Starting Again... I can be debt free before 50

raldo

Well I made it out of bed today so that was a small victory and I made one of my slimming world meals in my slow cooker. I thought I would get 4 portions out of it but have managed to eek it out so I have 5 which will cover my lunches and dinner for the next 2 days so that's better than expected.
I've signed up for receipt hog today and scanned 3 receipts I had for the past few days.
I checked one of my gambling accounts and a bet that I had made a while ago was settled so I managed to withdraw £13 back to one of my credit cards. I still have another another bet outstanding on that account so I cant close the account until that one is settled hopefully in my favour. Once that has been done then I will be closing off that account.
I've sorted out my budget again and have enough to cover all the bills this month from my wages but no money for food, petrol or any savings. I do have some cash in the house that I can use for petrol and shopping and reckon I will be able to survive on this to the 9th December as long as I spend no more than £20 on food and £20 on petrol a week. So no need to panic just yet... I just need to be extra careful with the pennies I do have and if I can get by on less than £20 on each then I might make it through to the end of December. Some things really need to change but with everything all up in the air about the house and where im going to live I just have no clue what im supposed to do.
I will need to see what else I have in the house that I can sell but with the way things have been at work im so petrified of going in tomorrow I just don't know what to do... I need to keep my job but the prospect of continuing to work there isn't a good one im not sure am strong enough to deal with everything that is going on at the moment. But like you say pidge04 going to try and take the small steps and hope I can make it through the day.
Raldo xx

EarlyRetirement

Hi raldo,
Sorry to read that things are not so good at the moment. You ae doing fantastically well, not gambling when you really need to is an achievement in its self. Well done.
I understand how hard it is to go into work when there is nasty stuff happening, I hope tomorrow is better for you.
Sending you hugs (((( ))))

raldo

Thank you for your kind words im going to try and go into work as if everything is ok and put a brave face on! I've set my alarm for mega early an thinking if i can get up early and make an effort with my clothes then I might feel better.

I did some more sums tonight and I'm thinking I might need to put the savings into my jars on hold as ideally im going to be leaving myself short. I really want to have a month's worth of gas electric and water rates saved for this cottage which ive estimated at £40 a month each so that's £120 I need to find extra this month... I've got 25 days left this month and it works out at just under £5 a day so ideally I want to try and make an extra £10 a day so that I can then put the extra into my jars... I've sold £7 worth of stuff today but won't be getting the money in for a couple of weeks as the person is on holiday so I won't count that until I receive it.
Just need a goal to focus on.
Paid another £15 to the tv licence today so only another £14.50 to pay to this and then I can start working on the next thing on my goals for August list
Better head to sleep now work is going to be a killer tomorrow wish me luck
Raldo xx

doingitanyway

You are doing so well not to gamble. Don't blow it now just when you are beginning to make progress . Eyes on the prize Raldo

raldo

Thank you.
Work was as expected today and it was awful. I ended up leaving at 3pm but went round to a friends for a coffee which was lovely and Im feeling much better tonight.
I had a no spend day today. I didn't take my lunch into work but I had a voucher for a free soup and roll so used that today so that was good. I put 50p in my debt jar and 50p into the gas jar as I said for every NSD I would take £1 out my purse and put towards my jars.
Another day of no gambling and no urge to so am saying now that im having a gambling free day although there are still a few hours I will be up its just not worth it!
I haven't put anything up for sale today and probably wont be so not doing too well on the making an extra £10 a day but I will try harder soon... I need to
I did win a twitter comp that I entered on here so that's something to look forward to getting although its a pretty rubbish prize its something for nothing that I can always pass on to a friends child... think I should really pay attention to what im entering but I got caught up with entering the competitions again!
Going to spend the next hour entering some more see if I cant get another win
Raldo xx

pidge04

Another day of no gambling ... you are doing really well.

