Back on the wagon?

Just noticed I haven't posted at all in 2013 yet - bad Debt Girl!

Well, work 1 is keeping me extremely busy (aka taking over my life), so everything else seems to be taking a bit of a backseat at the moment :(

Anyway, some updates since my last post:

• Had a fantastic Christmas and New Year, despite being ill I still managed to go out and have a lot of fun socialising - though spent rather a lot on nights out, oooops
• Only New Year's resolution was to have more fun this year, although obviously this is still limited by my lack of cash...
• My job 2 is now officially 'at risk' (as you may remember I mentioned in an earlier post could happen) and my hours have been cut due to absorbing staff from other stores, so my pay has taken quite a beating :(
• Had a birthday last week and am now 31... the less said about that the better
• Back on internet dating - serious lack of hotties though.  Been asked out a few times in 'reality' over the last few weeks but not by anyone I'm interested in - same old story. 
• Considering a move to one of England's finest cities over the next few months - got to find a job first obviously, but feel I need some excitement in my life caused by a big change, and have friends and sort of honorary family living in the city I'm considering.

Think that's you pretty much caught up.  Apart from my BIG news:

A close family member decided to give me £3k for my birthday!  They know I am battling with getting my debt down and said they are really proud of me for getting so far (from £19.5k to around £6k) and wanted to give me a helping hand.  The note that came with it was so sweet, I burst into tears!  Still stunned at such a generous present...  Tried to turn it down as too much, but they wouldn't let me.

Used the money to pay off the remainder of my loan, and half my main credit card, which is fantastic news.

However, over January/February I had already managed to add to my debt by £285 and gone into using my £100 overdraft again (it is interest free though).  So technically I've managed to rack up almost another £400, eeek!  I think this is because although I carefully budgeted for Christmas, I used up all my savings going out over the holidays, which didn't leave me much to live off come January, hence the dipping into credit... ~slaps wrist~

I have recently transfered the £285 to a 0% card so shouldn't have to pay any interest on it at least.

Well now with the cash injection from my birthday making debt-free-ness much nearer and given my second job are cutting my hours, I've decided it's time to get back on the wagon by getting back on with my £30 a week budget.  I've not kept to it for several months now, which was just about ok when I had more money coming in, but now my hours have been cut I need to tighten my spending up again.  Also, now the debt free date is nearer I feel I have a little more motivation to keep on track.

I should be debt free around August now, if all goes according to plan.  Which of course, it may not, as life doesn't always go according to plan now does it?!

Right, now to update my figures below (woo) and to change my age in the about me section (boo)...