After a nice, low-key birthday yesterday, the plan for Day 12 was much of the same.
A lazy morning was followed by a 2-hour walk with my Mum, where we caught up and chatted through things – again something I’m feeling much more open to doing but also getting a lot of enjoyment from.
The rest of the day was spent pretty much playing video games, doing a few things on my to-do list, and eating through my birthday snacks!
It’s been nice to just spend some time without any plans to worry about and just be present and reflective.
I also had a few drinks again last night, and looking at the data today, it’s clear alcohol really does have an impact. Both my stress and sleep scores have been noticeably worse than last week, which is something I’ll need to take more seriously moving forward.
I’m planning to really limit my alcohol intake over the next few weeks – hopefully I’ll see an improvement.
Sometimes progress looks like movement; other times, it’s found in stillness and reflection. The more I pay attention to what truly affects my wellbeing, the more control I start to feel again.
Day 11 marked my 29th birthday and, in truth, I was dreading it a little.
When I was younger, I absolutely loved my birthday – seeing family, receiving gifts, and having parties with friends.
As the years have passed and I’ve gradually gotten older, I’ve hated ageing and feeling like the years are passing by so quickly. This year, I was apprehensive about heading into my final year of my twenties.
A lot of this apprehension has come from feeling like I haven’t achieved enough for my age. Despite being aware of this, it’s still hard not to feel the pressure I’m putting on myself.
Given everything that’s happened this year, I really just wanted a chill, low-key birthday without too much fuss.
My girlfriend and I have been having some space from one another these past few weeks whilst we both try and process the events of the past 12 months, but she came back to celebrate my birthday with me.
We went for a mammoth hike, walking over 30km across the Cheshire countryside. We were out for about seven hours, including a pub stop near home, but the time flew by completely as we chatted away and caught up on everything that had happened over the past few weeks.
I thought things might be a little awkward given we’d decided to have some space from one another whilst we worked through things, but we chatted in detail about everything – from my feelings, her feelings, mental health, and the future. There was a lot we both got off our chests, and it really felt therapeutic.
We got back home and it was time for some much-needed calories!
Birthday tea was homemade pizza (courtesy of my mum!), followed by birthday cake and some birthday drinks, whilst watching Indiana Jones. Not a bad birthday after all!
Another page turned, and another reminder that progress isn’t always measured in numbers or milestones. Sometimes, it’s simply being able to breathe a little easier, reconnect with someone you love, and realise you’re not the same person you were a year ago. Maybe 29 won’t be so bad after all.
The view from ‘The Mountain Ahead‘ on Day 11, my 29th birthday. Let’s make this the best year ever!
Day 10 arrived, and with it, a much-needed payday!
I started my full-time role at the beginning of October, and I’ve now completed my first full month in the job. Genuinely, I think this might have been the most anticipated and exciting payday I’ve ever had.
With it, I managed to pay off just under £2,000 of my debt – and with a few direct debits scheduled for some of my credit cards next week, my debt figure should finally drop below the £40,000 mark. It’s a huge step in the right direction, and I’m hoping I can carry this momentum into the months ahead.
Of course, I’m incredibly fortunate to be living back with my parents, who aren’t charging me rent while I get myself back on my feet. It means I can put almost my entire salary toward clearing my debts – something I’m deeply grateful for.
The past 10 days have made me so appreciative of the people around me, friends, family, and especially my parents, and moments like this really drive home how much their support means.
Money aside, tomorrow is my birthday, marking my 29th lap around the sun. My 28th year was the toughest, most mentally challenging year of my life, and it pushed me right to the edge.
During my run to The Mountain Ahead, I actually got quite emotional when I reached the summit. It felt like all the pain, frustration, and self-hatred of the past year came to a head in that moment. As I took those final strides, it honestly felt like saying goodbye to that dark chapter and looking forward to a brighter, more hopeful 29th year – as cheesy as that sounds!
Today was also Halloween, and when I was younger, I always had Halloween-themed birthday parties. My mum (the star that she is!) kept the tradition alive by making a spooky-themed dinner for us all! Even on the eve of my 29th birthday, it’s clear that I’m still a big kid at heart.
Fantastic Monster Burger!“Worms in mud”
Metrics
Steps: 11,965
Garmin Stress Score: 30
Mental Health Rating: 7/10
Remaining Debt: £40,085.33 (-£1,936.97 down on yesterday)
Food Log
Breakfast: Weetabix, milk, orange juice
Lunch: Cheese and tomato omelette
Dinner: Plant-based burgers, sweet potato fries, spaghetti, “Worms in mud”
Snacks: Homemade raspberry jam on toast, apple, popcorn
A good day all round – big progress on the financial front, emotional clarity from reflection, and gratitude for the people who keep me grounded. Here’s to turning the page on 28 and stepping into 29 with purpose.
