Lotte123's DFW diary

anniestar

Sorry hun its the Old Style board. Go on to forums scrool down and you will see the link. There you will find ways of saving in 1000's of ways. Cleaning, food loads of delicious recipes that cost almost nothing and are foolproof(not saying you cant cook for a second hun) For example tonights tea for me and DH(Darling Husband) will cost about £1.30p for this we will have enough to fed two hungry adults with enough to freeze some for later use. (We are having parsnip soup, home made bread rolls,and a aubergine,chick pea and tomato bake) Nip over to hte board its very useful and has saved me LOADS. By the way what colour is your horse?(sorry can't resist!) Good luck you will be fine.

lotte123

That dinner had my mouth watering. Am definitely going to get on the case more. Have been following quite a strict detox diet (I know it's a fad but it has finally weaned me off the caffeine and sugar!) which as meant I have been doing loads of food prep. It's nearly at an end now so I can start being much more flexible but at least it has got me into the really good habit of preparing all the meals from scratch. No takeaways this year - I intend to keep it that way too.

And the lovely Josh is a strapping 17hh dun Irish draught. He's gorgeous! Forgot to phone vet but did manage to pay overdue phone bill and cancel it for when I move out. Also sold an empty picture frame to a friend for a fiver; the bids on my shed on ebay are up to £50 and I have loads of watchers on my climbing frame. It's all money in the right direction ....

anniestar

OMG a dun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!How fantastic (Annie goes all sopy now and wants to have an equine cuddle)Bless. You enjoy him. By the way the tea was lovely. We didn't manage the soup as the bake was very filling. So maor to freeze.

lotte123

Well today I got a letter from first direct telling me that they would be sending me my last 6 years' worth of statements by courier. And they told me it was free of charge and returned my £10 cheque. Result!

But also got a final demand from HSBC about the joint account overdraft blah blah blah. It has a statement of means form - despite me sending them all my stuff from CCCS last year and despite the fact that we first approached them nearly 2 years ago trying to sort out a repayment. They are so rubbish and I can't wait to see how much in charges they owe me. They haven't replied to one of my letters and now they are trying to get all tough. Well they don't scare me so final demand away HSBC - let's wait and see how much money YOU owe ME :mad:

Tonight had home made parsnip soup (thanks to Annie for inspiration) and have written down everything I spend for 3rd night running. Also figured I can sell my dishwasher and fridge. With shed and climbing frame could make £500.

Also had another meeting with Business Enterprise today and my goal is to make as much by the end of the tax year as I have made in the 9 months preceeding it! And it looks like I am going to do it.

Haven't figured out exactly what my strategy is with all this money I am going to be bringing in. The one thing I know is that HSBC is going to get no more than I can possibly avoid. Ha!

lotte123

These arrived by courier today. Was very excited and sat down to total up the charges. But after this exercise I was not so much happy at the possibility of reclaiming the £700 or so that I had paid in charges as astonishment at how much money I had spent in the last 6 years. It was a small fortune! The last 6 years have been pretty tumultuous. Left Nottingham to come back down to Bucks, mum died, very close friend died, OH and I separated, retrained ... blah blah blah. And there it all was logged by my irrational, emotional spending over that time. And all gone with nothing to show. Nice meals here there and everywhere but I reckon I could have bought a house with what I spent. Hard not to beat myself up about it but trying not to. Feels pretty bad though. Still, must move on and start thinking about how I want things to be different in the future and not feel bad about how I lived in the past.

Oh and found out AA have shipped out their loan to a debt collection agency. Have no idea how dealing with them is going to be. Better or worse? We shall soon find out I'm guessing. But found out that the amount I owe is nearly £2k more than I had anticipated. Ouch. It was only a £5k loan ... I am learning so much about this finance game so quickly!

Right, I'm off now to play bingo! See you there!

lotte123

GGGRRRRRRRRRRR. Paid off nearly £100 to ntl: last week as money outstanding on my broadband account and was going to get cut off. Hadn't worked things out correctly and am now nearly £90 overdrawn in my Cashminder account. Didn't think you could go overdrawn. And don't have enough cleared money in my business account to transfer over and pay it off. I was so sure my days of going overdrawn were behind me but so clearly they are not. What really galls is knowing I have £2.5 outstanding to me on the business. This is pants! I'm going to ring Co-op now and stop tearing strips off myself for this mistake. Am trying to remember that it is still early days and these are baby steps ...

