Learning to live within my means

astrocytic_kitten

Well, I have now gone 3 pay periods without adding to debt - a first since I started racking it up!

Total hasn’t gone down as much as I’d have liked in that time, but home repairs have started and all spare cash is going to that. Will update totals once the credit card DD comes off, but will pay down about £500 this month.

Not having so much trouble with spending near misses at the moment - though possibly only because all my dreaming of spending money I don’t have is going on fantasy holiday planning. I’m such a planner that I don’t impulse book holidays, I like to do loads of research first...hopefully that means more opportunities to stop and talk sense into myself whenever I start to daydream. I have a trip to family planned this year but otherwise there is NO budget for holiday. Once home stops being quite so chaotic and the repairs are sorted I’ll hopefully stop feeling such an urge to get away anyway (fingers crossed!)

astrocytic_kitten

Current total is £21653, and will be £21453 in a couple of weeks...which I think is about 7% paid off? If I think too hard about percentages I get confused. I keep on looking at houses with decent gardens which in theory if I didn’t have debt I could currently afford on a 4 day a week salary. Let’s hope that is still the case in a few years.

I’m other news, the uselessness of credit scores has been drummed into me - in just a month mine has gone from a high ‘fair’ to ‘excellent’ almost at the very top of the range, despite having pretty much the same level of debt and debt to income ratio :rotfl: Presumably it’s because most of my card debt has gone to a loan and I’ve closed accounts, but I know any half decent underwriter would see me as at huge risk of running up loads more debt right now so I’m not kidding myself it means anything.

Other than that, still living by YNAB, still on track budget-wise, have sold 20+ things on eBay with only a few hanging round now having been relisted a few times. Over Easter I’m planning to dig out summer clothes and see what I can list from there. Looking forward to a nice restful weekend with lots and lots of kitty cuddles!

astrocytic_kitten

Not much to report this week... plodding along quite nicely with things. Feel a bit like Bridget Jones in the second book with her hole in the wall, the flat repairs are taking so long, but that’s the cost of doing it in a moneysaving way and it will be worth it when done.

I’ve spent quite a bit at the vet this week but it was covered by the vet pot and I’ll get some back from insurance. Will hopefully be getting a pay rise soon, don’t know how much yet but I’ve been playing around with some options. It’s so tempting to put it all to debt and see the total go down faster but looking at my budget I think it actually needs to go to pots to fund irregular bills, one off expenses etc, so I can properly break the debt cycle.

I’m quietly pleased with how my mindset is changing, I know it’s early days and could still all go wrong but I’ve stopped shopping and stopped spending lazy days scrolling through online shopping sites. I’m hopeful I can really internalise that I have enough.

astrocytic_kitten

Well, pride comes before a fall, and thinking I’ve got my mindset all sorted comes the day before I decide I need ALL THE DRESSES.

Have resisted so far. Apart from anything, if I could only lose the half stone that’s crept on over the past year I’d fit into a lot of the clothes I already have :rotfl:

Igamogam

astrocytic_kitten wrote: »

Well, pride comes before a fall, and thinking I’ve got my mindset all sorted comes the day before I decide I need ALL THE DRESSES.

Have resisted so far. Apart from anything, if I could only lose the half stone that’s crept on over the past year I’d fit into a lot of the clothes I already have :rotfl:

My challenge for myself this year is to not buy any clothes - underwear an exceptions I have plenty to wear now and plenty to wear as I lose weight............I have had to cave and buy myself a new swimming costume as I have lost so much weight it now hangs on me and is becoming indecent when doing a HIIT class in the pool! Going to sort through clothes soon and get rid of bigger stuff.........that is a scary thought!

in_need_of_direction

i also concluded that i need new underwear. when driving slowly over speed bumps causes a wince due to lack of support, underwear needs a refresh

clippy_girl

Hello! Have enjoyed your diary well done on resisting the purchases, especially the holiday! Holidays are def my biggest downfall

astrocytic_kitten

Thanks both! Igamogam, my advice is to let yourself keep a handful of things you really truly love but get rid of the rest. In need of direction... you’re definitely in need of new underwear in that case!

I wish I could commit to not buying any new clothes for a time, I’m doing much better than I used to but anxieties about new situations always come out as anxieties about what I’m wearing and I can’t bear the thought of not being able to buy something new if ‘needed’. According to YNAB I’ve spent an average of £36 per month on clothes this year, which is dramatically cutting back compared to before LBM - I have no idea what I was spending but it must have been at least £100. And a fair bit of that was underwear (last year I started throwing out everything with holes in as I came across it, resulted in a hugely depleted underwear drawer!).

astrocytic_kitten

Thanks Clippy, I think I’ve resisted 5 holidays in the past couple of months! I seem to be cycling between thinking I need new clothes, thinking I need a holiday, or spending time trying to figure where the sweet spot is between having a garden and not having a 4 hour round trip commute each day. At least there’s no chance I can impulse buy a new house...

astrocytic_kitten

Another quiet week here. The part of my brain which does the irresponsible spending is still trying to convince the rest of me that I NEED new dresses (I think it’s the warmer weather), but I’ve reached a so-far successful impasse with it by telling myself I need to dig out my summer clothes first and see what I have and what fits, plus sell what I can. I’m feeling so drained at the moment I think it will take me a couple of weeks to get round to that, hopefully by then the impulse will have passed.

I’ve been spending a lot of time looking after my plants today, and a lot of time cuddling cats / daydreaming about having a garden / reading. Really need some more rest, early night tonight I think.

Payday next week - barring disasters will come in under budget, and for the first month in probably the last decade I haven’t bought ANY clothes at all!