Nothing left to ebay!!

sundaygirl1969

The title of my diary says it all...............I've been taking advantage of the free listing on ebay today and the moment I've been dreading has finally arrived.............. there's nothing left to list!

I'm a long time MSE lurker and I've even started a couple of diaries, and commented on a few others, but when the initial drive slows down I lose interest and I'm always back to square one plus owing a little extra.

I finally had my LBM this afternoon, not like before, this time it wasn't a little energy saving bulb type moment, it was a huge, flashing disco ball of multicoloured lights!

I've always used ebay to get myself out of a tight corner, but I've reached the end of the line with that one, after this lot goes, there's nothing left to sell, unless I flog the kids (only joking, and anyway, they're too old now!). I can't use ebay to bail me out anymore and believe me, that's a sobering thought.

I've decided to give my diary another go, only this time, I'm going to do it properly. I need help because if I don't stop living in cloud cuckoo land and get my feet back on the ground, I'm going to be in trouble. I'm in a mess, but at the moment its manageable, if I keep spending at a rate of knots there'll be trouble, and a certain person will be rubbing his hands together and saying "I told you she was rubbish with money!"

I've chosen a new name because this is a fresh start, this is it now, no more messing about, I want to be debt free. I've also just been listening to my favourite Blondie song and today happens to be Sunday.

Right, I'm going to check out my finances and will report back with a list of everything owed and (hopefully) a plan of action.

sundaygirl1969

Ok here goes, its worse than I thought.

Bad stuff first:-

Mortgage - £73,246.14 - monthly payments £393.00

Loan - £16,380.00 - monthly payments £273 x 60

Halifax CC - £3,000 at 0%

Nationwide CC - about £500 also at 0% (need to check this bal)

Next Directory - £639.00

I have £15 to last till payday on the 24th and have £530 in savings pot.

Its scary when I see it all written down like this.

Good stuff :-

I have 3 gorgeous, healthy sons.
I have a lovely BF who loves me.
I'm healthy.
I survived a messy divorce 2 years ago.
I have a nice house.
I have a job I like.
I've never missed a payment.
I'm up to £5.35 on Onepoll.
Already have £40.00 worth of bids on ebay.
Am waiting for £60 to be transferred from Paypal to Bank Acc.

I bought my house in September and it needed more work doing to it than I thought, hence the extra loan. It needs serious landscaping work doing to the garden because I can't access the top bit and I have water coming into the garage from somewhere. This means I'd like to save money as well as pay off the bills because the garage situation can't continue.

BF lives with me and contributes a lot to the day to day bills, but he doesn't pay my mortgage or my bank loan. We have a joint current account from which all our DDs are paid and we have a joint savings account into which we transfer anything left over at the end of the month. This is starting to build up nicely now so hopefully this will cover a break to Cardiff in July and a few of the big household bills due to come in September.

I haven't got a plan yet, so all suggestions welcome.

I'm going to set myself mini targets everyday and end each day with a positive thought.

My plan for Monday
Make my own lunch.
Try to make it a NSD
Check my surveys
Pay £50 cheque into bank (money owed to me)
Feed BF and me from food we have in the cupboard.

Today's positive
I started a diary
I dried all my laundry outside in the sun
Had a lovely tea with DS2 who's home from Uni till next week.
Had a NSD (the first of many I hope).

debtfreewannabe321

hi sunday girl

well done on the LBM, it's a good starting point! I find that by posting in my diary often (more than once a day at the start) it keeps me on track. If i'm having a bad day the people on here are always there with a friendly word and some encouragement

Look forward to hearing some more, have you done an soa it may be helpful for you to have some fresh eyes on it, dfw x

debtfreewannabe321

oops cross posted

is the next at 0%? will this be your first one to tackle?

P.s loving the positives, a good attitude towards all this will see you far

londonTiger

listing fees cost pennies don't they? final value fee is where the large amounts are charged.

sundaygirl1969

Hi DFW321 thank you for saying hello.

I know I need to do a SOA (I've lurked for a while), I will have to pluck up the courage for this, its not going to be pretty as I've lived beyond my means for too long since the divorce.

No, the NEXT isn't 0% so this one has to go first.

Sometimes, its hard to think of something positive, but I'm sick of worrying about money. I don't think about it constantly, but its always there at the back of my mind niggling away!

sundaygirl1969

Hi LT, nice to see you. I know what you mean about those fees, I hate to think how much I've paid in the last year.

debtfreewannabe321

are you on facebook> i often try selling there first and if no joy then go to ebay. Also gumtree.

If you have time during the day or evening have you thought about signing up for a few survery sites, they don't pay loads but they kept me away from the online shops in the early days. And i was making a few quid towards xmas or birthdays at the same time

get the soa up when you can, it's always a little scary at first. I thought i would get 'told off' almost when i did it but actually most people on here are in the same boat have lived beyond their means and know where you're coming from. We can't judge you if we're in the same boat

x

debtfreewannabe321

Also if the next is not at 0% would it not make more sense to just use the savings to pay off the next. You could have it paid in a couple of months and would be a great boost to getting you started?

sundaygirl1969

DFW321 - I can't go on Facebook, I've had trouble with the ex so I closed my FB account. Never tried Gumtree though, so I might give that a go, if I find something else to sell.

I've joined Onepoll and am up to £5.35, but they don't pay out till you hit £40 and it feels like its taking forever! I've also signed up to Toluna and think I'm about 3/4 of the way to a voucher.

I know what you mean about being told off, but will definitely put up my SOA tomorrow if I can work out how to do it.

What you say about using the savings to pay off the Next bill makes sense, but I feel vulnerable without any savings, even though it doesn't amount to much at the moment.

debtfreewannabe321

ahh i know what you mean with the savings. Everytime i seem to get some an emergency crops up anyway lol. I'm on a dmp though so slightly different situation and most of my debts are 0% and the highest i think is 5%. I''d be tempted to pay off all the next in one go get myself ahead whilst lbm is so strong and then the money you could be saving on interest & future payments perhaps put that towards savings. I guarantee you are paying more interest on the next than you are making on the savings sad but true huh. But obviously if you didn't do that i do understand it is nice to have a buffer.

WHen do your ebay items end will that be for the next catalogue x