Happy New Year! I hope your holidays and the new year have been as splendid as mine were.

Today’s post is not a good one. I had a relapse on the spendthrift front. I’ve spent far too much money in the last few months, especially around the holidays. Here are my confessions to the universe.

• I don’t know how much I’ve spent since November 18th. I have a ballpark amount – because I know how much my bank balance has decreased – but that’s it.
• I don’t know what I spent on. I buried my head in the sand because I didn’t want to acknowledge how out of control my spending got.
• I’ve lived above my means. I haven’t had any income since I quit my job in November to date my girlfriend. I’ve spent more money than I budgeted. I’d saved enough to spend about £1,700 a month but have spent about £2,500 instead.
• I’ve taken on debt. I opened a bunch of credit cards and a line of credit. I haven’t run up a lot of debt yet but, unless I get some freelance business soon, I will.
• I don’t have a solid plan for making money. I started a business. However, I was on vacation for a couple of months. It will take a few more weeks to get clients.

I’ve been rubbish. I’ll need to start all over again. First, I need to get back into the habit of tracking my spending. So, I’ll reinstate the weekly money diaries.

Then, I’ll create a new budget. I’ll also have to get serious with my business. I’ll be OK for another 2 or 3 months. I’m just trying to get ahead of real trouble.