£29,303...Enough is enough!

WelshKitty85

I'm feeling inspired after reading a few other diaries and have decided to set myself some short term goals. By the end of January I aim to:

1. Declutter the mountain of clothes on my bedroom floor & list for sale/charity shop/bin

2. Sort DC3s clothes - sell/charity/bin any that are too small

3. Declutter DC3s toy box - sell/charity/bin

4. Reduce debt to below £25,000

ohdearhowdidthathappen

Your diary is really inspiring, good luck for your goals in the New Year. Have subscribed :-)

WelshKitty85

ohshithowdidthathappen wrote: »

Your diary is really inspiring, good luck for your goals in the New Year. Have subscribed :-)

Thank you

WelshKitty85

I didn't sleep very well last night between waking myself up coughing and spluttering and then being woken up by DC3 crying. So when my alarm went off this morning I turned it off and went back to sleep. I woke up in a panic at 7.30 and then had to rush to get out the door. So I didn't manage to make the yummy, healthy lunch I had planned, but I did grab a sausage roll from the freezer before I left. Not healthy, but at least I didn't have to buy anything.

I did a grocery shop after work which came to £30.34. We still have loads of Christmas leftovers so I'm hoping this will last a week, apart from topping up milk and bread.

I've no intention of being in the same panic tomorrow so have made my lunch in advance - cous cous salad with minted peas and shredded gammon.

mark55man

a Vegan sausage roll by any chance :-)

BabyStepper

mark88man wrote: »

The secret to debt busting is twofold

1. get used to dull - the colours are less vivid in MSE land than in spendsville, as you worry about the small repetitive things more
2. remember this isnt a detour so that you can back to spendsville when you are clear, this is your new spiritual home so the sooner you get with it the better

Now if only I could get with my programme

I just wanted to say this is one of the best pieces of advice I have ever read on here. Thanks mark888man, you are absolutely right. We are trying to change our ways for good, not for a short term burst of debtbusting. Posts like this are helping me to properly learn this.

mark55man

thank you babystepper - I dread to think how much money I could have saved by stopping a lot of my under £10 purchases over the yers

the advice was inspired by a quote in the Long goodbye by Raymond Chandler although he was talking about recovering from Alcoholism but it was kind of a light bulb moment for me as well when I applied it to debt. Here you go as I am good with google :-)

Raymond_Chandler wrote: »

Maybe I can quit drinking one of these days. They all say that, don't they?"
"It takes about three years."
"Three years?" He looked shocked. "Usually it does. It's a different world. You have to get used to a paler set of colors, a quieter lot of sounds. You have to allow for relapses. All the people you used to know well will get to be just a little strange. You won't even like most of them, and they won't like you too well.

WelshKitty85

Oops...this morning I woke in a panic at 8am! This isn't a usual occurrence for me but this illness has really wiped me out. Thankfully I'd prepped everything last night and was able to get to work with 3 minutes to spare. Today has been a NSD. I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend, maybe with a walk to the park for some fresh air.

WelshKitty85

Today has been a bit emotionally draining. The builder doing house repairs didn't turn up for the 7th time this morning. He's got £700 of our (well, my dad's) money, and we have a hole outside our house, a mini digger outside the window, a pile of bricks on our grass, and no sign of a builder to do the work. On top of that we've not had the refund that we're due from the roofer. I've not factored it into our budgets because I knew deep down he wouldn't pay, but it would make such a difference to us right now. At the moment DH hasn't got any work confirmed this month. He's always quiet right after Christmas and then it picks up again, but the uncertainty of this was the final straw today.

But we went for a walk to the park, got some fresh air and listened to DC3 giggling on the swings, and suddenly things didn't seem quite so bad. DH has since had a call asking if he's free to work next week and, although it's not yet confirmed, it's a positive sign. I've done a bit more decluttering and now have 23 items listed on eBay, and a few others on fbook. I just need some to actually sell now!

I made a bbq sauce this afternoon and turned the last of the gammon into 3 tubs of pulled pork for the freezer. Tonight we had homemade pizzas to use up some leftover chicken and ham. Tomorrow I need to batch cook some lunch box supplies including mini pizzas with the left over dough, savoury muffins, and sandwich fillers.

WelshKitty85

Today has been a better day. I woke up to a small (£6) sale and interest in some other items. I have decluttered the bedroom mountain and just have 1 carrier bag of clothes left to photograph and list. I have tidied DC3s toys and listed some for sale. I have sorted DC3s clothes and bagged up the small ones in size order ready to photograph for sale. I've made pizza slices for packed lunches, a roast dinner for today and a stew for tomorrow. I've also made my lunch ready for tomorrow.