Project Change!

Adjusting_the_balance

Good morning

I’ve spent a lot of time lurking on the diaries board and have finally decided to take the plunge and create my own. In the interest of full disclosure, it won’t be pure debt busting but will instead act as a brain dump for the journey I’m about to embark on. 

So a bit about me, I’m a mum of one and live with the other half and little one in fairly rural village. I love the outdoors and would love to live by the coast one day.

Like many I feel 2020 has been a battle and for me pretty much a write off in terms of actually achieving anything (more to do with my mindset than anything else!) I’m fast approaching the big 4-0 and feel like my 30’s have been spent “coasting” without direction and it’s now time to grow up and take charge of my life. The realisation being only I can make the changes and that nothing will get handed to me on a plate - I need to get out there and make and take opportunities. 

So, introducing Project Change - why wait for a new year for a new start??? So at the risk of looking like I’m attempting to boil the ocean here’s what I’m wanting to achieve over the next 12 months and beyond....

I’ll start with with financial, given that it’s the true essence of the board.

1. Get an emergency fund put a side - the reading I’ve done in other diaries is shouting at me that the lack of emergency fund is the route cause of our debt and also why progress in paying it off has been minimal. Need to get this sorted.
2. Pay off debts - yes easier said than done, but I’ll break it down into baby steps throughout this diary.
3. Learn to budget properly- especially food shopping!
4. Move on to overpaying mortgage once debts are cleared.

Second area of focus is health - both physical and mental. Whilst neither are in particularly poor condition, they’re not quite where I want them to be or know they could be! 

1. Weight - I need to lose 2.5 stone
2. Fitness - I love exercise but other the last 12 months this has taken a back seat resulting in the above need to lose 2.5 stone. I love running (although haven’t run properly in a month) and have 3 half marathons lined up for next year that have been postponed due to Covid - best get training! 

Mental Health

1. Work - Work has a massive effect on this (full time job in part time hours). Would love to leave but a. It’s not a great time for job hunting b. I’ve no idea what I’d want to do and c. It’s well paid for part time work. Realistically I’m not going to be in much of a position to do anything drastic whilst DS is so young (I want to be around for him as much as possible and the hours work well in terms of childcare arrangements and school holidays etc) and while we have debts outstanding. Need to spend time discovering what I want to do and developing CV and interview skills so I’m in a good position when the time comes. In the meanwhile work on maintaining a good work life balance and strategies to ensure negative impact on MH is minimal.
2. Reduce the overwhelm- I’m feeling constantly overwhelmed at the minute, so much to do, so little time or money to do it. This leads me to procrastinating and achieving nothing! It’s a viscous circle! Baby steps needed.....
3. Self care - I’ve never had much self confidence or feeling of self worth and really want to take steps to change this. Need to start dedicating time each day to ME! Whether it’s reading a book, taking a bath, exercise or spending time making my hair look a little less like a birds nest! 

I realise this sounds like an awful lot to tackle (and probably unrealistic!) but I needed to get it all down in writing to provide myself with direction and focus.

alt80

Hear you loud and clear on turning 40 - me too next week lol. Also realised I need to change my mindset and stop getting into massive personal debt living on £3-4k more than I’m earning each
month. It’s not exactly pleasant giving up stuff to get the debts gone but better than the alternative tbh.

Genuinely think the mindset is 90% - everyday I want to spend money. Wife would go mad if she knew I think about buying stuff everyday just having to keep it under control now and not raging about it. Same thing for you if you’ve got a spending addiction.

GeorgianaCavendish

These sound like great goals and a good idea to use the diary as a way to work through them all. Good luck! 

Adjusting_the_balance

Morning,
Thanks both for your supportive comments - alt80 you’re right, mindset is so important (and happy birthday for next week too!)

I thought it’d be good to try and mark a starting point, draw a line under my old life and start a fresh. So here is was I’m up against....
Cc1 - 815.48
cc2- 3992.21
cc3 - 3908.09
cc4 - 5813.1
next - 250.48
very- 324.98
OD  - 1200
Total  16304.34

As mentioned above, the root cause of 75% of this is no emergency fund. Car problems (and purchases), vets fees, household issues/ equipment replacement/ repairs, have all been funded by the above. All except cc1 and next is currently 0%.

