Life on a sticky wicket in 5XL underpants

LiveLifeFull

I would just like to say that I too, wanted to lose weight and get rid of debt at the same time. There is so much correlation between the too.


I noticed that I would do a healthy food shop, and then spend extra money on a takeaway - which obviously isn't good for debt. As soon as I became extremely focused on getting rid of my debt - I stopped with the takeaways, only bought the 'healthy' foods I wanted to eat, and I've slowly been watching the debt disappear and the lbs disappear. As soon as I start eating unhealthy again.. I notice the progress on both slow down! They both go hand in hand!


Good luck!

LegBeforeWicket

Morning everyone,

First of all I have to say how much lighter my shoulders feel this morning. I know I've made very little action towards my debts in the couple of days I've been here (although it is the busiest week of the year for MBing) but the very act of confessing my situation in 'public' has lifted a weight. I don't really have anyone to tell my debts about; my parents are a no-go and while I have some friends, it's not something I could share with them. I also have a really lovely girlfriend but I don't want to tell her about the debt just yet, I will do because I think that's the right thing to do, but not until I am firmly tackling the situation. She lives in another part of the country and we aren't likely to be wanting to move in together for a while, even if I was solvent. She knows what I do to earn money, that I don't make much and why, and I have no doubt she would be supportive if I told her, but I want to be able to go to her and show her how it's being tackled.

Anyway,

Thankyou foxgloves for such a lovely, inspiring post. Congratulations on making such big changes in your lives, both with the debt and losing such an incredible amount of weight. Do you find it hard not to look back and ruminate on 'what if I hadn't spent/ate'? By my own admission, I find it quite easy to wallow in self-pity, it's just so uncomfortably comfortable in that headspace.

Thankyou enthusiasticsaver for some kind and helpful words. Your last sentence is exactly the kind of straight talking I need. I don't wish this to sound like an excuse because I refuse to have any excuses now, but I have a habit of not dealing with things that affect just me and hearing some matter of fact words will jolt me out of the way of that default way of thinking. As a child I was bullied by my father (he still tries) and that made me afraid to stand up for myself at school, or push myself in things that would better me. My default response when the SHTF and it only affects me is to say 'meh, I don't care', although I wouldn't walk away if someone else needed help; it's a low self esteem thing. Like I say, I'm an adult and it's not an excuse, but I need to keep tackling this mindset as well as the debt.

Fatrab, it was clear very quickly to me that your diary was something I wanted to follow (I'll make my way over to posting soon, I promise). It's hard to put into words what made my brain 'click' and sign-up, but you are motivated, have a plan, and really positive with your outlook.

So, about the debts. I promised I'd list them so here they are, in order of nearest 0% expiry date:

CC1 £452.79
CC2 £2256.41
CC3 £756.13
CC4 £2034.18
CC5 £2040.91
CC6 £1908.29

Total: £9448.71

I'm about to make a £15 payment on CC3 but other than that all minimums are paid for March, but by the end of the month I intend to have paid all of CC1, leaving an end of month £8980.92.

foxgloves

Hi Legbeforewicket,
Hmmm, been thinking about your question. Re weightloss, yes I wish I'd done it earlier. I've always been chunky but didn't reach very big weights until I settled down with my partner. He had all my bad food habits & then some! I guess we enabled each other's behaviour re takeaways, endless going out for lunches, 9pm beer, crisp & chocolate runs, etc. I'd lost weight before but always regained it plus a bit more. True my weight is up a bit at the moment but I am still 4.5 stones less than I was. I think my head was just in the right space for getting healthier.
Different story with the money side of things. Yes I REALLY wish I'd done it earlier. When I wss working, before my redundancy, mr f & I were earning around £56k a year (joint income) & we never had any spare money!! It was all either paying bills, servicing debts or being frittered away. When I think what we could have saved, if only the debt LBM had arrived 10 or 15 years earlier. So I try not to think about it really. At least the motivation to change our terrible money habits did come & we are truly reformed characters now. I think you said you are mid-30s? If so, you have the chance to tackle both issues a good few years earlier than we did, & I think you'll find your self-esteem will rocket.
Good luck!

