Getting out of my comfort zone

gilligansyle

This might be a bit of a long post, but needed to put it down really.

Never done a diary before although I've been around a while.
About me:- I am no longer young and have a son of 22 who works.

3 years ago, was in serious trouble with debt. More than 3 months in arrears on mortgage with a suspended possession order, had skipped a payment on secured loan in order to make extra payments to mortgage; struggling to pay all my bills and using credit cards to buy food, and then only paying the minimum payments. Something had to give....

Buried my head in the sand for a while and then came on here and posted SOA. Got some good advice, some of which I took, like getting a part time job, cutting back on some things.

Eventually reality took over and I realised I needed help, so went to both Payplan and CCCS. Payplan actually couldn't help me as I didn't owe enough! Did the online form with CCCS and this was an eye opener. Difficult when you see what you're spending on. Initially CCCS couldn't help me as my expenditure on priority arrears exceeded my income, so first task was to get a part time job.

Once I had an extra £200 per month from part time work, set up a DMP with CCCS for £49 which would take me to 2018, but this would change once the priority arrears were cleared.

At least, that was the plan.

During this time there has been the odd blip, with the likes of Lowells and Connaught collection; not to mention leaking roofs, Council Tax etc. But eventually thought it was all going fine. All helped by son getting a job on decent money.

And in fact that's were the rot sets in, because I got into a bit of a comfort zone. I was managing fine, didn't have to cut back too much and everything I knew about was getting paid. So I just trundled along, paying through CCCS, living from day to day and ignored the fact that actually I wanted to be debt free and should be doing more about it.

In April, my fixed term mortgage ran out and the payments went down by £142 per month, so being good I paid this off the mortgage arrears. So the plan was that after the August payment, mortgage would be clear and I would then be £242 better off every month and so could make serious inroads into paying off debt. Then I lost my job...

So have had to sit back and work everything out again, get more hours in part time jobs and maximise every chance I get.
At the moment have 3 months pay, so can cover priority bills for quite a while and am planning on using part time earnings to live on and make debt repayments. I didn't really think I could do this, but have been PADding money for a few weeks, so it has made me keep a better track of things, and somehow at the moment, I still have £50 in my purse, there is food in fridge and freezer, petrol in car and I get paid again on Thursday.

I'm going to set up a spreadsheet or two because somehow I get the feeling that I may be missing something....

hypno06

Well, the first thing to do is to acknowledge just how much worse the situation would be, had you not addressed it with the DMP a couple of years ago. So however hard it feels now, don't forget that you have already come a long way, and draw on that knowledge.

If you haven't already done so, now might be a good time to reassess what is ebay-able, books that can be put on Amazon etc. sign up to mystery shopping companies (some areas of the UK seem to have a lot of visits still available, some have very few, but if you sign up and keep checking, you might get a bit extra in). Are you doing the daily scratchcards etc? You can do a couple, and so can your son.....again, not a lot of money, but it all adds up. Get onto the "up your income" board, and the "make £10 a day" challenge threads.

You can do this - you have a bit of money in the bank, you have already addressed the realities of debt, and you seem to have your head screwed on!

Good luck!

gilligansyle

Thanks hyno, at the moment I do surveys and daily clicks, I can't do bingo as they require you to download stuff and they assume everyone uses Windows. Tried mystery shopping, there often wasn't stuff I could do it went too quickly- banking being a bit of a no no, and to be honest I wasn't a good enough liar.
Have got stuff on Amazon, but Ebay isn't really worth the hassle for books and DVDs.

Katy83

Hi there,

Just reading your story I would second what hypno said, it definitely sounds as if you have your head screwed on. Think what it could be like if you hadn't had your LBM a couple of years ago or put a few months wages in the bank.

It's horrible that you have lost your job, and I'm sure it is a real worry. You know what to do though, you've been here before with the planning, budgeting, cutting back etc.

There are quite a few part-time xmas jobs out there at the moment which might help tide you over till you get something more permanent.

