StartAFresh

StartAfresh

Another year, another start.

Hopefully I will stick with it and make more of an effort this year.
There are a few things I need to get to grips with so I am going to jot down my plans and achievements and see how it goes. This diary will be my incentive.

The list:
1) Money - I started with debts around £40,000, not including the mortgage and have been reducing it each year. Last year I cleared
around £5,000 which is good, but nearly as good as it could be.

I am currently £24,599 in debt. My current plan is to get that down to £10,000 by the end of the year. I should be able to achieve this - so as 11 months left that is around £1218 reduction each month.

2) Weight - has always been high. Thought I would lose some and last year I did, only to put it back on - which I know is very common.

I think if I plan to lose 2lb a week that is a good start. Although I know if I put my mind to it I can lose a lot more at the start. Currently 17st 8lb

3) Work - I feel as if I am drowning and unable, intellectually, to do my job. I work in I.T. and find I don't understand some of the things I need to do.
But I know a lot of that is down to laziness. Work isn't fun anymore and I don't put in the effort I used to. Not sure how I will measure this one, but here goes. Currently in work:
- Happiness - 1/10
- Effort - 1/10
- Confident 1/10

4) Future. I think I will try to measure this as I have for work. Hopefully each month these numbers will rise.
- Happiness - 3/10
- Effort - 2/10
- Possitive Attitude - 2/10
- Allowing time for others - 3/10

Well that's the basics.

StartAfresh

Money. Jan 2015 £24,230 in debt. 4 cards and 3 loans.
- Card 1 - £1,600 (30%)
- Card 2 - £2,500 (16%)
- Card 3 - £2,152 (0%)
- Card 4 - £9,440 (0%)
- Loan 1 - £3,125
- Loan 2 - £3,388
- Loan 3 - £2,025

I know I have to clear the highest interest first so £1,600 here I come.
So after payments on 1st Feb hopefully this will be down to about £23,000.

StartAfresh

Weight, currently 17st 8lb.
By this Sunday get it down to 17st 6lb!

Work and Future: I will start concentrating and paying more attention. I will score myself again when I feel anything has changed.

wigannwuk

hi...

i totally subscribe to your thought process - career wise and money wise. Ive had too many wasted years slipping by...so im setting myself achieveable goals going forward.As with your money issue (mine is similar) i think if you keep going it will cease to be a problem. The weight...im not too bad as i really enjoy running and keep fit. Have you looked at a local Park Run? you see some real success stories at those where people with no fitness , walk them then eventually build up their fitness. Whatever you do stick to it..we will all get there eventually.

StartAfresh

Thanks for the support wigannwuk.
Yep, hopefully we can both do well this year.
Weight wise, my problem is more I need to stop eating so much

wigannwuk

you would probably be suprised how little food you actually need compared to what you consume. Im 6 foot 4 and put weight on easily due to my sweet tooth and i know im greedy. This time last year i was 18 stone...now im 15 and a half and feel loads better for it. you will get out of it what you put into it weightloss wise...
I recommend watching Fat,sick & nearly dead & hungry for change - they are on youtube and netflix.

StartAfresh

Well reassessed all my finances today and as of today £24,599 in debt. :eek:

1. Card 1 - £1,588 (30%)
2. Card 2 - £2,549 (16%)
3. Card 3 - £2,152 (0%)
4. Card 4 - £9,875 (0%)
5. Loan 1 - £3,100
6. Loan 2 - £3,267
7. Loan 3 - £1,890

More than I thought, but that should be accurate. The loans are going down each month, by the repayment amounts, but I am being very bad at reducing the cards and tend to spend on them again.


Slightly new approach is now I have destroyed the highest % card so I can't re-spend on it. As the other cards are at their limits I can't spend on them either - so I if I repay a chunk of the highest card at the start of each month there is no way to spend it again - tough love.


Will report back during March.

StartAfresh

Weight - no change - must get motivated.

Work - I am actually feeling happier in work. Things starting to improve. Early days yet and I won't rate it too high just yet but..

• Happiness - 3/10
• Effort - 3/10
• Confident 3/10

Future - Slight improvement, but hopefully should get better soon:

• Happiness - 4/10
• Effort - 3/10
• Positive Attitude - 3/10
• Allowing time for others - 3/10

TheRoders

I can totally sympathise with the work situation. I was in IT myself. A developer for years, progressing to development manager and then further on as a Project Manager/business analyst.

My confidence and happiness was also suffering due to new situations and challenges. I was just too lazy to embrace them and they ended up scaring the hell out of me to the point where I HATED work. Luckily I had a backup plan as I had my own business so quit IT in 2012 and have never looked back.

I'm sure with a little hard work you can fall in love with it again. Its a fab industry to be in but it does come with a lot of stress..

StartAfresh

So far so good [STRIKE]£24,599[/STRIKE] in debt in Feb, should be down to £23,332 or less by the end of March.

1. Card 1 - [STRIKE]£1,588[/STRIKE]\£1,279 (30%)
2. Card 2 - [STRIKE]£2,549[/STRIKE]\£2,462 (16%)
3. Card 3 - [STRIKE]£2,152[/STRIKE]\£2,101 (0%)
4. Card 4 - [STRIKE]£9,875[/STRIKE]\£9,528 (0%)
5. Loan 1 - [STRIKE]£3,100[/STRIKE]\£3,063
6. Loan 2 - [STRIKE]£3,267[/STRIKE]\£3,145
7. Loan 3 - [STRIKE]£1,890[/STRIKE]\£1754

Short term goal - cancel Card 1 in the next 2 months.
Longer term aiming for below £15,000 by Christmas.

Silian

Hi Startafresh!

Well done on starting to pay back your debts! It is a good feeling to see them go down, isn't it?

I also work in IT and I have to admit that I also sometimes struggle to learn the new technologies - and when you bother it feels like things are depreciated as soon as you learn them. What used to attract me in IT (the fast paced ever changing landscape) is now becoming a burden - guess that is why it tends to be a "young person's game"

Good luck with your debt / weight / happiness. I look forward to see how you do.