LegBeforeWicket

Afternoon everyone,

Cheltenham is over for another year. I made my target and it was enjoyable to watch, but it’s also quite a busy time so I’m not unhappy it’s over.

Thankyou LiveLifeFull for stopping by, it’s very kind of you to share your experience. I’m sorry I didn’t reply n my previous post but I didn’t notice yours, I think I’d started to reply and you maybe hadn’t posted at the time I made my post. I most definitely recognise the buy healthy food then buy a takeaway scenario, sadly. I think I’ve spent a lot of time waiting for that ‘spark’ to appear and make me focused on everything with a huge amount of energy, but then I know that realistically debt and weight will be a battle with lots of hard work.

Thanks again foxgloves for the helpful and kind words. It would be lovely if we could switch off bad memories or times that we are less proud of, but I suppose the thing to remember is that these moments are what builds character and teaches us lessons. My only issue is remembering this and not dwelling on the past too much. Just hearing that other people have been through similar experiences is so inspiring and motivating; I wish people hadn’t had to have difficult times, of course, but I’m grateful that people are sharing them.

So what have I done today apart from looking at horse odds? Well, I’ve registered my complaint about some PPI I had on a store card many years ago. Even if it’s successful I doubt it will amount to much, but anything would be useful right now. I’ve also cancelled Sky – I didn’t have the most expensive package but I can’t justify it and I’ve always known that, so it’s gone.
I’ve also been thinking about food and how much I spend. I’ve looked over my records and my average monthly spend for the past 6/7 years has been just under £250. Yes, almost £250 for one person. I’m not someone who drinks alcohol very often so this total is almost all food, and mostly of the kind lacking in nutrition. My budget has always been for less than this, but I’ve always fiddled it so that I could fill my belly…and this has to STOP!
My plan for this weekend is to work out some kind of weekly menu, one that is budget-friendly and health-friendly. It will be tricky because I need to take into account migraine triggers, my digestive issues as well one of my arthritis issues – gout. I know full well that this means a fairly boring food list and that some cheap staples I won’t be able to have, but it will still be far cheaper than £250 a month of beige, deep fried crap.

MeenaM

Hello and welcome! good luck with your journey , you can do this! get on a written budget and stick to it is my advice

i don't understand matched betting otherwise i would be doing it too probably

have a look online for some of the free hairy biker diet recipes they are so easy to make , healthy , tasty and you can do on a budget !

LegBeforeWicket

Afternoon everyone!

Thanks MeenaM for stopping by and giving me some encouragement and advice, I genuinely appreciate that.

So what has LBW got to report? Well, not a huge amount, sadly. I spent almost all of the weekend suffering with migraines - I get these a lot, an awful lot, and managing them has always been a tricky business, and this past weekend has seen me have an unusually high number of attacks. I'm not unduly worried, but the effect is that I spent a lot of time lying down and trying not to look at screens. The plus point is that I had two NSDs and it looks like I'll have one today, hopefully.

I haven't managed to finish my 'diet' plan fully but it's getting close' once it's finished I'll price it up online and at the local ALDI so I know where I stand budget wise. Having been used to spending that £250 a month I'll miss the 'freedom' of not thinking before I buy food (food is a comfort to me so I have a strong bond with it), but then I know that the real freedom is in getting debt free. My aim is to bring it in at half of what I was spending.

I've also updated my ongoing repayment planner/budget because I'd used an estimated monthly repayment figure for one of the debts instead of calculating the actual amount the minimum will be. This leads me onto a quick question. I read in passing somewhere that it's better to pay above the minimum even if it's just a pound above so as to avoid a minimum payment marker. Do people agree with this? I'm paying minimums everywhere except for the debt with the shortest 0% deal length left, should I reduce this slightly and increase payments by a £1 on the others, or is that unnecessary?

