“Let it go”, move on and start enjoying life

downnotout

Just thought Ide chip in, I went through that whole phase of feeling sh@t on in business, two land lords from hell, a corrupt double crossing business partner and the recession meant that I lost everything over night. 3 years later im still in debt in the region of 7k but I am two years in to a degree course and much happier even though I have nothing. Im still chipping away my debts slower than a drey horse with 3 legs, but I will get there one day

beanielou

Keep plodding & keep posting!

looking-up_2

Hi everybody..hope you’ve got better weather than we have here. After being full of the promise of Spring yesterday, today it’s wet, dull and windy.

Didn’t make a no spend day yesterday – spent £5.50 in the chemist for cough/cold remedies. I did go for own brand items which saved a couple of pound.

Also, I cancelled my auto-renewing genesRenited subscription. I joined when I was researching my family history and must have clicked the continuous subs. This saved me £7.96, which was due to sneak out my account in a week or so. Also, I’m proud to say I didn’t even open the avon catalogue that came through the door..just put it back outside ready to be collected (so it won’t tempt me). I usually buy something from the sale catalogue just because it’s a bargain and often a perfume to cheer myself, so by not looking saved £10-£30.

Bad news is that I did ‘just pop’ into a charity shop or 3. I only spent £8.48 but these were things I can resell for double the price paid and I listed them as soon as I came back, so hopeful for a quick turnaround. I did see a couple of pairs of curtains in a lovely fabric and was so tempted to buy to cut up and make cushions . However, reminded myself of the huge pile of fabric that I already have and that I've never made a cushion in my life.

I’ve sorted out my references and booked my classroom training for the census job. More training slots magically appeared after I submitted my references, so no need to spend the morning in their phone queuing system, which helped the phone bill. My training is a week after I am due to start work. I assume I can’t start work until trained so looks like I will lose a week out of the 4. I’d like to discuss it with my manager but not been told who it is yet so guess I’ll have to be patient.

Off to slimming world today – cross fingers that the scales move in the right direction this week. I think I’ve lost a pound or 2 but my scales and hers never seem to agree. Off to hunt through the wardrobe to find the lightest thing I can find…

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Current Debts : £258 credit cd and to DH £200
Incomings so far in April £197.12 (ebay)
Revised Predicted balance at end of the month £-519.77 (Assuming will pay DH but not CC). Still a long way to go...

looking-up_2

A bright sunny day today. I find the weather plays such an important part of how I start the day. It was so hard to be positive yesterday with such grotty weather.

Good news – I lost 2 pound at SW yesterday. So glad it’s moving in the right direction again. Only 7 pounds to go to get back into target range and therefore not have to pay the £4.95 weekly club fee. I could do it in 3-4 weeks if I keep focused. Today I’m going to try and stick to fruit teas for drinks – so no need for milk or sweetener.
Ebay was quiet all day yesterday but a couple of sales overnight; one a large item, which was a welcome boost to funds. I’m trying not to get too excited about recent success on there though. I’ve found it very erratic lately. Jan and Feb were almost dead and very little I listed actually sold. Don’t know whether it’s ebay specific or people not having any spare cash to spend.

No news from my census co-ordinator as yet. I am supposed to start work today but I suspect that as the classroom training isn’t until next week, nothing will happen until then. I assume the process is automated and my name won’t pop into their list until the training box has been ticked. Oh well, will give me a little more time to shake off this cold – don’t want to be coughing over the neighbourhood.

I’m eager to get going – it’s just taken so long to get this far and of course I’m looking forward to my first week’s wages which I’ve ear-marked to (almost) pay back DH. I'm not going to count it until I see it in my bank account though.

Anyway, whilst my time is still my own...back to ebay listing.

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Current Debts : £258 credit cd and to DH £200
Incomings so far in April £237.12 (ebay)
Revised Predicted balance at end of the month £-479.77 (Assuming will pay DH but not CC).

looking-up_2

Another sunny day – fantastic. Lets hope spring stays around for a few days.

No spend day yesterday – apart from ebay postage. I went to an out of town post office, so no temptations to spend in the high street. A couple of ebay sales overnight – only a tenner’s worth but every little helps.

