"Simply not solvent!

Seaxwyn

I've been feeling uncomfortable about my signature apparently showing I've paid off over 2k this year, when most of the drop is due to paying a tax bill and fluctuations in my overdraft.

So I added up just the credit cards and on those I've paid off a mere £680. That's pants for five months.

I need to find some well-paid longer term contracts to give me the security that I can continue to do this and wouldn't be better off getting a job.

I need to get OH more onside, to see it more as a joint project rather than something of mine that he patiently humours me with.

We've been earning good money these last few months and that's not guaranteed to go on. In OH's case it's almost certain to reduce as he has nearly finished a big commission with nothign to replace it and his current teaching deal ends this month. After that it may well be back to delivering sandwiches for a while.

So at this point while I can congratulate myself on having got on top of our money, I need to recognise that I am nowhere near dealing with it.

The snowball calculator gives me DFDs ranging from 2010 to 2023 but I can't trust anything I put in there as our income does vary so much and we are certain to have months where we go backwards rather than forwards.

I don't know if I'm asking for advice or anything, I just wanted to record this as I feel uncomfortable about being too smug about progress so far.

tumbleweed261

I'm sure the nature of self-employment is that figures will go up and down a bit each month, but you certainly seem a lot more financially stable now than at the beginning of your diary (I admit I only waded through yesterday) and also a lot better able to cope with the pressures of being self employed and still paying all the bills. Have you told your hubby everything that you're thinking aloud on here? Or how about putting an updated SOA on here to see if we nit-pickers can spot something else that could be trimmed a little bit?

You're doing fantastically well - don't forget that not only have you paid those bills and shifted an extra £680, you've also not racked up any more debt, which is just as much of an achievement - so well done you Seaxwyn, keep smiling, and I know you can get this debt beaten! :j

hypno06

Presumably the balances on the loans are also reducing, so your debt is coming down.

And I think that if you haven't increased your debt, that is a fantastic improvement. Just take yourself back 12 months and you would still be spending on those cards, without another thought. You have made real progress, but when you owe as much as we do, and when you have an irregular income, as we do, it takes time to notice big drops in the debt.

Spend a few minutes thinking back - see how much progress you HAVE made, and go and make a cuppa, and feel proud of yourself.

No-one said that this was going to be easy, or that it was going to happen quickly, but then you didn't expect it to, did you? you expected a slog, and today is one of those days when you acknowledge that.

Getting OH on side may be key to the debt coming down quicker, but again, look back at the start of your diary and you may recognise a subtle change there too.

Keep going, baby steps are frustrating, I know, but they are still steps in the right direction x

chevalier

I echo hypno above, lets face it, it is a horrible weather day and that in itself will get you down a bit! But you know you are in a better position than you were. Have a look at the begining of your thread!

And I have done q1 of my essay so only q2 and q3 to go!
chev

planbetter

we all just have to keep going and we'll get there. you're one of the leaders believe it or not - you're an inspiration. this is the sort of thread that helps other people think they could do it too. its a question of continually chipping away from what i can see and not allowing yourself to pretend its not happening.
Keep hearing about snowball calculator - if I google it will i find it or do you have to do it yourself and know about spreadsheets and stuff?

Seaxwyn

Thanks for the reality check folks and thanks for the kind words planbetter, I was astonished I could be an inspiration from anyone, I am a muddler!

You'll find the snowball calculator on https://www.whatsthecost.com and it really is a fantastic tool. You don't have to know anything to use it - well apart from the amounts and APRs of your debts.

taxi73

Hi Sea ...please don't be so hard on yourself...being SE ...I know what you are up against..especially uncertainty of income...BUT....you have done brilliantly and DON'T forget it!!!....you have less debt than last year and have paid all bills...that is FANTASTIC...there are going to be times where it's harder than others...unexpected bills or less income...so this makes the figures vary...
I now report my bank balance on the 25 th of the month as I can see the progress or lack of on that date specifically...whereas if I altered it everyday of the month it's heartbreaking(sometimes as much as a £1000 more)..this is good for my moral...maybe it would help you too!!!

beemuzed

Hi! I think I should get the world's award for champion procrastinator - instead of planning my work time-table for the coming week I have read your entire diary at one sitting! I think you're showing great determination and I'm, sure you will get there. Thanks for showing others like me the process you're going through.

hypno06

Just looking at your signature and thinking about what you were saying earlier, is the OD number 1 still at £0?

If so, and forgive me if I am way out, but is there any chance that you can cancel this OD facility completely so that you do not use it, and just use the OD number 2?

If there is any chance that you can get rid of this then you would have a real sense of achievement.

Then, would it be worth trying to clear enough on the credit cards to transfer one of the loans over to the credit cards by some sort of complicated balance transfer route (most ccs don't allow transfer to a loan, so may need a little thinking about). Presumably you can't over pay on the loan but you can on the cc plus at a low LOB you would be saving even more interest, plus you have got rid of another debt.

Like I say, I may be way off, but it might be that you can work something over the next few months so that when you do your 1yr from LBM statement you will see a very different picture.

Seaxwyn

Hi Hypno

I try to keep OD1 out of overdraft but I daren't get rid of that OD facility as I do dip into it sometimes (£530 goes out of that account each month) and also it's my form of emergency savings - in case I need to pay for something major I have that overdraft facility.

I absolutely can't exceed the other OD limit as then I would lose the 0% rate, which I really value.

BUT, I do quite well at keeping OD1 at £0 most of the time so my current gameplan is to pay off CC1 as quickly as I can, then look at what to do with the smaller loan and yes probably apply for another low LOB card to get it onto - or get OH to.

So far I'm not doing very well clearing CC1 though!

Interesting development this evening when OH saw me on this site and asked what my username was. I didn't tell him and said he'd have to guess. Now I'm wondering whether he will have a look and if he does, I think he'd guess which was me fairly fast.