Healthier, wealthier and wiser – My DFW diary!

Marty82

I'm really not sure where to start with my first post in this diary but here goes!


I am in debt! There we go – I said it. I don't feel good about being in debt but I actually feel good saying it, admitting to it and now dealing with it.


I had my “lightbulb moment” a couple of months ago but have now also decided to record my journey on here; hopefully as a help to myself and possibly an inspiration to others.


My problem debt story begins back in December 2009. Up until this point I did have debts but was able to service them with my income however all that changed when I was signed off work by my GP, a situation that continues to this day, nearly two years later.


I have suffered from bouts of depression since I was in my mid teens and have been treated for it ever since. It ruined my school days and continued to plague my attempts at gaining a university or college qualification. The result of this has meant I have landed in my current job, I refuse to call it a career, as a Team Leader in food retail.


My diagnosis has recently been changed to bipolar disorder and the treatment and medication has changed accordingly. It appears I have had the wrong diagnosis, depression, for around 15 years. Apparently this is not uncommon as it is easier to label someone as “depressed” and put them on Prozac than to explore whether your mood changes are more complex.


As I said, I have been off for some time; initially receiving SSP and now ESA. This reduced income has left me unable to cover all my outgoings and my condition has made my financial situation worse. When I am low I hide myself away from the world and ignore, bills, demands, phone calls and letters. When I am high I spend, spend, spend without a thought to my financial situation.


In the next few posts I will outline my debts and my income/expenditure which I believe is called a SOA. I will also state the actions I have already taken and those that I plan to take. Ongoing I will attempt to post the positive and negative actions I have taken as well as my general thoughts and feelings. I, of course, would love to have as many of you as possible along with me on the journey although I do warn you that it might not always be a smooth one!

Marty82

Priority Debts

Council Tax £1,928.85
Parking Fines £90.00
Old Car Tax £267.00
Gas £337.25
Electricity £54.42
Car Tax Fine £80.00

Total £2,757.52

Other Debts

Barclaycard Visa £470.85
RBS Mastercard £759.69
M&S Mastercard £790.00
Barclaycard Mastercard £2,592.01
House Insurance/Title Deeds £1,573.54
Laptop Finance £578.45
Old Car Insurance £85.73

Total £6,850.27

Grand Total £9,607.79

Marty82

Income

ESA £408.00

Total £408.00

Expenditure

Gas £55.00
Electricity £42.00
Household Expenses £86.66
House Insurance £53.00
Home Phone/Broadband £25.00
Mobile Phone £41.00
TV Licence £24.26
Sky £24.50
Public Transport £32.06
Car Tax £15.12
Car Insurance £28.43
MOT/Repairs £8.33
Petrol £43.33
Clothes £20.00
Meals Out £86.66
Alcohol £86.66
Christmas/Birthdays £16.66
Gym £16.99

Total £705.67

Shortfall £297.67

Marty82

Despite having an early night last night, I woke up at 3pm afternoon. Before you all scream "your lazy b*****d" I should let you know that it is an unfortunate side effect of my medication.

On getting up I opened my mail to find a letter from the CAB offering me an appointment with a money advisor. I initially contacted them a couple of months ago when I finally decided to grasp my debts and beat them! I have had two appointments already with general advisors which involved them taking details of my debts and my income and expenditure. This however will be my first appointment with a money advisor so I am hoping they will have a solution for me.

I then rang the company which is dealing with one of my credit card debts as they had left me a voicemail. I again had to explain that my debts are being dealt with by the CAB but again they had heard nothing from them. The gentleman to whom I spoke was really friendly and helpful though and suggested that I contacted CCCS. I hadn't realised that CCCS would offer a fuller solution to problems than the CAB so was grateful for his suggestion.

I then contacted CCCS who took all my details and scheduled a telephone interview with an advisor on Wednesday. I'm sure I waffled and apologised far too much on the phone but the lady was so nice to me about the whole thing.

I then decided to put the second coat of paint onto the kitchen walls but unfortunately I ran out of paint with an area of about 10cm by 30cm left to do! Despite all my efforts I couldn't get a drop more paint out of the tin or the tray. I think I will beg on Freecycle for spare paint as it seems like such a waste of money to buy a whole tin to do such a small area.

I'm currently experiencing problems with my combi boiler; the pressure keeps dropping and it heats the radiators when you turn on the hot tap. I was advised by the Energy Savings Trust to contact a charity that can help towards the cost of boiler repairs if you are on certain benefits or an OAP. They sent someone to assess it last week, and I am expecting another contractor to do the same tomorrow, however the boiler has become worse since the first engineer took the front off of it. It now keeps turning off and flashing an error code every few minutes when running hot water and there is water running out of the overflow at the back of my block of flats. Fingers crossed that it can be fixed ASAP and at a cost that I can afford.

Sunday's Positives

Made list of everything in fridge, freezer and cupboards
No spend day

Sunday's Negatives

Hot water playing up

Monday's Positives

Contacted CCCS
No spend day
Second coat of paint on kitchen walls
Received notice of CAB appointment
Booked appointment for boiler

Monday's Negatives

Ran out of paint for kitchen walls
Woke up far too late
Boiler still playing up

The_Dragon

Happy Diary Marty! Well done you on grasping the nettle and going for it

I had a quick glance at your SOA and I wondered if you could reduce the mobile cost at all? Is that a contract, can you go to PAYG?

