Small Steps Out Of Massive Debt!

Teacher2

I have just spent an hour reading this thread from beginning to end and am very impressed at what is now called 'the journey'.

You firstly gained knowledge and awareness of your debts, spending and financial position and then set about using that greater financial awareness to prioritise debts, set a budget and get in control of your spending and debt reduction. You have moved from a position of being controlled by debts to greater autonomy.

You seem to be fearful of trusting yourself but the £1000s you have already paid off what you owe should reassure you that you are now too aware of income/outgoings to slip back into past habits.

Trust yourself, after all, every dieter has the odd doughnut and then gets back on the wagon.

GeorgianaCavendish

PositiveBalance you say that you aren't a Budget Queen but I'm thinking of you as my budget guru, serenely giving excellent budgeting advice I do a sort of cash envelope system (cash in plastic pots!) for some expenses, but I could extend this to other categories. I have recently stopped taking the card for my main account with me every day which is really helping with some of the creeping expenses!

Working Mum Your approach sounds really perfect. I don't want to be obsessed with tracking every penny because that would completely stress me out and probably cause a big spending binge, but being aware and a bit of advance planning takes so much stress out of my life!
Birthdays and gifts were a big area of overspending for me. I've also been trying to get creative with presents this year and one of the ideas that I have used for several people has gone down so well with the recipients that I'm now hearing that they have used it when giving presents to others I've slashed the gift giving budget a lot since I started MSE and I'm making much more of an effort to do things with people instead of giving things. I suppose this is one of the upsides of my debt busting journey!

GeorgianaCavendish

Teacher2 wrote: »

I have just spent an hour reading this thread from beginning to end and am very impressed at what is now called 'the journey'.

You firstly gained knowledge and awareness of your debts, spending and financial position and then set about using that greater financial awareness to prioritise debts, set a budget and get in control of your spending and debt reduction. You have moved from a position of being controlled by debts to greater autonomy.

You seem to be fearful of trusting yourself but the £1000s you have already paid off what you owe should reassure you that you are now too aware of income/outgoings to slip back into past habits.

Trust yourself, after all, every dieter has the odd doughnut and then gets back on the wagon.

Thank you for reading and taking the time to comment - I really appreciate your kind words! You are completely right, I am fearful of trusting myself with money. I often think of my relationship with money like a diet and have realised the hard way that the harder I try to stick to a rigid set of rules, the more likely that I will turn a minor slip into an all out binge!
I'm trying to find balance and trusting myself is part of that ... very much a work in progress though!

GeorgianaCavendish

After a slow start, the ebay selling is going pretty well. I've sold about a third of the things from my listing spree last week, lots of watchers on the other items and the cheeky questions have calmed down a bit

I have another couple of storage bags to sort through as part of the spring clean and I'm sure there will be a few more things in there to either list or donate to charity. Feels good to reduce the clutter!

WannabeFree

You're doing amazing GC keep going. Don't be so hard on yourself

x

Chrystal

HI GC.... you seem to be doing really well and getting yourself focused

I'd love to know what the idea was for the presents that everyone is copying????

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I need lots of help in this direction!

PositiveBalance

GeorgianaCavendish wrote: »

PositiveBalance you say that you aren't a Budget Queen but I'm thinking of you as my budget guru, serenely giving excellent budgeting advice I do a sort of cash envelope system (cash in plastic pots!) for some expenses, but I could extend this to other categories. I have recently stopped taking the card for my main account with me every day which is really helping with some of the creeping expenses!

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: If only you knew me! :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:


Why not give it a try in some other categories as well just to see?

With regard to presents, having a list of who I need to buy for throughout the year and a 'pot' I can dip in/out of when I see a bargain saves me a lot.

GeorgianaCavendish

WannabeFree wrote: »

You're doing amazing GC keep going. Don't be so hard on yourself

x

Thank you Wannabe, I'm trying! Being hard on myself is a bit of a default but I think I'm starting to realise that I can't bully myself into a better position so will work on self-compassion instead!
Hope you are doing ok too xx

GeorgianaCavendish

Chrystal wrote: »

HI GC.... you seem to be doing really well and getting yourself focused

I'd love to know what the idea was for the presents that everyone is copying????

---

I need lots of help in this direction!

Thank you Chrystal

My present idea is one I borrowed from instagram - Blind Date With A Book. I pick a few good condition books up secondhand, wrap them in plain brown paper, and write a few clues or bullet points about the book on the outside. Then I put them all in a gift bag with some chocolate or another treat. So far I've been picking books that I really love but choice can be a bit limited by what is available! My mum has been saving the wrapping and regifting them after reading

I was also thinking of doing it with DVDs for people that aren't so into reading

GeorgianaCavendish

PositiveBalance wrote: »

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: If only you knew me! :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:


Why not give it a try in some other categories as well just to see?

With regard to presents, having a list of who I need to buy for throughout the year and a 'pot' I can dip in/out of when I see a bargain saves me a lot.

I will give it a go in the other categories

Forward planning and being able to take advantage of bargains really helps. I have to be careful to strike a balance between this and stockpiling though :rotfl: