Taking control

takingcontrolatlast

Honestly i wish i had young ones to say "tidy up your toys/room " ... its worse when they are older! Its a big debate each night on who is washing up after dinner! :rotfl:

If one puts a "wash" on for me .. I have to thank them... I must have done something wrong in a previous life :rotfl:

takingcontrolatlast

Health & Happiness

For the month of January I have lost 2lbs - I actually lost 4lbs but put 2lbs back on and maintained till end of month. Not paid gym so wont be attending in Feb

Ive got a mammogram next week - my first as part of a trial. Im so not looking forward to this !

Have had a really social January surprisingly which was lovely - February should be much quieter although I do have a baby shower to attend end of Feb.

Work is going great - very busy and I have been accepted on a Business Admin course - level 3 (future prospects) and put forward as a member of a working party by a "big manager"!

Home

The 16 mins a day challenge i set myself worked very well for the first halve of the week ! This weekend so far I have done nothing! Literally nothing! - I went to mums last night; hardly getting any sleep with DH snoring so absolutely shattered today! My head is banging so Ive made executive decision to do nothing until tomorrow! So that means i will be busy tomorrow :eek:

Work has started on "finishing" the shower room... yes! DH thought he could wait till end of March... no chance :rotfl: The tiles have been sanded down and painted; ceiling painted and then its re-doing the sealant thing around the shower cubicle. It will need some type of flooring as nothing is down atm ... i think the cheaper option is lino. Then it will just need some new display towels, mirror and then that'll be one room done!

Finances

Paid bills and debts apart from gym. My confession is that I have maxed my cc This will impact Febs payment so need to raise funds through Feb if I can??? Roughly around £122.

I did receive an acknowledgement of my complaint from MBN* - i wonder what they will do?

So Feb is going to be another very tight month. Im feeling pretty deflated in that I need new clothes, glasses/lenses, need to go dentist for crown and other problems, need hair cut and I just dont have the cash to do it.

I asked DH if I could pay less to the household bills (currently 50/50 split) but it wasnt well received. I do earn more than him so I can understand his point of view but my debt repayments are higher than his and after bills and debts im not left with that much. I had the conversation about we "pool" our wages .. he's been thinking about it for a week but obviously not keen as he hasnt come back to me on it. We argued about it as i dont feel we are on the same page... again ! Anyway, I hope my situation improves as the year goes on and debts reduce but there seems to be something else around the corner waiting !

Where on earth am I going to raise £122?

takingcontrolatlast

This week has been manic !

I have had a few days off work so playing catch up in work next week

Health & Happiness

I lost another 2llbs so total weight loss is 4lbs - not massive but still a loss. Not going gym as i havent paid the dd.

Im feeling pretty much run down this week and feel like I just need to recuperate my batteries but no chance of that. I know I dont look great which doesnt help my self esteem either

Mammogram wasnt what I expected - it didnt hurt at all.

Home

Just cant get into the housework routine after work - i just do the emergency stuff and that's it - just too tired.

Shower room nearly finished - just picking lino atm.

Finances

Again, February tough month. I have used my £2 coins that I have saved up and transferred back the pence i have been saving in a separate account back to my current account and paid it towards the cc as i have gone "over" my limit apparantly.

What I have done is max my card but then when charges go on and "something to do with the statement date" the cc said i have overspent. I wont make this mistake again - going to stop spending on it! So I now have to find around £80 to bring it down and not £122.

Had another discussion with DH about finances - he has agreed i can put in the pot what I can at the end of the month to take some of the financial pressure off me. At the end of this month my car has its mot and service so not sure what the outcome of this will be yet.

I think I am run down and fed up with the whole financial mess - just cant see the light any more and getting to the stage where I just want to stop posting. All I do is rob peter to pay paul, pay debts and bills, feel guilty, fed up justifying everything and work my socks off - and I cant even afford the dentist! - this month its the car!

Ive got another 3 months on a loan and then thats another debt gone - i suppose a little glimmer of light!

takingcontrolatlast

I haven't posted since February! After reading the last post I can see how "down" I was and not in the right head space. I definately took on too many challenges and felt overwhelmed. In the last few months since posting I have been on and "surfing" however I still didn't feel ready to post.

Things havent improved for me.. instead they have gotten worse - i truely lost focus on becoming debt free. I have opened up to family about the struggle and it has actually made me feel ashamed as it is self-inflicted and I'm not doing better - but they are being supportive, especially DD1 & DD2 - OH well .. lets just say he's not impressed!

