Life on a sticky wicket in 5XL underpants

LegBeforeWicket · 14 March 2018 at 8:14PM

Hi MSE!
I’m a mid to late 30s chap who has a bundle of debt, little income, a not so straightforward work history, a few ailments, and a rather wobbly backside. I appreciate that this is DFW and some of the things I wish to address fall beyond the debt category, but all these things are linked in some way and I feel like this is the right place for me to empty my little head of various thoughts.

How have I got where I am today? Well, bad choices and laziness, mainly. It’s true that life has thrown me a couple of curveballs along the way, be they health issues or life events, and it would be uncharitable to fail to acknowledge that they have taken their toll, but I really must stand up and say that I, LegBeforeWicket, am entirely responsible for being in debt to the tune of £9448.71 :eek: This is the highest it’s ever been and I’m determined to ensure that this is the highest it will ever be. Currently these are spread across six credit cards, all of which are on 0% deals; a couple end in 2019 and the rest in 2020.

What about an SOA? Well, I can’t provide one at the minute. Not helpful I know, but being in a position to post one is one of my goals. My main source of income at the moment is Matched Betting (there is a board about it on MSE if you aren’t familiar with it) and a few other scraps elsewhere. Some health issues have made it difficult to work full time in recent years and MB has kept me going (plus piling up debt on CCs) but I can’t, and don’t want to, do it forever; I want to work again. Full time. Addressing these health issues properly is the only way I will be able to work again, one of which is the fact that I am approximately 110lbs above the upper limit of a ‘normal’ BMI. I know BMI isn’t a perfect tool but I can’t argue with the general message it’s giving me…as well as the fact that I bought 5XL pants this week. I’m more a 4.5XL but they don’t exist!

Anyway, this is just an introductory post so I’ve tried to keep it short, but I’ll be posting up more.

Thanks to anyone who reads

beanielou · 14 March 2018 at 11:20PM

Wishing you well on your MSE journey.

System · 15 March 2018 at 6:09AM

Welcome and good luck!

redofromstart · 15 March 2018 at 9:04AM

:hello: hello LBW and good luck with your journey

onedaysomeday · 15 March 2018 at 9:37AM

Good luck! :j

fatrab · 15 March 2018 at 10:09AM

Hi and welcome along from another DFW who is loosing weight in the process!

A lot of my surplus each month was being spent on snacks, fast food and alcohol. At my worst £125 in a single weekend on takeaway food alone.

It worked for me and might work for you depending on your circumstances if you start a spending diary. Write down every penny you spend and what you spend it on. It wasn't the amount of money I was spending that shocked me, I already knew I was haemorrhaging money, it was the amount I was snacking. Just knowing I had to write it down (I now have a spending tracker app) was enough to make me stop and think before I bought things. I still have the odd time that I have a wobble, and find myself stuffing a jam donut into my gob, but they're few and far between. They used to be 2 or 3 times a day events.

I've set myself a goal to lose on average one pound per week. Small changes in diet and slight increases in exercise, but the biggest change for me was cutting out the booze. I was 17st 8lbs in December, I'm around or just under 16st today with another 2 stone to go.

Good luck on your journey and I'll pop in and see how you're getting on as time goes by!

Best wishes, Rab

enthusiasticsaver · 15 March 2018 at 10:57AM

Welcome to DFW Diaries. You will get a lot of support here.

I agree with fatrab that a spending diary is a good place to start in recording all your spends. If you are trying to lose weight as well there are a few diary members who are also doing the same so reading other diaries may give you some hints.

I am not familiar with matched betting but I know a few people bring in some extra income with this and surveys etc. Are you claiming all the benefits you are entitled to?

A big plus is that all the debt is on 0%. Are you just paying minimums at the moment?

LegBeforeWicket · 15 March 2018 at 7:46PM

Hello beanielou, ramblehan, redofromstart, onedaysomeday, fatrab, and enthusiasticsaver. Thank you so much for taking the time to say hello and offer some advice, it’s very kind of you.

The spending record is an excellent suggestion. How do I know this? Because I’ve been completing one since mid 2011

You see, I’ve popped in and out of this website for some years and I’ve taken on board a couple of things, yet this is the first time I have signed up and posted; I’ve been burying my head. I could tell you how many haircuts I’ve had in these past 7 years, how many takeaways etc etc and I can tell you the average price I’ve paid. I’ve got the data, just not the discipline…until now, I hope.