Right, time to finish the housework and then catch up on some inspirational diaries.

LBW

WannabeFree

Hello and welcome

I'm the other end of the scale weightwise BUT I have yo yo'd constantly. I have a long ongoing battle with food. I find comfort eating my go to but then feel guilty and well then.. I'm sure you know the cycle I'll get to the point. I can't afford to join slimming world however I spent days reading online about it. I now follow it pretty 'strict' but the food is amazing. I can't believe I have so much choice and yet still lose/not gain weight. I follow the recipes on Pinch of nom or there's a good few blogs too. I make it fit my budget and even my small ones are willing to try the food.

Anyway I'll stop about food now

Look forward to following your journey

x

fatrab

LegBeforeWicket wrote: »

This leads me onto a quick question. I read in passing somewhere that it's better to pay above the minimum even if it's just a pound above so as to avoid a minimum payment marker. Do people agree with this?

I'm not sure I do, I think you'd be better throwing everything at the 0% card ending soonest then moving onto the next one and doing the same. I made minimum payments on several cards and it has never affected my ability to obtain further credit. However what worked for me might not work for you.


Hope everything is going well and the migraines have subsided

enthusiasticsaver

LegBeforeWicket wrote: »

So what have I done today apart from looking at horse odds? Well, I’ve registered my complaint about some PPI I had on a store card many years ago. Even if it’s successful I doubt it will amount to much, but anything would be useful right now. I’ve also cancelled Sky – I didn’t have the most expensive package but I can’t justify it and I’ve always known that, so it’s gone.
I’ve also been thinking about food and how much I spend. I’ve looked over my records and my average monthly spend for the past 6/7 years has been just under £250. Yes, almost £250 for one person. I’m not someone who drinks alcohol very often so this total is almost all food, and mostly of the kind lacking in nutrition. My budget has always been for less than this, but I’ve always fiddled it so that I could fill my belly…and this has to STOP!
My plan for this weekend is to work out some kind of weekly menu, one that is budget-friendly and health-friendly. It will be tricky because I need to take into account migraine triggers, my digestive issues as well one of my arthritis issues – gout. I know full well that this means a fairly boring food list and that some cheap staples I won’t be able to have, but it will still be far cheaper than £250 a month of beige, deep fried crap.

This is a great plan to work out your menu and reduce your food bill. We pay £250 for 2 of us and if we wanted we could get it much lower so £250 for just you unless you are buying organic veg and meat and eco friendly cleaning products which are expensive is way over the top. Do you cook? Batch cooking things like spaghetti bolognese or chicken casserole is great if you are on a budget.. stir fry vegetables in some soy sauce and honey and serve it with rice. I thought the triggers for migraine included sugar so I wonder if these are as a result of your poor diet. Try eliminating the high sugar, high fat stuff and educating your palate with colourful fruit and veg with high protein like meat, fish, pulses, small amount of cheese (unless this also triggers migraines) and eggs.

LegBeforeWicket wrote: »

Thankyou enthusiasticsaver for some kind and helpful words. Your last sentence is exactly the kind of straight talking I need. I don't wish this to sound like an excuse because I refuse to have any excuses now, but I have a habit of not dealing with things that affect just me and hearing some matter of fact words will jolt me out of the way of that default way of thinking. As a child I was bullied by my father (he still tries) and that made me afraid to stand up for myself at school, or push myself in things that would better me. My default response when the SHTF and it only affects me is to say 'meh, I don't care', although I wouldn't walk away if someone else needed help; it's a low self esteem thing. Like I say, I'm an adult and it's not an excuse, but I need to keep tackling this mindset as well as the debt.