efes_shareholder

Sorry to hear your working environment is rubbish at the moment - I am a firm believer that we go to work to make money not friends and people will happily throw you under the bus for your own gain
That said , the best response is re focus and put your head down and give everything your best shot - hard when your confidence has taken a knock but is the only way

doingitanyway

I hope today at work is a bit better. It is horrible when work is rubbish. Take care.

raldo

Evening...
Well work hasn't got much better at all... but at least I know where I stand with a few things. Im currently on secondment to a higher paid job and it turns out with everything that has gone on over the last few weeks I will be going back to my old job come 1st April which is going to mean a £300 or more drop in wages a month which is going to make things so much worse...
There is no way Im going to be able to afford to rent anywhere with my current level of debt....

Well that was my first thought but I need to be more proactive and get this sorted out. Im going to be £300 short every month which means I need to get my act together and come up with a plan of action.

Things are already tight without this added burden but am hoping that I can come up with a solution and build up a bit of money to keep me going.... I have no idea how im going to manage it or where im going to find the money from but I need to stay positive.

So I may need to revise my goals and think how im going to manage to do this... If I can manage to make £10 a day for the next 24 days then I can put £120 away for the gas, electric and water for the cottage and then £120 away towards Aprils shortfall.
Im off work tomorrow so I need to make a start on clearing out the house and getting more stuff ready for selling.
I am also going to start actively looking for and applying for other jobs see if there is anything else out there.
Im going to enter some more competitions tonight to keep me busy
Raldo xx

raldo

Well I didn't get round to doing any competitions I decided to defrost my chest freezer instead! I also cleared it out and did an inventory of everything that was in there... I had to fling quite a lot of it out as there was some chicken breasts that when I moved them they were a bit soft so didn't want to take the chance... that and I have no idea how long they have been in there! I managed to get everything into my fridge freezer drawers so that was good.
I've done a list of things that I can make out the freezer for dinners and lunches so Im pretty much set for August to be honest there is something I can have out of the freezer every night for dinner (some things will require me to take them out the night before) but worst case scenario and I forget I have enough that I can cook from frozen that it wont be a disaster.
I've done a quick shopping list and the only things I need to buy are yogurts and cheese for my breakfasts at work and then carrots and sweet potato to make soup so I might go and buy the yogurts and cheese tomorrow and then I've done that and I can get the rest when I actually need them. I might just go to the local fruit shop for the veg (that way there wont be the temptation to buy anything else) as im not a big fruit or veg fan but am just concerned it might be more expensive... will need to have a think about that one. I've portioned up the loaf of bread I had bought as I've hardly used that and put it into the freezer but if I can get through the rest of the month by spending no more than £10 a week on food I will be over the moon... to be honest I think with what I have on my shopping list I will be lucky to spend £20 till the end of the month so my goal is to put aside £10 a week for shopping and anything I don't spend that week will go into my food jar for the cottage... to give me a wee boost that I can use to fill up the freezer when I get in there. There are a few things on my list that are necessities then a few things like diet irn bru that I don't actually need as I have plenty of diluting juice in the house but if I can get a bottle for £1 I might treat myself on pay day.
Feeling a bit better knowing that im not going to starve this month... and if I can run down the freezer and cupboards it will be one less thing to worry about having to pack.... see am already moving into this cottage... and there is still a chance I wont get it or be able to afford it but no negative thoughts need a can do attitude....
I wrote a to do list for every room in the house so tomorrow im going to make a dent in some of it so that I don't waste my day off.
My goals for tomorrow:
1. Tackle at least one task off of each room list
2. Look out 5 things for selling
3. Get out of the house for a walk to get some fresh air
4. Make chicken noodle soup
5. Make chicken curry
6. Do any surveys I get through
7. Check bank accounts and credit card balances
8. Make £10 by selling something (what I have no idea am sure I will find something)
9. Clear out another box from loft
10. Enter 100 competitions
That should keep me busy for a while..... alternatively I will sit around in my pjs watching daytime tv and drinking copious amounts of tea and coffee xx