A mini debt free diary... :)

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chazsucks
chazsucks Posts: 396 Forumite
in Debt free diaries
Hey everyone, I'm kinda new to these boards.. been postineg a little and reading a lot in the last week or so. I have to say, these debt free diaries are a real inspiration to me. It amazes me how much debt some people are in, and I don't mean that offensively - I seriously admire how strong you guys all are.

My debts
Credit card - £700 (maxed out)
Store card - £200 (£300 left on it)
Debts to family members - around £500.

So total - about £1,400.
Which would be quite easy to pay off..... If I had a job.

Now I'm only 19. 20 in 4 months.
I left my job last year which was stupid. Since about 16 I've bounced around jobs, and it's never taken me more than a weekt o find a new one. But I didn't realise the looming recession and ended up not being able to find a job. So I thought I'd be smart and get a credit card, just to keep me going until I got a new job (ha!). I never got one before, and never really wanted to because I new I would mess myself up, but I had no money and no income and just went for it :/. I told Halifax I was self imployed to get the card, stupid I know. I've made a lot of mistakes.

Anyway! Fast forward to September last year... where is my period?!?! !!!!!!!!. No money. No job. Getting into debt.. and now I'm pregnant. My family and friends thought I was being stupid, not using anything but I was, so i didn't understand how this could happen? Spoke to my doc and apparently 'these things happen'.

I live with my partner (25) in my dads house (cheaper rent) as we were saving up for a deposit somewhere. Now the house has been sold we need to leave by June 26th. I stopped trying to get a job a month or so ago, since I now have 23 days till EDD. I'm not entitled to any benefits at the moment, as I have a partner (lol!).

The thing is I had enough money to be making my minumum payments until I could find a job, but my dog needed surgery (went in yesterday) and... thats £500. I used my last £200 (so I now have £14.50 to my name) and had to borrow the rest from my parents.

So now I need to do something about it. I'm going to start collecting up crap to sell on ebay today and take it from there....

Wish me luck! And sorry about the length of this...
Oh and if anyone has any ebay tips it would be muchly appreciated!
Misc debts - £5,000 | Student loan - £9,000 | Mortgage - £180,000
Goals for 2015: Sell house & downsize + Increase income + Get debt Free :shocked: {Diary}
<3DS born 05/05/2009 & DS2 born 12/02/2011 <3
Smoke free since 01/01/2010
Paid off credit card 04/04/2011
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Comments

  • claire1234
    claire1234 Posts: 693 Forumite
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    hiya,

    just wanted to say good luck and keep strong! well done on posting, i havnt started a diary yet but keeping track in my signature,

    were almost the same as you just over £2k of credit card debt, slowly getting it right down, it seems like nothing but when its different cards it feels even harder.

    no tips on ebay as i hate it! lol
    i use the buy in now and open to offers which is working quite well,

    and take a look at the soa - its helped me a lot

    good luck and congrats on the baby :)
  • zigmeister
    zigmeister Posts: 1,099 Forumite
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    Hi!

    I don't really have any advice cuz I've only just started my own diary but good luck with everything :)

    A positive thing about your situation (aside from the baby, congratulations!) is that you got a relatively low credit limit and some of your debt is to family which can make things easier! I'm 20 and when I got a credit card they gave me £1500! It was lethal. :rolleyes:

    Keep posting and letting us know how you get on :)

    Zig x

    P.S Somewhere on this site there is a special board for ebay!
    Total Debt (Dec 2015) £11,500 : Currently £7,675
    House Deposit Savings : £8,600/£25,000
    Lose 21lb : 0/21
  • chazsucks
    chazsucks Posts: 396 Forumite
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    Ohhhh I'm so excited. I listed 8 items on ebay tonight, I literally finished about half an hour ago and I have a bid already :D 99p so far but 10 days to go yayyyy go me :)

    I wanted to get it done earlier but forgot to charge my camera battery :/

    I also added 19 books to my Green Metropolis thingy, which will probably be a waste of time :( I already had 15 books on there and no one has ever bought one.... but at least I'm trying :)

    I'm going to try and aim for 10 more ebay listings tomorrow :D I also have to go back to the vet for them to make sure Taz my doggy is healing up ok after his surgery.