Maybe think about posting a new SOA to see if any one can give you some more advice on it.

Good luck xxx

gilligansyle

Will think about posting SOA but to be honest, know what I have to do, there's little I can cut down on. Just had a row with VirginMedia as looked on the website and the package I am on is cheaper for new customers. Catch 22 as got a bundle with everything in, so to change would mean installation costs someone from customer care is going to ring me back.

Just having something to eat before going out delivering leaflets, so I don't give in and buy a Mars bar on the way round.

gilligansyle

Just got in from one of my part time jobs. So far today have done delivering leaflets and then courier work followed by bookkeeping. Not really sure how I ever had time for a full time job!

Today has been a NSD, resisted the temptation to buy Mars Bar, and have been too busy to stop and eat. Off to invent a spreadsheet. At the moment keep track of all the bits of spending in a little book, but if I am working extra hours in all my different part time jobs, will need to keep track of it to see how I can budget better.
I also need to get more organised as there is a Christmas fayre coming up and haven't got nearly enough stuff, so may share a pitch with friend.

This diary is really a way of keeping myself on track. If I think someone else may shout at me, I'm less likely to get complacent.

I think I know what I need to do, its just getting round to it. Will get into list mode and first thing tomorrow will post the plan of attack!

gilligansyle

Katy83 wrote: »

Hi there,

There are quite a few part-time xmas jobs out there at the moment which might help tide you over till you get something more permanent.

Good luck xxx

Thanks for the support, I just need reminding what I need to do, and writing it down helps.
At the moment I have 5 separate part time jobs, not sure I can cope with another yet!!
1. Bar work - was just 2 hours on a Friday night, asked for extra hours if they need cover.
2. Local off license - was just 3 hours on Sat and Sun nights, more hours may be possible
These two gave me over £50 a week which is basically what I used for food.

Also do
Leaflet delivery - as and when
Courier - not done much of this while working full time, but can expand it
Bookkeeping - usually just around year end, but have had a few at the moment with people doing tax returns.

lossed

Ive searched around and found your diary, subcribed to it. Also read through a lot of your posts. You are doing soooo well. You sound like a fighter to me. Hope i can get through my issues with as much fight as you have.

jo x

gilligansyle

I'm going to start doing lists, keep losing track of what I'm meant to be doing. Had great plans for today, and ended up at an auction with Mum.

There are a few Christmas fayres coming up; I know I haven't got enough stuff, but decided to sort out what I did have, what was usable and what I had to buy. Glad I did because I found some vouchers for a local craft shop that Mum gave me last Christmas. Rang them up and they are still ok to use! :jI love wandering round craft shops! The only other thing I buy is stationery - never without at least one notebook and 3 or 4 pens!
So, tonight, once I've done my 'farming' I will do some card and calendar making - tomorrow will buy some boxes to get everything sorted.

So jobs for tomorrow are:-
order envelopes and cellophane covers
check Christmas stuff from last year in case I bought anything I've forgotten about!
go through my bargains so far and see whats left to get
Buy plastic boxes from pound shop
Update CV (again- silly computer lost it!)
Have a look through part finished craft stuff and see what I can get finished and made up in time for Christmas.

I think that's it!
Oh and job hunt....

gilligansyle

lossed wrote: »

Ive searched around and found your diary, subcribed to it. Also read through a lot of your posts. You are doing soooo well. You sound like a fighter to me. Hope i can get through my issues with as much fight as you have.

jo x

Thanks, if you've read back to the beginning, although the amount wasn't much I was well beyond my means. I just got a bit complacent because I was managing. Aim now is to really sort it and then start overpaying on the mortgage.

gilligansyle

Oops! I did have £50 in my purse, and I hate shopping but nipped in to HMV to pick up a game for my son, ( which he had pre-ordered and then got called in to work) and had to walk past Evans and saw these beautiful shoes in the window.....
and because I knew I couldn't have them I bought myself a CD instead! So I consider it to be £22 saved rather than £3 spent!