Author: Rob

Another Year Gone

~ Rob

Another year has almost finished and we are about to roll into another one. Where does our time go?

What have I achieved this year:

A Job – It turns out I’m employable and I got a full time job to start my career. I have a few issues with my supervisor but hey I’m working.

Hols – Enjoyed a wild vacation. Which cost a fortune but was worth it. I needed a big break away from work. The down side to holidays is coming back to face lots of emails and a pile of paperwork.

Too Much Beer – I’ve drank too much beer and had too many binges. So much so that my liver doesn’t like me anymore. Next year I must cut back.

Fitter not fatter – This year I feel fitter than last year. I’ve been going to the gym, bike riding and clay pigeon shooting. Shooting and hunting isn’t a sport in the UK it’s more of an American thing where they kill big game and kids in class rooms.

Family Time – I spent more time with family and friends. Which is awesome and very rewarding for your soul. Devoting your time to family is important. Never forget that.

New Motor – Bought a new motor, she a beauty featuring a stereo upgrade to pump out Classic FM and Hip Hop.

What I haven’t achieved this year:

I’m still single – Although it would be nice to find a new relationship being single has given me space and time to discover myself. Failed relationships hurt, even the short lived ones but looking back the ladies in my life were unsuitable and incompatible. Whether they ditched me or I ditched them is never nice but getting out of the wrong relationship is the right thing to do. Don’t rush love. The ladies will come along again. Being single is not such a bad thing. Who needs a girlfriend when there’s pizza and porn.

The numbers never lie – I need to get smarter with my money. It’s harder to be happy without money and owing massive debt stops you experiencing life. Having extra money for fun and the future will make you happier.

Lazy Procrastinator – I’ve tolerated my laziness. I haven’t been as creative or productive as I would have liked. In areas like this blog, starting new products, training and doing stuff around the flat things haven’t come together. I need motivating. My lazy ar$e needs to get into gear.

My Feeble Finances

~ Rob

Although I think my job is secure and I have a little savings to cope with any minor emergency I can’t help feeling that my finances are a little fragile and feeble. Debt is putting a strain on my finances and eating away at my money.

For me it seems the only way to help get your finances back on track is to stop using credit. The goal is to strengthen your wealth by paying off debt. For me that means paying off over £65,000 in debts.

This is a big financial goal and the only way paying this off is going to happen is to repair bad spending habits and come up with a debt repayment plan. The strategy going forward will be to learn budgeting skills, cut costs and sort out my financial disorganisation.

First I’ll pay off my credit cards, then my loans and finally deal with family debts. It’s going to take some major changes and commitment but until the debt is paid off it’s harder to build any wealth because you money disappears in interest payments.

Debt weakens your financial strength and eats away your money. A solid foundation for getting richer means paying off your debts as quickly as you can. To ensure financial success you must kill your debt and bad financial habits. Doing this will maximise your income. What are your financial goals? Are you sick of all the debt you’re in?

I Suck at Budgeting

~ Rob

Budgeting is my main focus at the moment. I worked out I’ve been overspending by around £184 a month. When I don’t have any money left over I’ve been using credit cards and my overdraft to finance a bad lifestyle.

It’s time to get a grab on my debts. It’s time to hold myself accountable to my money problems.

My total monthly debt payments are: £682 per month. This expense is shockingly higher than my rent at £575.

Other monthly expenses spread include:

Food spending at around: £150

Energy Bills: £95

Water: £42

Council Tax: £66

Insurance: £135

Petrol: £70

Internet/TV/Phone: £110

Mobile: £35

In most cases, people have no idea where their money is really going and once they see it on paper it surprises them to learn their spending habits.

The simple effective solution? Reduce my expenses. Cutting back my expenses will begin to tackle my debt.

Right now looking at my income, expenses and cash flow it not pleasant reading. My personal finance is damaged. In light of this I’ve decided to face facts and go from money spending to money making.

Is it a crime to be poor? I’m totally sick of struggling in life trying to juggle my finances and job. I’m reforming my finances like a fat cat banker. So my new strategy is to get control of my budget, earn more money to finally pay off all my debt.

Hello First Timers,

~ Rob

If you are here for the first time then nice to meet you and welcome to my blog. My blog posts are always tricky to write right now so I’ll just layout what I hope to achieve writing on here from now on….

Over the last few weeks I’ve spend a lot of time reflecting on the money I’ve wasted and how I’ve become dissatisfied with my physical health. I’ve come to the conclusion that I consume too much which has affected my health and wealth.

At this time I don’t really have any big savings but I have lots of university debt and my body and mind feels like a wreck. The reason I’m fat and out of shape is obvious, I smoke, eat, drink too much and don’t get enough exercise. As the saying goes “You are what you eat”. Living off garbage won’t help.

The reason why I’m broke and my finances are failing is because I overspend, use debt to maintain my lifestyle and don’t use a budget. Now is the time to confront these problems. And so I figured I could share my journey to a better lifestyle. One that is debt free and a place where I’m in better shape.

Robbing Peter to Pay Paul

~ Rob

This week I completely ran out of money. I hate been in debt and behind with the bills. It’s an awful feeling stuck with a lack of cash flow and trying to live payday to payday. Juggling my money feels like robbing Peter to pay Paul where I’m just bouncing my debt and credit around.

Last month I missed two payments. One on my credit card, one on the water bill and my council tax is already two months behind. The council sent me a lovely red letter to remind me.

Debt can become a vicious cycle and you end up in a debt trap where money is bouncing around from creditor to creditor. As the interest builds up the debt never goes down and eventually the bubble bursts and you don’t have enough cash to cover all the repayments and living expenses.

My outgoings and expenses have exceeded my pay. I have worked my way into a corner, a debt rut and I can’t climb out. I have to admit that I am not in a very good place at the moment. Money is taking its toll out on me and my debt is stressing me out.

It’s turned in to an embarrassing financial juggling act every month. I need every penny just to live. It’s sad, I hate the situation. The worst thing is I’ve done this to myself, admitting that isn’t easy.

If I had no debt there would be a chance to save a little, but that’s not the case. I want to be in a position to put some money into savings instead of towards debt every month.

If you have no idea where your money is going you’ll end up living in a constant financial mess. Debt will catch you out and hold you back from living the good life.

You can balance transfer credit cards to a lower interest rate, take out more loans to cover other loans, borrow £20 here and there from friends and family but the bottom line is if your debt and bad habits are not managed and controlled it will get out of hand.

I could move back in with my parents which would save lots of cash and knock around £900 from my outgoings. I would take advantage of the free rent, food, water and internet in exchange for cleaning duties. Having to move back home isn’t what I really want. I doubt I could cope with that. In fact I don’t think Dad could too.

While the financial savings are extremely good and it would help me get my money in order I doubt it would work out.

So from here I’m going to produce a spending report and created a monthly budget. It’s not going to be pretty reading. I’m seeing a whole lot of red and cut backs to move forward.