Starting Afresh in 2017

StartingAfresh

Hello All!

So, I've decided this is the year I am actually going to sort my life out - in all kinds of ways, but especially my debt.

I am 28, single, have had a few health issues this year, am stuck in a rut with work and, after years of burying my head in the sand, of declaring "You only live once!" or just living slightly beyond my means each month, I now have £13700 debt.

This month feels like the longest month EVER. I have some money put aside for my bills, but aside from that, hardly anything spare. I just had to lend money off my sister for food for the rest of the month, and pretend to my friend I am sick tonight, because I can't afford to go out, and I am too embarrassed to say. I recently told my sister how much debt I am in, and I kind of wish I hadn't. I don't think it's helped having her know. I thought it would. I haven't told anyone else, and I can't do this alone. That's why I thought I'd start this diary: to keep track of things, and not feel so alone about it all.

I am sick of always being stressed, of waking up in the middle of the night panicking, of wondering if I can afford a meal or new shoes or a date. I live very much hand to mouth right now, without anything really to show for it, and I can't keep doing this.

I have tried to sort out my finances several times before, but I've just never managed it. I've never really tried, truth be told. It was all very half-hearted. This time, however, it feels different. I feel different. Things need to change. And I am going to change them.

So far, the damage is:

£3900 loan - Zopa (£155 a month; 25 months to go)
£1800 Natwest overdraft
£400 Natwest c. card
£2400 Halifax c.card - currently 0%
£1880 Tesco card - currently 0%
£3350 Barclaycard - currently paying about £50 interest a month. I have applied for a 0% HSBC card over 32 months - they want evidence of my salary before they confirm the card, but hopefully that will be confirmed next week.

The plan is to base my debt payments around this 32 month card. If I pay £104 a month onto this card, the £3350 will be gone in 32 months. If I don't get this new card, I will just focus on paying the overdraft for now, and reapply for another card in a few months.

I will also pay £155 onto the loan each month, and the minimum payments on the other cards, whilst aiming to pay off the overdraft in 10 months.

I currently earn £1581 a month, with £400 a month rent.

The long-term plan is also to look for a second income - teaching in the evening, or bar work, etc. I also want to move cities - I currently live in one of the most expensive cities in the UK, and am super lucky with my rent cost (although it means my room is small and pretty sad!) , but struggle with the general cost of living, and want to move closer to my family and to a cheaper city. I know this will cause logistical problems further down the line, but I have friends' couches I could stay on for a little while if I did get a new job in a new city, and I am not moving anywhere for a salary less than what I have now. I don't imagine this will be happening for a while, anyway!

I am also going to cut down on drinking alcohol, start meditating more, and look at other ways to be social that don't involve going out to the pub/clubs.

Soooo...this is my first post, and the start of a plan - hopefully, the start of my life turning around! Your diaries have been inspiring to me, and I hope I'll enjoy writing this down. I feel better already, in any event.

Thanks for reading, and here's to a better year for us all!

Bobarella

Good luck StartingAFresh. I think your reasons for being in debt are so common, so you are not unusual for a start. I bet you can make loads of cut backs once you get going. All the best with it.

Bob

StartingAfresh

Thank you! I feel better now I've written it down! I have a good feeling about this year - time to knock this debt down!

brizzledfw

Best of luck with getting sorted - posting regularly on here will help. It certainly does for me!

Brizzle x

StartingAfresh

Thank you!

Well today, I've spent £9.70 on some groceries, and made a batch of chicken soup for the next few days. As it's a cold grey day out, I've sat here with a cup of green tea and finally started up a budget spreadsheet, tracking all my outgoings and my spending plans for the next month. I have also written down all the things to prepare for over the next few months - weddings, birthdays, and so on.

Curiously, after putting together a proposed budget for myself for the next few months (inc. £30 a week for food, £20 a week for socialising in my own city - I'm cutting down on alcohol at the moment, so should be do-able - £30 a month for exercise, £15 a month toiletries), it seems that after all my bills and debt repayments, I will have around £460 a month spare. If that is the case, then amazing - but what concerns me is how much I must be frittering away at the moment without even thinking - as I always reach the end of the month without a scrap of cash spare. I do spend quite a lot of time out of my city - I am a little bit lonely here, and most of my friends and family live far away - so I must be spending more money on train tickets and trips out than I thought. I also eat out quite a lot. I'm going to keep track of things this month - not live my life the usual way, as frankly I can't afford to this month, but just...observe when I would be spending money - what days I'm tempted to go out for dinner, etc - and add it up hypothetically. I am going to have to travel to some friends' weddings soon, etc, but these trips aren't until February or March, and I'm going to start looking at pre-booking trains, or taking the coach.

Next week is looking to be fairly dull, and I only have around £80 spare for food and life until the end of the month, so I am going to meet a friend on Wednesday evening (Meerkat Movies!) and just plodding along with work. I'm going to see what kind of free social events I can attend!

15 days until payday!

