301k in debt and morbidly obese - things aren't great!

MrBloater

Am currently attempting to eat my body weight in pistachio nuts as it's the only thing keeping me from having a nervous breakdown. Today was an absolute effing shambles. Was outside shivering at 8am deshedding the shed but just did not have the heart for it and it was taking twice as long as it should. Then took DD to a ballet lesson, which ended in tears (hers) and a realisation (hers again) that she does not like ballet. My heart was even heavier when I went back to the task in hand, then Mrs B brandished a letter from my car dealer offering me what looked like a deal to get a new motor and cut my money payments - this obviously would be a good thing so I tried getting through on the phone and then ended up driving down there, only to have a "restricted performance" warning message flash on my dashboard which limits the car to 20mph. This is not such a good thing. Anyways, got that sorted eventually - just by turning the car off and on again, and after a test drive in a spangly new car was presented with a financial proposal that was absolutely impossible for me to consider, so I trunded back to the shed again even more deflated, the kids were playing up as they wanted to spend time with me, the daylight was diminishing and I never realised quite how many effing tons of effing cardboard I now have - End result is that depsite the following being removed from shed - sofa bed / rancid mattress / seven Ikea bags full of charity stuff / two satellite dishes, there is somehow even LESS floorspace and it's more untidy than ever due to me having to lob stuff in at the end to try and beat the clock. Both me and Mrs B are totally shattered and our plans for a grown-up evening with something other than Disney on the telly lay in tatters - she's already asleep and I'm going to bed down for the night. And did I find anything of any potential value in the shed? Nada. Zip all. Grrrr.

cats_slave

What a horrible day. I had one of those earlier in the week and can really empathise with the deflating effect it has. At least some stuff from the shed has been identified as definately 'to go'. And at least you know what there is (and is not) in the shed. So not a total loss.

Sorry about dd and the ballet. She may feel differently after Christmas. It's the fag end of the year for us all and the chidren do seem to get a bit wound up with all the Christmas hype. If she still feels the same after Christmas there are plenty of other things for kids to do.

Today has to be written off. Start again tomorrow - but very gently. The nose-bleed and the slowness of today are telling you something. You really should listen. Your health is more important than anything else, including the debt busting. Just hang on another couple of weeks and then you have a break.

MrsMoo2U

I agree with Catslave. You need to slow down a bit. What with the nosebleed the pains in the chest, things taking so long to deal with. All of this seems to be anxiety related and so you need to stop and breathe.
Take a step back from everything for a few days. Remember too that if something seems to good to be true (how can you get a new car for less than you currently have unless you end up taking a higher amount over a longer period) then it is. When you are in the depths of debt busting then you need to stop and think and double check everything before you take up any offers.

Take a look at my signature too which reiterates what catslave says. Tomorrow is another day.

moo2moo

If the 7 Ikea bags of stuff for charity contained clothes and shoes then you did find something of value. There are zillions of Cash for Clothing outlets springing up around the UK who fork out 50p per kilo for that sort of stuff. It ain't a lot but its better than nowt.

Karmacat

MrB, even if there's no money to be had in any of those bags (and I'd probably just take them to the charity shop myself) - you *did* achieve, of course you did. You got rid of loads of stuff - you realised you'd overdone it on the cardboard - and of course its less tidy now, cos you had to lob stuff in.

And that says what's going on, really. Focus - you really do try to do too much, thats been coming up for a while now, and it must be your regular m.o. - I don't think you've quite taken it on board that you're a human being just like the rest of us, you know? Well really, why should you, at this stage? None of us did, thats why we keep saying its such a familiar pattern. Please, please, learn to do the debt busting at a reasonable pace - in a way I'm glad you're shattered, because otherwise you'd have been tempted to throw money at it in one way or another.

A big job like totally emptying the shed - well, you can get away with a sizeable interruption once, like DD to ballet - but not twice, there aren't enough hours of daylight. Thats just reality.

You have done brilliantly to get rid of all that stuff. Just remember that! Tidy it up as soon as you can, figure out if you can store anything else in there to have the house looking nicer over Christmas, and then, thats it, give yourself a break - the last full weekend before Christmas is *next* weekend, you need some energy over Christmas, so don't enter it absolutely shattered from navvying. Focus on some nice cheap activities you can do with the kids, tire them out so you've got some adult time with MrsB, celebrate the fact that your debt has gone down and your home is on the way to becoming the place you want it to be.

teddypinkskin

Mr B - I suggest you leave the shed until the spring. It'll be warmer then with longer hours of daylight and you can take your time over it. A british winter isn't the time to be doing any sorting out outdoors. I agree with the others now is the time to rest up and spend quality time with your family.

groatie_queen

My daughters didn't like ballet. Other activities they tried and enjoyed were gymnastics, trampolining (club standard), diving, swimming, netball, basketball and synchronised swimming. Not all at once! All the above helped them gain poise, co-ordination and confidence, and the key factor was, they did it so long as they were enjoying it.

Re de-cluttering, definitely leave it till the weather is warmer. You're working very hard both at work and at home, and really we are meant to hiberbate a wee bit these cold dark days, not flog ourselves with self-imposed targets!

Igamogam

Shed tetris if definately a springtime game. Or the very least something for a sunny day

My DD1 came to a stage in her ballet career when she said she didnt want to go any more - she was 5. Unfortunately being the horrible mother I said she could give up at the end of term as I had paid and I wasnt going to get my money back. So she stayed and left when she went to university having taken up tap modern and street along the way - cost us a fortune I guess but she is fit healthy and has amazing stamina and stickabilty - she has followed an academic route and never wanted to take it all up as a career like some of her friends, but still takes classes when she can. Like Groatie says OK whilst they are enjoying it and I guess if your daughter is really unhappy then it will save you the cost of the classes and all that ballet gear sells well on Eb*y

Dorastar

Have to agree with everyone else Mr B, am suffering from end-of -term-itis here and all good intentions have gone out of window today and I haven't even had ofsted this term. Please listen to your body and plan in some chill time and don't stress about dd and the ballet. See how she feels in a few weeks, and then make a decision with her, don't forget they can be very fickle at her age (mine loves/hates carrots/peas depending on which way the wind is blowing)

Lara44

Hear hear, I think it will take me about 10 goes to sort out my junk cupboard. It has been on my to do list since June! Every time a few things go it is a step forward. If you have taken out 7 bags from your shed that is AMAZING progress. Cheers :beer:

This is one of the busiest times of the year and you still went for it. You haven't lost your mojo - you just need to scale down those targets a bit!!