This time I will grip onto the wagon and not fall off again

the.new.me

Right time to get my plan in place for January:

I will study for three hours a day for my exams
I will make 20 hats for innocent smoothies
Plan meals before shopping and only buy items on my list
Make a housework Rota and stick to it
Clear all the items that I can sell and get them sold
Put £1 a day in my xmas savings and all spare change in SPC
Stick to debt plan in post 2

Think that's enough to be getting on with

the.new.me

I'm sat outside my hotel last full day of my holiday and its been amazing but I have decided to be totally honest on here and stop lying to myself anonymous places make it easier I had a gambling addiction I had it for a long time (12 years to be honest) I'm gamble free now since November 12th which is huge for me. I have bipolar which I.know I can't blame completely but since I have been medicated I have not felt the urge to gamble my psychiatrist is amazing and for the first time ever I am stable. It all came to a head when I gambled all the spending money for the holiday in a week I lost £3000 it shocked me into kicking the habit once and for all. It has been hard but I know this time it will be for good. I have only ever admitted all this to my psychiatrist non of.my family know and intend to keep it that way.

I have learnt a lot from my past I am great at budgeting because somehow I always paid the bills and me and dd always had food so I will use my skills to pay my debts. I can make dinner from nothing that is the best skill I have and next year when i get my allotment going it will be for pleasure more than necessity I will turn my life around.

Sorry for rambling but if I don't get it all out it sits.churning in my head.

in_need_of_direction

Well done on being so honest. I know £3k was a lot to lose but if that's what provided the wake up call, it was money well wasted if you know what I mean. I can't wait to see how you progress.

the.new.me

Thank you in need I know sometimes you have to hit rock bottom to get up and fight for what's right and important and that's what intend to do now

This weeks food is:

Monday gammon steak with pineapple, eggs and chips with fruit salad for pudding.
Tuesday out with mum
Wednesday sausage mash and peas and the rest of the fruit salad.
Thursday at mums
Friday dds dad is taking us out - bit nervous about seeing him not seen him for 11 years.

I will go shopping again saturday after work but the trip to morrisons should mean I get a five pound voucher but I'm saving all of those for christmas so I won't need to spend much and hopefully I will be debt free by then and financially better off.

have bought loads of coffee to bring home as its so much cheaper here than at home so I won't need coffee for a year. Looking forward to debt busting big time and I should to be able to start on monday.

I am going to put money in my over draft account as a holding account and if I don't need it then it will be transferred to debts.

My SPC is getting saved for tax and insurance for 2016 I can't save enough for this year and this debt busting is about realistic targets so i don't put too much pressure on myself.

the.new.me

Well I have hit the ground with a bump OMG it has to be the worst day, first car fan went on the car £169 (which went on the CC) later and it was up and running blooming cars :eek:

Then I get home from the holiday and lets say the cat has had free rein of the house and used it as a toilet and smashed my blind to pieces in the kitchen, next time cattery will be used. I have had to throw the rug in the living room, need a new blind in the kitchen and all my fabric conditioner has mysteriously disappeared so no more neighbour looking after the cat. he has never done this sort of damage all he needs is to be let out at night as he has a cover igloo outside an let in in the morning I am thinking they have kept him in all the time even though the igloo is warm its like a cat kennel.

It'll cost about £40 to replace the rug and blind it just wasn't worth the hassle.

I have potted £11.61 in the SPC it was left over from food and holiday. I have bought extra food for next week too so should only need fruit an milk so a small spend.

Off to make a coffee and try to find my inner holiday feeling again.

the.new.me

Well i feel a little more cheerful now I have my first £5 morrisons voucher I am saving these for Christmas for a few little treats so I am on my way

vasseur

Sorry to hear that today has been so rough. My car went wrong in a major way while I was paying my debts off. Fortunately thanks to this site I was well equipped to deal with and was able to shuffle money around and claw back from here and there to pay off the huge bill I had. It put back my DFD by a couple of months but at least it showed I could deal with unforeseen stuff when I needed to

I will subscribe and follow your story...

the.new.me

Hi vasseur it couldn't come at a worse time two weeks before payday but cars eh??

I have temporarily "borrowed" £100 from my SPC to tide me over which I can pay back payday as I have some overtime due. It will set my debt payments back a little bit but I am going to clear my freezer right down, I am off uni until the 13th when I have one exam and the the 22nd when I have another then I am off until second week of February so I can put my toll money to pay the rest so not too bad I guess.

I have loads of pumpkin soup I made in October and froze so I am thinking I will use those for lunches and just a couple of slices of bread. I really need to do a full inventory of my freezer might do that in a minute and see how far into the month that will get me.

Paid my water today £213.13 :eek: but I had it saved so that hasn't made a dent in my money thank god I had saved that well I saved £3 more so it wasn't a bad guess at what I was using.

StressedSteph

Hi Vasseur

We have a similar amount of debt and a similar debt free date so i have subscribed and hopefully we can keep each other motivated.

Bums to the cat half destroying your home. Sounds like the neighbour didn't actually bother much with the cat while you were away :mad:. Hope you have eaten any chocolates you might have bought them as a thank you :rotfl:.

I am hoping to put away £20 pw into a savings account to try to cover any car expenses this year, we always get caught out with expensive MOT bills. Always find it very hard to save though.

Well done for admitting about the gambling issues, sounds like you have a good set up now with meds and counselling to keep you stable. Its amazing how helpful this website can be too. Post on your diary if you are feeling the temptation to gamble and we will beat it out of you

i have subscribed. xxx

the.new.me

StressedSteph wrote: »

Bums to the cat half destroying your home. Sounds like the neighbour didn't actually bother much with the cat while you were away :mad:. Hope you have eaten any chocolates you might have bought them as a thank you :rotfl:.

I have eaten their chocolates and I kept the candles I bought them they will make a nice birthday present for my mum in November :rotfl: I was so annoyed as I had their dog for three weeks and I religiously took him for walks and let him out twice a day on top of that and no damage was done and they had a happy dog and perfect home to come home to.

StressedSteph wrote: »

Well done for admitting about the gambling issues, sounds like you have a good set up now with meds and counselling to keep you stable. Its amazing how helpful this website can be too. Post on your diary if you are feeling the temptation to gamble and we will beat it out of you

It's the longest I have ever gone I am just going cold turkey and I seem to be kicking the nasty habit finally but i am taking it one day at a time.