Diet – I managed to get through the whole day on fruit teas with only 1 de-caf coffee in the evening. Pretty good on the food front as well but scales stayed the same. I know you shouldn’t weight yourself every day but I can’t help myself. I think my main problem is that I usually spend my day sitting down and so don’t really need many calories. Trouble is, sitting around the house all day means I get more tempted by the fridge, so the worse of both worlds. Hopefully a few weeks wandering around on the census job should burn a few cals. I’m going to dig out my pedometer before I start and see how many steps I do.

No news from my census co-ordinator as yet…so it looks like I will lose the first week.

Going to spend today getting a few loads of washing done (whilst it’s nice), and try and list at least 10 things on ebay.

There are 24 days left in the month and I need to raise £468.95 which is just under £20 a day. Doesn't sound too bad when I put it like that.

Best get back to it.

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Current Debts : £258 credit cd and to DH £200
Incomings so far in April £247.94 (ebay)
Revised Predicted balance at end of the month £-468.95 (Assuming will pay DH but not CC).

looking-up_2

Gorgeous day again today – so much so I’ve dug out the shorts and sandals.

Got 2 loads of washing done already and the third on its way.

Had a good day listing on ebay yesterday – in between sessions in the garden. I decided that instead of feeling down about being out of work I should see it as free holiday. I tried to remember what it was like when I last had a full time employed type job. I was stuck in the office and on lovely days like this I looked longingly out of the window and had to be happy with escaping for an hour at lunchtime. So, I forced myself to go and sit outside yesterday afternoon and read a book. After years of being self employed, and being a person who always has to be doing something – even whilst watching TV, it took quite a lot of effort to just go and relax. I did feel better for it though and when I did come back to the PC, I focused on my ebaying, rather than procrastinating.

Do other self-employed people have this problem?

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Current Debts : £258 credit cd and to DH £200
Incomings so far in April £280.76 (ebay)
Revised Predicted balance at end of the month £-436.13 (Assuming will pay DH but not CC).
Due to go overdrawn on 22nd April..

looking-up_2

A lovely weekend and I even managed to catch some sun on my face and legs – might improve my normal pasty colour.

Minimum spends - £25 at the supermarket and a tenner at a bootsale. I try to make bootsales and charity shops spend neutral or if I’m lucky, positive. So spent £7 on 2 items that I should be able to sell for £20 and the rest on some plants to brighten up the garden. I know at the moment, every pound counts but my pots looked very bare and for just a few pound, it really cheered up the patio.

Apart from my financial situation, the other thing I’m focusing on (for my mental health) is I’m determined to enjoy the summer. After years of looking down and concentrating on the business, getting more and more depressed watching the evaporation of my savings…several summers have passed me by.

I’m a fair weather person and so this year although I’ve got to get myself in a better financial state, I don’t want it to completely rule my life. Unlike previous years, eventually look up and find its October and the chance to get out and about has gone again.

I’ve got an obsessive personality and I tend to live and breathe a mission. However, just for the summer, I’m going to try a different strategy. Instead of working all hours trying to rebuild the 100k I’ve lost, I’m going to work on the ‘earn enough’ policy. That is, it’s ok just to earn enough to pay the bills and perhaps generate a small emergency fund.

I’ve got to accept that my nest egg is gone and that it is going to take years to rebuild it. This thought is still very painful, but I’m going to keep practicing until maybe it doesn’t hurt so much.

I’m going to work a set number of hours a day and the rest of the time focus on getting out, seeing more of the countryside and doing some of things I been wanting to do since I moved here. Most of the things on the list are free or low spend so no reason not to get started.

For larger things, like festivals or shows, I have another strategy..volunteering. You get to experience the atmosphere without it costing a penny and quite often meals/refreshments are free too. Most of the time, you also get to see/do things that you wouldn’t be able to do as a member of the (paying) general public. It is hard work but the feeling of being involved and the camaraderie is well worth it.

Anyway, back to revising my census handbook – and hoping for a call from my co-ordinator. If I don’t hear this morning, and other collectors stating that Tuesdays are non-work, then the earliest I’ll start will probably be Wednesday.