Nine days into this challenge, and I’m learning that discipline doesn’t always mean perfection. Sometimes, it’s just about staying on track even when the snacks call your name.
For whatever reason, this week my diet has been fairly poor, particularly with a lot of snacking. I don’t know if it’s a combination of regular exercise and the after-effects of the weekend beers, but it seems my appetite has increased a little.
In the past, I’ve typically snacked through boredom, but this week I’ve been keeping busy, so I’m going to attribute it to the increase in my activity levels.
With my birthday weekend coming up, I’m not going to stress too much about diet over the next few days, but after that last slice of birthday cake has been eaten – my diet is getting a kick up the backside!
I did make some progress with payments towards my debt, managing to pay off another £250 after getting paid for a freelance side hustle that ended last week.
Tomorrow, I get my first full salary from my new role, and it’s going straight towards aggressively tackling my debt.
Metrics
Steps: 10,845
Garmin Stress Score: 21
Mental Health Rating: 6/10
Remaining Debt: £42,022.30 (-£250 down on yesterday)
Food Log
Breakfast: Weetabix, milk, orange juice
Lunch: Scrambled eggs, sourdough toast
Dinner: Vegetable paella
Snacks: Homemade raspberry jam on toast, mini chocolate buttons, kiwi, popcorn
Progress isn’t perfect, and it’s rarely linear, but I’m still moving forward – and that’s what matters most.
The view from ‘The Mountain Ahead‘ on Day 9 – although saying that, there wasn’t much of a view today!
Day 8 marked a full week since I began my 365-day challenge and, in truth, it was a fairly uneventful day.
On the positives: I worked, I ran, I reflected. On the negatives: I could have eaten better, I had an unproductive evening, and I didn’t read before bed – a habit I’d hoped to build some momentum with after yesterday.
The most notable thing about Day 8 was my trip to the Post Office, not to post eBay orders this time, but to cash in some coins I’d counted a few days earlier.
Years ago, I was gifted a money box, and surprisingly, I actually stuck with paying into it. After every haircut, I’d drop my change inside, and over the weekend, I finally cracked it open to count how much I’d saved.
I was expecting maybe £50 or £60, but to my surprise, I’d managed to save a total of £168. To say that was a pleasant surprise would be an understatement .It’s a nice reminder that small change, saved over time, can lead to steady progress – both financially and personally.
I would have liked to use the money as an “adventure fund,” as the side of the money box suggested, but needs must, and this will be going straight toward paying off my debts.
A nice £168 surprise! Very satisfying to smash too!
Snacks: Banana, apple, graze flapjack, chocolate choux bun
Not every day will be perfect, but there are always small wins to take. What’s most promising after this first week is how manageable my mental health has felt. That alone feels like progress.
After my successful day of posting eBay orders, today I received my funds. After fees, it was nearly £500 into my account! I was actually incredibly excited to put this towards my mammoth debt figure straight away, and in doing so, I managed to fully clear off my PayPal Credit! Granted, it was, by far, the smallest debt I had left, but it feels like a big step in the right direction.
The rest of the cash was used to bring my American Express and NatWest credit cards back under their limits. Having these both over their limits had been stressing me for weeks and I was doing all I could to bring them down, so it’s a weight off my shoulders to have these at a slightly more manageable level.
My excitement about paying things off was a little short-lived when I got the final figure of what I owed a family member.
I’d had a rough idea of how much I owed and was trying to overestimate, however the figure actually turned out to be just under £300 more than what I’d expected. It’s not a crazy figure by any means, but it did dampen my mood a little.
The tiredness from the weekend was still lingering on Day 7, and on reflection, I think part of the reason was my poor bedtime routine.
Years ago, I would read before going to bed at a reasonable time. Granted, that’s not the answer to all of my tiredness problems, but it’s a far sight better than my current routine of scrolling Instagram on my phone for 20 minutes before turning Netflix on to play in the background whilst I doze off.
Today I decided to change this bad habit and actually read before bed! The book I’ve chosen is The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa. I bought this from Shakespeare and Company when on vacation in Paris, for no other reason than I thought it was a cool title for a book! Well, today – nearly two and a half years later – I finally decided to give it a read
The Travelling Cat Chronicles, complete with stamp and bookmark from Shakespeare and Company!
I do love reading but it’s something I’ve really neglected these past few years. Here’s hoping this will be the start of many books!
Metrics
Steps: 10,084 (Phone tracked)
Garmin Stress Score: 18
Mental Health Rating: 6/10
Remaining Debt: £42,272.30 (-£194.58 down on yesterday)
Food Log
Breakfast: Weetabix, milk, orange juice
Lunch: Plant-based chicken sandwich, small portion of leftover quorn curry
Day 6 rolled around and with it, the first Monday of my 365 day challenge.
