2020++ - smiling and waving and looking so fine

mark55man

Almost exactly what I had for breakfast, except the cinnamon which would be lovely. Plus I added bran flakes

Veganuary and Dry-anuary are not going to happen, as 15 minutes into 2020 I had already had a bottle of beer and a ham sandwich - so it goes! But breakfast was vegan so back on the wagon

mark55man

doingitanyway wrote: »

Happy New Year.
I am going more plant based this year too. I have lottos weight to lose and think it might help save me and the planet at the same time

good luck with your challenge DIA and a happy new year to you

I like the "there is no Planet B" slogan that I have seen occasionally. No Planet B and no Plan B just sticking to the knitting and getting it done :T

enthusiasticsaver

Some great targets there and I think a 5 year plan is crucial. We always did that both in terms of finance (savings goals, mortgage repayment, pension savings etc) and personal ones - home improvements, car replacements, holiday plans etc. Volunteering and being more eco friendly is also good.

Tackling the overdraft is sensible. Personally we never had one as I could never stand seeing the current account in negative territory.

savingholmes

All the best with your goals Mark!

mark55man

Thanks ES and savingholmes

As I said in my OP the OD has become a way of life - the first time was the worst but that was 40 years ago - its never truly gone away. First I wouldn't deal with it, then I didn't care, then I couldn't deal with it, but now I am. Not that I've always been overdrawn, but its always been a legitimate buffer as I overstretched elsewhere. but no more!

To give me a fighting chance I am going to stop my regular savings and pump it into the overdraft for a couple of months to give me a positive buffer. This is both sensible and MSE as my OD is my most expensive debt and will be getting worse, so shifting my debt balances +£1K in favour of my bank account and -£1K on lower interest savings makes sense as well as being better behaviour

in_need_of_direction

Isn’t it odd how differently we view things? I’ve been afraid of an od since I cleared one in my early 20s. I was however comfortable with a personal loan and £18k of credit card debt.

mark55man

That’s very true- although in my case I wasn’t fussy. I’d go with any financial product that would have me. Some worked out some were messy :rotfl:

EchoB

It’s scary how an OD becomes the norm. To clear mine I used a new current account for my spending money eg food, fuel and personal spends, although my OD was still there I couldn’t see the enticing “available balance” only what I had left.
I know it’s a bit backwards to create an OD to hold a credit balance elsewhere but each month the start and finish balance was lower, and, because I wasn’t looking at it every day the temptation to further utilise it was reduced.

savingholmes

I found daily charging forced me to change my habits. I moved the debt to a 0% CC and have managed to stay within the £250 pcm buffer since - and often not touch it at all.

mark55man

Report back 001 - for 04-Jan

Fitness & Health: Starting weight 264lbs, been eating healthy but still using up xmas stuff so probably level. I am going to weigh every week and not in between. Managed 5000 steps every day apart from NYD, have joined puregym which has gyms near all my major work locations which means I can try and fit it in a bit better. £25 a month so not terrible.

Budget and Financial: Started my plan not to get overdrawn, initially this will be at end of month, but by April I want this to be never knowingly overdrawn. I have set up new spreadsheets based on last years average budgets, but need to think a bit harder about what is achievable. Focus on reducing grocery and entertainment

Environment & Green: Have done a lot on Freegle and have plans for today outside as its sunny here. With mainly willing help from DS1 and DS2 have decluttered 3 car loads of unwanted stuff from the house.

Community& Volunteering: Not progressing much with volunteering, but have joined a couple of local facebook groups to get into the swing and make some decisions about what I really want to do.

Organisation & Household: Am really trying to keep busy and getting on with eating frogs - I'm doing quite well but loads left. Also one of my benefits at work last year was a bike to cycle to work which I had been putting off, I used this to buy a bike which I will try and use to get to the station and may use it for weekend outings