My Plans of Actions and Dreams

LadyWithAPlan

Sorry you not feeling well. 

On the tips .. Do you have a decent EF? As that’s a good place to start saving - 3 - 6 months of essential expenses in a high yield account you only touch if it’s an emergency so not a holiday or just stuff? 

Then once that is saved you could have a bathroom fund - decide how much  you will spend - get costing etc so you have a specific amount and then save up for it in full before you buy anything - I don’t buy anything I can’t pay in full with cash - maybe try that for a year 

Do you have your annual expenses saved? 

So annual bills split into 12 months and put away? YNAB is great for the discipline on this 

Only you can decide if you would rather have a vacation than the bathroom - but put actual £ costs to each and then decide 

having big goals mean you don’t then fritter money away and use money in a positive way to help fund your life . 

I am using YNAB (you need a budget) now for 2 plus months and whilst there is a 34 day trial then an annual fee it is brilliant at providing a full picture of my choices - I am clearly being more disciplined in my spending as YNAB leaves no space to hide your spending - I am an experienced budgetee but it has made me better 
maybe watch Nick True in yt - mapped out money on YNAB 

LadyWithAPlan

We all find it difficult to get to the gym in this weather ... who really wants to leave the house!

LadyWithAPlan

HotDog2020 said:

I am getting rid of the credit card through whatever means necessary, I am sick of being a slave to it. The only good to have come from the card is buying my property, however I really need to get used to my pay packet and save, rather then spending all the time I am a slave to the credit card, I am slave to a lot of things my stomach and its desires. Or my head and its desires. I am on the phone to the credit card company waiting in line as there is a technical fault. Of all the days there is a techncial fault it would be today, when I want to cancel my credit card. I am a slave to the world. I can't get out of this situation quickly, apparently I have to wait, I have been trying for what seems like forever and I can't seem to catch a break. when will it end?

HotDog2020 said:

I feel like I have been runied slightly by the credit card, but it could also mean I am not earning enough. Of Course there will be people out there who earn less and do more, becasue they are very smart with their money, so I want to be one of those people also I will try to earn more in the future. One step at a time for now.

@LadyWithAPlan Are you proud of me for getting rid of the credit card? This step will happen later in the week. If I do need to spend big I will of course get a credit card for the one purchase and pay it off asap. However for day to day spend I am happy to use the debit card, I must see how you are getting on, I will look for your thread next.

O.A.O.

Brilliant news! well done on seeing what you need to change to win and taking action    

debtfreewannabe321

Hi @HotDog2020 👋 I've read through your posts, your intentions are always there and I can see you sometimes struggle with sticking to them. I can be the same way. I was overweight for a fair few years after my last child and I tried SW and kept talking myself out of it and doing better.

What changed for me was changing my mindset and taking one day at a time and not over planning anything. I did end up losing the weight eventually. It wasn't through SW though, I instead used mindfulness and I started fasting (for a detox more than anything but the side effect was a gradual weight loss - a stone or so over a year). I learned to eat mindfully and choose foods mindfully too. I realised much of my weight came from being emotionally unhappy and being in a unhealthy relationship and environment. I wonder if you could get to the root of what is causing your emotional eating? Perhaps asking the Drs to go on a waiting list for some therapy might be helpful? Do you think it could stem from childhood? If so a course in healing your inner child might be helpful.

Doing a house up is expensive so I can sort of understand the borrowing of money, but if you want your kitchen done would it be worth having a discussion with a bank for a low interest rate on a loan rather than using a credit card and possibly getting into a cycle of debt with it if you're unable to make the payments before the 0% runs out ?

The bathroom sounds lovely! Enjoy 😁

debtfreewannabe321

Good luck Hotdog, it sounds like you are putting your mind to achieving this so with determination it definitely could work. Would a new hobby help - like knitting, my granny and my friend both used to knit in front of the tv because otherwise they admitted they would just eat non-stop. I actually incorporated this into my lifestyle when I was trying to lose weight and it did help. I had some not too shoddy scarves at the end of it too. Just little changes here and there and sustaining them will help massively. My granny did a slimfast plan years ago, she lost a lot of weight quickly because she needed an op on her knee. It wasn't sustainable though and after the op she did put most of it back on. But something like that could be a way of getting nutrients into you so you don't feel hungry and at the same time kickstart the weight loss. Feel free to ignore all the above if you don't think it will work. Hope you have a great day  

debtfreewannabe321

Well done for staying on track with the budget

debtfreewannabe321

HotDog2020 said:

I keep going back and forward on myself, I have decided to keep the treadmill again the main reason being is that I like using it and I don't know any other options that are suitable as an alternate to having the treadmill and I am getting use to having it here, I also have planned finances I won't have any saving bar £25 (to keep nsandi premium bonds account open) and I should have paid for the treadmill by the end of the month, providing I don't go off kilter between now and then. call me crazy. O.A.O.

Does the treadmill fold up Hotdog? It could be stored away then? I had a friend who had one in her bedroom as it was out of the way and she only used the bedroom for sleeping and dressing as it was pretty small to begin with, so she had a rearrange and put it in there, is that an option for you? It sounds like it is benefiting you. Or if you have to keep it in the front room could you have a rearrange of furniture to keep it there? Maybe you could set it up in front of the tv so you have a distraction, you may end up using it more? 

Egoberry

The flip flopping on decisions sounds very familiar, even if I'm not a Gemini ha!

I see you do a lot of budgeting and planning for the future, do you also track your actual spend? I found that the only thing that really helped me stick to budgets better was seeing on paper how much money I spent on something over a month or year. Takeaways and clothing were the biggest eye openers for me and while I still often overspend, things are much better now that I have a weekly routine of capturing all my spend and reviewing where I'm over or under.

debtfreewannabe321

Don't be hard on yourself hotdog ❤️
The holiday sounds fun, I've never seen a real puffin before, they're beautiful so hopefully you will see some 😊

LadyWithAPlan

Egoberry said:

The flip flopping on decisions sounds very familiar, even if I'm not a Gemini ha!

I see you do a lot of budgeting and planning for the future, do you also track your actual spend? I found that the only thing that really helped me stick to budgets better was seeing on paper how much money I spent on something over a month or year. Takeaways and clothing were the biggest eye openers for me and while I still often overspend, things are much better now that I have a weekly routine of capturing all my spend and reviewing where I'm over or under.

For me using YNAB has been a huge game changer as it tracks every penny of spend easily - and I was a budgeted /ssheet/virtual pot person for decades before but never carefully tracked what I spent after I made my budgets beyond moving money from pots - but you can hide your spending whereas YNAB so makes you look at your spending habits 
I have really changed habits my savings are going up at a great rate vs before 

If you are interested there is a 34 free trial then it’s 99 dollars annually - 

watch the Nick True video on setting it up - I played and paused it each step of the way
 https://youtu.be/exS0gU-Ie8E?si=wTKHhsLxRPKXkYB4

Lots of his videos are great https://youtu.be/btDIr1AQjHM?si=AUvBg0Of-AqS5yqs

debtfreewannabe321 said:

Don't be hard on yourself hotdog ❤️
The holiday sounds fun, I've never seen a real puffin before, they're beautiful so hopefully you will see some 😊

Indeed being compassionate to oneself as well as others is super important - be kind 
On the mindful eating I think taking it a day at a time, each meal , each bite - enjoy your food - big tasks get done and started  with daily consistent small actions - so when the battle is too big look at today what small step you can take