Despite a decent sleep the night before, I actually felt more tired than I had the previous day when I was nursing a hangover. This tiredness crept into my work and I felt wholly unproductive throughout the morning.
Thankfully, this tiredness seemed to pass by lunchtime and I was a little more productive, getting through a fair bit of work and going to the post office to post a bag full of items I’d sold on eBay the previous day.
As I’ve mentioned previously, the vast majority of my debt has come from my compulsive spending disorder, so on a positive note, I do have some physical assets to sell, albeit not quite worth the crazy amounts of money I’ve spent.
A lot of this stuff is already listed on eBay and has been for a while, but I decided to list a fair few things as auctions to try and get them shifted. It worked for some, and I ended up selling 13 items! I should have the funds for these tomorrow, so check back tomorrow to see how much I made!
A busy day at the Modern Day Caveman postal office!
In further good news, I stepped on the scales for the first time in a few weeks and I weighed in at 105.4kg, a 1.8kg loss on the last time I weighed myself 3 weeks ago! This brings my BMI down to 29.8, down from 30.3, technically now classing me just as overweight and not ‘obese’.
In all honesty, there’s not a specific weight or numerical target I’m aiming for, my end goal is just to feel happy and confident in my own skin. Hopefully this consistent exercise and healthy eating can help get me there in the weeks and months to come – although my diet could still do with some improvement, if the past few days are anything to go by!
The biggest positive of the day, though, was finally fixing something I messed up back on Day 2. If you remember, that was a rough mental health day, and in a moment of stupidity, I ended up bidding £501 on an item on eBay.
It was one of those impulsive decisions – a mix of timing, seeing the notification pop up, and convincing myself I’d found a bargain because the item was worth almost double. Deep down, I knew it was just another excuse. I was fully aware of what I was doing.
Anyway, I actually won the auction, and the item had been sitting in my basket for the last four days, waiting for me to check out. Today, I made the decision to cancel the order and message the seller to explain I wouldn’t be completing the purchase.
It’s a small win, but a meaningful one. I know I made the right decision for myself and my future, even if there’s still a bit of guilt about having ended up in that position in the first place.
Metrics
Steps: 9,063 (Phone tracked)
Garmin Stress Score: 28 (Skewed – not enough time measured)
Mental Health Rating: 7/10
Remaining Debt: £42,466.88 (-£63 down on yesterday)
Food Log
Breakfast: Weetabix, milk, orange juice
Lunch: Plant-based chicken baguette, crisps
Dinner: Quorn curry, rice, poppadoms
Snacks: Banana, kiwi, graze flapjack, popcorn
Another page written, another step in the right direction. It won’t all be smooth sailing, but today I made choices that moved me forward instead of back.
The view from ‘The Mountain Ahead‘ on Day 6. The clocks went back over the weekend, so a headtorch was needed!
Well after a boozy evening on Day 4, I unfortunately spent much of Day 5 nursing a bit of a hangover. All self-inflicted of course!
So, the majority of my Sunday morning was spent hoping my headache would pass. It didn’t, so I dragged myself out of bed and up ‘The Mountain Ahead’ into the wind and rain. This actually did the trick and 40 minutes into the walk, my throbbing headache had passed.
Frustratingly, I’d broken my watch strap the night before, so I wasn’t able to accurately record my steps and data throughout the day. I have a replacement coming, but still, rather annoying!
It would have been very easy to avoid leaving the house and lounge round all day, but the fresh air evidently did me good and set me up for a fairly productive rest of the day.
When I got back, I caught up with my daily blogging entry for Day 4. At the moment, I’m writing this retroactively, reflecting on the events of the day before. I’m finding that doing it this way gets me to be much more thoughtful on the previous day, taking note of the emotions I felt throughout the day and it’s been really beneficial.
The most productive thing I did yesterday however, was create a fantastic, dynamic spreadsheet documenting all of my payments against my debts and their outstanding balances. It actually gives a brilliant overview of what I owe and I can already tell how motivating a tool it is going to be in encouraging me to chip away at the debt.
In fact, I’ve actually made some payments over the last week and already, I’ve managed to bring my debt down by nearly £1,500! I sold some cryptocurrency I’d invested in a fair few years back and also moved funds from a few successful eBay sales.
This feels like a brilliant step in the right direction and with my first payday of my new job on the horizon on Friday, it feels like we are making great progress.
Progress was not made on the diet front, however, as you’ll see from the food log, there was a lot of processed, unhealthy foods, in particular an ENTIRE tub of caramel ice cream. Of course, the hangover is to blame there but as long as it doesn’t become a regular occurrence, I’ll forgive myself this time!
