End of first month...little bit blue

LilacPixie

i was disappointed. we made it thru but nothing was cleared, no change in dfd and generally i felt let down. there was no magic wand waved and everything was still a nightmare.

now i'm a few months further down the line, debts have started to be cleared and accounts closed.

it does get easier

poodlehorse

I know exactly how you feel. You start your new month with salary in the bank and you work soooooo hard at scrimping and saving where you can but at the end of the day we all have to eat etc so you can't live on nothing. By the middle of the month I think it can feel a bit depressing as you still have another way to go before payday when you can throw some cash at the cards etc again. I kept spreadsheets and when I got down I looked at what I had budgeted for that month and how I have done and that keeps me going. If I came within budget on something variable eg food then I made it a bit tougher the next month etc and really tried to see it as a game. I used to read and reread the "money or your life" book by Alvin Hall (before the days of MSE) to keep me on track and it always did. I think for me there was such a buzz on payday when I could see how much we had left to chuck into the debt/mortgage and then I did the budget for the following month and then I got a bit impatient when I had to wait another full month until I could see if I had done it and it really annoyed me having to wait. Try and get inventive so you don't feel you are living like hermits etc and try and take it from a different angle. Eg you are not staying at home to save money but Having a Games Night In because it is great for the family to do things together, invite people round to join in, not sheepishly because you are embarassed it will be a lowcost affair but proudly because they should feel priveleged to be invited to your family night in. It's retro chic dahling! (and hopefully they will bring a bottle or munchies too). I found playing little psychological games with myself really helped. And if you look at things a slightly different way you stop feeling like you are "stuck in" but rather look forward to another opportunity to have some good clean fun. Okay so it takes a bit of practice to perfect!!!! We also tried to do "theme" nights with the food so although it wasn't costing us much it felt more of an event to say have a Mexican night or whatever. And Smartprice/Value etc Tortilla Chips make the best nachos in my opinion and at 19p a bag or whatever they are now they don't break the bank but there is something about sharing a big tray of cheesy nachos that feels quite indulgent. I firmly believe it is all about fooling your brain day-to-day into not feeling deprived that gets you through to the next payday when you can get the "high" of seeing the progress and starting all over again.

Sorry that was a bit long wasn't it?

bank_of_slate

Tigger,
If the figures in your sig are correct then you've made a FANTASTIC difference already! Look again...
HSBC loan reduced by...£478
MBNA cc reduced by £813
Tesco cc reduced by £416
Littlewoods reduced by £250
I make that ................:beer: £1957:beer:
June make £10 a day: :T £429:T /300

...Linda xx