SA's voyage through bankruptcy ......

startagain_2

Good Morning everyone....

Day off today and what started as a lovely sunny morning has very quickly turned into a grey and rainy day. What a great excuse for staying in and doing absolutely nothing on my day off!
It is also a good opportunity to catch up with the board... it is so easy to lose track but it is always good to see others making their way through to the BR day getting as much help and advice as I got a few months back.
Well done everyone ... old and new alike....:T Without sounding too a**e kissy,this board does so much good. I know for a fact I would not be BR today if I hadn't had the guidance from here. In Nov 08 I was sinking, Dec 08 treading water, and now definitely swimming - life has become good again after a long time of being bad!

Nothing new to report, the phone has been quiet, no creditor letters.
The only thing that has irritated me is that I am getting marketing calls from BT. I rent my landline from them which they seem to think means that they can call me despite my number being on the TPS list (barring marketing calls). Each time I tell them to remove my number from the database and they say "No problem" and a couple of days later, another call! :mad: It really annoys me.

I have decided to keep budget sheets for my income and outgoings. Only a few days after my OR interview my car needed a new exhaust,£140 - over the last year I have spent about £600 (tyres, exhaust, MOT, servicing) and this is in excess of the amount on my SOA. I am going to keep an eye on the bills - electricity, car and community tax and adjust my income and SOA if neccessary. I was told that I could do this during my interview and I will just ring the OR office to keep them informed. The last thing I want to do is blow my budget on a biggish bill and leave myself short for other bills when they land.

It has now been 2 months since my BR - I may be lucky enough to get ED but if not it is still not too long to go before the 12 months is up. There is something nice about the date being January as it is a complete year and I can write 2009 off and make a real fresh start in 2010.

It is and has been such a learning experience, getting by without credit and much less money to live on. Rediscovering cooking my own meals and making food stretch, I throw away far less. I don't buy things on a whim, if I do want something I do the "wait 24 hours thing" and quite often the buying itch has gone away and I realise I didn't really want or need it. Money saved!

I have splurged this week on a Depression self-help book that my psycholgist has recommended. It has cost £25 from Amazon but I trust him to only do the right things for me and see it as a neccessary expense. Depression can be so crippling, as others on here know, and my improvement has been considerable since I started seeing him. My appointments started weekly, then fortnightly and are now between 2 - 3 weeks apart so that is good.
By learning the warning signs (the triggers) I can learn the skills to change and hopefully avoid the black days.

So that is it really, a very busy week ahead at work starting tomorrow and then a week or two recovering I expect.
Best wishes everyone, good luck to those of you with BR days or OR interview this week. Deep breaths and a calm attitude, you will all be fine.

Hugs to you all....
SA

DON79

Hi SA! hope you are well, weather here is still ok but it could possibly change, it is getting cloudier by the second! I hope not, want to get out and about later on when my OH gets back.

Have a good day off and enjoy it!

Donna

yellowmonkey

Nice post SA and nice to know that you have come through this and are sounding positive about the future.

Gives us all hope as we approach the start of the BR process

ym

startagain_2

Thanks to you both....

peachyprice

Hi SA,
It's great to see your life going onwards and certainly upwards, here's hoping your bright new future will leave those dark days firmly in the past (((((:heartsmil )))))

startagain_2

Thanks peachy, very much appreciated.

It is a bit of a cliche when you hear the words that you can't expect anyone to like or love you if you don't like or love yourself and this has slowly dawned on me over the last few months. I am working on the liking myself bit at the moment and who knows at the very end of my BR voyage there may be a bit of room in my life for a new OH..... who knows?

On a completely different subject :rolleyes: I have just taken my meter readings and for 17 days my bill is £28 - thank heavens I was advised to up the leccy on my SOA.
Scottish Power are reducing their electric costs at the end of March, I think they need to, it is so expensive. I know we have been through a very cold spell but I only have two storage heaters, lighting and a cooker. Crikey!

Off to cook a bit of breakfast/lunch now - I don't think poached eggs counts as brunch! Have a good day everyone.

SA

philnicandamy

You sound much more positive well done you!

Hmm know what you mean with scottish power i'm beginning to think they pluck figures out of fresh air..time to switch soon methinks!

Have a Grrrrrrreat day SA & enjoy the breakfast..

startagain_2

philnicandamy wrote: »

You sound much more positive well done you!

Hmm know what you mean with scottish power i'm beginning to think they pluck figures out of fresh air..time to switch soon methinks!

Have a Grrrrrrreat day SA & enjoy the breakfast..

Thanks phil,

I am quite positive at the moment, but I do know that this can and does come down with a bump from time to time. Thankfully less and less though.

With the electric bills, what I don't understand is that I switched TO Scottish Power after doing a search on uswitch.com and they were supposed to be the cheapest for my usage and area. I don't know if this fell at the wrong time with the fuel charges spiralling or whether it was just duff info but my bills are about 40% more expensive. I will wait another 2 - 3 months and see how it levels out. I suppose as it is accounted for on the SOA I don't really have to do anything until I am discharged and my money becomes my own.
It is a lot of money for a bit of warmth and light though!

Bye for now

SA

Nigella_2

I was paying £52 monthly for debts whilst on benefits BUT after BR I was able to absorb the fuel and food price rises! (TG)

In one way there is a learning curve to make ends meet without credit and hopefully drip a few pennies to a rainy day fund rather than debts!

eklynne

startagain wrote: »

It has now been 2 months since my BR - I may be lucky enough to get ED but if not it is still not too long to go before the 12 months is up. There is something nice about the date being January as it is a complete year and I can write 2009 off and make a real fresh start in 2010.

SA

I totally agree! I am also January, and feel that it will prove to me that I can get through a whole calendar year (including Christmas at the very end) without wasting money. It's such a learning curve.
Glad things are levelling out for you. Enjoy the calm