Where's that flipping lightbulb when I need it? SOA INCLUDED NOW

loadsa-debt

I was a bit short of money this month, created a budget and got the fright of my life. I had no idea how much money was going out in debt payments and it has shocked me to into starting a diary to give myself a shake.

I bring home £2150 a month and am spending £1k on repaying debt (not including the mortgage which is another £500). What it amounts to is £2670 going out and £1800 coming in as the lodger is leaving next month.

Some of this is manageable by reducing the overpayment on the mortgage (allowing around £140 to go towards debt payment), reducing credit card payments to the minimum (probably another £100) and there are plenty ways I can cut down what I spend but :eek::eek::eek: I can't believe how out of control I have got.

I am going to be selling my house in the next few months and was planning to clear the approx £12K of debt I have with the money from that which would leave me with a clean slate and around £80K equity from the house but in the meantime :eek:

I am now going on a mission to clear the house of crap, sell what I don't need or want and work out how to get out of this hole!

Some of the debt is quite short term e.g. bank loan @ £400pcm will be paid off in September this year. The rest should be done by 2014 at the latest even if the house doesn't sell but flipping hell I am so shocked at my outgoings.

I don't know if I want help or just somewhere safe to offload my anxiety but my therapy diary starts here.................

chevalier

Lucky you had the shock now, rather than when the debt was worse:D!

http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

If you want us to have a look at your budget and help with fat trimming, then fill in the above statement of affairs calculator. We are all here to help.

Good luck with the selling
chev

loadsa-debt

woohoo, slight progress made today as I have managed to trim £350 off the debt repayments by switching them all to minimum payments.

I guess the flip side of that is that it was kind of positive that I was managing to overpay by £350. I am always looking for the silver linings, even in the depths of debt but that pollyanna attitude is what got me in this flipping mess haha. I have successfully managed to avoid the truth which is that I still have a deficit of £650 a month to recouperate

I will do the SOA so thanks for the link but have a fair few ideas what I need to trim and how severely, but am a truly confirmed shopaholic who just can't resist eating out,buying clothes, premium skincare, haircare and makeup.

My diary is going to have to be a diary of a culture change - how frugal living wins over the hearts and minds of spendaholic me. Maybe it is time to revisit the Paul McKenna I can make you rich CD?

Aaaargh, there I go again - another example of trying to buy a solution but not actually implementing it in order to fix the problem. Essentially this is the story of my life..... like Jackanory lets begin.

• My shelves are groaning with the weight of books - all bought to fix an aspect of my life. Many of these have been read but not put into practice. This is going to be an emerging theme.
• My bathroom shelf, bedroom cupboards and the box(es!!) wedged under the bed are filled with the beauty products that will make me thinner, prettier and look younger and more glamourous. Many of these haven't been used and I am sitting on the sofa tonight with the lappy with my hair scraped back, hardly any makeup on and looking dog rough and what an appealing picture that is!
• My kitchen cupboards have loads of boxes filled with weightloss supplements that I buy with the faint hope that merely purchasing them will be enough to make me lose weight as I pile the shopping trolley with chocolate. Funnily enough still a fat mare
• My living room shelves are littered with keep fit dvds again bought thinking just buying them is enough to turn me into a goddess. still a-wobbling
• shoes aaargh. I have so many pairs of lovely strappy skyscraper sandals for the glamourous girl I want to be rather than the person I have become The question is, do I ditch the shoes or change my life

It is officially time to get a grip, stop spending and as much as it pains me to say - step away from being a consumer (gulp).

If anyone wants to give me a metaphorical kick up the butt please do

loadsa-debt

Nothing to report from yesterday as I hurt my foot and spent the rest of the day trying to get the swelling down enough to visit A&E to get it x-rayed. Now I can't drive, go to work or leave the house as my foot is like a distorted balloon but looking on the bright side it keeps me out the shops!

Maybe a time of reflection dosed up on painkillers with my leg in the air is just what I need (or maybe not lol).

This will also give me time to do my SOA and do some serious spend culling.

Itsadogslife_2

At least you won't be bored, you can spend the day surfing MSE - you will be an expert by the end of the day :-)

caledonian_princess

Oh I so know what you mean about the shoes. I too have a collection of gorgeous shoes that actually don't really fit my life, oh I get to wear them once or twice a year but mostly I wear trainers. Mine are all good ones, little worn so the sensible thing would be to get them on to ebay, the problem is that I love just having the shoes and I can't stand ebaying.