Plan of action
Nov / Dec 
Minimum payments to be made to all.
Get Christmas shopping finished.
Car in for service / MOT

January - March
Emergency fund to £1k
Pay off next and Very (0%finishes March and then interest is mega!)
Continue minimum payments 

March - June
Pay off Cc1
continue minimum payment to others.

This takes me through until the middle of next year and by which time I’m hoping 3/7  debts are gone. Here it goes.....

angela110660

Best advice I was gven earlier this year? Unsubscribe from shopping and blog reminder emails you receive regularly and give up FB etc fo a while. If it doesn't appear in inbox/eyeline then you can't be tempted to buy, read or comment. Spending here is massively down and more time to do things eg around the house or getting out for exercise/walks, reading etc.  Great Result for us and I am keeping on with this. Good luck.

Ponylover

Morning ATB! 
Happy new diary. I have found that writing my thoughts down here helps me so much to focus them (even if it just is rambling to everyone else). I've also found it hood to mark how far I've come every 6 months to keep me pushing on.

I would also like to move to the seaside, although realistically I know that we probably wont as the kids are settled here.
Any ideas which coast you would like to go to?

Naomim

Afternoon, it looks like you have some great goals set up.  The only thing I would say, is if it is possible within your budget, overpay all the minimums, even if it's only by couple of £'s each. It looks better for you and more likely to be offered other 0% deals in time.  Also look into other ways to make some extra pennies for overpayments. I and many others on this site use survey sites like Prolific and I usually average an extre £10 - £20 a month. It might not sound much but I always put it to overpayment on the credit cards.

Every little helps! as the adverts say 😁

Keep posting and good luck!

Naomim

astrocytic_kitten

Hello and welcome! I love a good brain dump so look forward to reading about your progress. Good plan to knock out the smaller balances first too, to keep the momentum going.

Adjusting_the_balance

Morning! 

Thanks for the nuggets of advice above - will definitely look into prolific. I did Swagbucks years ago which helped massively with Xmas but it seems such a chore these days, with me getting screened out of most surveys.

Not a fan of these dark mornings 😢 or the dark evenings for that matter! 

Really positive day yesterday - not particularly MSE wise but in other ways. Firstly managed to get out for my second run of the week - I won’t lie it was tough, but I did it and survived  . Also got a mountain of errands done and chucked a chilli in the slow cooker for tea. 

In a attempt to take baby steps towards a new job, I have signed up for a free on line learning course which gives a recognised qualification at the end of it. Its only a level 2 (GCSE level) but will enable me to progress onto the level 3 if I wish and is in an area of both personal and professional interest. The last new entry onto my cv was 5 years ago, so it’ll be good to demonstrate that I’ve dusted off the old grey matter! 

Short and sweet this morning but need to keep up focus and momentum. Have a good day 

vixx_123

I signed up to Prolific a few weeks ago but I've never received a survey 🤷‍♀️ And I'm the same with Swagbucks...always not eligible!

Adjusting_the_balance

vixx_123 said:

I signed up to Prolific a few weeks ago but I've never received a survey 🤷‍♀️ And I'm the same with Swagbucks...always not eligible!

It’s frustrating isn’t it vixx? Swagbucks was a massive help when it worked for me, but I think it’s fallen out with me since I’ve not used it so much! Maybe I need to persevere and spend some time exploring it again.

I’m just sat enjoying a cuppa before the rest of the house wake up. I’ve just popped out to feed our two elderly ponies and am feeling extremely grateful that I managed to get away just as the heavens opened! 

Managed to get a last minute online shop with Morrisons, made all the sweeter by the fact I have a £5 voucher to redeem. I’ve done a quick meal plan for the week and we shouldn’t need a great deal. Just need to try and rein the other half in 🤣

Need to go through my Christmas stash later and make a list of what’s left to get - I’m hoping we’re almost there.

Better go, sounds like the little one is on his way downstairs - my peace is shattered!