Fatrab, it was clear very quickly to me that your diary was something I wanted to follow (I'll make my way over to posting soon, I promise). It's hard to put into words what made my brain 'click' and sign-up, but you are motivated, have a plan, and really positive with your outlook.

So, about the debts. I promised I'd list them so here they are, in order of nearest 0% expiry date:

CC1 £452.79
CC2 £2256.41
CC3 £756.13
CC4 £2034.18
CC5 £2040.91
CC6 £1908.29

Total: £9448.71

I'm about to make a £15 payment on CC3 but other than that all minimums are paid for March, but by the end of the month I intend to have paid all of CC1, leaving an end of month £8980.92.

That is a great start on reducing the debt and it would give you a boost to get rid of one of those cards by the end of the month. I will subscribe to cheer you on.

Not dealing with things is a common reason for uncontrolled finances. Often people use spending to give them a psychological boost and temporary raise in self esteem but it is short lived when the guilt kicks in. Leading a more measured life (both in terms of food and money) where you allow yourself the odd treat within budget or diet plan in the case of food will bring success in the end. This is a marathon not a sprint and I strongly encourage you to also start an emergency savings account so you are not tempted to spend on cards in an emergency. It also gets you in the much healthier mindset of saving for things you want rather than stick the cost on a credit card because "you need it now". This is not meant harshly and we have all been there but it does not help when you are on a low income. Just tell yourself when the debt is gone all the monthly repayments you are currently making will be yours to spend or save as you wish.

LegBeforeWicket wrote: »

I read in passing somewhere that it's better to pay above the minimum even if it's just a pound above so as to avoid a minimum payment marker. Do people agree with this? I'm paying minimums everywhere except for the debt with the shortest 0% deal length left, should I reduce this slightly and increase payments by a £1 on the others, or is that unnecessary?

LBW

Paying slightly more than minimums is sensible when you are paying interest. As yours is all at 0% I suggest you target the shortest deal and work from there.

Also start that emergency savings account. The suggested amount is £1000 but on lower incomes I would suggest even a few hundred is a good start. It depends on when the deals finish and how close you are to clearning them before they expire.

The Dave Ramsey videos are useful to some although he is American the principles are the same.

Good luck.

LegBeforeWicket

Afternoon everyone,

I hope you are all well. I've had quite a busy day but none of it has been wasted; isn't it amazing how much we can get done when motivated?

Thankyou for the replies and the advice. As ever, your wisdom, experience and advice is very much appreciated.

With regards to food, diet and my migraines. I do cook and quite enjoy it. I'm no master chef but I'm reasonably competent, but my [STRIKE]issue[/STRIKE] excuse is that I've been too lazy to prepare food or when I have I've made the most calorific versions imaginable. I've had migraines for something like 30 years now and various factors influence how many attacks I have, including some foods which are triggers. Although I can't promise never to have a trigger food again, my plan is for them to be the exception rather than the norm, likewise with the foods which make me want to sit in the bathroom for an hour or two This is something I must do if I want to get back to work and enjoy life, which I do.
Anyway, I've worked out a 7 day 'diet' which is pretty plain and boring (lots of things have had to be cut to take account of my various health issues) but is perfectly fine and manageable, with the intention to add to it as my health improves and my stomach's tolerance improves. This will commence once my existing food stocks are gone, so in about a week.

What else? Well, I managed to set up a bank account switch using an account I rarely used for MBing activities, which should earn me £125 in the next seven days. I've made this month's earnings target already so I decided to pay off CC1 today rather than wait until the end of the month, meaning my balances are now as follows:

CC1 £0
CC2 £2256.41
CC3 £741.13
CC4 £2034.18
CC5 £2040.91
CC6 £1908.29

Total: £8980.92

Under £9k already! Hurrah! It's never going above that again!
Also, I mentioned before that I've got working capital of about £4.5k. In some ways having more cash is better, but moving £500 of that out and keeping it as the basis of an emergency fund isn't going to make too much difference on my day to day earnings activities.

LBW