If you have read this blog, or known me, for any length of time, you will know that I have been battling with my weight for probably the last 7/8 years in the sense that I want to lose it and am finding it really difficult.
Over the many years, I have tried lots of different things to try and get there. 5:2 diet, Weight Watchers, Slimming World, Fasting, Starvation, self punishment for days where I over ate, vigorous over exercise (whilst still eating horrendously).... the list goes on. I always gave up. Either I didn't see the change fast enough, or I made excuses like I don't have the time, I don't have the money, I'm fine the way I am..... All the excuses and the only person I was screwing over was myself.
I know this won't be easy but this time, I am not giving up!
In the run up to my wedding and honeymoon, I was pretty good so that I felt good in my wedding dress and to be honest, I felt amazing on my wedding day and I love the photos of my dress. I don't see a fat girl in a dress - and usually I would be fulling photos of me apart, going over every little flaw.
But on the honeymoon, I indulged to the max and loved every minute of it. I am now the heaviest I've been in a long time and probably nearly the heaviest I have ever been. For health reasons and because Martin and I want to start trying for a family pretty soon, I know that I need to get my weight under control. I want to feel comfortable in my own skin but I also want to make sure that I am the healthiest/fittest I can be for when I start growing a human!!
So, in this day and age, where else would I go to do some research..... social media obviously. I have been following lots of women and their fitness journeys and seen some of them take on the 80 Day Obsession challenge. I messaged a few of them for some more details and got chatting to one amazing women quite regularly. I decided that after the honeymoon, I wanted to give it a try. So, she became my coach and I started the challenge....
What I love is that you can do them all inside your own home! No running out to the gym, no trying to fit travel to the gym around busy work schedule! Which is perfect, especially when term gets busy.
There is quite a bit to wrap your head around - one half of the program is all about timed nutrition. That is where I need to make sure that I am on point. Fitting in the correct meals at the correct times and around exercise.
Week 1 has been fantastic. I'm really grateful that I'm still on school holidays so I have had a lot of time to get my head around the nutrition plan and tried to fit my meals in the best way that I can. I've been looking at different recipes too, really excited to try them out!
I can't wait to see where this adventure takes me. 73 days to go!!!
Holiday Vibes
Sunday 26 August 2018
Wednesday 15 August 2018
After the celebrations..... Comes a whole lot of debt!
This post has been a few months in the making - so bare with me. I started writing it in May and have added to it over the last few months as things have changed and developed along the way.
When Martin and I first got engaged, we thought we would be able to keep the costs of our wedding low. We did a lot of the leg work ourselves and our families were AMAZING! They paid for some of the big stuff and A LOT of the small stuff. They made things, they searched the cheapest deals for various bits and bobs so that we didn't start our married life completely bankrupt.
Martin and I made the decision that we wanted to go all out for our honeymoon... well, because that's what you do, right? Right decision. We had the most amazing time. All inclusive, 10 nights, 5 star resort - we will never regret that decision but it did come with a big price tag that we now have to deal with.
However, we booked the honeymoon in January rather naively forgetting all the other wedding expenses that would mount up from then until the wedding, along with the monthly payments for the holiday. £300 on table centres..... sure!! £400 on party favours..... yep, go ahead!
Having spoken to other couples, it seems like it's a solid pattern that as the day approaches, the budget you planned flies out of the window as you buy things to make your day absolutely perfect. More outdoor lighting, more booze, extra of this and that just to make sure you don't run out. (Our venue didn't have a license to sell alcohol so we stocked the bar ourselves with the help of my parents and sister)..... and stocked it so well that we brought the left overs home and now have a sizable drinks cabinet!
When I started this blog entry in May, it was because I was completely overwhelmed with the amount of credit card debt I had.... still with over £2000 to pay off on the honeymoon and 2 months to go until the wedding (meaning quite a lot left still to buy and day to day living costs).
So, on May 20th I started this blog and started to plan paying all this debt off......
CC 1 (0% interest) - £2,612.79
CC 2 (0% interest) - £2,152.70
CC 3 - £2,103.63
Outstanding Honeymoon Balance - £2,307.22
Total Debt (on 20/5/18) - £9,176.34 (a really scary number which seems like a ridiculous amount to have to pay back before we can really think about saving for a house!)
We expected to have some debt coming out of the wedding and the fact that we have managed to keep it (just) under £10,000 for a wedding and a honeymoon actually wasn't too bad..... the fact that we had to put the majority of our wedding spending onto credit cards because of the speed in which we organised the wedding, has meant that almost all of my debt has appeared in the last 13 months.
We got engaged in June 2017 and got married in July 2018.... we planned and payed for our entire wedding and honeymoon in basically 12 months..... so actually not too bad considering but now, it's time to pay it off.
