another newbie sees the light.

greenanne

like many before me i have spent the last few years with my head in the sand getting deeper into debt.i have now been scared into action by seeing my neighbours having their home and all their posessions reposessed.now i have worked out exactly how much money i owe.just doing that gave me a feeling of control.i am keeping a diary of everything i spend everyday.i log on to my bank account daily instead of once in a blue moon.i have restarted selling items that i never use on ebay.most importantly i am looking into ways of earning more money by placing an ad in local papers.[i work as a carer]i hope that the initial outlay for this will pay of in the end.
any help and encouragement would be very gratefully recieved.reading other peoples debt free wannabe stories has been an insteration to me.
3rd august- overdraft £405,loan £4100,barclaycard £776,mbna cc £1530.

DizzyDizzy

Hello, welcome to a new way of life!!! You''ve had a real wake up call, now it's time to put the shock you are feeling into action.

Best thing to do is it down and work out exactly what you owe, what your bills are and what your income is. There is a template somewhere for this but I am no good at finding links!! This can be a bit scary, but you need to be armed with the facts. Then you can put together a plan to reduce your debt. In fact, once you have got to this stage, come back onto the forum and post all your details and the lovely people on here can advise you what to pay off first, and where you should concentrate.

Other things you can do in the meantime is also write down exactly what payments you make for bills etc every month and write them down on a calender or something. we have our DD timetable on thefridge! Then you won't miss payments, or end up haveing to pay bank charges and that will also free up some money.

Hope this helps - come back for more help!

shezam

Hi Greenanne,

Welcome aboard! as above poster says its best to fill out a SOA: http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

This will detail all incomings and outgoings for the household, post the results on here and the lovely people of this forum will give you advice on where to cut back and make some savings to go towards debts. Also check out the Old Style Moneysaving board fo great inspiration for grocery shopping etc.

Happy Saving!
Sx

getmore4less

Welcome counting the debt is good start,

tracking the outgoings and increasing income are great next steps.

A SOA is a good way to get the full picture and is a format that people can use to give help and encouragment and allow you to prioritise debt repayments and spending

http://www.makesenseofcards.co.uk/soacalc.html

Hovel_lady

Just wanted to say hello and good luck with your debt free journey.
Lots of help & support here - just ask if you have any questions. Someone always knows the answers.
xx

marksmith001

Yeah offers are well. But debt free journey is quite well.

greenanne

just a quick reply to everyone who was kind enough to reply to my post.dealing with my debts always makes me blubber so am off to blow my nose and get said information together.x

DizzyDizzy

It's amazing how quickly you will feel better once you have an idea of it all and what you are going to do next!

Remember to keep coming back and posting!