End of first month...little bit blue

Tigger1983

Hi all.
We're just about reaching the end of our first DFW month, and wondered how you all found your first month? We seem to be working really hard, but despite spending virtually nothing, making extra money where we can etc. we seem to have made little headway.

However we have had to buy oil this month, and the situation hasn't gotten any worse, so it's a mixed bag really. Not really sure how I feel about it right now, I hoped we would have made more of a dent by now!!

Maybe there's a stage where we have to pull the brakes on and stop the journey into the red before we can get back in the black??

How did you all feel at the end of the first month, or how are you feeling now if it is your first month?!!

Tig x

SuzySu

Sorry to hear you're feeling a bit down Tigger. I think you have good days and bad days, but think of it this way....you have seen the light and - in the words of D-ream:

"things........can only get better....."

(((((hugs)))))

hypno06

Remember that Rome wasn't built in a day - you are making baby steps towards a big ultimate goal. It is like losing weight - I want to wake up one day and find that a stone of lard has magically left my body.....but it just aint going to happen.....and some weeks I will lose a lb and some weeks I will gain, but as long as in the long run I am aiming towards my goal weight, then that has to be good enough.

So, be proud of the progress you HAVE made - you are at the beginning of a long journey, but you have made those first important steps.....and you WILL get there!

cheftyke

i started my DFW in March so I am relatively new to all this, I have found the first few months difficult but have you done a spreadsheet with all your incomings outgoings and how much you need to pay each month. it works for me and keeps me in check as the thought of being debt free by a set date inspires. cheers

OberonSH

Use this forst month milestone to check back - have you allowe for everything in your budget? If not, you automatically overspend. Have you ben keeping a spending diary? If not you may have overspent without realising.

Being Debt Free is a cumulative thing - might not feel like you're doing anything, but you're laying teh foundations right now, for your future good habits, You're having to rewrite your internal programming to whp out the Gold Card every 2 minutes and it take a lot to do that. Get a cup of tea, and think how you were feeling a month ago, or when you got your lightbulb. Bet even though you're disappointed, you're still a lot better off feeling you're tackling them. A penny paid off is still a penny paid off, and as long as it stays off, those pennies add up!

ald65

we found the first two months quite hard until things settled down and we readjusted to our new DMP life. By month three life was much easier and we haven't looked back since then. Now on month eight and to be quite honest quite often forget about the DMP
good luck

NUFCnutter

Remember that it took a long time to rack up the debt and so it will take a while to clear it too. You are making progress, you are changing your mentality towards money. You will see progress as time goes on. You are great for getting a month under your belt, just keep on going.

doodledo_2

It is hard going and I think we all want to get debt free so quickly it can be frustrating when things are going slow.

Like others have said it took us a while to get in debt and will take a while to get out of it. But we WILL get there.

homeaway

Tigger1983 wrote: »

Hi all.
We're just about reaching the end of our first DFW month, and wondered how you all found your first month? We seem to be working really hard, but despite spending virtually nothing, making extra money where we can etc. we seem to have made little headway.

However we have had to buy oil this month, and the situation hasn't gotten any worse, so it's a mixed bag really. Not really sure how I feel about it right now, I hoped we would have made more of a dent by now!!

Maybe there's a stage where we have to pull the brakes on and stop the journey into the red before we can get back in the black??

How did you all feel at the end of the first month, or how are you feeling now if it is your first month?!!

Tig x

I know how you feel. We have just lived like hermits for the last two months to pay back a small loan that we had on the house. We still have one larger loan(mortgage) that we are trying to pay back early. It never really bothered me before that we had a mortgage but now i just want to pay it back as soon as we can. The first month was the hardest as even though i have always been careful, we still had areas where we could cut down our food costs. I think we would all like to wave a magical wand to get where we would like to be,but perhaps we will appreciate it more when we finally arrive there. Hang on in there.

Tigger1983

Thanks all, the support helps a lot! Just sat down now to see progress...will change sig at the end :-)

Tig x

superpup

Don't feel blue, you had to buy oil and you haven't added to your debt. If you hadn't started the DFW thing this month, you probably would've added to it.

So... why don't you look at how much your debt would've increased if you'd carried on as normal, then count that as money knocked off your debt, IFSWIM?

You've done brilliantly well for your first month. I bet your oil cost quite a bit and you managed it :T

sp x