Anyone else been as stupid as me with money?

JIMBOUK_3

I have always had a problem with money.I have never been one for saving and have been in debt since I was about 18 I am now 33!!!Its not as bad as it was for example when I was about 21 I was approximately £25 k in debt and that was just personal debt, no mortgage or anything I cant remember exactly how I racked it up but credit cards loans and a self employed tax bill and two brand new motorbikes in th space of 6 months probably didnt help ! Then i lost my job !!!Talk about depressed !!!anyway i ve been doing any work that I possibly could working 90 hours a week sometimes just to pay debts and keep a roof over my head I'd pay the debt down and think right I can afford another loan now and get something else like a boat or some other stuopid thing anyway i had an epiphanty a few years ago and sold the boats and whatever else I could on ebay now I'm down to about £9000 I have a regular job and the future looks good .I'm just frustrated with myself as i feel i wasted the best years of my life up to my neck in debt !I'm hoping that I can be debt free by Christmas 2010 all being well The only problem now is I keep overstretching myself as I'm that keen on becoming debt free I sometimes pay a bit too much off my credit cards and leave myself skint for the rest of the month its just I'm sick and tired of it as I never go out or do anything other than work sleep eat and pay debts grr any ideas?

savingholmes

hi and welcome to the boards

Most of us on here have been unwise with money at some point... It may help you to read some debt free diaries.....

You probably need to start too with a statement of affairs from makesenseofcards and reformat it for here (mse) and copy and paste it here. Then lots of peeps will come and advise you on where your outgoings are okay and what you can do to improve them.

You can then also use the snowball calculator at whatsthecost to work out which debts you should pay off first.

They are both other websites recommended by Martin Lewis and others - and a lot of us swear by them!

Good luck

JIMBOUK_3

thanks will look into it :-)

captainhaggis

JIMBOUK wrote: »

....and think right I can afford another loan now and get something else like a boat

I shouldn't laugh, but I cannot help it!

This is building up debt in style! Kudos to you! :rotfl:

JIMBOUK_3

Dont get me wrong I had a bit of fun along the way !!! I'm thinking about an Aston Martin next lol !!!

JIMBOUK_3

Did the snowball thing you recommended and christmas 2010 looks achievable for my loan,credit card and overdraft and then I'll finish paying the folks off as they're interest free !!!

JIMBOUK_3

and then cry :-( lol

JIMBOUK_3

anyone know what the law is on busking?

WASHER

Its never easy repaying debts, I was approx £30K in debt at one point, repaid it back, never went out as a family and it was difficult.

We are now debt free, and it still isn't plain sailing, I still have to watch those pennies at Tesco (I spend a small fortune in there!) but the relief when you are debt free is huge, just remember, you still need to have a life, extend your debt free date by a couple of months or so, and it will seem so much easier, I did this after getting the debt under 10k, it makes life a little more bearable.

captainhaggis

JIMBOUK wrote: »

anyone know what the law is on busking?

Atleast be half good at whatever it is you're trying to do.... I've seen some real carcrash trumpet players on the underground before!

painted_lady

I love the boat thing, just remember the good times you had with the money. I travelled the world, went to film premieres, bungy jumped, went to festivals & concerts round the world etc. I dont feel bad because now I only have productive debt (I bought some investment properties) and I dont feel guilty as my health has taken a turn and I would find it difficult to do those things now, glad I made the most of it if you see what I mean.
As for advice, well done on realising its a problem for you, that is the first step. You have prooved you can be debt free by paying off some debt already and you also seem very committed to working hard - 90hrs a week, wow!
As others said, post SOA and people can give you advice. Busking as far as I believe, you need a licence, which means applying to your local council, maybe give them a ring and ask how you can become a legal busker, if only to make sure your not upsetting anyone.
Dont forget that little treat to yourself every now and again, have a take away or day out. You need this to aim for or life becomes dull.
Best of luck.