I have changed all my credit card repayments to the minimum monthly repayment amount (to make sure that I still have enough money going into my current account to pay for rent and bills). Once rent and bills have been payed for each month from now on, I will be making CC 3 the priority as it is gaining interest and both my other cards are not. I will be making extra payments onto the CC 3 whilst the other 2 cards just have the minimum payment coming off each month. Once CC 3 is cleared, I will then look at my other credit cards and prioritise which ever has the lowest amount left to pay and make extra payments onto that one.
I will sort of be following the Debt Avalanche model (thank you Pinterest) by prioritising the loan with the highest interest and getting it paid off as quickly as possible as well as paying off the minimum amount on other debts. This should allow me to pay off my debt quicker and pay less interest over all.
So, for now, my accounts are set up ready to go with steady repayments and I hanging on for payday so that I can breathe a little easier for the month of June.
June 2nd (After Pay Day)
CC 1 (0% interest) - £2,612.79
CC 2 (0% interest) - £2,131.17
CC 3 - £2,500.49
Outstanding Honeymoon Balance - £760.27
Total debt (on 31/5/18) - £8,009.72
I paid off £600 on my CC 3 but another installment of the honeymoon so that's why the number is still high. I got SUPER lucky this week though and won £500 on tombola arcade so that has gone straight to the honeymoon meaning that the final installment onto my credit card at the end of June will only be £760 instead of the £1200 it was meant to be. I couldn't believe it and £500 makes a big difference when you are strapped for cash like I am. I finally feel like the end is in sight though - I only have one (effectively half of one) installment left to go on the honeymoon, we don't really have anything left to buy for the wedding and every weekend in June we are volunteering at Cub/Beaver events so no spending for me which will really really help to keep costs down this month.
I'm really tired of being so stressed about money but I finally think we are starting to climb out of the worst of it!
June 5th
CC 1 (0% interest) - £2,612.79
CC 2 (0% interest) - £2,131.17
CC 3 - £3,260.76
Outstanding Honeymoon Balance - £0.00
Total debt (on 31/5/18) - £8,009.72
We had a look at our cards and our outstanding balance and made the decision to pay the final installment onto the credit card early. This should mean that any money left over from May paycheck and June can go towards clearing credit cards in the knowledge that the honeymoon is now totally paid for! This is a fantastic feeling! Knowing that one less payment is going out every month and it was a BIG installment every month. TOTALLY worth it because the honeymoon is exactly what we want but I think we were wishing we booked it a little earlier than we did to spread those installments out!
Still - 1 out of 4 outstanding balances say £0.00 and that is something to celebrate!
August 15th
CC 1 (0% interest) - £2,501.99
CC 2 (0% interest) - £2,088.76
CC 3 - £1,514.37
Total debt - £6,105.12
Inevitably, in the final run up to the wedding, CC 3 took a pounding and instead of paying it off, we had to charge things on it. I'm actually not sure what the highest figure on it was as I became less diligent in watching my balance (my focus was sort of distracted with the big white dress and everything.)
This is where our AMAZING friends came to the rescue! For our wedding list, we set up a honeymoon fund and we were blown away by how generous all of our friends were. We were able to withdraw £4,445 from our honeymoon account which meant that we could immediately pay off £2,900 on CC 3. We kept some of the money to use whilst on honeymoon and for the rest of our summer together. This means that CC 3 now has the lowest amount of money it has had on it in about 9 months. This is a fantastic feeling.
Now that the wedding and the honeymoon are over, we can actually go back to a normal level of expenditure which means that my repayments can actually go up - clearing it even faster. Still going to focus on clearing CC 3, as it's the one that has interest charges where as the other 2 are just ticking away on their minimum balances which is fine for now.
So that is where we are now. Having cleared £3,000 of debt since starting the blog is awesome. Now, I just need to keep chipping away at it. I know it won't be a quick process... but we'll get there.
When Martin and I first got engaged, we thought we would be able to keep the costs of our wedding low. We did a lot of the leg work ourselves and our families were AMAZING! They paid for some of the big stuff and A LOT of the small stuff. They made things, they searched the cheapest deals for various bits and bobs so that we didn't start our married life completely bankrupt.
Martin and I made the decision that we wanted to go all out for our honeymoon... well, because that's what you do, right? Right decision. We had the most amazing time. All inclusive, 10 nights, 5 star resort - we will never regret that decision but it did come with a big price tag that we now have to deal with.
However, we booked the honeymoon in January rather naively forgetting all the other wedding expenses that would mount up from then until the wedding, along with the monthly payments for the holiday. £300 on table centres..... sure!! £400 on party favours..... yep, go ahead!
Having spoken to other couples, it seems like it's a solid pattern that as the day approaches, the budget you planned flies out of the window as you buy things to make your day absolutely perfect. More outdoor lighting, more booze, extra of this and that just to make sure you don't run out. (Our venue didn't have a license to sell alcohol so we stocked the bar ourselves with the help of my parents and sister)..... and stocked it so well that we brought the left overs home and now have a sizable drinks cabinet!