SkintTeacher

Interesting reading here - very much like me, where does that extra cash go!? I've started tracking mine and now have 3 months worth of 'where does it go!? ' evidence, although I've drastically cut down my spending (observer's paradox!) best of luck cutting down your debt x

Determined_diva

Subscribed to thread - very intresting read and wishing you all the best for this year (and beyond) go smash it!
Dx

StartingAfresh

Thanks for the support, everyone! It's interesting once you start really thinking about where the cash goes, isn't it? I've made a packed lunch for work tomorrow, which for me is unheard of! I buy lunch almost every day, and go out for lunch with colleagues two to four times a week. It's mainly to cheer me up as I'm so bored in my job, but...if we calculate me eating out at £8 a week (at Pret, etc) and then spending £4 on the last day - £8 x 4 =£32 x 4 = £128. £128 + £16 = £144 a month on lunch. LUNCH. Wow. That is literally some food for thought. And a bit depressing!
I have to go out for lunch on Tuesday as it's a team thing, but the rest of the week, it's sandwiches all the way! I'm going to ask my colleagues to meet up and go for a walk or something at lunchtimes instead.
Here's to a good week ahead - I will post an update tomorrow! For now...sleep.

StartingAfresh

Hello All! Hope you had a good day.

So, today I brought in my packed lunch - woohoo! Ham sandwiches and some sticks of celery that would otherwise have been abandoned in my fridge forever. The celery looked a bit sad when I unwrapped it - I don't think anyone has ever said "Can't wait to eat some delicious frugal celery" before, but hey! It was something else to nibble on.

Otherwise, I have spent £6.90 today:
£2.40 on breakfast (porridge and a banana) as I didn't have time to make anything this morning. Tomorrow's plan - wake up a bit earlier and make eggs on toast!
£1 on chocolate
£1 on a scratchcard - I only buy a couple a year, and I didn't win bit of a waste!
£2.50 on some biscuits for my team, as it was a long and stressful day. I also thought this would save me money in the long-run, as I often pop out for an afternoon snack at work, and now there's a pile of biscuits just waiting for me, already purchased!

Other money-saving snippets of the day:

I brought in some tea bags and made tea instead of buying it - sounds so obvious, I know, but I never think to use the office kitchen!
I've found a cheap coach ticket to one of my friend's events coming up (£12 on the coach, instead of about £60 return on the train for the same thing!) I haven't bought it yet, as my friend hasn't confirmed if I'm okay to stay with her, but I should be buying it tomorrow.
I am eating the chicken soup I made yesterday for dinner, and staying in tonight as it's cold and rainy outside.

I was thinking about what I would usually have bought today, and aside from lunch, it's likely I'd have spent £10 going to yoga (well, kind of likely, as I have a huge headache), or I'd have gone to the pub to meet a friend, or I'd have gone to the supermarket and bought some random food I didn't need (which is a pretty standard after-work trait). But, I'm pretty happy with my soup and a cheeky glass of wine from a leftover Xmas bottle.

The plan tonight instead is to stay in and read, and call a couple of friends I haven't spoken to in a while.

I am actually feeling really positive and motivated, for the first time in a long time. I felt...my normal self today, instead of this big bundle of stress! I feel like writing this down is validating something I've been hiding for a long time, that I don't feel so alone, and that I have an actual aim now.

Bizarrely, I came home today to find that Tesco has increased my credit limit from £2000 to £3000. This made me a little angry - I mean, come on! - but also, it's giving me hope that my balance transfer card will be approved this week. HSBC has asked for some salary evidence, so I need to gather some statements together, and hopefully all will be well.

Tomorrow's plan to save a little further:

1. Make breakfast
2. Keep on making my own cups of tea
3.Make up a batch of food for lunch the following days - my soup will be gone tomorrow, so I'll probably make a risotto or pasta.

14 days until payday!

Blue_Monday_girl

Well done you. All good steps in the right direction. I think after the first couple of months saving will become second nature.

I've subscribed to your diary.

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StartingAfresh

Hey All!

So today was a pretty average day. I had to go out for lunch at work for a colleague's birthday - £9.30 - but it's going to be the only time I eat out this week. I also spent £3.90 on some chicken, lemons and bananas, and £5.94 on some toiletries (nail scissors, cotton wool, nail polish remover, sanitary products - GAH, hate buying them! They should be free!). So £19.14 in total. I also need to buy the coach to my friend's place today, which is about £12, as she confirmed I can stay with her.

I asked a friend if she wanted to go for a walk after work today, which she said yes to, but then bailed last minute. I still went anyway; I have a pretty sedentary job, so it was good to move around a bit! One of the things I am most worried about in the coming months is my social life - I am (mostly happily) single, and like to keep busy and see my friends a lot. I am trying to think of some more things that are cheap/free for the future, such as after-work walks! On the flip side, I do think I may spend more money than I should on people-pleasing - I find it hard to say no, and I worry that if I say no too many times, my friends will stop seeing me. Not an excuse for more debt, though!

I am currently making a chicken tomato casserole for the next few days, and looking at jobs. I was offered a job interview today, but it's probably not ideal (similar salary, similar role, but longer commute). We shall see! I think I will go for the interview practice, in any event.

Positive money-saving points of the day:

I made breakfast at home! Yay.
Didn't spend any money on hot drinks or snacks at work.
I am making lunch for the next two days...right now!

Other things I would have probably spent my money on today:

Fresh flowers - the roses in my room are dying, and I love flowers.
Honestly, that's pretty much it!

Things to aim for tomorrow:

1. Don't spend money on food at all tomorrow.
2. Start a pennies jar and saving up all my change.

13 days until payday!