SAHM paying off debts slowly 6 June 2011 at 9:48AM edited 30 November -1 at 12:00AM in Debt Free Diaries 956 replies 87.5K views

slm6002

Hello there. I have been feeling very down lately with money issues so thought i would start a new diary and hopefully get some very needed support from you lovely people.

I am 34, married with 3 children. We have a fair amount of debt which we are just about keeping on top of, but only by budgeting very carefully. It just seems that we can never think about doing or buying anything without either budgeting years for it or going bankrupt in the process! I hate having debt but with only 1 income (as i stay at home with the children) it is very difficult to make any kind of dent in the debts.

I have checked all benefits that i am entitled to and am using the envelope technique for budgeting. OH is hopeless with money and will spend it if he has it so i try to make sure i get his share of things before he has chance to spend it. I have given my credit cards to a very trustworthy friend to take care of, who will only give them to me in an emergency. By doing this hopefully my balances will only go down!

Anyway hopefully there are some of you out there that might join me in my long long challenge of clearing debt.

slm6002

Just received a refund from gas company on an account i have closed and overpaid. Not bad but its all going towards things already planned. Makes things a little better though. Going to walk into town and bank it after dropping DS off at nursery.

skyvicky123

Hiya, just wanted to pop in and say hello. I have one DD who is 2.5 and I work 3 days a week but would love to be a SAHM if I could. How old are yours?

chevalier

welcome to the boards. Can I suggest that you look on the main debt free forum and find the first time poster sticky. In there there is a link to a statement of affairs calculator. It might help you focus on areas you can cut back on,

good luck with the debt busting
chev

slm6002

Thanks for the replies it good to know i am not alone. My little ones are 5 1/2, 3 1/2 and 7months. Its great fun and i do love being a SAHM but i do miss work on the odd occassion and also the pay!

I will have a look at the debt free board for a few tips.

clearmydebts

Hiya,

I am also 34 and have one DS (15 months) and another baby due in September 2011. I found it motivational to have my debt in a signature so that I can see it going down.

Wishing you the best of luck with it!

mildred1978

Sounds like you can't afford not to work. Could you pick up a few evening/weekend shifts in a supermarket or pub/restaurant?

slm6002

Hi thanks for popping in. I will think about putting debts in signature. I suppose its the final step to acceptance that were in debt. 'Hello my name in sara and i am in debt'!

i see from your signature that your doing well. I will get there but i also know it is going to be a long process. But feeling a little more possitive today knowing that others are there to support me

slm6002

Hi mildred1978 thanks for popping by. Due to my husbands job being so varied in hours it is very difficult to find anything that would fit around him. He starts anytime between half 4 to 6 in morning and can finish anytime between 3 and half 9 in the evening. He also works weekends quite frequently so cant even do that. He is a lorry driver and once he has finished his drops for the day he can go home, even though he is contracted until 4! I dont have any family around me that can look after little ones so its just a case of waiting til they are back at school.

Until last year i was doing mystery shopping and i had my own business but after all of the work i was only making around £50 per year profit. I know its an extra £50 but for this amount of profit the number of hours and the stress involved was not worthwhile

Itsadogslife_2

What about doing something like Avon whereby you can put the kids in the buggy and you're off :-) When my DD was younger, I delivered a newspaper that we get weekly here. It was pants money but was an extra £40.00 per month. I was lucky as when DD was pre-school age, husband could be guaranteed to be home by 7 (ish) and so I got a job in a restaurant as a waitress/bar person - if we had not had this, I think we would definitely have sunk, but it also rescued my mental health. I loved it, didn't like not going to bed until nearly midnight, but the rest of it was very enjoyable.

I was going to suggest the mystery shopping - and surveys? There are things like Body Shop Consultant? Doing parties maybe just once a week.

Oh and I would definitely agree with admitting to the total. I didn't for a long time and it never actually went down at all. I think shaming myself by putting it in my signature definitely makes it more real and makes me want to work at it even harder as i don't want to get shouted at by all the lovely people on here if they don't see it going down :-p

slm6002

Thanks for the suggestion. I have signed up for avon so i guess i will wait to hear from them.Not sure if i will be any good at it but i guess its worth a try. Dont think i have seen an avon book around here for quite some time so guess there may be an area that i could do