Intend to be Sorted by September!

HeadAboveWater

Wow! Big lightbulb been switched on there!!

Great to see things changing for you. Unfortunately it is sometimes a scare or shock that gets us to re-evaluate things, but better late than never!!

Big journey ahead of you but keep us posted and we'll help and encourage all we can

trishx

Oh I'm sorry! I hope I didn't upset up too much. I did worry when there was no update. I'm new (as you can see) and I was a little concerned my first attempt at "advice" was to push someone over the edge

I'm marvelling at your honesty re. the tax credit. 1.5 years? Well, it's probably not best if I admit what I'd have done. It reminds me of my Dad who has a (used) sink in the bedroom which has been there since 1996, he claims he can't throw it out because it's not his. Apparently B&Q installed the wrong one originally and are coming back to collect this one - he's been waiting for 16 years and he's still not prepared to apply "possession is 9/10ths of law". Anyway... I got sidetracked.

Sounds like you've really turned a corner mentally. So congratulations! :T:T:T

Selling your excess stuff is a great way to break the cycle of debt but don't forget that you will need to budget to pay for these known "lumpy" payments (e.g. car tax) in future (you obviously will run out of stuff to sell eventually). I realise in your situation it will make no practical difference (i.e. the money is all going out to one payment or an other) but it may be wise to get into this way of thinking now - so you don't fall back into bad habits again later. But on that note I will shut up as you're clearly doing very well and I don't want to halt your good work by suggesting you do anything differently.

When does the 0% deal on your Marks and Spencer card end? Are you going to be able clear the debt before then?

As for the falling asleep and constantly being tired.... Diets always do that to me. Are you sure that you are eating enough? If you're counting calories, make sure you're getting enough of the right sort of calories to sustain your energy levels (e.g. eating the equivalent calories of chocolate instead of potato will not affect your energy levels in the same way - despite being equivalent "energy"). I always find that cutting back food makes me tired, whereas maintain the same level of food but doing more exercise doesn't (although I have to fit the urge to eat to reward myself for exercising). It may also be stress about your money situation and lack of entertainment / social life (due to lack of money) - when I've been unhappy in the past, I've just wanted to sleep all the time but whereas yours sounds involuntary (e.g. falling asleep on the sofa) mine was very much intentional (e.g. I've had enough and I'm going to bed in the afternoon). As for hardly being able to sleep on Sunday nights. Are you worried about going to work on Monday? Or did you sleep in on Saturday and Sunday?

Anyway - very pleased (and relieved) you're keeping going with the diary. I'm listening (and hopefully being encouraging and not just pointing out the hard facts)!

Keep it up!
xx

myteeduck

Trishx - don't worry about upsetting me - it was a wake up call I needed and I'm grateful that you weren't soft about it. I took it more as a "she's right I really do need to change my attitude".

My 0% deal ends in September 2013 and with the payments I can make I can now clear it in July. That's with no extras spending - which I can't do as my mums got the card - but no extra payments - every little bit is going in to savings.

I finally succumbed today and rang the gas and electric company and it was sooo easy - I managed to get my direct debits to £20 pm for electric and £30 for gas. The guy even said I was paying too much. He has also refunded my credit back so hopefully £203.21 should be on its way to me in the next 5 days. I will also be £20 pm better off. Now if only I could get a refund on my water but that doesn't seem likely - I think my payments are spot on but you never know.

Must have changed in my attitude towards money as last night when my friends were round they managed to talk me in to going out - seemed a good idea at the time - but when I woke this morning with a very sore head I realised I had spent my emergency £10!! I was gutted.... I'm better now and I will survive but I'm just gutted as it could have gone in the savings account.

Oh another bit of good news - my boss has agreed to me working a couple of Saturday mornings - I don't usually get paid overtime so I don't usually go in but as we are working on a big project he reckons I'll be able to get the money for coming in Yey!!!

Anyway best go poke my hamster awake - so much for being nocturnal - mine is permanently asleep - just like me so may be we are compatible.

