Head Up, Keep Positive, Eye on the Prize

ThisLife

£5.20 transferred from Prolific, which makes £10.34 so far this month.

I'm aiming for £20 per month and so if I'm able to do that over the next 28 months that will total £560. A nice chunk and just goes to show how much all those small amount can add up to 

ThisLife

Going to set myself another little challenge.

Going back to what I said earlier in the diary about leaving my purse at home so as not to be tempted to buy treats. As I have a long commute each day it was rightly suggested that I should have some emergency money, which I agree is a good idea.

So I'm going to take £10 out of my discretionary spends each week and take that with me, only to be used in an emergency. At the end of each week, I will put whatever is left in one of those ceramic piggy banks you need to smash to get the money out. I'm thinking that the desire to put that crisp £10 note in the piggy bank will outweigh the desire to buy actual crisps! 

I will smash it when there is no space left to put any more in.

bigbeff

I like that plan with the £10, I am trying to reduce my random spending too....maybe I'll join you in that plan, I might make myself a little coin purse so I don't need to take my full purse with all my cards in  

ThisLife

I’d love it if you joined in 😊 That’s what I’ve done. I’ve found a little coin purse and I’ve got £10 in it and my driving license. Mr TL said just to be careful if I got stopped by the police not to hand over the £10 with the license 🤣 

bigbeff

ThisLife said:

I’d love it if you joined in 😊 That’s what I’ve done. I’ve found a little coin purse and I’ve got £10 in it and my driving license. Mr TL said just to be careful if I got stopped by the police not to hand over the £10 with the license 🤣 

I've got my little coin purse ready and put my £10 ready for next week

ThisLife

@bigbeff I’ve got mine ready for the week too 😊 Let’s see how much we have left by the end of the week! 

ThisLife

A new week ahead. Ready to make changes 

I have come to the realisation that my job has taken pretty much all it can out of me and changes need to happen. I have been in the same profession for 28 years and for the past 18 years have been commuting on average 2.5 to 3 hours a day, with work still to be done when I get home. I watched a podcast last night about work/life balance which talked about how your job should facilitate you being able to do all the other things that bring joy into your life. Not spending most of your time outside the workplace thinking about work, doing additional work or not sleeping properly because your mind is whirring and can't relax.

There are some things I really enjoy about my job and bring me joy and laughter through the day. However, in the past few years these are being eclipsed by all the negative aspects.

Now, I'm not in a position to throw it all in  I wish! Debts, mortgage, bills, pension etc!! BUT I can't continue to feel this way and do nothing about it. The only person who can change my situation is me. So, as of now, I am working on an exit plan ...

In April 2024, I want to be in a completely different situation work, health and finances wise.

I've put a lot of weight on recently and wondering whether I'm actually self medicating with (sugary, junk) food to cheer me up, not healthy at all.

Feels good to have the start of a plan and something to work towards.

Goals this year:
Finance: Pay off as close to half my total debt as possible (£11,299)
Work: By the end of the year made good progress on my exit plan (need to set some mini targets for myself)
Weight: lose 40lbs
General Health & Wellbeing: keep hydrated, as I forget to drink regularly. Be more active with regular walks etc

Best of luck to everyone else striving to make positive changes in their lives ... we can do it! 

shell16

@ThisLife

Looks like a great plan.  Ive been at my current job now for nearly 22 years and I found I had an uneven work/life balance too.  Im still here I havent moved on, but I spoke to my manager and put changes into force.  My work got adjusted (it appeared I had an uneven balance with another colleague who does the same role as I do!) and I made sure I didn't log on at home or look at my work mobile.  I actually put a do not disturb on my work phone after I finished work.

Good luck with your goals this year!

ThisLife

@shell16 Thanks, it's important to have boundaries isn't it. Since the Pandemic and working from home, I've found that those boundaries are more blurred now than they ever were. We had various groups set up and alerts were pinging all through the day and into the evening, even on Bank Holidays and Sundays. I don't sign in to my work email at the weekends and I've had it disconnected from my phone, so I don't get alerts now.

It doesn't seem to bother some other people, but I find myself envying my dad's working life before he retired. No email, no mobile phones. When he was at home, he was fully at home. When he was at work, he was at work. 

enthusiasticsaver

Well done for starting to make the positive changes you need to get your finances straight.  Good you recognise that debt consolidation actually makes the situation worse as no doubt if you had addressed the debt before the first consolidation you would be in a better position now but better late than never and at least you are presumably not at retirement age yet which is often the time where people do suddenly realise they need to change. 

I would tackle that Virgin card first as the deal expires in 5-6 months time so presumably you will need to balance transfer and the lower the balance the lower the fee unless you can get a fee free deal. DR helps lots of people focus their mind on debt reduction although I do not agree with cancelling pension payments to address debt repayments so I hope you have not done that.