What's the worst it's got?

twirlypinky

I think I'm kind of hitting an all time low, this year (and last) have been pretty bad, I've got divorced, given up trying to sell the marital home and let the ex have it, moved into a flat, realised I can't afford it, and as of last week, moved into a single ensuite room in a shared appartment at the hospital where I work.

On the plus side, my financial plan spreadsheet for the next 12 months is finally looking healthy so have something to be positive about, and by October I'm really starting to pay things off.

What's the worst it's got for you? What was your lowest low and so we don't all get depressed, how much better do you feel now?

I feel better because I'm going to get the £900 deposit back from my old landlord in about two weeks and it'll pay off a big chunk of debt, and my mum is taking me to see Jospeh in October (rock on).

Twirly x

Staciep88

Ummm well I would say that at our worst:

I owed 1k on 2 credit cards at high interest rates and
OH owed £7k on 2 credit cards and 1 loan

and now our situation is:

I owe £475 on a 0% interest card and £184.10 for my car for the next 3 yrs
OH owes £5900 on 2 0% cards, 1 high interest card and 1 loan

So even though I have occured another debt its managable and what i wanted and OH's debts have come down by just over £1k in about 6 months. Now he is on track and I wont let him give up - Debt free by 12 months

twirlypinky

Well done you! I've just done my snowball thingy and I'm debt free in 16 months, woo hoo!

Staciep88

well thats great! what is this snowball thing then?

twirlypinky

Crikey I can't remember where I saw the link now, but basically you punch in your debts, amount you can afford to repay each month and the APR on each and it'll tell you how long it'll take to pay them back, and which order is best to do them in based on interest. It's not bad.

It does rather help though that my paying back ability has just jumped up from £50 a month to £500 because I've moved home again!

twirlyx

Staciep88

i just found a link for it and it says 15 months - well i wasnt far out! lol

Ames

My lowest point was when I moved house and because of the cost of removal I couldn't afford to buy food.

Lady_Fluff

My lowest was between September 07-January 08.
My debts weren't huge, but at £4k they were enough for me to be struggling. I got just under a grand a month in wages, but I have to pay rent, council tax and basically everything. And I was hiding everything from Mrs Fluff. She didn't contribute to the household pot much, as she was paying off her credit card which her mother had run up debts on (a whole other long story!) and she only works part time as she's combining work and university. Last September, our savings, which I had been robbing (for want of a better word) for the past year, finally ran out. My overdraft was over its limit. My credit card was at its limit. On payday, I was getting the rent money out, then shopping in as many supermarkets as possible in order to get the monthly shop and get as much cashback as possible in order to have money on me for the month. Then I stopped being able to get cashback on payday. Not a good sign. Not for the first time, my thoughts turned frequently suicidal, although I did not do anything. I struggled for a few months, and then in January Mrs Fluff decided to look in the savings account. It's fair to say what I did was an Instant Dumping Offence, and perfectly justifiable. I have never been so low...

The next period of time is something of a blur, but for reasons I still don't understand (I believe it's called love...) she decided to forgive me, and has stood by me (we celebrate our 6 year anniversary in ten days). My debts to evil corporations are paid off, but I'm indebted to my mother. My payments back to her start next year as she gave me a payment break of 12 months. I don't know how long it will take to pay her back but she said even if it's just a token tenner it'll be OK - I intend to send her £50 a month however, or more if I change jobs and get paid more money. I have managed to save back the money I took from our savings.
I still feel the guilt every day, every time a bill or a statement comes, every time I get an unexpected phonecall I start to panic, even though the need to is gone. I can't change what I did, but I've already grown from the experience and I hope that I'm a better person because of it.