666paw

Hi Marty

I'm more of a lurker than poster so will follow you on your journey mainly from the sidelines.


You spend quite a lot of booze and eating out, do you think you could cut this down by half on each and do you really need the gym, cutting back on them could save you just over £100.
Also as The Dragon has said above, your mobile phone costs is quite high. Have you looked at reducing (if you can) and making the most of your home phone.:)

666

Marty82

The_Dragon wrote: »

Happy Diary Marty! Well done you on grasping the nettle and going for it

I had a quick glance at your SOA and I wondered if you could reduce the mobile cost at all? Is that a contract, can you go to PAYG?

Hey Dragon,

Thanks for joining me, your support is much appreciated. I can't reduce the mobile cost as it's a contract which I renewed for a new iPhone 4S in a moment of madness while on a high! I have traded in my old phone and received around £280 which will go towards debt repayments. I searched around and got the best price from dough-dough which didn't show up on the comparison service on this site. Tut tut tut MSE! Lol.

Marty82

666paw wrote: »

Hi Marty

I'm more of a lurker than poster so will follow you on your journey mainly from the sidelines.


You spend quite a lot of booze and eating out, do you think you could thid down by half on each and do you really need the gym, cutting back on them could save you just over £100.
Also as The Dragon has said above, your mobile phone costs is quite high. Have you looked at reducing (if you can) and making the most of your home phone.:)

666

Hey 666,

You are more than welcome to lurk in my diary; thanks for following my journey.

The booze and eating out figure did surprise me. The figures on the SOA were those worked out by the CAB. I'm not sure where the figures came from even though they came from me! Does that make sense? Lol. I think I will look at my SOA personally to make sure it's a true reflection of what I spend and repost it once I have.

I have come to an agreement with friends that I will only eat out with them once a week and when we do we will make sure we limit the cost by using vouchers etc. We have also discussed each taking turns to cook at home instead which will be far cheaper! Will let you know how it goes.

I am definitely not spending the amount stated on booze as I now hardly go out to pubs or clubs. Hopefully the only money I will now spend on booze will be bottles of wine and G&Ts at home although I do have a wedding to attend soon which will scupper that plan!

As I stated above i can't reduce the mobile cost but I am making sure I use the minutes on it rather than spend on my land line. I have therefor removed inclusive minutes from my land line which has reduced the cost and I will update my SOA to reflect this. I now only receive calls on my land line and only ring free phone numbers. On my mobile I have started using geographic numbers, thanks to Say No To 0870, when calling companies so that they come from my inclusive minutes. I just wish I could find a non 0845 number for Job Centre Plus!

Marty82

Evening all,


Slept far too late yet again so that got the day off to an annoying start but once I was up and about I started my next stage of painting. Having completed the kitchen walls yesterday, minus the tiny patch, I decided to start tackling the living room. I have painted feature wall with B&Q Turtle Bay (teal) and will paint the other three walls with B&Q Duck Egg once I've finished writing this. I have to say that I'm SO glad that I chose the teal colour as it looks gorgeous!


Had a call from CCCS confirming my appointment tomorrow so I'd better call all my creditors before then to get the exact amounts as some of the figures I have noted down could be slightly out of date.


Have decided to try to live out of the cupboards, fridge and freezer as after cataloguing it on Sunday I realise that I could feed a family of four for a month. I will probably have to make the odd purchase of bread, milk etc but I'll try to keep this to a minimum. Wish I had the inspiration and determination to make meal plans for a week or month but I don't so I'll just decide day to day.


Tonight's tea was chicken fried rice made with whoopsied chicken from the freezer, basics frozen peas, basics rice, the lonely egg in the fridge and a dash of sesame oil an soy sauce. I have to give myself a pat on the back as it was scrummy and I ate it all despite planning to keep half for tomorrow!


Called Amex about my Nectar credit card which has sat at the back of a cupboard for years as I'd kept it as a rainy day card. My plan had been to do my food shopping on the card to gain extra Nectar points and move the money to cover it as soon as I was home. However my card expired in 2009 and my account has been cancelled so I would have to apply for a new card which is pointless with my credit history!


Right, back to the painting with Absolute 80s on the radio to help drive me onward. Will probably post later, possibly with an updated SOA or a list of positive actions I've already taken and plan to take.

RosaBernicia

Hi Marty :wave:

Happy new diary, have subscribed so will be looking out for you

Rosa xx

prettypaula

Hey Marty

i now understand why you "get" the issues im having with my GP. I think there is far to much stigma attached to mental illness and in fact newsnight last night (worth a ctahc up on iplayer!!) had a large segment on bi-polar and the advances in science recently that you may like to see.

i hope you are feeling good today. Not too good but good.

Stephen Fry is my idol and he suffers from bipolar. his autobiographies may also interest you, the man is a genius.

happy new diary and if u want any help meal planning just shout