Have a good day everybody

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Current Debts : £258 credit cd and to DH £200
Incomings so far in April £332.37 (ebay)
Revised Predicted balance at end of the month £-384.52 (Assuming will pay DH but not CC).
Due to go overdrawn on 23rd April..a day later but still less than 2 weeks away.

looking-up_2

No news from census co-ordinator yesterday so I guess that’s the first week’s opportunity gone. Even though my offer gave last Wednesday as a start date, it was conditional and I haven't had my contract through yet so assume I won't get paid for this week.

Slimming world later and I’ve been really good this week so cross fingers it will show on her scales. I’m hoping for -2 but even -1 will be good for morale.

I’m planning on a solid day ebay listing – and hope that I start pounding the streets tomorrow (census). Probably a small outlay today – on SW fees, hifibars (to get a small daily choc fix without being too naughty), and fruit/veg top-up.

I also need to buy a train ticket to London. I subscribe (free) to a wonderful daily email service called ‘notes from the universe’. You go onto their website and enter details of your long term goals. They then send you small inspirational/encouraging messages, which always put a smile on my face.

The author is Mike Dooley from the US and he is coming over for a few days and running a seminar this Sunday. I know – I can’t afford it but if his talk is anything like the notes, it will be a huge boost to motivation so I hope it will be money well spent. I bought a ticket months ago but still need to organise travel. Lunch is included but I suspect it will have a book stall which will be hard to resist. I will have to set a budget and be strict with myself. I suspect the day (travel, expenses and book) will set me back £100 so best get back to ebaying.

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Current Debts : £258 credit cd and to DH £200
Incomings so far in April £357.37 (ebay)
Revised Predicted balance at end of the month £-359.52 (Assuming will pay DH but not CC).
Due to go overdrawn on 23rd April.. less than 2 weeks away

looking-up_2

Slimming world yesterday – 2.5 pounds off. Well pleased – just 4.5 pounds to go to get back into target, hopefully get back into my favourite jeans (and be able to sit down) plus save £4.95 a week. Aiming to do it before the month is out..as long as I don’t do anything silly re Easter eggs. I have told DH not to buy me one but he doesn’t normally listen so just hope it’s a small one.

Finally got my final offer through for the census and officially start work today – now just waiting to hear from co-ordinator (cross fingers). It seems they have extended the end date till the 13th May, so I still get 4 weeks work. That’s a relief – I was beginning to think I’d only end up with a couple of weeks in the end. What with them reducing the hours offered as well…it was getting near the point of not worth all the hassle.

Earned £30+ on ebay yesterday but spent best part of £40 on travel tickets for the weekend so not much progress on end of month total. I did use comparison sites and cashback sites so happy that I got the best deal.

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Current Debts : £258 credit cd and to DH £200
Incomings so far in April £370.62 (ebay)
Revised Predicted balance at end of the month £-385.17 (Assuming will pay DH but not CC).
Due to go overdrawn on 23rd April.. just over a week away

looking-up_2

Hi everybody,

Cloudy again today – but at least there’s no rain forecast which is good if I’m due to be out walking the streets with the census.

On that front, my contract says I should have started work yesterday but no contact from my co-ordinator but cross fingers for today. It’s the waiting around that is the annoying bit – will I start work today or are there any more hoops to jump through?

According to my spreadsheet, I’m due to hit the bottom of my savings in a week and 3 days, so could really do with at least a few days work this week, meaning I get paid on the 22nd – just in the nick of time.

Good news is that I don’t really have any debts (no mortgage, loans, etc) and although I only paid off the min on my credit card last month, I have kept spending over the last 2 months to a minimum. This means that this month’s bill is about the same as what used to be a normal spend month – around the £500 mark. I know how quickly the slide into bigger debt numbers can happen, so I need to keep this number small. I have quite a small limit on this card (about 2k) and want to keep it available, for emergencies.

Ebaying is going pretty well and hopefully I will be able to scrape through this month using those earnings but I will be relying on the census pay next month. I must keep reminding myself that it is only till mid May and then I’m on my own again. So every morning, before starting census work, I have to continue to ebay and check the job sites.

Cue to do just that whilst waiting for the all important phone call.
Have a good day every one.

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Current Debts : £258 credit cd and to DH £200
Incomings so far in April £401.30 (ebay)
Revised Predicted balance at end of the month £-354.49 (Assuming will pay DH but not CC).
Due to go overdrawn on 23rd April.. just over a week away.