The Four D's

FootyFanDan

Eventually doing this, i have spent months lurking and reading some of the fantastic support this forum gives to people. The endless success stories and also the inspirational people and their diaries..too many to mention, don't wanna go on forever in my 1st post but this is time for the journey to begin.

So..the four D's

Diary: I have started this diary loads of times and never posted it! Time to become accountable for actions and fix this fix this and to become me again, i have days of feeling low thinking what a mess, but i realise there are people worse off but i would love to not have debt so i can use current money to pay for memories and experiences with partner and daughter

Debt: Aprox 7k WOW! Would love to say that i own a nice fancy house, with a fantastic car and loads of expensive clothes and that i have experienced the world with lavish holidays....at least i would have something to show for the debt...but nope just stupid decisions and ages of burying my head in the sand

Delusion: Really...i think i can be an home owner even after the mess i have created! I must be crazy..right? Is it even possible to repair the damage done enough to realize that dream?


Determination: I am determined to get this sorted and back on track. One day i will be an homeowner...the journey starts today

Realistically I have a decent income and there is no way i should be struggling to pay stuff off and live well however there is 100% areas i know i can cut down and most of this is on wants rather than needs and i think this is where i struggle. It time to get tough on myself


Sorry for rambling on! Hope anyone reading has a fab weekend whatever they have planned

DancingInTheRain

Lots of luck on your journey. I’ve just started a diary this month & the support here is so helpful. You can do this! Just take it one step at a time x

FootyFanDan

Thanks DancingInTheRain! I am looking forward to the journey. I have a nice steady 12 hour night shift in the office to contend with tonight...YAY:rotfl: but i am going to use the time to come up with a plan.

Good luck with your journey, i am going to take a read of more diaries tonight and then maybe some other boards for tips

Karonher

Good luck. £7k may seem a lot but if you have a plan it will soon be gone. Keep posting with milestones and you will see how quickly it falls.

FootyFanDan

Thank you Karonher, i must admit the figure is definitely daunting and the worst is that its not one big debt it is a combo of tiny daft things which built up during a difficult period when my daughter was born and it just never got controlled. I have been lurking here for a while and picking up tips and i am starting to adjust.

I am going to think of some milestones of where i want to be and hopefully this diary keeps me accountable.

beanielou

Happy shiny new diary

FootyFanDan

Thank you beanielou

enthusiasticsaver

Good luck on sorting out your finances. My two top tips. Start a spending diary so you can see where you are spending and come up with a plan to cut down. Also save an emergency fund so you are not tempted to resort to credit should you have an unexpected expense.

FootyFanDan

So, a little mini victory. I have managed to go through the many...many of my excel sheets and track the figures and up to date balances and the figure is actually £6129.03 so i am going to count that as a moral win ha.

The figure at beginning of the year before i got my head out of the sand was £6900. So I have managed to pay a little bit of but if i am to fix this i think i need to get tough on myself. I wanna try live a little and not be too strict which is probably a little selfish given the situation but hoping that this approach means i am a little more committed.

One thing concerns me that going through my monzo spend history one very popular coffee shop on my route to works pops up very often!! I MUST STOP THAT TREND.

Time to set the plan.

FootyFanDan

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

Good luck on sorting out your finances. My two top tips. Start a spending diary so you can see where you are spending and come up with a plan to cut down. Also save an emergency fund so you are not tempted to resort to credit should you have an unexpected expense.

Thank You enthusiasticsaver and thanks for the tips.

I have a just setup a monzo pot for the emergency fund which currently has £10 in but deffo need to focus on this. Whilst i think i have been put off the thought of credit, i think if something was to break i currently have no hope to replace straight away.

I think a spending diary will help loads too and seen that mentioned a lot on here. I seem to make money disappear very quickly without thought, its the things i don't think about when budgeting I got a huge shock when i looked through and saw how much the coffee here and there mounts up.

[Deleted User]

Hi Dan! :hello:

I used to spend loads on coffee like you, it's just a one off treat now. I just try and make sure I have decent coffee in the cupboards and a flask from said coffee shop to make me feel like I am still having them :rotfl: it's scary how much it all adds up!

Following and cheering you on :j