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| Wed, 03-07-2012 - 7:31am |
Hi team,
I haven't posted in a while because I've been so busy and because I've fallen so far off the wagon debt reduction wise its not even funny.
I just got the shock of a lifetime when I revivewed by CC statement yesteray and realized that I spent almost $800 on food!!! I'm one person . . . but those restaurants killed me. I started to realize that I was eating out too much when the thought of it was "meh" and I wasn't excited about it anymore (that and I can't do my pants up!!!).
The good news. The CC is paid off. The money used to pay it off should have gone towards other things (like debt or my vacation savings) but for now it is what it is. Things are starting to slow down at work (which is nice) so I am hoping to have more time to myself to refocus.
So here I am. still with a car payment, a student loan payment and a furnace bill. I am hoping for a decent tax return that will help wipe out the furnace bill (0% until June and then its due).
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Now Bex :smileywink:, just get back on the wagon - you know you can do it!
Ironically, tomorrow will make it one full month since I have eaten out at all! I wanted to see if I could do it, as I had worked out how much I spent just buying breakfast and lunch at work during the week and found it horrifying! I decided that all the money I saved bringing both in could be spent on something else I enjoyed ... the eating at home for dinner as well just sort of happened, as I am a lot less likely to go out during the winter - I'm more likely to stay in and make something warm and hearty (like chili) and just cocoon to avoid the cold and snow.
So get to it! You can do it! And it's good to see you here again. I often wonder how the absent posters are doing and it's always nice to get an update.
(I've also put together my first ever budget this month ... wow ... what an eye-opener that was!)
Oh great, someone to yo-yo diet with! I will start trying to lose at the end of July! LOL! its not going to be pretty!
I am just still here too. I won't be able to flake for quite some time. Until I start working again and I don't even know when that will be.
Hey Bex, missed ya!
Norma
"Patience is the best remedy for every trouble"- Plautus
I was wondering where you've been.
There must be something in the air lately.
I remember your enormous furnace bill, and what a setback it was. I'm glad you're hanging in there, plodding on. This summer is shaping up to be a hot one. You'll be able to enjoy your new, powerful AC!
Well, all we can do is deal and move forward from it. The fact that you even had the cash to pay it off is HUGE in my world.
I learned in health class that it actually can take up to 5 years for a new habit (or change of a bad one) to truly be engrained and become something inutitive that we don't have to work on any longer. This does not apply to all things (like drugs or alcohol addiction) but in general, some food for thought.
Point being, it is normal to "slip" and unless we have been doing something different for at least 6 months, it is not even considered a true change of behavior.
For me, it was my latte's. I kid you not, I had to pray about it for about a year before I was ready to change my spending at all the coffee places. I still probably buy about 4 a month, but it used to be 20 or so a month. I now use my espresso machine that I already had and collecting dust.
In fact, I am drinking one of my home made latte's right now!!
You are doing fine, just keep on moving forward.
As for debt, I'm going to keep on keeping on. I'm still on track to hit my 2015 debt free deadline so maybe for my sanity I should just stick to that. My interest rates are low (0.9% and 6% but tax deductible) so perhaps I need to focus more on the efund side of things. My new raise brought me an extra $250 a month (yep, that's it . . . it knocked me into the next tax bracket so gov't gets half) but it's still something. Mortgage renewal in May brings another $250 so that's pretty awesome. I guess what bugs me is that 2015 seems to far out and aside from raises, I will have no "wins" if you know what I mean. No small CC to pay off. I guess I will just have to make some wins to keep motivated?
Bex -
Wow, $800 is a lot, and yet I can see how it could happen. I hate to admit it, but I'm sitting at my desk right now, eating a breakfast I bought at the cafeteria (it's been one of those mornings!). It takes organization to keep from eating out and when you're busy, it just doesn't happen. Perhaps you need another one of your cooking weekends, where you mass-produce meals!
I know what you mean about quick-wins. Three years (to 2015) isn't really that long but still, you'd like to stay motivated. Is there any way to tackle one student loan at a time (minimum payment to one and then snowballing to the other one?). Perhaps that way you can create a quick-win?
Hang in ther Bex. I know you can do this!!
Kate
I felt a small victory simply getting one of my medical bills under the $400 dollar mark. Increments like that seem to help. I also decided not to worry about my auto loan this year and focus on the other bills and my CC.
Just some ideas. Or like the others said, a savings benchmark is good, too.