Luckycharm's debtfree and self-sufficiency journey

Luckycharm_2

Hi everyone :hello:
I've decided to join the rush and start a journal to try and keep me on track. Yesterday I had to pay our oil bill with my birthday money and this was just beyond miserable for me. Something has to be done, and quickly.

OH and I have been trying to live as cheaply as possible for the last few months. We've been making everything we need and if we can't make it, trying to persuade ourselves we don't need it. I'm a newbie gardener and the vegetable seedlings are coming along nicely.

I've recently become self-employed and we're not quite solvent yet. Monthly bills are around £1100 and I currently earn about £950, depending on the month. OH is too poorly to work and we have a DLA application ongoing. Finger-crossed we're successful with this.

I think our outgoings are as low as they could be. Our food bill, for example, is £50 a month for 2. However, I'll post an soa as soon as I have a new one sorted out.

I am desperate to be debt free. I've been around this site for a couple of years and was doing quite well until my circumstances changed and the debts started going up again. Grrr. :mad: Current totals are:
Overdraft £450
CC1 £1209.43
CC2 £3626.24
CC3 £41.64
Garage bill £347.72
Supervision £200

Grand total £5875.03

Right. I'm off to do some marketing for my business. My priority has to be getting solvent. And watering the seedlings.

Good luck to all DFW peeps out there.

Wordsmith

Good luck, Luckycharm. What an amazingly low food bill! I'll keep up to date here and in the self-employed forum. I love your determination and resourcefulness.

Karen_30

Good luck Luckycharm, i've subscribed to your diary so can keep popping in to day hi

Hope OH DLA gets sorted soon. My Mum recently applied due to becoming very unwell, it took a while (about 6weeks) but it's all sorted now and backdated.

Take care,

K x

Swinstie73

Hi Luckycharm,

Good luck with your diary, I will subscribe. Started my own recently and it's helping to put down in writing stuff you otherwise forget, i.e. you can go back and kick yourself for spending that extra £10!

x

beanielou

Shiney new diary
Positive vibes for DLA.

Swinstie73

Come on Luckycharm, updates please!!

Luckycharm_2

I've twice tried to post updates to this thread and the site won't let me...grr!

Here's a short one to check if I can actually post.

Luckycharm_2

I can! Yippee! Following my initial post, a family health crisis had me completely distracted from MSE and everything for a while. So sorry to all you people who responded so enthusiastically. I know it's annoying when someone just stops posting.

Anyway, I'm back. We're still not solvent, the debts are bigger than ever and self-sufficiency seems so far away.

The debt breakdown is this:

Overdraft £450
CC1 £3585.59
CC2 £4222.10
Supervision £300
Grand total £8557.69

I know this seems like peanuts to some people. I've been following threads where MSE peeps have paid of 10k-20k of debt in a year or two. Amazing. However, my debt may as well be 8 million instead of 8 thousand given my (in) ability to make payments. The credit cards love me. I'm 'minimum payment' customer who will pay so much interest it's untrue.

I've cancelled the DD for our oil. It was costing £150 per month to heat this draughty old cottage. Winter is coming though and we need a plan. We have 2 big piles of wood, a chainsaw and our good health so it's time to get busy. Our friend (a woodsman) has offered to give us a free lesson in chainsaw safety i.e. how to not chop off your own leg so that is highly useful and greatly appreciated.

Another friend has offered to lend us a pair of very heavy, draught proof curtains. I'm going to collect those in the next couple of days. So that should help too. Maybe we can cope without oil heating?

I've decided to save money for petrol by cycling any journey less than 4 miles. I'm starting today with a 2 mile round trip to do the recycling. I've also stopped smoking to save money and am trying to get healthier so this should help meet both of these targets. It seems like a good idea now when the weather is ok but I'm not sure how I'll feel when the winter arrives. We'll see.

The growing season went well. I enjoyed salad from the garden every day but the tomatoes needed more attention than I was able to give them. I did get a few good ones though, The onions and potatoes are in storage and the courgettes are still coming. Yum. I learned so much and will be much better prepared next year.

I'm off to calculate our exact incomings and outgoings, and make a plan for getting solvent and paying off those pesky debts. I'll update later.

Oh it's good to be back!

Luckycharm_2

I'm having problems posting again...this ones a quick test to see if I can...

Luckycharm_2

Right. Here is the ugly truth in black and red.

Monthly outgoings : £1125.14
Guaranteed income : £414.70
Shortfall: : £710.44

I'm self-employed and my earnings fluctuate wildly from month to month. Some months I can make much more than this (but usually never enough to have us completely solvent at least for a month) but others are not so good. When there is a shortfall I've been using the credit cards to make up the difference. This clearly has to stop. I cannot go on like this.

OH has been very poorly lately and tried to help with this situation but is unable to. I am trusted completely to deal with it on behalf of us both.

For October, there is a shortfall of £167.80. I need to find that within the next 5 weeks. I plan to do this by:

• signing up with an agency tomorrow. The work is badly paid but better than nothing
• marketing my business like I have been doing all last week
• putting pressure on the organisations who have shown interest. Time for them to make a decision
• learning matched betting
• signing up for mystery shops
• keeping an eye on the ball at all times

My 2 concerns at the moment are Christmas around the corner and my closest, dearest friend's wedding coming up. I need to make sure the bills are being paid and that I can start a pot for both of these events. At the moment, there is no money to even buy her a wedding present. I also need something to wear as I'm a witness at the ceremony.

This is really depressing me. I'm off to get myself together.

Luckycharm_2

Right. There's no time really to be wallowing around in self-pity. God, what am I like. I need a better plan! A more detailed one that includes weddings and things like that! So, this is what the wedding should cost...

1. I have a present in mind that costs £65. This is of equal value to the gift my friend gave me and OH when we tied the knot and seems appropriate somehow. I need to be able to give her this.
2. We need to stay overnight as OH needs a place to lie down and rest sometimes after recent poor health. Cheapest hotel costs £75. I could save a fortune if we just drove home at night but I'm worried that OH will not manage all day without a space to rest. I could risk it and not book a hotel but if OH becomes very poorly, I would need to leave and that is not an option. I need to be there for my friend.
3. I can get hold of a lovely dress for myself for less than £20 if I look hard enough. I'll get onto it tomorrow.
4. Petrol will come in at about £20
5. Extra food during our overnight stay...£20? I'm totally guessing. We can take lots from home and have a £20 back-up plan.

Total cost of wedding is £200. I have my head completely in the clouds. £200 and I can't pay the rent? I feel like an idiot. If it was anyone else's wedding I just wouldn't go but I cannot miss this.