I’ve been in debt almost all of my adult life. About 3 or 4 years ago I did manage to pay off the £3000 or so that I owed and had a positive net worth for perhaps the first time ever, but I went backwards again. Spending too much on food, wasting money on nonsense items as a means of distracting myself from being unhappy, and spending about a third of my current debt on something health related have put me in my current position. So has not working very much.

Matched Betting provides me with most of my income, for those of you aren’t familiar with it I must impress that it’s not gambling. In addition, I’ve done a few things like ebay selling etc and I’ve done this properly, registered with HMRC etc. Quite a lot of the past decade has been like this because of my health – not my weight, that doesn’t stop me working – but a neurological issue, an arthritic one, a digestive one, and some good old depression made it such that any work I did really needed to be home based.
I don’t claim any benefits and I don’t think I’m entitled to any, and to be honest I don’t feel I should be entitled to any. Improving my health to the point where I can work full time is possible – my main neurological issue seems to have subsided – if I make the right choices. Quite what I want to do for the rest of my work life is something I need to address, but simply getting fit for work is my current goal.

Even though my debt is £9448.71 (which I will break down in a minute) I do have cash of about £4500, which is my working capital for Matched Betting. My income varies so I run a month-to-month spreadsheet for my budget (which I now need to stick to). Using this and some reasonable assumptions about MB income, my current DFD is looking like the end of 2019. I pay more than the total minimums for my CC debts but right now I’m paying the minimums on five cards and everything I can on the one with the nearest 0% end date.

There will be lots more to come from me, I’m sure, but please ask any questions you want to. Or just read. In fact, even if nobody reads this then it’s still helping me by getting things off my chest. I know this is a great community and I want to thank in advance anyone who helps me, but first I must say thanks to fatrab for something. I mentioned that I’ve lurked around on and off for some time, but it was reading your diary last weekend that made me sign up and make a first post; you have a great energy and your diary is a great read, so thanks.

LBW

foxgloves · 15 March 2018 at 8:28PM

Hi LegbeforeWicket,
Your post title made me smile when you mentioned big pants, & I wanted to tell you this. Before the anti-debt lightbulb pinged on, I'd been in debt all my adult life, from age 19 to my 40s, my partner too. We were also very big. Once we'd made huge inroads into paying off our debts, we started a serious weight loss campaign & you know what? The skills we'd learned regarding budgeting, making good decisions that supported our overall goal & impulse control all turned out to be exactly the same skills & discipline needed to lose weight. Between 2011 & 2013, I lost 6 stones & shrank from a size 26 to a size 16. My partner (big bloke, loves his food) also dropped 4 stones. I have yo-yo'd this last couple of years & am currently just over 1.5 stones heavier than the lightest I got down to, but I'm now applying the same discipline to get it off. The bulk of the weight I lost has stayed off.
So I want to encourage you, really. Debt can be tackled & destructive eating habits can be changed. I think you too will find that a very similar skillset will address both issues.
Good luck with your goals.
P.S......I've still got a massive problem with walnut whips though........

enthusiasticsaver · 15 March 2018 at 8:29PM

So you know where you have been going wrong which is good. Finding ways to stay disciplined would be a great start and posting regularly helps that according to many people. Having to admit to spending money on something outside budget on the forum sometimes is enough to dissuade them from spending. We know that because often when a poster disappears it is because they have fallen off the wagon.

I am not sure I agree with you not being entitled to benefits if your health is not good enough to work at the present time. The benefit system is a safety net so it would seem that you should be able to claim but that is totally your choice.

You seem to have the knowledge to know which debt to target first and aiming for a DFD of the end of next year sounds promising.

You are still in your 30s so have time to sort this but I would suggest that you get out of the habit of using cards and start to develop a system of saving.

fatrab · 16 March 2018 at 10:10AM

Wow. Didn't expect my random ramblings to have that effect on anyone!

It took a lot for me to actually post in the first instance. I've always been the kind of person to keep my problems to myself, "their my problems and I'll deal with them" sort of attitude. So opening up on here was quite (I want to say difficult but that's not the right word) "strange(?)", but I quickly realised that there were plenty of people with similar experiences and wonderful advice, who are willing to give up their time to listen and help. Being honest in my SOA was one of the hardest things, actually admitting the true state of affairs.

You know what you need to do to get your debt's cleared, and you're tackling them in the correct order. I'm looking forward to hearing about your progress

Cheers! Rab

Life on a sticky wicket in 5XL underpants

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