Metrics
Steps: 13,004 (Phone tracked)
Garmin Stress Score: 84 (Likely skewed)
Mental Health Rating: 6/10
Remaining Debt: £42,529.88 (-£1,453.82 down on last week!)
Food Log
Breakfast: Plant-based sausage baguette
Lunch: Greggs vegetable bake, crisps
Dinner: Vegetable curry, Indian snacks, potato wedges
Snacks: Toast, tub of caramel ice cream
A typical hungover day for me looks like junk food, video games, and very little productivity. Today we had the junk food and a little bit of video gaming, but we had a fair amount of productivity, so whilst today might not have been the most perfect page, it’s one that’s moving the story forward.
Day 4 was an interesting day by all accounts. Firstly, it was a Saturday, meaning no ‘day job’ work, however I did have some freelance work which I’d scheduled to do.
A few months back, when I’d just returned from travelling and was job hunting, I picked up a freelance sales role, working a few hours a week.
I had planned to keep this up alongside my day job, however when I logged in, I saw an email saying that the company no longer needed my services.
My immediate reaction to the news was frustration and anger. Not only did I think this was a little unfair, but my ego took a knock too. In the heat of the moment, I was tempted to send a sassy response, but I paused, gathered my thoughts and remained professional.
On reflection, it’s not the worst thing in the world. A little disappointing yes and of course I will miss the extra, much needed income, but ultimately it’s just business at the end of the day. On a positive note, this will hopefully clear up some headspace and allow me more time to focus on other areas.
Work aside, I did another run to The Mountain Ahead and felt physically in a good condition. In fact, I managed to improve my time from the last time I ran it by over 3 minutes! Granted I’m still a way off running it without walking some of the steeper sections, but it’s a nice show of progress.
The view from ‘The Mountain Ahead’ on Day 4
In the evening, I met up with friends for some drinks and to watch the football. What was supposed to be a few pints ended up turning into quite a few pints, but I’d allowed myself Saturday night as a reward for some good progress in the week.
I was actually quite apprehensive about meeting up with friends – on the journey to meet them I had a ball of anxiety in the pit of my stomach. As usual, this disappeared in an instant when I met them. From what I’ve experienced with anxiety, the thought and apprehension of the thing, is always worse than doing the actual thing itself.
Metrics
Steps: 12,510
Garmin Stress Score: 49
Mental Health Rating: 6/10
Remaining Debt: £44,052.03
Food Log
Breakfast: Weetabix, milk, orange juice
Lunch: Scrambled eggs, sourdough toast
Dinner: Macaroni cheese, salad
Snacks: Banana
All in all, it was a bit of a weird day, one filled with a bit of frustration and apprehension, but definitely some positives to take with an improved time on my run and some much needed quality time with friends.
After the highs of Day 1 and the lows of Day 2, Day 3 was a much more level day by all accounts.
We have a bit of a tradition on a Friday afternoon at my parents’ house where we walk to the local brewery and catch up on the week’s events over a few pints. Despite it being Friday and me having a fairly positive week at work, and more importantly a good week in the sense that I didn’t give in to any impulsive spending, I decided to walk to The Mountain Ahead after I finished work and let my parents go to the brewery without me.
It still baffles me how I can find the willpower to go on a wet and windy 7km walk rather than walk to the brewery just around the corner, when less than a month ago I couldn’t find the same control to stop spending £300 a day on things I didn’t need.
So much of what we do, whether it’s pushing ourselves to be disciplined with exercise, eating well, or trying to improve, or giving in to the temptation of alcohol, gambling, or an easy lifestyle, all comes down to willpower.
On another positive note, during today’s walk I decided to listen to a podcast instead of music. It was called “How to Get Out of Debt the FAST WAY.” Most of it covered things I already knew like the avalanche and snowball methods, but it was still motivating to listen to.
There’s a quote I heard a few years back that has stuck with me: “You are what you consume.” It’s true not just in terms of food, but also the media we take in. Constantly listening to sad or negative content isn’t going to lift you up. Filling your head with positive, motivating podcasts or upbeat music can only make you think more clearly and act with purpose.
I’ll link the podcast below, as it’s a great listen, especially for anyone at the start of their debt-free journey.
After returning from my walk, family arrived for the weekend. Rather than joining in with the welcome drinks, I had a mint tea and went upstairs for an early night.
The fact I didn’t have an alcoholic drink today was a huge win, especially when there was plenty of temptation. The real test will be tomorrow when I meet friends at the pub to watch the football. I’m not saying I won’t drink, but limiting myself to one day a week already feels like a big step forward.
Snacks: Banana, apple, Graze flapjack bar, mint choc chip ice cream (it was a Friday after all!)
I don’t say this enough, but I was genuinely proud of myself today. I overcame some willpower struggles and made positive choices. On to the next page.
The Modern Day Caveman 