Flo's Debt Free Diary

Kitten868

Have you actually being losing weight through the gym & slimming world? With PCOS I can't lose weight no matter what I do and I just sleep all the time. If you are like this too ask your doctor about metformin. Pre kids at least on the tablets I actually felt awake when I should be. It's a diabetes drug for type 2 diabetics and people with insulin resistance - if you don't actually use your insulin it gets you to. This might not be relevant to you though.
I wouldn't move areas as you're just getting to grips with your budget now. Wait til you feel you could handle the change. It's more than just finding the money for a new deposit xxx

Siebrie

Florence_J wrote: »

Good news is i had a great chat with my friend who is getting married and she said one thing she wanted was for her bridesmaids to not have to pay for their dresses, so all i've got to do is find a sage green calf length dress and her mum will refund me, and she also said i could stay at her familys house to save on accommodation costs. This does mean i feel i should get her a really big wad of money (they want money as gifts).

I am slowly working through your whole diary, and -with some fluctuations, which are only to be expcted- you seem to be doing really well. Have you considered setting a birthday present guideline? For instance, partner gets 40 pound gift, parents andd siblings 20, cousins/nieces/nephews 10, weddings 40, best friend's wedding 50. Tthat way you can feel seecure that you have the budget, and not feel that you are 'shortchanging' someone, as they all get the same.

Florence_J

Hi all!

This week was different in that in all previous weeks It starts off hard and gets easier, this week started off brilliantly and then ended badly!

At the start of the week i had a lovely chat about with my boss about my contract extension and the fact that I've got a job interview in my town, so if i get it i will gain so many more hours and will save 286.90 pounds on travel. which will all go on paying mr bad credit card.

My boss said he had one set of fingers crossed that i would get the job, and one set crossed that i wouldn't get the job so i could work with them. He said so many wonderful things about my performance and how i fit into the team, i was so happy. :j

Not much else to report, still seems ages away till pay day, but is so much closer now.

I have divided my debt to mr bad credit card by 14, i want to be clear of that debt by the time of my friends wedding next year, so that and the ever decreasing interest rates mean i will be clear of that debt by next may's payday. woooooooooooooooooooooo :T maybe even sooner if i get the job.

I know now how to achieve my dreams, once i pay off my debts i will have around 350 pounds to save each month, meaning it will be long, but i'll be clear of my debt to my boyfriend within 15 years, and can get married in that time.

I've decided i will do the open universities degree in economics once i have cleared off my debts, even if it means i am 40 when i start. You are never too old to achieve your dreams.

Life feels good, will go for a jog today, see my friends later for a birthday party, but first to the library!

Florence_J

Not much to report. Pay day last wednesday. Got to chuck 1/14 of the total at the bad credit card. This means that and the interest payments will see me pay it off in just over a year.

I feel the shopping compulsions coming back. Coupled with occasional cravings for cigarettes. I haven't indulged in either, well certainly not the cigarettes. Somehow I have left myself with only just enough to cover my essential expenses this month (this refers to non bills, the bills are all accounted for). It feels scary. There is no margin for error.

And the bad news is i've fallen in love with music again, and there are so many gigs i want to see in Cardiff.I have been tempted to use my credit card. by which i mean the thought comes to my mind. I guess only the fact that i destroyed them and can't be bothered to replace them is stopping me.

The other bad news is i've already spent the money i've earmarked for savings. I just couldn't do it. My pay was less than i was expecting this month.

I've been feeling stressed over work. I love the people i work with, but i am getting bad anxiety over the work itself. I've got to leave, but that is easier said than done. I feel trapped. Why can't i be stronger? So many other people hate their jobs and manage to do them each day. I crawl through the days.

I'm only happy when i'm saving money, when i'm paying off my debts. If only i could do that every day

I have so much to be feel blessed about. I guess i've just got sunday night blues, it meant i couldn't really enjoy my bank holiday.

And my phone seems to be playing up. I'm getting texts from my friend around a day later. My mum hasn't been getting any of my texts, and i once had a day when it wouldn't make any calls or send any texts. I can't afford a new phone.

I'm stressed.

Florence_J

Not much to report, have been off work recently with stress and as a result have had my medication changed, and i am off work today with that nasty cold that a lot of people at work and my boyfriend have got.

Credit card bills have come through so will update the totals later.

I have been having network issues with my phone because i got the contract in oct 2014 when the phone was with orange. When i last took it to EE they are saying i have to migrate to them to fix it, which means i have to leave my contract which means i have to pay them for something that isn't my fault, will investigate further to see if there is another way round it. They quoted that it would cost me 100 quid (though they also said 'today only we can do it for 78!') but i don't have that money. I don't even have that in disposable income. I could pay less on mr bad credit card-just the minimum and get it that way. but i would feel like i'm cheating. with two weddings and christmas to save up for i'm not sure how i can do it.

also have anyone used stuff u sell? sounds like the perfect option for me, everything was going to go to the charity shop as i don't have the time to ebay, but just how crazy are the fees? I've heard they are pretty bad. still any profit would be gratefully received.