When I started this blog entry in May, it was because I was completely overwhelmed with the amount of credit card debt I had.... still with over £2000 to pay off on the honeymoon and 2 months to go until the wedding (meaning quite a lot left still to buy and day to day living costs).
So, on May 20th I started this blog and started to plan paying all this debt off......
CC 1 (0% interest) - £2,612.79
CC 2 (0% interest) - £2,152.70
CC 3 - £2,103.63
Outstanding Honeymoon Balance - £2,307.22
Total Debt (on 20/5/18) - £9,176.34 (a really scary number which seems like a ridiculous amount to have to pay back before we can really think about saving for a house!)
We expected to have some debt coming out of the wedding and the fact that we have managed to keep it (just) under £10,000 for a wedding and a honeymoon actually wasn't too bad..... the fact that we had to put the majority of our wedding spending onto credit cards because of the speed in which we organised the wedding, has meant that almost all of my debt has appeared in the last 13 months.
We got engaged in June 2017 and got married in July 2018.... we planned and payed for our entire wedding and honeymoon in basically 12 months..... so actually not too bad considering but now, it's time to pay it off.
I have changed all my credit card repayments to the minimum monthly repayment amount (to make sure that I still have enough money going into my current account to pay for rent and bills). Once rent and bills have been payed for each month from now on, I will be making CC 3 the priority as it is gaining interest and both my other cards are not. I will be making extra payments onto the CC 3 whilst the other 2 cards just have the minimum payment coming off each month. Once CC 3 is cleared, I will then look at my other credit cards and prioritise which ever has the lowest amount left to pay and make extra payments onto that one.
I will sort of be following the Debt Avalanche model (thank you Pinterest) by prioritising the loan with the highest interest and getting it paid off as quickly as possible as well as paying off the minimum amount on other debts. This should allow me to pay off my debt quicker and pay less interest over all.
So, for now, my accounts are set up ready to go with steady repayments and I hanging on for payday so that I can breathe a little easier for the month of June.
June 2nd (After Pay Day)
CC 1 (0% interest) - £2,612.79
CC 2 (0% interest) - £2,131.17
CC 3 - £2,500.49
Outstanding Honeymoon Balance - £760.27
Total debt (on 31/5/18) - £8,009.72
I paid off £600 on my CC 3 but another installment of the honeymoon so that's why the number is still high. I got SUPER lucky this week though and won £500 on tombola arcade so that has gone straight to the honeymoon meaning that the final installment onto my credit card at the end of June will only be £760 instead of the £1200 it was meant to be. I couldn't believe it and £500 makes a big difference when you are strapped for cash like I am. I finally feel like the end is in sight though - I only have one (effectively half of one) installment left to go on the honeymoon, we don't really have anything left to buy for the wedding and every weekend in June we are volunteering at Cub/Beaver events so no spending for me which will really really help to keep costs down this month.
I'm really tired of being so stressed about money but I finally think we are starting to climb out of the worst of it!
June 5th
CC 1 (0% interest) - £2,612.79
CC 2 (0% interest) - £2,131.17
CC 3 - £3,260.76
Outstanding Honeymoon Balance - £0.00
Total debt (on 31/5/18) - £8,009.72
We had a look at our cards and our outstanding balance and made the decision to pay the final installment onto the credit card early. This should mean that any money left over from May paycheck and June can go towards clearing credit cards in the knowledge that the honeymoon is now totally paid for! This is a fantastic feeling! Knowing that one less payment is going out every month and it was a BIG installment every month. TOTALLY worth it because the honeymoon is exactly what we want but I think we were wishing we booked it a little earlier than we did to spread those installments out!
Still - 1 out of 4 outstanding balances say £0.00 and that is something to celebrate!
August 15th
CC 1 (0% interest) - £2,501.99
CC 2 (0% interest) - £2,088.76
CC 3 - £1,514.37
Total debt - £6,105.12
Inevitably, in the final run up to the wedding, CC 3 took a pounding and instead of paying it off, we had to charge things on it. I'm actually not sure what the highest figure on it was as I became less diligent in watching my balance (my focus was sort of distracted with the big white dress and everything.)
This is where our AMAZING friends came to the rescue! For our wedding list, we set up a honeymoon fund and we were blown away by how generous all of our friends were. We were able to withdraw £4,445 from our honeymoon account which meant that we could immediately pay off £2,900 on CC 3. We kept some of the money to use whilst on honeymoon and for the rest of our summer together. This means that CC 3 now has the lowest amount of money it has had on it in about 9 months. This is a fantastic feeling.
Now that the wedding and the honeymoon are over, we can actually go back to a normal level of expenditure which means that my repayments can actually go up - clearing it even faster. Still going to focus on clearing CC 3, as it's the one that has interest charges where as the other 2 are just ticking away on their minimum balances which is fine for now.
So that is where we are now. Having cleared £3,000 of debt since starting the blog is awesome. Now, I just need to keep chipping away at it. I know it won't be a quick process... but we'll get there.
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