bigger (kinda goes with overspending on food!) I have LOADS of clothes in smaller sizes that are just waiting for me to fit into :mad:

The grand plan

***PAY OFF OUR DEBT IN A YEAR OR LESS***

*Budget

I have set up a budget for the month for the first time ever. We both got paid today (get paid 4 weekly) and have transferred money around and paid what needs to be paid.

Our budget is pretty generous so I will see how we get on and lower it next month. Any savings we make (I'm determined to save on food!) will be transferred to evil debt.

*Meal planning

This is where we will save a load of money. We spend FORTUNES on food :mad: Crazy amounts. We work for a food retailer and end up buying food for the house (big shop) then buy food at work (x2 of us) then end up throwing food out of house, buying some top up shops and loads of rubbish- NO MORE!!!!

It is making me fat (need to lose about 4 stone :eek:) is such a waste of food and money plus actually makes us feel rubbish! We had a big chat about it recently (which brought on the LBM) and realised that when we spend so much on food, we don't have much money left so end up getting into debt. Plus we quite often come home, have no food in so pop out for something quick and easy- takeaway or a pizza from the supermarket and end up spending more than necessary :mad:

So the plan is to meal plan for the week and only buy what we need and as cheaply as possible. This is the first time I've ever done this :j Hope it goes to plan....

*Lose 4 stone

Obviously this is a fairly large :rotfl: goal so will break it down a little....
- lose a stone by the end of September (approx. 2lbs a week)
- lose a stone and a half by end of October
- lose 2 stone by end of November
- lose 2 and a half stone by Christmas

Am going to use myfitnesspal, the 30 shred DVD and healthy meal planning to achieve this. I lost a lot of weight a few years ago but have put it all (and more!!) back on again. I think that money health and personal health are very closely related so will keep track of that here too. Keeps me on the straight and narrow!

Phew! Think that's probably enough waffle for a first post, congratulations for reading this far :rotfl: Am going to try and post some daily goals for myself to try and get rid of this debt pronto!

CCL
x

crazycatlady2014

Started off by paying £255 to CC1 and store card! Has reduced my DFD by a month :j Am hoping to manage this amount or more every month! I love updating my signature

Now off to do some meal planning- not quite sure where to start so gonna go through the recipe books!

CCL
x

parsniphead

HI carzycatlady2014

The title of your diary made me laugh. I'm sure many of us need to follow that advice.

Good luck with paying off your debts. You seem to have some good plans in place.

Kantankrus_Mare

Good luck on your journey!

I can understand totally where you are coming from. We don't have any debt apart from mortgage but still have to watch the money. We are very much like you and your OH.

We like our food and spend quite a lot on eating out, take aways etc though I am quite good with food shopping. Have cut down on wastage an awful lot and always look for bargains to stock up on.
Try to cook as much from scratch as possible too and grow some of my own veg.

Will subscribe to your thread and pop in regularly to see how you are doing.

x

Nintud

Your weight loss and debt loss goals sound very much like my own (without the delights of 6 children, but you'll have that expensive joy to come!!)

Good luck!

ali-t

Wow, that could be me writing but with dogs instead of cats and definitely not trying for a baby! Good luck

crazycatlady2014

Thanks everyone! So nice to have all your support

Went food shopping this afternoon and was SUPER :money: I had a £5 voucher for free veg at Morrisons and also a £10 gift card and a club card voucher for Tescos. Bought LOADS of food plus a couple of toiletries (all needed!) and it all came to £14.41 spend in total! So so pleased None of it will go to waste either. Am going to use my slow cooker tomorrow and make some stuff (never used it before so have my fingers crossed!)

CCL
x

in_need_of_direction

Love the title, have subscribed. Best of luck

Merrylegs1

Hehe...this made me giggle!

Subscribing

Merry

chevalier

I know where you are coming from. I don't have that much weight to lose, but do have loads of clothes staring at me accusingly from the cupboard. It is just getting our act together about healthier eating,
good luck with the debt busting
chev

killerpeaty

Good luck on both counts! You sound like you're determined so I'll look forward to seeing your progress!