Diary of a Poor Person aged 46 1/2

mrscmr

in the spirit of being a good daughter... i m desperately trying to pay my dad back the money he lent, continues to lend me... wish he would really shout at me tbh but he never does... just says... you can always talk to us if u need help... anyway have been paying him back in secret [how does that work ... u ask?] in my head it works by transferring odd amounts directly into his bank account without telling him.

then he rings me up and says... anything u want to tell me? no, i say, nothing i can think of. and we never speak of it !!! ha ha . guess its like a pad but to a non credit organisation!

hope to keep it going in 2010 along with proper pad payments to real debts!

xxx

savingholmes

hi - pad to your dad!!! Oh well it takes all sorts!

Glad your parents have been able to help... I would probably prioritise interest bearing debt tho.....

fc123

mrscmr wrote: »

and yes i know you will all tell me to dmp... well im trying to pay the bugg*rs back in mrscmr stylee!

xx ... back to ebay listings!

Hi Mrsmcmr, glad you had a good Xmas and whoppee on the Ebay total.:T


The DMP comment...just felt I had to respond...as you do

We didn't DMP everything, mainly becauseI didn;'t know about CCCS and DMP's when I had my LBM. I actually thought the bailiffs marched in if you missed a couple of Access/Mastercard payments. OK, I know differently now.


As you haven't written out a ''Debt list'' (:o) or SOA, I can't comment on your own circumstance, but this is what we did which helped make the debt disapear a lot quicker than it otherwise would have.

Loans; we just kept them as they were. Basic unsecured stuff and, one day, they just finished.

Credit Cards; These were The Achilles Heel as we had a few 0% deals that ran out, then we were at their mercy. I approached them all and applied for 0% payment programme. I had fat expenses/income in my SOA too....you are welcome to PM if you want to know what I did.
Once they were all frozen and 0%, they just reduced so quickly. I think we were just working and paying down masses of interest prior to the self managed DMP's I set up.

Overdrafts, we only had one and just chipped it down as best we could as quickly as poss. I never did 'phone the bank.


The advantage of having CC in DMP is you can F+F one day. We have been doing this over the past few months.

We have 2 more to go and finito...a six figure sum in 4 years.


I thought our Credit score was mullered but just got offerred a £3k limit with a CC company who we bank with....yup, un believeable...but I said no way....but I checked to see if it was kosher and it was...so, if it's your score you are worried about, don't be.
Mind you, I have got used to not having any credit and life is so much easier now.

I am in retail, so if you want any tips on developing ebay so you can buy and sell at a profit, feel free to post a Q.

Does the monthly budget currently balance on OH income alone? If not, how much profit (after tax) do you need to pull in and can you do it? Those would be the next batch of sums I would take a bit time to work out.

mrscmr

wow fc123... wish there was a double thanks button! thank u so much for posting this.. it really is encouraging.

i want to answer some of ur points:
Loans; we just kept them as they were. Basic unsecured stuff and, one day, they just finished. yes we have a number of loans that will one day just finish, the last one finishing in 2013 ... i just let them tick away.

Overdrafts, we only had one and just chipped it down as best we could as quickly as poss. I never did 'phone the bank. yes we have a nice o/d too... standing at 10k and sometimes we go up to it, but trying now to reverse our way back into the black and not live in the red... in January we will actually go into the black for the first time since the summer!

Credit Cards; These were The Achilles Heel as we had a few 0% deals that ran out, then we were at their mercy. I approached them all and applied for 0% payment programme - this is our killer too... we have a total of 6 and only 1 is on 0% now. I would be interessted to learn how to do as u have done on the itnterest payments... could u tell me how?

The advantage of having CC in DMP is you can F+F one day - if you put cc in dmp and how do u F & F if u self manage?

I thought our Credit score was mullered - i used to get all hot and bothered bout credit score... but i dont even run my credit report on credit expert any more. no point... one day i will have a look but not now. it used to be 999!

Does the monthly budget currently balance on OH income alone? - we have outgoings of about 5500 each month plus food and other expenses like flights/hotels and any ad hoc. that does not cover it so i need to bring in 1 - 2 k every month... so in 2010 i am looking for a great idea to turn into a business i can run from home - unless my old freelance work suddenly takes an upturn. i live my life by spreadsheets these days!

would be very interested in any tips etc - i will pm you with my business ideas so far if thats ok?

omg... thats as close to listing a soa i have ever dared to get!!!

thanks xx

fc123

I found when reading your diary the first time, it reminded me of us in 2005/06.

In fact, I can't believe we have nearly done it as, during 2006, I honestly thought we could just sink under the weight of it all.

My second biggest LBM was reclaiming bank charges during winter 2006 and putting £25 into a calculator with compound interest at their rate.....it turned into £250 odd after 3 years. No wonder we were sinking.:o


Most of our debt was from business issues but the availability of credit masked hard decisions I should have taken when we had some problems in 2003/04.....like laying off staff. Instead, I borrowed our way out of the problem and landed up with another one.

Some of the enforced cutbacks I have really enjoyed like learning how to cook Indian food (rather than soend £25 on takeaway) and you can't beat 8p shower gel from Asda and I have 'sensitive; skin.:o

Is there anyway you could get OH salary to cover everything except the unsecured debt? I assume it's 'safe' salary that arrives every month.

Then a seperate column for all debt and that's what you need to earn every single month.

Buying and selling. I was thinking...depending on what you sell. you will need to salt away your 'stock purchase' money and pretend it doesn't exist. Also, if you mark up, say X 2.5, allow for unsold goods or goods you sell off at less mark up. Overall, you should aim for 50 / 50 so £100 stock cost could sell for £250 (if everything goes at full price) but is more likely to generate £200 then your costs to trade deduct from that.
Does that make sense?

mrscmr

fc123 thanks you are a genius.

thanks for the pm - its given me some ideas. i will probably pester you further, if thats ok?

fc123

Sorry, I keep thinking of things.

One of the things I did set up and am really strict about is a 'Jam Jar' system for all our money.
Your Paypal account could hold your stock money for example and not be touched as it doesn't exist.

It's really easy for stock money to get mixed up with turnover and housekeeping and swapping it back and forth.

mrscmr

i still have my business account and my paypal money goes into there as it doesnt get swallowed up by our hungry bank account.

x

fc123

mrscmr wrote: »

wow fc123... wish there was a double thanks

Does the monthly budget currently balance on OH income alone? - we have outgoings of about 5500 each month plus food and other expenses like flights/hotels and any ad hoc. that does not cover it so i need to bring in 1 - 2 k every month... so in 2010 i am looking for a great idea to turn into a business i can run from home - unless my old freelance work suddenly takes an upturn. i live my life by spreadsheets these days!



thanks xx

Credit scores are so 2009 (I am in fashion so it's said tongue in cheek )

Does the £5500 include all the loans?

I never posted an SOA when I first found this board as our income was so high and I was too embarrassed....in fact, it was so embarrassing, I wouldn't post it now.
Our accountant did juggle things so we could offset the interest as it was mostly business derived but in our names.

I think at peak, we were paying out on loans, CC with interest and whatnot approx £4.5k pcm. Then household bills/school on top.

fc123

Have you worked out the amount of interest only you are paying each month on the cards?