From Bad to Good and back again

Istartedontherighttrack

Hello MSErs!

And so begins my sorry tale. Really, it began quite some time ago, when I was a fresh faced graduate with £9,000 of unsecured debt, a student loan and high earning potential. I haven't quite lived up to the high earning potential, but thanks to your help (I read lots of diaries without posting), I managed to pay off the £9,000, improve my habits, build up a not insignificant amount of savings and change career path slightly.

"But that is surely good?", you are all thinking. Alas, not quite so. I have changed career path slightly, and am now more dissatisfied than ever. I earn less than before, and as my dissatisfaction increases, so does my spending. As my spending increases (mostly on food), so does my waistline. As my waistline increases, my clothes have developed a tendency to self destruct.

I am now at a cross roads in my life. Do I splash out on two expensive work suits, or next time I enter Marks and Spencers, instead of taking the escalator down to the food hall, should I take the up escalator to menswear, bag two budget suits, scarper to the nearest LIDL, and put the combined difference into an ISA to save towards my brighter future, for the day when I work out what that is going to consist of?

(At this juncture, more serious readers will castigate me before suggesting that I don't darken the door of Marks and Spencer at all, and instead seek out the nearest charity shop. However, I am not sure how well that would go down at work.)

Flippancy aside, reading you all helped me control my spending and realise how fortunate I am. Unfortunately, my current state means I have lost my discipline, and I am coming dangerously close to the point where my monthly outgoings exceed my income. This is something I need to stop.

Although I have savings, I still owe rather more on my student loan than I would have hoped to at this stage in my life. I hope that means I can still consider myself to be a DFW, at least until I become a MFW, assuming I ever manage to get a mortgage. That way, you can enjoy (tolerate?) my ramblings as I attempt to become totally debt free and gain some focus in life.

RosaBernicia

Hello and welcome Istarted

Happy new diary :beer:


Rosa xx

Istartedontherighttrack

Hello MSErs!

It is the last weekend before payday, and I have spent a glum evening emptying my wallet of receipts. I seem to have fallen victim to a spending black hole. My credit card bill is £100 more than the amount left in my current account, although I paid for a year's worth of insurance from my current account instead of paying monthly, which means I am really £50 up. I also have £50 in my wallet, so really I have £100 to last me to pay day. Unfortunately, I didn't save any money into my ISA this month, and I haven't joined a gym yet, so I am actually over budget, or would be if I had stuck to it.

This is terrible. I have spent a whole month's money and have nothing to show for it, besides two new work shirts and a few evenings out. I started keeping a spending diary, but gave up because it was too depressing. Each month, I eat and drink my way through enough money to keep a family of four and a small runabout. My plan for the next three months is to keep a record of what I spend and post it for your horror and criticism, then perhaps I can attempt to modify my spending.

Have a good weekend!

Istartedontherighttrack

Evening MSErs!

Having worked out what my downfall is, I need to do something about it. Today I wasted £3.70 on snacks, and then overspent on my weekly food shop by £20. Then I came home and found an unopened packet of slightly squishy vine ripened tomatoes in the fridge. Tomorrow, I will make a fresh tomato sauce to try and avoid wasting them.

My outstanding student loan is about £7,000. Although I currently pay virtually no interest on it, it still makes a huge difference to my monthly take home salary. It also reduces my borrowing capacity for mortgages. If today's excess is typical, then I am wasting £1,850 a year, which would knock a year off my student loan, or pay for a pretty decent holiday, or buy a decent watch. I don't actually want a decent watch, but it's pretty sobering to think of it in those terms.

Or, if I want to do a job I actually enjoy, I will need to rein in my spending.

Istartedontherighttrack

Evening MSErs!

Every time I sit down to write this, my heart sinks a little. My diary is dull.

Istartedoutontherighttrack's Debt Fuelled Diary: Post Uni Spending Oblivion would have made much more entertaining reading. You would have followed a younger, better dressed Istartedout as he drank and spent his way through life in the pre-Credit Crunch era, funded by easy borrowing, some help from the Bank of Mum and Dad and a now vanished small legacy.

Instead, I can sit here and regale you with tales of making pasta sauce out of week old squidgy tomatoes and chilis (Money Saving Puttanesca - it was pretty tasty actually), and my new spending diary (contained in a £1.39 dreary note book bought on 3 for 2 at a well known stationers). I plan on doing a monthly summary of my spending diary to see what I can aim to cut for the next three months. A daily version can be supplied to readers experiencing severe insomnia on request.

I am going to attempt to set some, hopefully realistic, money saving targets for the remainder of 2015. They are as follows:

1. Save £700 to create a buffer in my current account;
2. Save £700 by limiting my daily wastage on boredom treats;
3. Save £700 in to my ISA; and
4. Go on 3 trips to Europe whilst still achieving 1-3.

(There are 7 pay days left in 2015, hence everything being in multiples of 7.)

I am really struggling to motivate myself though. If I get to the end of the year and I have wasted almost £2,000 on afternoon treats and creating organic compost, I shall not be happy.

Istartedontherighttrack

Evening MSErs!

Spending not going particularly well. I doubt I will meet my monthly target. I have been working 11 hour days for the past few weeks, so have been living off terrible food and buying myself too many snacks and treats to get through the day. Meh. I haven't dared tot up my weekly spending. The only positive thing is that I am not incurring debt.

ViolaLass

Oh Is, it's really getting to you, isn't it?

You need to start by admitting the situation to yourself - do that spending diary! Yes, it's not fun but not doing isn't going to help.

Also, have you tried getting out for a walk in a park every day? It might help your mood.

in_need_of_direction

Oh, get over yourself. You've come here, admitted what's causing the issue and are starting to tackle it. A lot of diaries (mine included) are filled with the mundane but that's life. Give yourself credit for starting to tackle things now as opposed to in your 40s.

snowscreamer

Can I recommend YNAB as a good starting place for your spending diary. It's a lot easier than the old fashioned way and slots into modern life quite conveniently. Make sure you have a Cash account and use the linked smartphone app to record and categorise cash spends in addition to frequently loading in online bank statements for your card spends.

Istartedontherighttrack

Afternoon, MSErs!

Thank you for the much needed virtual kick in the !!!!. I always find it is far easier to identify problems than actually do something about them.

After my whines, two positives:

1. I have been keeping up with my spending diary; and
2. If I do not make any big purchases before pay day, I will be on track to save £300 this month, as set out above.

That said, my spending diary makes sobering reading. At the end of the month, I will post it. I am going to do this for three months (I am settling in to a new job in a new city, so am still not in a normal routine), and then use it to set a realistic budget. Like I said before, I am managing to avoid going back into debt, which is good, but at the end of every month, I have a sinking feeling that I have wasted my money, which is sadly true. I also don't seem to have much to show for my age, which I want to change.

This website is very sobering. Some contributors' monthly income is not much more than what I have left over for discretionary spending, which really makes me think. Quite a lot of my friends are going on extravagant long haul holidays and flying in club, while I am planning a short trip to Europe to stay with friends (the non-extravagant ones). I travelled a lot when I was younger, so I don't feel like I am missing out too much, but sometimes the goal of financial stability just seems a little dull, so your virtually helping me to remain on the right track is much appreciated.

Now I am going to go on a run, which is free and will help me feel better.

Have a good weekend

LoveLifeAgain

ISOTRT, it is dull getting where you want to be financially, but think of the badas* dance you can do round the living room when you are free :dance: