A Brief Introduction...

I overspend...there I've said it.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not in financial hardship by any means; but I'm also a long way off savings heaven!

I blame being a child of the 80's. Those of us born under the reign of Mrs Thatcher were brought up watching a steady stream of US sitcoms, where money seemed to be of no object. The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Blossom and the ultimate in 'flash-the-cash' sitcoms, Beverley Hills 90210. All programmes where anything could be bought, or resolved with a simple wave of a Gold AMEX card.

The viewing habits of my early-twenties did little to improve this perception. The theme tune to Friends bellows: "Your job's a joke, you're broke..." yet they still manage to live in huge apartments. Rent controlled they might be, but in my world I go to the tap if I want a glass of water. They go to their designer refrigerator and pull out a nice cool individual sized bottle of H2o.

In Sex and the City Carrie bemoans her debts: but still manages to splurge on Manolo's. Where as I feel guilty if I happen to lock gazes with the window display in Barratts. OK, so there's one episode where Carrie's credit card gets refused and is snipped into tiny little pieces. But that's one episode in six seasons! Surely Freelance Writing doesn't pay well enough to indulge in such a glamorous lifestyle and never have to worry about having your Switch card refused in Tesco's.

OK, OK, I know it's not real. But this diet of US TV has left me in state of flux. I want the cocktails after work, followed by a three-course dinner lifestyle, but on my sorry excuse of a salary, combined with my habit of splurging every time my boss moans at me, I have a fat day...or even worse, an I have nothing to wear day- it's just not going to happen. Particularly, and this when the really grown-up responsible adult bit comes into play. Particularly, when I have met the love of my life and I want to start settling down and making babies. How am I supposed to afford nappies when I can't afford a new nightdress?

I need to cast aside the days of what comes in, goes out and start saving. I need to start thinking property ladders and savings schemes. My mission, should I chose to accept it, is to save £5k between New Years Day 2007 and the end of the year! If I succeed I promise to throw the bling-est NYE bash seen this side of Birmingham (Well, we don't want to get too carried away now, do we?).

Saving £5k in a year probably sounds like a paltry amount to some of you. But on my salary, and with my spend, spend, spend predisposition it's certainly going to be interesting. Especially as with me being me, I don't see that I should miss out on the finer things in life while I save. After all I still need to have a life, I still need beautiful things to look at. So it's not just going to be a case of budgeting and saving like a mad fiend. I'm looking at creative ways to save money...I'll try anything...

And don't worry it's not going to be all me, me, me. I'm also going to be speaking to others. Finding out money saving tips, how to get good deals. Learning how to barter and well, I'll be looking at whether it really is possible to live an 'Ebay life'.

So join me in my quest...my rocky road to financial freedom. There's bound to be laughs, tears and the odd oh-my-god-i-wish-the-ground-would-open-up-and-swallow-me-now moment. Who knows I might even come up with some good ideas.

Check back soon to see how I'm getting on.

Happy New Year!

Babe x