    Thankyou for reading! :D xox
    Misc debts - £5,000 | Student loan - £9,000 | Mortgage - £180,000
    Goals for 2015: Sell house & downsize + Increase income + Get debt Free :shocked: {Diary}
    <3DS born 05/05/2009 & DS2 born 12/02/2011 <3
    Smoke free since 01/01/2010
    Paid off credit card 04/04/2011
  • savingholmes
    savingholmes Posts: 27,392 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Anniversary Photogenic First Post
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    Hi chaz just wanted to wish you a warm welcome to the boards and congratulate you on your baby. Is you partner willing/able to contribute towards debt repayment? Are you able to keep at least the minimum payments going? If not perhaps you could go on a dmp but he would need to give you at least £1 each notional payment to give all of your creditors.

    I hear what you are saying about your partner earning and benefits but have you checked entitledto to see if you can get a maternity grant or any other allowances? You will also qualify for tax credits I think it may be around £900 a year for a first baby (for the first year) - you may get more. Your child care benefit is also likely to be at least £60 a month so altho you will need that for the baby at lest it will give you some income

    Best of luck!
    Achieve FIRE/Mortgage Neutrality by mid 2030
    1) MFW Nov 21 £201,999 with 237 payments to go - now £184,341 Equity 26.26%
    2) Spend on handyman & external building works & new patio door £12.3K
    3) CC £4.9K on 0% spends card but offset by £34.1K savings (part EF, part future home improvement)
    4) Mortgage neutral by June 2030 AVC £9.6K/£127.5K AVC target 7.5% value at 15/4
    5) FI Age 60 annual income target £13.7/30K 45.7%
  • zigmeister
    zigmeister Posts: 1,099 Forumite
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    Well done on listing the ebay items and the books! It's a really good start! I can never get round to doing it :rolleyes: and a bid already is great! :D

    Hope your dog is ok :) I know this is probably not the right thing to be suggesting seeings as you are trying to save money, but would taking out pet insurance be an idea in case he needs any more surgery or stuff? But I don't have a dog or pet insurance so I don't really know much!

    I was also thinking, are there other family members you could stay with until you sort something out? Seeings as you're pregnant and all :)

    Sorry, I don't have any good money advice (like benefits and stuff, but there are tons of amazing people on this site that do have the knowledge!)

    But I'm here if you just wanna chat! :D

    Zig x
    Total Debt (Dec 2015) £11,500 : Currently £7,675
    House Deposit Savings : £8,600/£25,000
    Lose 21lb : 0/21
  • chazsucks
    chazsucks Posts: 396 Forumite
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    Woo I haven't updated much but sooo busy!
    I've got about 20 items on ebay now, one of them I may end early today for someone :D
    50 books on green metropolis
    And we arranged a car boot for Saturday..... BUT. It's my last chance for antenatal classes this weekend, there's an NCT intensive course, friday, saturday and then on the wednesday I think it is... The lady was so nice trying to fit us in and it was £185!!!!!!!! I explained our circumstances and she's arranged for us to pay just £25. But it's for couples only and not sure if OH can get the Sunday off work :(
    grrrrrrrrrrrr lot's going on.... going to take more pics of crap for ebay today :)
    This morning I went to a few charity shops and was completely SHOCKED at the prices, I couldn't find anything under £3 not even cds, or old jewlery ... nothing!
    Misc debts - £5,000 | Student loan - £9,000 | Mortgage - £180,000
    Goals for 2015: Sell house & downsize + Increase income + Get debt Free :shocked: {Diary}
    <3DS born 05/05/2009 & DS2 born 12/02/2011 <3
    Smoke free since 01/01/2010
    Paid off credit card 04/04/2011
  • savingholmes
    savingholmes Posts: 27,392 Forumite
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    hi chaz well done for listing on ebay and green metropolis that's one up on me. Hope you manage to sort out your antenatal class... I have to say tho that if you can't got it isn't the end of the world! I just went to my local antenatal group run by a midwife and then did some antenatal swimming, I think I went to one hospital session too and watched a video. I wrote my birth plan before I went into hospital and things pretty much went to plan....

