Raphael's DFW Diary ~ The beginning of the End

The_Dragon

x_raphael_xx wrote: »

Well it's the first of the month, another one down. Time to re-assess my goals for the coming 30 days.

Money ~
I had a minor set-back when my laptop died, I was hoping to pay off HFC this month but the saved money had to go on a new lappy. With careful management of my pennies this month I reckon I can pay off the loan mid-July instead, so I'm only delayed by 30 ish days, which I can cope with.

Weight ~
I have 2 weeks until my target date, and still 6 lbs to lose. I'm not going to do anything drastic to reach it, as I don't want to lose the weight too fast. I weight in tomorrow morning and I hope I've lost something, but I'm just proud of myself that I've gotten this close. I'm 14 stone 5.8 lbs, I've not been thins close to 14 stone since I was in school!
Time to start looking towards the next goal, now I'm aiming for 12 stone by Christmas. 28 lbs in 27 weeks, should be easy peasy!

These both look doable Raph - so go you and best of luck!

x_raphael_xx

Weigh in today, and I was surprised to lose 0.6 lbs! I've been naughty all week so was expecting a gain.
I've cycled to the supermarket & stocked up on salad and fruit, so back to the diet today.

The_Dragon

x_raphael_xx wrote: »

Weigh in today, and I was surprised to lose 0.6 lbs! I've been naughty all week so was expecting a gain.
I've cycled to the supermarket & stocked up on salad and fruit, so back to the diet today.

Yay great news raphael! hmm need to get a bike myself at some point (little toe rags where we used to live nicked our previous ones - the only advantage was we didn't have to move them here :rotfl:)

x_raphael_xx

Gah! Feeling frustrated, playing with my budget it looks like I'll be about £100 short to pay off HFC in July. :mad: And that's without anything popping up, and just paying the minimum on the credit card.
I wanted to go ice-skating tomorrow, and to see the film 'Mongol' out on friday, but I can't justify the £10 it will cost me. I've not been ice-skating for ages, and would enjoy the change of exercise. I've also recently read Genghis Khans biography, and I love bloody & violent history, so I think the film would be right up my street.
It's annoying me I can't treat myself to a minuscule £10, and I still won't have enough to pay the settlement.:(

So...to stop myself feeling dejected and like I'm 'Going Nowhere Fast'* I have changed my aims...Now my target is to get the credit card down to £700, i.e £1000 paid off, I reckon this will take about 3-4 months.
I will pay off HFC in October, as by then the settlement would be about £650, and as October has 5 fridays in it, I will have a 'spare' wage packet to play with.

*Meatloaf song (I'm getting excited about the concert at the end of the month )

x_raphael_xx

x_raphael_xx wrote: »

I wanted to go ice-skating tomorrow, and to see the film 'Mongol' out on friday

Nuts! Well that's one decision made for me...Mongol isn't showing in Plymouth :mad::rolleyes: at least I can go ice-skating still.

jamesd

Switching to credit card first is sensible, since that is the approach that saves you the most money. Doesn't get rid of HFC so fast, but saving money has its advantages.

You are making progress on both debt and also on improving your life. It doesn't have to be 100% focus on debt at this point. Gym, unexpected bills and such are all things that you've been able to cope with without great trouble at this poiint but which would have been far harder if you hadn't been making excellent progress on the debt clearing.

Try not to regret switching to a more balanced approach. Even though it was forced on you by unexpected events. You're well into the territory where you can take some of the benefits of your prudence without the need to feel guilty about it.

x_raphael_xx

jamesd wrote: »

Try not to regret switching to a more balanced approach. Even though it was forced on you by unexpected events. You're well into the territory where you can take some of the benefits of your prudence without the need to feel guilty about it.

Thank you jamesd, you're right. I'm in a position where I can cope with things that are thrown at me, like having to buy a new laptop. I was able to just up and buy one the next day, and I am still covering my bills etc. Would rather have thrown the money at the debts thou :rolleyes: but sometimes it's not meant to be. These things are sent to try us.

jamesd

Right. At this point "urgent" and "emergency" are no longer automatically "financial crisis". Very big improvement in quality of life from that change! Still means "more borrowing for a while" but that's progress.

The_Dragon

x_raphael_xx wrote: »

Gah! Feeling frustrated, playing with my budget it looks like I'll be about £100 short to pay off HFC in July. :mad: And that's without anything popping up, and just paying the minimum on the credit card.
I wanted to go ice-skating tomorrow, and to see the film 'Mongol' out on friday, but I can't justify the £10 it will cost me. I've not been ice-skating for ages, and would enjoy the change of exercise. I've also recently read Genghis Khans biography, and I love bloody & violent history, so I think the film would be right up my street.
It's annoying me I can't treat myself to a minuscule £10, and I still won't have enough to pay the settlement.:(

So...to stop myself feeling dejected and like I'm 'Going Nowhere Fast'* I have changed my aims...Now my target is to get the credit card down to £700, i.e £1000 paid off, I reckon this will take about 3-4 months.
I will pay off HFC in October, as by then the settlement would be about £650, and as October has 5 fridays in it, I will have a 'spare' wage packet to play with.

*Meatloaf song (I'm getting excited about the concert at the end of the month )

Sorry about this raphael - but at least you have a rough idea when everything will be paid off and you will be clear (more than I have and I only have the one to clear! :rotfl:)

x_raphael_xx

The_Dragon wrote: »

Sorry about this raphael - but at least you have a rough idea when everything will be paid off and you will be clear (more than I have and I only have the one to clear! :rotfl:)

Just worked out that since the beginning of the year I have reduced my debt by £1427.80!!! If that doesn't get me cheerful again I don't know what will!!

Went ice-skating today, lots of fun I'd like to start going regularly again, but at £4.70 a session it's a little much right now, even just once a week it works out at £20 a month. Maybe when I'm DF