magicgirls debt free new life

magicgirl

well, after a very long few years, i have pretty much made it but the problem is STAYING debt free.
quite a few of my payments are still getting a bit 'late' which is a shame but as i am on maternity leave with no income now, i can't really do much til i am back at work. what i can do, i am doing. i use cashback sites and have made a few pennies there. i am selling all my 'old' baby bits on ebay and a few other things i find laying about the house. hopefully that is helping. i am paid up on all my bills til end of this month but i still have one more month til i am back at work. i have a bill from sky to pay, and i have rent to pay. i think i will just about scrape by but the pronblem is, i will soon have to pay childcare. i can't afford the deposit at the nursery yet so have not tried to get a place. i can't find childcare til i know what days i am doing at work as only going back part time. i also have a wedding to fund in 18m time. so loadsa fun and games really. oh - one more payment to make.. school dinners. doh!

fermi

Nice to see you around magicgirl.

Not a lot of advice. Tough times at the moment......

magicgirl

oh fermi, i hope they are not too tough for you. you are right though. doesn't look like anything will change much soon.


i managed to find the money for bills but not the dinners yet although child benefit arrives so as long as i can get to the PO, i am fine.

wedding is depressing. have a few pennies in an isa. crap rate but its being put away and kept away. i wish we would just elope. save a fortune. andi am adamant that we will not borrow any money for it. was hoping for a sub off the parents but that was a brick wall. have signed up with catalogue to see if i have any luck. even if i can get a few £'s each week for the next six months i will be happy.

will update once i make those pennies. lol

magicgirl

well, it took a while but i am getting there!!

I could have sworn there were more posts than this. lol

well, i will update as quick as poss but may be a tad long.

wedding in just over two months. IF (and its a big 'if) we do need t borrow any money, it will be a small amount as h2b was out of work for five months.luckily, my new found skills enabled us to live. just as we were ready to switch roles where i continue earning and he stays home with kids, life did a 180 degree turn and he is inundated with work. ;D might take a while to see the pennies hitting our accounts but we are more than on track now. i had been chipping away at the wedding costs and saving where poss without sacrificing most of what we wanted. in fact, the only thing we are not having that i wanted is a welcome drink. most of the guests have poo-pooed it as a non-necessary item so i feel less bad. that coupled with fact that most of my guests don't drink and i have a half bottle per person inc with meal so the ones that do will be VERY happy and the rest will fill up on apple and orange juice.

we have so many friends helping out with various things. its absolutely unbelievable. bank of mum and dad came thru and funded almost half the cost which enabled us to book our dream venue (well, not our original dream but dreams can change didn't you know. this one is in a much nicer location too)

i am slowly rebuilding y credit where it matters as i am desperate to moev out of social housing as soon as is reasonably possible. it may be a few years away but we have proved we can actually save something now and i hope to continue to do so and have a healthy deposit between teh two of us. fingers crossed eh?

vasseur

What a lovely turnaround of events! Nice to hear something positive - all your hard work has paid off

missymoo81

hey magic hun, just read your little journey and you are doing wonderfully. Good on you trying to get the wedding paid out right, we just about managed it but crikey it was hard work. It'll all be worth it in the end. Please keep updating I would love to see how everything works out for you.

Take care and keep posting!!

Missy

vasseur

Yep keep us informed of how you're getting on - I need to know that everything's going to be OK when I'm debt free!!

magicgirl

polesalot wrote: »

Yep keep us informed of how you're getting on - I need to know that everything's going to be OK when I'm debt free!!

I would really love to say that its all okay and you will never have another problem but that is so not true. however, what i have learned it to be creative when a problem arises.

I have ONE credit card with a £200 limit. some might find this laughable but the way i see it, i am lucky to have any credit having been bankrupt and the fact i rarely use it is just a bonus. if an emergency pops up, i have this available to cover me until i can get rid of it. at worst, it would take me a few months.

