Buddiebabe's SOA / Debt Diary

Seaxwyn

Hi buddiebabe

What a bummer about the wing mirror. I hope that didn't cost too much to fix. You certainly have got a lot on your plate at the moment and I'm not surprised you're feeling so low. Do you have anyone to talk to about all this in the real world (not counting all us virtual friends)? Your friend at work? Your mum or your sister? Sometimes a shoulder to cry on can be a big help.

That's not to stay we're not here for you, of course, because we are.

Hope you have a better day and have something nice planned for your birthday.

buddiebabe

Thanks for your kind words it means alot.

Well took the car to the garage for its MOT - cost £200.44 (£90 of that was for the damage to the mirror :mad: ) if i could get my hands on whoever did it i'd probably end up in the jail!!!!

Got my car insurance today £259.28 (went through Quidco so should get £80 cashback) so keep your fingers crossed ... its less than the quote i got from my current company and was over 12 months instead of 10 and comes with free breakdown cover so im quite pleased, although it means all my birthday money has now been spent on my car and i've had to put the MOT on my credit card so my overdraft balance and sky card balance have now went up!!!

My mum took me for lunch today and i got some lovely presents from people i work with.

I really need to get organised and get stuff put on ebay... got so much stuff cluttering up the house that could make me some money so will try and do some 2moro.

Im just going to have some dinner then im going to sit and relax and watch tv for a while.

Buddiebabe x

EagerLearner

Hope you had a fab birthday!

buddiebabe

I've decided to update my totals again now my car insurance has been paid and my MOT has been done as it puts my debt up again and want to keep my running total as current as possible. So the worst of it is as follows:

CURRENT ACCOUNTS:
ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND £1149.24 O/D now £1111.68 O/D
ALLIANCE & LEICESTER £280.00 O/D now £273.05 O/D

CREDIT CARDS:
BARCLAYCARD £5191.30 now £5060.00
MBNA £4591.98 now £4595.63
MORGAN STANLEY £2060.00 now £2040.00
ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND £9806.72 now £9729.00
SKYCARD £1489.30 now £1350.00
TESCO £2351.29 now £2300.00

:eek: TOTAL DEBT OUTSTANDING 1ST JANUARY 2007 £ 26919.83 now @ 20TH JANUARY 2007 £26459.36 :eek:

:T TOTAL PAID OFF SINCE 1ST JANUARY 2007 = £460.47:T

It wouldn't have been so bad if i'd put money away for my car insurance so i've counted up everything that i need to pay towards my car like road tax, MOT, car insurance and money for a service and so that i can afford to pay it all during the year i need to save £20 per week. I have set aside my Halifax savings account for this and have £60.00 in this account so that when i need to pay for the next thing for the car i have the money there.

I did the same for the house and have counted up everything i need like insurance, tv licence and gas bill (as i don't pay this by direct debit they kept messing it up so now pay it once the bill comes in). I have set aside my Dunfermline savings account for this and have £50.61 in this account so far.

In an ideal world i would love to have enough set aside in those accounts to also pay any insurance excess in case i had to make another claim for my house insurance or car insurance but know that i cannot afford to do this.

I've not had any luck with my competitions as yet but i've only entered 587 so far and only since the 2nd January so theres still plenty of time yet :rotfl: :rotfl:

Not doing so well on the olympic challenge only managed to get up to £21.30 so far but have not really been pushing myself to do it ..... i cant seem to find the time for anything apart from work and reading MSE. Not sure what to do with the money that im making. Don't know whether i should just put it in a savings account or if i should use it towards one of my credit cards (which i think is the best idea) the worry i have is that i wont keep a record of how much i've made and if i just leave it in my bank account it will just disappear on other things.... any suggestions ????

I've set myself up a time table for next week to see if i can manage any better. Im not getting anywhere with my housework and i really need to get my house into shape.

Im hoping that overtime at my work will carry on for a few more weeks so i can at least work an extra 3 hours a week.

I used my slow cooker for the first time ever today. I made Brisket and it was the best dinner ever and i've still got loads left for the next few days.

Thats enough for tonight am off to bed now
Buddiebabe x

buddiebabe

Things are really bad at the moment I have no money and owe more than ever. Im over my overdraft limit by £263.49 and i've two minimum payments due on my credit cards that i just dont have the money for so i've had to borrow £220 from my mum who i know cant afford it but i just didn't know what else to do.

I have some money available on a few of my credit cards but i'd cut those cards up so i can't even get access to that money.

The worst of it is as follows:

CURRENT ACCOUNTS:
ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND £1149.24 O/D now £1413.49 O/D LIMIT £1150 (£263.49 OVER LIMIT)
ALLIANCE & LEICESTER £280.00 O/D now £272.19 O/D LIMIT £300

CREDIT CARDS:
BARCLAYCARD £5191.30 now £5150.69 LIMIT £5700 MIN PAYMENT £128.00 DUE 27.02.07
MBNA £4591.98 now £4595.63 LIMIT £5000 MIN PAYMENT £88.85 DUE 05.02.07
MORGAN STANLEY £2060.00 now £2040.00 LIMIT £2400
ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND £9806.72 now £10004.00 LIMIT £10000 (£4.00 OVER LIMIT) MIN PAYMENT £219.00 DUE 05.02.07
SKYCARD £1489.30 now £1415.90 LIMIT £1500
TESCO £2351.29 now £2300.00 LIMIT £2400

MONEY BORROWED FROM MUM £220.00

TOTAL DEBT OUTSTANDING 1ST JANUARY 2007 £ 26919.83 now @ 1ST FEBRUARY 2007 £27411.90

SINCE 1ST JANUARY 2007 TOTAL DEBT HAS INCREASED BY £492.07:mad:

I've not been spending any money on anything at all apart from bills. My gas bill came in which was £127.58 and i received my house phone bill which says im £61.24 in debit and they are increasing my payments from £15 to £26 which i think was the final straw.

I just feel like giving up now. I've been trying to save every penny this month by not spending but the interest rate on two of my credit cards has went up and also the min payments have been increased. I cant see anyway out of this at all.

Im working 2 jobs and was even doing overtime at my main job 2. I get paid 2moro from my 2nd job which should be £100 but it all has to stay in the bank to pay for the direct debits coming off.

I need to get the money back to my mum asap cause i know she cant afford to lend me the money. I've emptied my car and house savings accounts to put towards my bills. Its another 11 days till i get paid and don't know if im going to be able to get by until then.

Will try to update again when i've stopped crying and i can see the screen
Sorry for the long depressing story but i just needed to get it off my chest.

Buddiebabe x

Seaxwyn

Hi buddiebabe

That is a bleak picture, have a big hug.

You are working so hard but with those big debts it will be mighty difficult to work your way out of it.

You seem a deserving case to go onto token payments for a while - where you negotiate a deal with the banks to pay a token payment such as £1 a month until your circumstances improve.

I've seen lots of people post on these boards about doing that so I hope someone can advise you how to.

Meanwhile, take courage, however bad the picture is now there will be a way through.

buddiebabe

Hi Seaxwyn

Thanks. I've been sitting here not wanting to face up to things but just felt that i had to write it all down to make it seem real.

Im just going to have to start all over again. It just seems like i take one step forward and ten steps back! Im off work for the next few days so will sit and go through everything and try and figure out how im going to deal with it all.

I'll need to make a list of priorities and work out a time table to find away out of the mess im in.

I've loads of stuff in the house that i could sell so i really should get on with doing that, listing stuff on ebay. There's no point in me having a house full of stuff that i don't use or wear. Im going to be ruthless with everything if i think it might make me a bit of money then its going on ebay its the only thing i can really do.

I could sell my car but its not worth that much and to get to work it would be a hastle as there is no direct bus or train link and it would end up costing me just as much as it does in petrol to get me to work!

I don't know about the token payments i think id rather try and continue to pay the minimum payments on everything at the moment (if i can) and see what i can pay when i get my main wage through. There were alot of large expenses in January and hopefully it wont be like that again for another few months.

In Feb and March i'll have saved £86 per month as council tax payments finished in Jan so will have that spare for the next 2months.

Am going to have a hot chocolate and then look for some stuff to put on ebay.

Buddiebabe x

Seaxwyn

Good luck, I do admire the way you can pick yourself up and sound so positive just shortly after weeping in despair!

I do think that earning more is the key to your situation - are there any prospects of the promotion opportunity you talked about a while back?

I feel the same as you about wanting to avoid minimum payments. I rang the CCCS last summer and they recommended it and sent me some standard forms to send to creditors, but I'd rather keep up the payments if I can.

I'm bracing myself to post on my own thread. In January we had £2007 more go out than come in. It's so depressing. If we can't even meet our outgoings how can we think of paying off the debts?

I hope you find some good items for ebay. I finally listed my first things there last weekend, 7 items, 2 have bids and four have watchers. Now I've got my eyes on the hifi speakers. We have three pairs and I've just looked them up on ebay, they fetch a bomb!

Good luck and keep your spirits up

buddiebabe

Thanks

I haven't done anything since my last post just sit on the couch watching the bill. Im just so tired its all the crying and worrying it makes me sleepy!

Im going to go to my bed and set my alarm to get up early and make a start on cleaning / clearing and decluttering the house. Im going to need to get some boxes to sort things out into piles for ebay, charity, the bin and also for a car boot sale.

Im hoping that after a good nites sleep i'll feel better about things in the morning.

I've applied for 3 different jobs within my work only one of them is doing what im doing at the moment, the other 2 are outwith the department but still within the council and all of them are an increase in wages. I've not heard anything about any of them yet but the council is in the process of going through job evaluation so we will find out if our wages are going up, going down or staying the same but thats not until the 12th of Feb so i think they are holding off the interviews until this has been decided but as soon as i know anything i'll keep you updated.

Good luck with your ebay listings it can get quite addictive sitting all night watching to see if there are anymore bids..... I've got a few things listed at the moment but only 2 bids totalling £1.98. Most of the stuff i've got doesn't go for more than 99p which doesn't really make it worthwhile but there is the odd item that may make more than that... just need to find it :rolleyes:

Im sure we will get there in the end. You need to keep posting on your thread it takes alot to write it all down but once you have you'll feel a bit better... especially when people like you respond with kind words it makes you feel better so a big thanks to you. I look forward to reading your updated thread.

Am off to bed now, hopefully 2moro will be a better day and Feb will be a better month than January!

Buddiebabe x

EagerLearner

Hi BB - sorry to hear things have been so bad - hopefully you are feeling better today and have had good news re the jobs you can apply for.

One thing I have noticed os that your car does cost you alot in repairs/insurance/taxes/MOT etc - it may be worth not having it at all. It seems that every time you get somewhere with your debts, something happens to the car or a repair is needed which sets you 10 steps back. You mentioned you could sell it, so even if it doesn't fetch much, it could save you alot in bills/petrol/insurance etc? Then you could focus on repaying debts.

When you get to a position when you can afford a car again, you could then buy one - what do you think?

Good luck with the ebay stuff so far.

Plus have you thought about joining even more cashback sites? I can PM you about 4 which you may not be a part of and could help towards the debt. These are making money just by clicking.

I have a 'daily click' planner and I visit these 4 different sites, which should get me over £100 in 10-12 weeks time. Plus there's a 5th - are you earning FREE money from Quidco? You can earn £0.28 a day free from Quidco with the shopping comparison sites like Kelkoo, High Street Web and Shopping.com - that amounts to over £8 a month (over £96 a year) - for nothing apart from clicking.

Plus you never know, your comps may win you something too!