i dont know if i can do this

affordmylife

we have no savings.

he will not help me. its my debt. its from laser eye surgery and also £2000 from my son for not paying his rent!!!

the money i have each month is £800. which is for my debts plus all the food and a couple of bills like my phone and dog insurance. plus everything for our dd.

its pretty dire. xx

Buffythedebtslayer

Yes it is dire. One day it will be done, just hold on.

I am off for a walk and will have a think on what else you could do. (along with what I should be doing)

I think ideally you need to work out exactly what you owe and whether you can put it all on one CC (one bill per month) if you can have a 0% deal or a low life of balance deal.

For now do as what you said and keep the cc to a minimum, bloody good you took a 100 quid off it last month.

xx

xxx

joeblack066

Norfolk_Jim wrote: »

I've found that the only way I can stop fighting debt grinding me into the ground is to turn it into a project and a hobby. I now devote a couple of hours every evening to doing something towards my debt or thinking of / looking for ideas. I've broken my debts down into 1000 pound chunks and then I get some a4 lined paper and number the lines from 1 to 100. Every time I see, think of, discover a new idea that I think I could get 10 pounds from I write it on a line as a motivator. I have the first sheet on view when I'm at my desk. It does not matter if you can only think of a few things to start off with - as you get an idea, add it on. Its much easier to think of a way to get 10 pounds than a thousand pounds. think of 100 ways and you've got your first thousand pounds.
So for instance, my first line says do Butlinsbingo free scratch card - and ever day I remember to do my free scratch card. Most days I get 10p but today it was 50p. Eventually my balance will reach 10.00 and I'll withdraw it and pay it off my debt. Then I cross it off my list with a orange highlighter pen. Because I can do it again till they throw me off the site for not gambling real money with them, I add it on again to the bottom of the list. On my list I have things like - Do daily clicks at Cashback site - Sell junk on E Bay - cook a low cost meal for 2 days and pocket the difference. And so on. This site alone has hundreds of ideas you might care to include - and as each time you are only trying for 10 pounds it always seems possible and you dont get demoralised.
I've found that way it becomes a game and is even fun - so rather than feeling like I'm battling away and getting nowhere and missing out on life, I look at it as a hobby and a challenge, and every time I can strike out a line in Orange I'm nearer my target, and every time I find a new idea to get 10 Pounds, I'm nearer my 100 ideas (Currently I have 36 different ideas to get 10 pounds on my list, many of which can be repeated over again or will yield far more than 10 pounds - like some cashback offers and some matched betting) - It can become fun if you let it - go to the library, get a book on foraging, see if you can watch a couple of episodes of cook on the wild side and go out into the country and have a forage dinner - then put the grocery money you would have spent into your pot. If you see it as deprivation, you'll hate eating nettles and dandelions, but if you see it as a novel and educational one off experience of how our ancestors lived it can become a fun activity (once!) - Some people will even pay for the privilidge (Be careful what you eat though! No Mushrooms), or you could do a one off baby sit, dog sit or whatever, just keep getting those tenners. And as they're all mostly one offs you wont end up with tax issues or get bored with it.
Hope the idea helps others who find this all just a big slog - I suffer from awful depression so I know how tough it can be.

:j I think i love you x:T

Buffythedebtslayer

joeblack066 wrote: »

:j I think i love you x:T

It is a great post by Norfolk-Jim isn't it:rotfl:xx

Norfolk_Jim

I didn't realise so many people would think it a worthwhile idea. It works for me. Today I managed to withdraw £10 from Take A break Bingo where I do the daily scratchcard. It pays you bonus money which you cant withdraw but you can use it on bingo games - so I wait till I have £10-£20 in bonus funds and then buy as many cards as I can for a few of the quieter games, early mornings mostly. I nearly always manage to get at least £10 from £20 of bonus games and once I got £50.

You can often find ideas by spending a little time going through some of the other threads on other boards, the shopping ones or the Old Style ones are good for ideas. I found a competition that way that I have often won at, its a nice prize each time and very easy to sell. I dont want to post full details here but I can tell you by PM if you want to know - I'm not greedy but I dont want it pulledor the rules changed.
Once its on your mind its funny how you just spot opportunities that you otherwise let slip - a promotion here, a bargain there, a freebie or a prize.
I'm glad others have found something useful in what I am doing.

Buffythedebtslayer

Affordmylife

right just some ideas

When you are walking your dog could you walk other people's?(and get paid for it, put a card up in the newsagent)
could you make anything to sell?
Can you consider things like chatlines - I know for some people its too much but it is way to make money in the evenings.........and obviously you don't have broadcast it to the world
def do free bingo and perhaps investigate the daily clicks. I know its only small amount but I have realised over the years that they make all the difference.
could you do a cleaning job? (it might be possible to fit it in around your current work??)

Obviously I don't know much about you and these are only suggestions, I hope they give you some ideas - also look at the up your income board for more ideas.

xx

annibee

Norfolk Jim has become a legend in the space of one post lol :T

Afford my life - I hope you start to feel better, I understand its your debt however surely oh wants you to not be struggling. If not the case just tell him you cant afford to see him anymore maybe he'll help then At least you can talk to supportive people on here!

affordmylife

thank you so much. its lovely to be able to talk on here. i really appreciate it.

oh has a little debt himself and once that is cleared im sure he will help out a bit more. he is a reasonable man.

i have an interview for a job tomorrow which is slightly lower paid but is much closer to home so will save a fortune in petrol and time.

the thing is i love my current job so i really dont want to change but i will see if they offer it to me first before i worry too much.

thank you for all the ideas.

i have also made a drs appt to check out depression/anger issues/tiredness so that may help too.

im off on holiday a week today so im looking forward to a complete break of routine and hopefully sometime to think and plan. xx

ms_london

affordmylife wrote: »

we have no savings.

he will not help me. its my debt. its from laser eye surgery and also £2000 from my son for not paying his rent!!!

the money i have each month is £800. which is for my debts plus all the food and a couple of bills like my phone and dog insurance. plus everything for our dd.

its pretty dire. xx

It's rubbish that your son has left you with the bill for his actions, and also his dad is leaving you with it too - if your ex isn't forcing your son to repay you, then he should step up and take responsibility for half??

Perhaps you could post your SOA and we can give you a bit more advice - if you can't afford your current repayments to your creditors you need to negotiate one that you can afford with them. Cancel any direct debits you have for creditors in the interim which will give you a month or so to get sorted and work out what you can afford to pay them.

xx

ms_london

annibee wrote: »

Norfolk Jim has become a legend in the space of one post lol :T

I completely agree! :T:T:T:T