DamnSam what have you done? Time to sort it out!

david_hellier

damnsam wrote: »

The agreement with the flatmate is just half of every bill...so that's ok...

I've done an SOA on the main board and it was an eye opener, I had no idea how much I owed. As for spending, I must find a little noteboke to keep spends in!

Update, I just rang my mum to tell her the true extent and she was lovely as always, and said she wasn't really suprised and thought that I hadn't been telling her everything anyway. It was good to get it off my chest.

Going to ring CCCS tomorrow and go over my finances. I really need to learn how to budget!

Another way of using a spending diary is to allocate a weekly amount to yourself per week, from your budget after all essentials have been deducted. Using receipts, deduct as you spend through the week. Try to get to the end of the week leaving some over to carry forward to the next week. This has the effect of keeping your overdraft down and avoids overspend.

damnsam

david_hellier wrote: »

Another way of using a spending diary is to allocate a weekly amount to yourself per week, from your budget after all essentials have been deducted. Using receipts, deduct as you spend through the week. Try to get to the end of the week leaving some over to carry forward to the next week. This has the effect of keeping your overdraft down and avoids overspend.

Very good idea! When I've sorted out a budget it's a definite plan.

damnsam

Things to do tomorrow:

• Call CCCS
• [STRIKE]Call HFC bank and pay arrears and set up a new direct debit[/STRIKE]
• [STRIKE]Call virgin media and plead with them/set up a direct debt (£5 extra for not using a DD?!?!?!?!)[/STRIKE]
• [STRIKE]Go to cash generator[/STRIKE]
• [STRIKE]Call mother[/STRIKE]
• Do a [STRIKE]clothes[/STRIKE]/bedding/towels wash
• [STRIKE]Clean out the hamster[/STRIKE]
• Entertain the persistently hyperactive kitten

Definately not a NSD unfortunately.

My mum's sending me a cheque to help cover some of the bills I've got outstanding. I feel bad because I didn't tell her so she'd give me more money...hohum.

Right, ciggie and then some sex and the city I think.

damnsam

Arg the list is scaring me today. I am still in bed and it is raining which has scuppered my plan to do lots of washing.

I also need to call Lloyds and ask for a payment holiday on my 2 loans next month, as I won't be getting a bonus and so would be handy not to have that £200 coming out.

Hmmm....think I'll chill out till 10.30 at the latest (hey, it's is my day off after all!) then I'll get started.

juno

The sooner you get started, the sooner it's all over. It's not as scary as you think, so stop putting it off.

damnsam

Very true Juno.

I'm feeling a bit down today....and resentful towards my ex. Although it will always be my fault for all the debt.
I took out all the payday loans and things when both him and me ran out of money and needed it, and now we've broken up I'm the one paying for it all even though he's the one on 10 grand a year more than me.

BAH.

Don't know what I'm going to do about virgin media....will just have to see what they say.

Musn't let my mood ruin what could be a productive day.

damnsam

Have now managed to pay virgin media and the arrears on one of my HFC things, plus have set a direct debit back up for that.
So that's everything sorted apart from council tax.

Have also tidied and hoovered my room. So fairly productive day.

Plan for the rest of the week to be mostly No Spend, apart from the train fare to my parent's this weekend.

I'm going to focus my energy on getting rid of all my payday loans first. Once this month's out of the way I can do a proper budget with next months wages and start paying them off bit by bit or saving up to pay them off.

damnsam

I'm sure I'm already boring the minds out of you all (that's if anyone actually reads this!!)....

But I've just been nosing round all the other diaries and have seen people mentioning scratchcards/bingo/betting etc and I just wondered if people think it's worth doing these? Any extra income is welcome if I want to get rid of these payday loans.

I'm signed up with PureProfile and Lightspeed but obviously they're quite slow going (especially as I never seem to get many surveys!) so, apart from selling stuff on ebay, was wondering what people think is the best way of making extra money from home/

dancingfairy

Sounds like you're doing really well already. Just one thing is you need to prioritise your Council Tax debt. In theory they can send you to prison for not paying - yes unlikely perhaps but you need to sort it out. Obviously it depends on how much you owe , how old the debt is , your history with them etc but it does need to be sorted out as otherwise they'll start adding charges and you don't need that either.
If you really , really can't pay them , pay what you can, at least that way you'll be seen as a 'struggling but can't afford all of it' as opposed to a 'can't be bothered' or a 'out to take the council for a ride' type.
Obviously if things ever did get really bad re the council tax it would be a lot better to be in the have tried their best but struggling camp then the 'don't care camp'.
Anyway good luck with sorting it all out.
df

dancingfairy

In answer to your question regarding the scratchcards /surveys etc - I don't think either will make you a rich but get you a few quid here and a few quid there sort of thing.
Betting is obviously not money saving - it's only moneysaving if you do matched betting - in essence you bet on the chances of something happening and on the chances of it not happening so you win either way and you make the money by using the free money you get from depositing your money with the gambling co's. Eg you bet on ManU winning a match and ManU not winningthematch - you put a 5er on each side and you get say a free 10 pounds bet as well. This is my understanding of how it works in general. As far as I can tell it's a good way of earning extra income IF you understand it and follow the system - if it's just out and out gambling then forget it and if you will get hooked - again forget it.
I don't think there are many easy/quick fix ways of earning money from home but writing reviews - doyoo (sp?) , slice the pie (rating music), surveys, etc maybe car boots/ebaying can earn you bits and bobs here and there. There is an upyour income board with lots of ideas on here somewhere.
df