I'm going to rest up now, moving makes me nauseated.

Bobarella

Get well soon.

reality_check

My daughter has used Depop for selling clothes and shoes and I think the fees have been low and everything sold really fast, thought I would mention incase that is of any help to you...

Hope you feel better soon x

Florence_J

Thanks for the good wishes guys.

I had another day off today but will be in work tomorrow. Taking time off work, no matter how ill i am, always makes me feel incredibly anxious, in some ways i feel better being at work ill then i do resting at home!

Been reading some more diaries on here. Just ten days till pay day.

In one of the new diaries i've been reading they mention that someone said you should focus on one area to save money each month, rather than save money everywhere all at once. So that's what i will do. June will be about saving money on travel costs, there's not much i can do about my season ticket for the train, but all the buses i get for going a ridiculously short distance or in the mornings when i'm running late can easily be saved on. i just need to be better prepared.

Totally over spent on our food shop at the start of the month and as a result with ten days to go till payday we are over budget by 15 quid already! I think i went a bit over board on treats like coke zero and beer. I also did overstock, so we still have a lot of the shopping left so i guess it's not too bad.

I have had to make some re-adjustments to how i pay off my credit card bills, but i want to round down the bad credit card first to 1400. I've noticed that the minimum payments have been decreasing (yay) but that the interest rates have been staying pretty much the same, so it wouldn't be too long before the interest would be more than the minimum payment. So i've reluctantly decided that i will throw 100 pounds, plus interest, at mr bad credit card which is less than what i had been paying, and the rest of the money will be distributed around the other credit cards. it would be gutting if i ended up getting further into debt, so it has to be done.

Feeling stressed over my friends wedding in October, the cost of it, have been tempted to tell her i can't make it due to the expense. With my half sick pay and phone issues, the next two months are going to be tough, but i have worked over a slightly high but doable amount to save each month that would help me finance everything, and then i would continue saving that till christmas and then till may next year for my best friends wedding.

The good news is the amount if 115 pounds, so i am clearly doing something right finance wise if i can save that much. it still leaves me 70 pounds disposable income each month, so it's not like it is everything. And the great news if when the weddings and christmas 16 are over, i will then reduced the savings to 50 quid, and throw 75 additional pounds to the debts.

By my friends wedding next may i should be down to 300 pounds on the bad credit card. which means i can then pay that off in 2 months with my new payments.

I was hoping it would take less than the 2 1/2 years that i originally said, but it may take that long. Good news is it probably won't take longer than that. I will still be free of credit card debt by my 30th birthday. And i may be in a permanent role, or earning more, anything could happen.

My first priority is the bad credit card (vanquis). But the next priority after that would be my overdraft as the charges i pay on that don't count towards anything, whereas at least even a little of my minimum payments go towards the balance. i want the freedom to leave it and go to another bank, my overdraft just traps me.

I soon start my new medication, there's no getting away from it, i will soon be on prozac. I will try anything to make me better, make me less anxious, make me feel more capable. I have to withdraw from my current medication first.

I'm seeing a counsellor through work, but i only have two sessions left, and i can't afford to do it for myself.

I feel stressed about work, anxious, scared, i'm going to have to talk to my manager about it.

The only thing that keeps me on track is focusing on tackling my debt. It's what keeps me going. I'll admit it, sometimes i wish for a cigarette. I know they make you stressed in the long run but the initial relief is great. But i won't. I value my health (and wallet) too much.

Feel a bit depressed over my weight. I can't seem to lose the weight for any significant amount of time. I lose a bit and it's like i get bored. I comfort and stress eat because it's all that makes me happy. I need to find better ways to combat that.

I hope i have a good day at work tomorrow. I will have a chat with my line manager. I am going to ask to be reassigned. It's the only thing that is keeping me going about work, the fact that i could soon leave and do something less stressful.

Sometimes i feel bad about this. How come i can't cope with work? I don't want to be like my mum. she couldn't cope with life so she was an alcoholic, and now she's clean but doesn't work, she just lives on benefits. I have absolutely nothing against people on benefits, i grew up in a benefits household, but it's the idea that she can't work because she can't cope with it that brings me down.

Just got to make it through to the end of the month, then everything will be ok. I will be paid, i will start my new medication, and i will hopefully be in a new role at work. Just keep swimming.

Bobarella

Florence you sound like you've been doing a lot of thinking. Really hope you unravel it all

Florence_J

Well I've done it. I asked my line managers to re-assign me in a new role. They are so sorry to see me go, my head line manager said he was sorry they weren't able to get me a permanent contract and that he would write a glowing reference for me :j

I've got to remember that somehow I always land on my feet, and I do have that job interview next tuesday.

I feel gutted about leaving my team, I love them, they're great, If only I could continue working with them, but the work was driving me crazy with anxiety, and even my line managers describe the job as a stepping stone to better things.

Their is the fear that the next role I get will be lower paid, that is a legitimate fear to have, but it should be ok one way or another. I have learnt to live on little, i can manage it, i may not be able to pay off my debts as quick but i will survive. :dance: