Buddiebabe's SOA / Debt Diary

Seaxwyn

Hi buddiebabe

I think you should tell your boss a brief version of the truth - if she asks. Just say a long term relationship ended suddenly and you found your ex had been living a double life. That's all she needs to know - it's enough to explain why you have felt so bad.

As for your pinboard - do whatever will make you feel most comfortable. I very much doubt your boss would examine it in detail.

Good news you have a tidy living room, hope it makes the rest of the sorting easier.

buddiebabe

Well my boss has just left. She only came down to see how i was managing and if there was anything that she could do.

People at work have obviously been talking about me and she'd heard that i was having problems with debt and also gambling I've never been so embarrassed anyway there she was asking me if id thought about debt consolidation or going to the CAB to try and get my debt reduced.

So anyway we had a long chat about why i would not go down the road of consolidation or debt management plans as i have my own plan to stick to and im making what i see as good progress....

She also offered to get me help with Gambling through the work if i wanted. Its been 26 days since i last gambled on line at a casino so i told her that I had stopped and how if i feel the need i come onto the internet and talk to people on this website.

I told her all about the support that i have on here from my virtual friends and that i used all the money that i owe and im going to pay it all back if it takes me 6 years or more but one day i will be able to say im debt free (apart from my mortgage ... but i'll worry about that later :rolleyes: )

She also asked if i was eating right as i had lost alot of weight but i explained that now im watching what im spending im eating healthier things and cooking for myself instead of a large frozen pizza every night for tea She agreed with that.

Anyway enough about that. Its the 1st of May and im feeling really positive (i think) not entirely sure whats wrong with me but i feel good so

I received £50 of my Paypal money today so have written cheques for my mum to repay the postage, money for my bank and her bank account and also paid the remainder towards my £800 challenge.

I paid £0.06 towards my overdraft to bring it down to £-985.00
I paid £10.00 into my halifax account (only £90 to go now)
I paid £1.71 into my alliance and leicester account (emptied my pigsback piggy bank)
I paid £1.19 towards my Barclaycard (statement has been produced and interest added to account was £87.48 and minimum payment due is £125.00) so the new balance of this account is £5000.31

Total outstanding debt at 01.05.07 is £28436.71 so my debt has reduced by £367.49 from the 1st April 2007 :j

£800 target money put aside £314.98 money paid towards debts £12.96 totalling £327.94 still to find £472.06

My ebay sales are sitting at £89.71 with only 25 out of 303 items selling but with over 100 being watched im still hopeful . I'd love to reach the £100 mark by the end of the week

Im also sitting in a perfectly clean, tidy, dust and clutter free livingroom for the first time this year :T

Im going to turbo list some stuff tonight for Thursday as its half price listing day then and i can upload it when i get home from work Thursday

Buddiebabe x

Seaxwyn

Phew, it sounds as if it went well and the boss was sympathetic - what a relief.
Well done for handling it so well.

Well done on the debt reduction too and let's hope you do well with the ebay sales. I've got one listing at the moment, no bids as yet but I am hoping for about £50 as I have checked other auctions for the same item and they seem to get good prices. I also sold an Amazon book today and after postage made a handsome profit of 10p!

buddiebabe

Thanks

I know i cant believe i was worried for nothing... just shows how my mind works i always think the worst!

Good luck with your ebay item and 10p is always 10p you wouldn't have had if you didn't sell the item!

Just had a phone call from my boss at my 2nd job asking if i wanted to go into work 2nite for 2 hours to work in the warehouse ... its extra money so am off to get changed now:p

Buddiebabe x

Snaggles

I'm glad things went well with your boss, it's nice to hear that your employer is actually concerned about you, and it has probably put their minds at rest that you have a plan in place to deal with the debt and the gambling (26 days is brilliant by the way, keep going).

Seaxwyn

HI buddiebabe, how are you doing? Hope things are OK with you. Do post soon, I look out for your posts.

buddiebabe

Hi Seaxwyn

Im kind of ok... have good days and bad days.... how r u?

Im back at work, went back to both jobs on Wednesday and it was ok managed fine everyone was saying how much i'd changed and how positive i was about what had happened. I really thought i was ok until i came home that night and i ended up crying myself to sleep and i can hardly see through the tears now. I cant believe its been 2 weeks and i know im stronger than this but i just cant stop the tears.

Maybe its something to do with the James Morrison CD my sister bought me to cheer me up ... its kind of got the opposite effect but one of the songs is always on in the shop and know im not going to be able to stand and cry when its on so really need to try and be able to listen to it without the tears

Anyway overtime was on at work tonight so i was going to do an extra hour but due to the elections today they needed help with the Postal vote counts (i work for the council ) so instead of an hour doing my normal job i got 2 hours (no idea what im gonna get paid but it was mind numbingly boring, took my mind off of things and i also get an hour flexi time back for the first hour i was doing it so in effect i get 3 hours)

I've also been asked to work in my 2nd job next Monday (bank holiday) so i was off from my main job so im working 8 hours on Monday but will get a day in lieu for that as well as being paid. Only problem is im shattered and im working all day and night 2moro, 12 -6 sat, 10.30 - 5.30 sunday and then monday 2 so i'm not getting any time for myself but i'd probably not do anything except watch rubbish on tv!!

Just got to think about the money. A few people in work are trying to get me to go down the debt management plan road but i have reservations about this. I feel that i got myself into this so i should get myself out of it but they are saying to me that why should i bother why not just get someone else to sort it out.... i don't know what to do for the best??

My ebay listings are going really well at the moment. I've got 349 items listed and 44 of them are selling with 84 being watched at the moment the total is at £140.55 which keeps going up as i've quite alot of items finishing 2moro.

Buddiebabe x

EagerLearner

H BB - big hug and well done on your progress both with gambling, cleaning and dealing with your boss visit - I'd say re the debt management maybe it's an idea to talk to someone about it as it can't hurt to talk. They may make suggestions or give you ideas for a plan of action which you may not have throught about? Good luck with the extra work, every little helps x

Seaxwyn

Hi buddiebabe

I'm fine thanks and feeling quite optimistic about money stuff as we've had a good month and paid a few bits off. Plus the summer weather always cheers me up.

It looks as if you are having a good month too financially at least, with all the extra work and ebay sales. I tried to get work for the election but they didn't need any extra people down here. So I'm glad to hear you say it was boring!

Good for you coping with work. I can imagine how hard it is listening to that song, music is the worst (or best) thing for stirring up emotions.

I don't know about the DMP. I understand your feelings about wanting to pay it all off yourself, but a DMP doesn't mean not paying it back, it just means doing so on easier terms with less interest.

I don't think you should rule it out, why don't you discuss the idea and how you feel about it with a few people to test out your reactions. There's a DMP support thread on here which might be a good place to look for views.

Good luck with it all anyway and hope the good days begin to outnumber the bad ones.

buddiebabe

Thanks for the support :kisses3:

At work today my line manager wanted to make sure that there was no hard feelings about her telling my boss about my problems. I told her that everything was fine.
She started talking to me about trying to sort out my debts and that maybe i should speak to someone that knows about these things.

Anyway i was working at my 2nd job tonight and was doing some serious thinking about the debt management plan idea... so anyway i came home tonight and i went onto the CCCS website to see what my options were. I entered all my details, income, expenditure and credit cards and it came up with 2 solutions a trust deed or a debt management plan.

The trust deed would mean that i would be debt free in 3 years but it would also mean that i could end up loosing the house (which im not prepared to do) so the next option was the debt management plan. Based on my income, expenditure and credit card debt my monthly payment would be £162.00 and it would take 19 years and 4 months to clear my debt :shocked:

This option would give me money to do things like go out, buy clothes, afford haircuts and have a life but if im honest what kind of life would i have if for the next 19 years i have to pay £162 every month so it would take 232 months before i was debt free and by that time i would be 48 :eek:

So i've decided im going to stick to the plan i have to snowball my debts and pay at least £650.00 per month towards my debts and i will make my £800 target this month.

I have repaid £10 to my Halifax account this week, £25.31 to my Barclaycard and £1.17 into my alliance & leicester account so that totals £36.48

£800 target money put aside £314.98 money paid towards debts £49.44 totalling £364.42 still to find £435.58

I know its not alot so far but it is only the 4th of the month and i didn't have a full wage from my 2nd job its all down to ebay

Im feeling alot better now i have looked into the debt management plan idea and made the decision to do it myself... I CAN DO THIS

Buddiebabe x