Good luck.

loadsa-debt

Yeah, I just love shoes. Some of them dont' even fit my feet never mind my life! There are so many pairs up there that have only been worn a couple of times and some have never been worn but I have thrown out the boxes and cut off the tags. I did try to sell a couple of pairs on ebay a while ago but even with bids starting at £25 (on shoes that had literally been worn once and cost £100 new) I didn't get any interest or sales.

There is literally £1000's of £ worth of shoes up there which is so depressing. I buy them cause they are stunning but then it turns out they hurt my feet to wear them, are totally unsuitable for work and I end up resorting to the trusty wedges that are comfortable.

When will I learn. If I ended up destitute the bailifs would be leaving my house armed with shoes rather than tv's and electrical equipment.

Any other ideas where to sell them other than ebay? Replay and Patrick Cox sandals in abundance :-(

NewLeaf_2

Hi And welcome to the diaries! Something is only worth what someone is willing to pay, and even though it might break your heart to only get £10 a pair for each of them, they are worthless to you sitting in your closet when you are unable to wear them.

Believe it or not i had the same makeup addiction as you, and sold loads and loads of make up I had "tried once or twice" on ebay for loads of money. It is a free listing weekend this weekend and you're down with a bad leg so why not have a go? xx

loadsa-debt

NewLeaf, I know you are right and it would teach me a lesson about not buying things I won't use but it's gonna hurt! The free listing days are a sign haha, another door opening on my debt free journey. When I do get the house sold, I suppose it will save money on removals as there will be less for the removal men to carry ;-)

Itsadogslife, apologies I meant to reply to you sooner. I should already be an expert as I set up a different account for my debt free journey as I am so embarrassed about the mess I am in and didn't want anyone who knows me in RL to link to where I am in this sinking in debt mess. I am ashamed to say I have been on this site for the last 5 years and still haven't had my LBM as something always comes along and bails me out of the mess e.g. tax rebate, backdated pay increase, extra self employed work etc. This time I need to fix it myself and get into the moneysaving zone. I think I need a sledgehammer rather than a lightbulb!

clippy_girl

Hi LD!

one thing i found with ebay is that people do not like to start high with buying stuff. so even if people will pay £25 for your shoes they do not like to bid £25 tro start with. maybe start them at £4.99 or £9.99. i know it will kill you to see them at price if people dont bid more but at least you have space and as NL said, if you cant wear them at least you got something. will also save you time packing and will create lots of space in your wardrobe for when you are out of debt and can start to fill again! i have also found my items sell for more when i start low as more people watch/bid. then wghen it gets near the end, they have your item saved so if they cant be bothered to search/start bidding again on something else they may pay a £ or 2 more to get the shoes!

same with yoyr fitness dvd's, maybe pick one or two you prefer and list the rest. can do the same with the weight loss stuff if you dont think you will use and the make up/toiletries if you dont think you will wear them.

i find the best time for listings to end is sunday afternoon/evening. you could download the turbo lister and do the listings all over the next few days whilst you are at home then on sunday just upload all your listings and they will go up together. is good for selling lots of items at once

very jealouds of your mountains to sell, i have ebayed everything already!

loadsa-debt

I thought my troubles were over on Saturday morning as there was an e-mail from lotto saying there was news about my euromillions ticket - oh yeah, says I. I can keep my shoes and all my stuff and continue to have it as reminders of my life. hurrumph, I only won £2.50 and I spent more than that on flippin tickets. Cue one not very happy loadsa-debt!

So, reality kicked in and I spent a bit of time taking photos and writing shiny blurb on the computer ready to cut and paste into ebay. I would have done it via turbolister but its not allowed on free listing weekends. Damn. I have kept some stuff, perhaps for another day when I am feeling really ruthless but have listed 10 pairs of shoes and boots, around 50% of them haven't been worn and the others have been worn once or twice - literally. If anyone reading has size 4 or 5 feet and wants some bargains let me know haha.

I took your advice clippy girl and started most of them low but theres one pair of BNIB boots that are £100 in the shops just now and I couldn't bear to put them on at £5, I went for £35 instead. I should have sent them back when they didn't fit but as usual didn't get round to it.

It is heartbreaking to see things I paid a fortune for, sitting there waiting for someone to bid £5 on them. I have Moschino, Replay, Lulu Guinness, Nicole Fahri and Patrick Cox items on there and will be lucky to make £100 back.

I have also put a leg magic fitness thing on gumtree as there is no way I would ever use it, not even the 60 seconds a day it allegedly takes. That cost £80 plus p&p but do I learn, do I hell.