I have learned to handle money better than i used to. i still have moments where i feel the urge to splash out and i still have a latte most days that i am in teh office however, i do not have three lattes a day every day anymore. for one, my waistline cannot cope. for another, i ensure i am only in the office a max of three days so the temptation is not there. i am fine drinking mormal instant (albeit a more expensve kenco) at home. i just cant seem to do it at work. so now i drink one latte and the rest if water from their fab chiller. i can't drink the water from my tap at home cos its just rank.. full of cloudy limescale. I tried to get over my snobbishness and started drinking it but ended up in the most excruciating pain so i gave up after a month or so.

its all about makingthe litle changes.

i would love to buy a house soon. don't get me wrong, i don't think there s anything wrong in renting if you have a good landlord. unfortunately mine is a social landlord and while the rent is 'cheap' (for the area.. not the property) it is run by a bunch of complete dimwits who sadly have no idea about much and are more concerned about their protfolio than the residents. for this reason, i need to leave before i end up in prison and the thought of knowing i can do it and the unsociable neighbours cannot gives me some incentinve to carry on without becoming a murderer or worse.

it is not going to happen overnight and it may take many many years but as i see it, you gotta make hay while the sun is shining. that is what i intend to do.

my h2b and i have some very constructive meetings this week. there si talk of voluntary exits being offered which i may seriously consider to enable me to put more tim einto our business. the sum offered will have to keep us comfortable for at least a year but we shall see how things go. nothing is set in stone but as i leave myself open to more oportunities, the more opportunity seems to be stumbling over my doorstep and is welcomed in with open arms.

magicgirl

Well, the day arrived. I took a contract with T-Mobile just short of a year after my discharge from bankruptcy. They slapped on a £250 deposit which was returned to me after six months. I was hoping by the time my upgrade was due, they would stock the iphone. They got it in just before my renewal date and i now have one on order. I am still unclear whether or not i will receive another request for deposit but i have already placed the money there in anticipation of this. As i am currently able to afford this, i do not see it as money 'lost' as when the deposit is returned, I use it to pay my bills ahead of time and its yet another bill i can forget about.

Now that i have the phone i want (anyone that knows me will tell you how much of a phone geek i am.. love my gadgets and haven't treated myself in a while so this is my special present to myself. ) and the wedding is nearly paid for, my next target is saving hard for that deposit to finally realise my dream of owning my own home. I know its overated in some sense but growing u pin the way i did, it was 'expected' and i know i won't feel complete until i have experienced it.

Having had a look at the figures, I need to save (along with my h2b ) a minimum of £50k. Umm.. yeah - maybe in about £100 years??? lol

With that deposit, we can (in theory) get a mortgage for approx £225k. The repayments (this is with my doubling the interest rates advertised on account of my own credit history) would be approx £1500. That is over double what we pay now in rent! THe good news is that I may be able to source some help with the deposit. If h2b manages to get established, we may be in line for a bonus that would assist also. that along with whatever we can save would make it 'do-able'. The repayments seem quite significant now but by the time we go for it,
1) my bankruptcy will be off my files
2) there is a very slight possibility that prices may drop (not likely but not impossible)
3) 10 years ago, people thought £800 was a lot of money for a mortgage repayment and now its normal so what seems a lot now will only get more in line with what is considered 'normal'.
4) while it is all theoretical at the moment, it could be a reality one day. by the time we have savings, the economic climate may be easier to predict. if it isn't, we are fine where we are for the time being.

i believe having a positive outlook will bring me more positive opportunities so i continue to look on the bright side once i analyse things.
If you don't have dreams, they can't come true.

vasseur

It's good to have goals. Positivity breeds positivity. If you can imagine yourself doing something I believe it will happen. You will get there.

Have fun with your iPhone. I've got one and I love it

magicgirl

Thanks poles.

No deposit was requested so. I feel a bit better. Got it working no problems.

Our business got it's first contract today. I was so chuffed when I received the purchase order on Friday. And we have been offered a second job too so it's been a successful month all find so far. Long may it continue! My wedding dress arrived too so I can go and try that on - booked for a fitting on 3rd September. So excited.