Update - just nearly cried down the phone at Co-op. Have been told I wont incur any charges. Am so going to be on the case for chasing this money down now. But am also going to pull my finger out and pay the cheques I have been carrying around with me all week in. Sometimes I just don't help myself.

lotte123

Now have worked out properly what my debts are - have included rent arrears, outstanding bills, the lot (I hope) and my total now stands at over £20k - £3.5k more than I first totalled. Ouch.

Have also spoken to the debt collection agency who are now handling my loan. They have agreed to accept £20 a month so am going to start with that at the beginning of next month.

But I'm not going to whine. I'm off to the loft to find some boxes and start packing to get me out of this house ASAP and start saving some money!

Poppy9

Lotte,

You are doing really well, keep up the good work - and pay the blooming cheques in:rolleyes:

bobbie78

have you put in a claim for the housing benefit yet? it might help pay of the arrears the quicker, as the sooner you submit it the more days you will end up with every day that passes, now that you know you could have this and don't claim, is just throwing money away.

Also the best thing you can do is get a little note book and jot down in detail everything you spend over the next month. Every can of coke, every odd little couple of quid here and there and it will really start to focus your mind on what you spend the money on. It is so so easy to spend 15-50 quid in a day and have no idea what you got at the end of it. Doing this will also help you do a new SOA so you can figure out exactly what the horse etc costs.

Are you claiming on your car insurance to get a new car or have they managed to fix it? You need to factor into your SOA money for car maintenance/mot's etc even if it ends up being a business expense you need to have the cash to pay for it from somewhere if your self employed, that is until an accountant or someone can figure out a way to claim it back. Are you paye with your business or are you putting away money for your tax bill as that would need to be on the SOA. You are also missing birthday/xmas spending and have you worked out the apr's of the debts and played with the snowball calculator to see which is the best order to pay them off in to incur the least amount of interest.

As far as your therapist goes, have you discussed this with your gp I would think they would refer you to somewhere for free. Alternatively some places do give discounts depending on what benefits you get, but I'd speak to your gp first about the best course of free treatment for your needs and circumstances so you get the care you need.

lotte123

Hi Bobby

Thanks - have just had a look at that site and it's fantastic. I'm definitely going to use that.

Am now writing down EVERY penny that I spend so that I can see where it is going and can make more realistic budgets. It is incredible that I have had so little idea about how I spend money (but then maybe not so incredible when we look at the mess I have landed in :rolleyes: )

I'm going to call Housing benefit tomorrow - might be able to claim just for the last 2 weeks I am here - you're right, I might get something which is definitely better than nothing.

I am waiting for a call from the other guy's insurance company with an offer on my car - it was totalled. I think the £60 allowance is about right for everything as my business allowance is about £5k a year (40p a mile) and my £720 is just my personal spend. Now that I am keeping a record of what I spend I will be able to see whether this is an accurate amount and whether it would be better to split total costs rather than claim the allowance.

Depending on what I am offered for my vehicle (hoping for at least £2.5k) am thinking about 'downsizing' and putting £500 or so towards my debts. My shed and climbing frame are up on ebay (frame just sold for £102, shed for £202! - woohoo:j ) so could start building a fund to clear one of the debts (or as hypno suggested - my utility bills - though I guess they are interest free ...)

Have also thought about my therapist but going through my GP would mean at least a 6 week waiting list and then I would have to start all over again with someone else. I have given it until the summer when I will hopefully be moving to Dorset anyway. And then I can either stop altogether or go through my GP there. I should have gone through my GP in the first place but I was so desperate that I couldn't wait.

And you're right - I haven't factored in birthdays and Xmas. Thought about being dead tight this year and not buying any presents (but that's what I said last year) and making cakes for people instead or knitting them a hat. But maybe I should stick £10 a month in for my daughter at least. Last year I raided her savings to buy her present - worst mother in the world award goes to me! And I have assumed my wages as after tax and NI. Next meeting with Business Entreprise we are discussing how to make sure I am putting enough aside to pay those bills (definitely don't want a run in with Mr Taxman ...)