What's the point???

rluc

After years of struggling and then splitting up with my wife I have been trying for two years now to clear my debt and have managed to drop 7k from 30k, but it always seems there is something dragging me down. I am self employed and this month has been tax, car tax and new tyres! I am am every single month seeing less and less work and the bills keep coming in. I have most of my debts on low interest for the life of the balance apart from £3.5k on MBNA about to go from 0% to high interest at the end of the month( will hopefully find a new deal!!) But I am paying out ~£500 a month minimum payments and just see my income steadily dropping. I have not missed any payments for a long time but am worried that it will all go pear shaped soon and then I dont see a way back once it all goes to high interest rates. I just feel like I am trying my best but everything seems to be against me. At the moment I just feel like giving up and letting my finances go down the pan, I have been trying so hard but there seems no end!!!

tasha-debt

Hi,

I am very new to this site but I think the best thing you can do is post an SOA (Statement of affairs) that shows all your incomings and outgoings each month. People will then try to help you save money to be able to pay your debts off quicker.

Their are loads of people on this site who will be able to help you so please try and stay postive. You have already paid 7K off off your debts that is alot of money so you have made a fab start.

Tasha

mooomin

Hello!

As the previous poster said, post a SOA (Statement of Affairs) and we will be better placed to advise then.

Just to say though, you have cleared £7000. That is a massive achievement and you should be really proud of yourself.

Look forward to reading your SOA.

tasha-debt

www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html is the link to the statement of accounts/affairs

rluc

Hi Tasha, thanks for your reply looks like your debts are similar to mine. I will look at sorting an SOA the real trouble is being self employed my outgoings (for debts at least!) are kind of fixed but my incomings are vary variable. I am looking at the moment for a job just to get a constant wage that I can work with.

tasha-debt

Hi rluc,

My parents are in the same situation as my Dad is self employed. What my Mum does is pay the minimum payments on their cardseach month and pays any extra cash that they have is paid into another account, every few weeks she pays a lump of a credit card. They are following the rule by trying clearing the highest apr first.

They also have found if my Dad has not done so well that they have some spare cash to meet the that months minimum payments in the account. They make sure their is always a few hundred pounds in this account at all times as a safety net.

Good luck.

Fire_Fox

You are doing really well so far! :j:j:j

It can be hard to think of your self-employed income as all yours and not put any aside for income tax. It's easier for us worker bees as we only see the net sum! Also you may find the car repairs/ tax easier to manage if you budget for them in your SoA each month.

If you are not working as much as you would like maybe you could look for an extra part-time job for some additional income during the credit crunch?

rluc

Hi Tasha,
I try and do something similar and actually have the money to pay my tax bill plus about £150 over and whenever i have a little bit of spare money I put it into my savings( I have £1K in premium bonds from an inheritance which I see as my absolute final backup!!). Will take some time to do an SOA over the next few days, don't know if it will make me feel better or worse? It just feels good to talk to people about it to be honest, I tend to keep it all bottled up and put on a brave face and then go home and go to pieces!
Thanks

tasha-debt

You should really try not to bottle it up, use this thread to let it all out, even if its to moan it will help.

Do you mind me asking what your business is, my Dads a driving instructor. He has took a big loss of earning recently and is hardley getting any new clients.

My and my Borfriend spent a whole weekend leaflet dropping in local area's leaflets that we created and I printed off at work for free (naughty I know). My Dad has got 7 new drivers out of it.

Maybe some cheap advertising might help bring in some more work?

Keep positive.

makeup

Hello

I think you'll feel better - at first it might be hard but after that you can take a deep breath and look at ways of sorting it out.

I never posted a SOA on here but I did my own version and straight away I could see that I was spending too much on 'treats' - things like magazines or fancy coffees and the like. I was also pleasantly surprised at how low my food bills were. It is good to write it all down and see where your money goes. You may see straightaway areas to save or you can get some advice from here.

You have managed to clear a lot of debt already so you should feel proud of yourself.

Is your industry seasonal - is it likely to pick up soon? Is there anything you can do to generate more business - diversify or widen areas covered?? You've probably already considered all that though.... this is certainly a tough time for everyone not least those who are self-employed.

rluc

Firefox, thanks I am looking at all sorts at the moment to earn extra money, think something will come up guess I have got the january blues on top of it all it just seems I have have been struggling forever with no realistic end in sight, will keep on going somehow I guess.