July 2016 Week 4

Bit late with the post this week, been a bit of a busy one :) So lets get the basics out of the way, was it a good week or a bad week.....I guess a sort of in the middle week would best describe it. Stan the VAN started to get claustrophobic a few days into this week, it sort of felt like "what has my life come too" days.

Bit hard to describe what it feels like, its not like a depression, you just look around and think "why has life come to this?" Managed to kick myself out of it by remembering what an old boss told me once. I was feeling down and he took me around the local supermarket and pointed out I was not stacking shelves, collecting trolleys, etc...that actually my work life was fairly good. That's not to say I have anything against those jobs, his point was to take things in perspective...so that's what I did...went for a walk around town, looked around etc.

I'm not homeless...I have STAN the VAN, most homeless people would kill for that. I have a 20K car sat next to it, food in the cupboards, money in the bank. If I wanted too I could go buy a meal, or go to the cinema...time to see things in reality!

So after that I sort of picked myself up and cracked on with things.

Had a few unexpected bills this month :(

Just life I guess...but at least this time I did not pile it onto a credit card, I paid cash. I've worked out I've paid around 4K of debt off in 4 months, still leaves 40K or so but I can see that this WILL work, just going to take time. Someone asked me if I would move back into a house with manageable debt level if I could...so if I could afford the rent and bills and move into a house and still have 15K or so debt would I?

Ummm..to say I'm tempted is an understatement. But the answer would be no. I just want this gone. I can't imagine anything worse than having to do this again. Yes its a long time living in a Van, but you know what? I'm 4 months in already...lets just tick those months off :)

What else? Had another weekend away and bumped into another issue and I'm really annoyed with myself. A problem cropped up that I never expected and I need to guard against it. Having money in the bank rather than living on credit cards sort of changed my mindset and while I was away I slipped back into old habits with friends, buying rounds, etc and before I knew it I had spent close to £200 for the weekend.

That was £200 I could have paid of debts. Really mad with myself, the issue was I started thinking "If I pay £800 instead of £1000 this month would it really matter?" Yeah, it matters

I worked out that's probably another week in the STAN

So, I've made a compromise. I'm going to put some money away each money as a "treat" kitty.

Luckily STANs diesel costs are covered under expenses, so with the money for maintenance I put aside each month he doesn't cost me that much. I just have to remember that I'm doing this for a very specific reason.

Anyways, what else? Gym is really paying off, people are really starting to notice. I'm down to around 13st now, could do with another stone but starting to tone up a lot more. I actually got into a shirt I haven't been able to in 7 years....downside is I think I'm going to have to buy some more cloths...Ebay time :)

STAN....hit a problem I had not expected. He's starting to smell a bit damp. No idea why, just over the past week. I've laundered all the cushions, etc but I can still smell it. Its got me a bit worried for winter, I think I wilkl need a heating system so I'm out hunting for something suitable now.

Payday in 4 days, be interesting what I can pay off this month....I have one credit agreement at £1231.00, If I could pay that off I would be Happy Bunny, another one to cross out :)

Cya all next week for an update