    Good luck with whatever you decided to do... but don't let the pressure of a perfect, natural birth get to you. I found a tens machine, relaxing CDs and meptid for the later stages worked fine!
    Achieve FIRE/Mortgage Neutrality by mid 2030
    1) MFW Nov 21 £201,999 with 237 payments to go - now £184,341 Equity 26.26%
    2) Spend on handyman & external building works & new patio door £12.3K
    3) CC £4.9K on 0% spends card but offset by £34.1K savings (part EF, part future home improvement)
    4) Mortgage neutral by June 2030 AVC £9.6K/£127.5K AVC target 7.5% value at 15/4
    5) FI Age 60 annual income target £13.7/30K 45.7%
  • chazsucks
    chazsucks Posts: 396 Forumite
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    Arghhhhhhhhhh today has been so frustrating.

    Had a midwife appointment this morning, and guess what.... baby flipped so his head is up under my ribs. I was wondering why my stomach was so hard, so high up! I can't even lean forward properly.
    I have to have a ultrasound next week to see if he's turned back round (unlikely apparently) and if not scedule a c-section for when I'm 39 weeks!!! The scan is next tuesday and I'll be.... 38 weeks and 2 days (i think! :s) And they can't turn him roiund because he's gone into a stupid position really high up... and they wont wait any longer for the c section because apparently their skulls are soft at that age and it will mold into the shape of the FUNDAS what is a fundas grrrrrrrr I'm so annoyed I really don't want a c section.

    On a better note... hopefully... I sent my first ebay item out today, ended the auction early yesterday for this guy so I hope he's happy with it :)

    Paid halifax £20 today towards credit card only £680 left to go :D lol...
    did I mention it's INTEREST FREE till september?? (only reason I took it out in the first place...) so I'm really going to try my best to get as much done as possible before then... I started looking at part time jobs for after the baby is born but apparently if I have to have the csection I can't work for 6 weeks, so I'm not going to apply for any yet anyway.

    I also keep forgetting to ask midwife about health in pregnancy grant thingy... a free £190 to anyone that is over 26 weeks pregnant! Better do that asap.....

    :) xox
    Misc debts - £5,000 | Student loan - £9,000 | Mortgage - £180,000
    Goals for 2015: Sell house & downsize + Increase income + Get debt Free :shocked: {Diary}
    <3DS born 05/05/2009 & DS2 born 12/02/2011 <3
    Smoke free since 01/01/2010
    Paid off credit card 04/04/2011
  • applestar
    applestar Posts: 22 Forumite
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    fundas is the top of your uterus :)

    er.. yeh sorry that's all the help advice i have to give not been lurking long enough for anything more useful than the odd bit of anatomy :rotfl:
  • chazsucks
    chazsucks Posts: 396 Forumite
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    Hmmm... exactly two weeks to go now (crapping myself btw).
    I now have over 30 items on ebay and 70 on green metropolis.
    I did a car boot sale yesterday, me and OH made about £85 together, but spent £9 of it on baby clothes :S there was this lady whose daughter had bought billions of clothes for her son, who hadn't worn so much of them and they were so nice, most of them new and good brands like disney and next :D

    On ebay I've made about £40 so far and my auctions haven't ended yet ... and we have another car boot planned for Saturday.

    All car boot + ebay money is going together into our 'baby fund' and half of that is going to buy items for baby and other half is for a savings account :)

    I'm tired. I'm really really tired. I just want Tuesday to come so I can find out what's happening...
    Misc debts - £5,000 | Student loan - £9,000 | Mortgage - £180,000
    Goals for 2015: Sell house & downsize + Increase income + Get debt Free :shocked: {Diary}
    <3DS born 05/05/2009 & DS2 born 12/02/2011 <3
    Smoke free since 01/01/2010
    Paid off credit card 04/04/2011
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