The only thing to do when there is a mess is to tidy up so that's what i'm doing - financially speaking (although the house could do with it as well :rotfl:)!

It is DD1 graduation next month and I have worked overtime through May and when it arrives in June's paypacket - it will go towards that special day. I'm so excited for her. DD1 has bought me a dress to wear (i'm really touched that she has done that for me) and although it fits - it is a little snug around the stomach area so I'm working on losing weight (lost 9lb so far) but the "bloated" look is still there!

June is going to be a touch month financially, however, I'm going to stay positive (sunshine helps). I'm taking lunches to work and have a week off which will save on petrol.

I have created next month's budget and I'm focused. I have updated signature.

takingcontrolatlast

The sun is shining and i have emptied all my pots in the garden of the weeds ... just wish i could go to the garden centre and buy bedding plants to fill them

On a positive though my last washing went on the line ... so the house looks a lot tidier as there is no wet washing lying around

Having a sort out to donate items to charity - (for Tuesday pick-up)

takingcontrolatlast

Life is very busy at the moment but I have some days off work to recuperate :j

I plan to "blitz" the house (made need more than a few days then)!
and again donate to charity or see if there are any items to sell. I do know there are a couple of bikes in the garage.

Ive picked up knitting again and already made a baby's cardigan and have started my 2nd one now.

Ive got work to do for my course which i enjoy doing and will meet friends so it's not all work and no play.

Ive lost another 1lb but hope to have a big weight loss this week if I can stick to healthy eating and some exercise.

Must get on then

parsniphead

Hi taking control at last.

Losing £'s of debt and lb's from weight seem equally hard.

I'm with you with sorting the house too. Sometimes things do seem insurmountable ebu it can be done.

Good luck.

takingcontrolatlast

Hi Parsniphead,

Thanks for your post and words of encouragement

Haha I agree, losing £s of debt and llbs are very challenging at the moment and I would prefer to be gaining ... £s !!!

I lost my focus this year but have turned a corner so to speak as its just getting me down and I have had enough :mad:

I feel "downstairs" is going well but "upstairs" .... different story! Spare room seems to have turned into a dumping ground and if it is the one thing I do this week is to sort that out.... fingers crossed!

I shall try and find you and catch up on your diary too

best wishes

parsniphead

I thought that's what spare rooms were for.;)

Mines a dumping ground too. And the cellar.......and the sheds........and the sewing room:eek:

takingcontrolatlast

the trouble with budgets is I struggle to stick to them!

I have made my budget for the month of July. It's a big month as DD1 is graduating :j

I have budgeted accordingly and had worked overtime to help with this expense (please, please go in to my June pay packet as scheduled)!!

But the problem I am finding is that apart from paying all the other bills and debts, I need to pay a family member back who is struggling, I need dental work which is come in at £233.70, I need my hair doing, I'm desperate for clothes for work (still in winter clothes) ... tbh the list is never ending!

I realise I can only do one thing at a time and need to prioritise but everything seems as important as each other reason :eek:

I like to listen to theories on how to get out of debt and the latest one im looking at is as soon as your pay comes in pay yourself 10% for savings, 10% investments and 10% tithing and then pay the rest of the debts/bills. Not as easy as it sounds and I'll explain why.

I think the 10% for savings is an excellent idea in that the savings pot in my case would actually be for emergencies - like life and dental work! So I'm prepared to do this.

10% for investments - this i struggle with in that I'm not coping now and how can I invest when firstly Im ignorant to it but do understand speculate to accumulate and possibly get out of debt quicker but I could also lose - my morals say get out of debt first - i can always learn in the meantime.

10% for tithing - i believe that one of the greatest things in life is to give without expecting anything in return. This i try to do... in the past it probably was financially as well as I did like to help family members. I cant help financially anymore but I do like to give to charity things I no longer need and I put in the food bank. It is the little things you do that feed your soul so to speak. But to actually consciously give 10% of my earnings away whilst it is for the greater good ... i struggle with at the moment as I'm in so much debt and would prefer to continue with the smaller things until I'm in a better position to give back financially.

But now i'm thinking if i budgeted for 2/3 options ie 10% savings for life and 10% for tithing.. but put the tithing 10% towards a family debt it will get me in the habit of "putting money away" but it is actually paying back family quicker!! If I cant cope with this 10% i could look at ways of raising the 10% ie working overtime/selling ebay.

Theory is good ... but its action that is required!