X

[Deleted User]

Morning myteeduck,

Have caught up with your diary.

You're doing really well on your journey, keep going hun x

trishx

Excellent - sounds like everything is moving in the right direction

I'm relieved that you're on track to pay off the CC before the 0% deal runs out. It sounded like you had the card for a while and I was worried that you would have to start paying interest before you cleared the balance.

So in theory; you should now be £50 a month better off than before (£30 less on groceries and £20 less on Gas / Elec). :j If you can put that money aside, by August you will have £500 to pay your car insurance when it is due in September (it may go down due to age / no claims but it may also go up due to the new gender anti-discrimination law).

Don't beat yourself up too much about going out with your friends. The first concern I had when I read your SOA is that you had absolutely no spare cash and were therefore inevitably going to fall off the bandwagon. If you can spare it, I would try to budget yourself a monthly amount of "pocket money" - say £10, which you can spend on whatever you wish (e.g. drink with friends, magazine, chocolate bar, gifts for others) but once it's gone, it's gone. The idea is that it will take some of the stress out of your situation without making much material difference and will hopefully avoid you getting into the sort of downward spiral where you fall off the bandwagon once, so just say "sod it" and do it again and again. I also find, that as I know what I'm taking the money from (i.e. from my "pocket money" rather than the fairly unknown "savings" or "emergency" money) I'm more likely to be frugal with it and often end up having some left over (which I carry over to the next month ). If you accept that October's "pocket money" is spent, you can move on - knowing that you can't be tempted to do it again for this month at least. N.B. if you do decide to do this, please check you can really spare the money first though - I know your budget is really tight.

Great news about the potential overtime too. Keep up the good work

HeadAboveWater

Exactly this!!!!

trishx wrote: »

Don't beat yourself up too much about going out with your friends. The first concern I had when I read your SOA is that you had absolutely no spare cash and were therefore inevitably going to fall off the bandwagon. If you can spare it, I would try to budget yourself a monthly amount of "pocket money" - say £10, which you can spend on whatever you wish (e.g. drink with friends, magazine, chocolate bar, gifts for others) but once it's gone, it's gone. The idea is that it will take some of the stress out of your situation without making much material difference and will hopefully avoid you getting into the sort of downward spiral where you fall off the bandwagon once, so just say "sod it" and do it again and again. I also find, that as I know what I'm taking the money from (i.e. from my "pocket money" rather than the fairly unknown "savings" or "emergency" money) I'm more likely to be frugal with it and often end up having some left over (which I carry over to the next month ). If you accept that October's "pocket money" is spent, you can move on - knowing that you can't be tempted to do it again for this month at least. N.B. if you do decide to do this, please check you can really spare the money first though - I know your budget is really tight.

The fact your attitude towards money has changed is a big thing! You will really notice a difference in your every day thinking/spending! Def not a bad thing!

Great news about your gas/elec, and also about the overtime

myteeduck

Hi (sheepishly stick head round the door), me again!

Just realised I’ve not been on here for 6 weeks…

Well a quick update. 2 major things have happened.

First, I was involved in a car accident at the beginning of December. Not my fault. Some guy pulled in front of me out of the blue on a roundabout (traffic light controlled!!) and smashed the front of my car in. so I was without a car for 2 weeks (Saved fuel J, which helped with Christmas) however I have had to pay out £300 excess due to his is contesting it – he seems to think I hit him, but in order for that to be valid, I would have had damage on the opposite side, or he was coming towards me on the wrong side f the road so it should be quite straightforward to sort out. So my credit card is back to £1100 odd and I only have till September to clear it! Not good at all.

However due to this and my stress/panic levels going through the roof over Christmas, I have finally gone to my doctor about my anxiety and she was so kind and understanding. I have been prescribed anti depressants for a short period and beta blockers for when I’m in the midst of a panic attack.

She has also referred me to the psychological department at the hospital for CBT or counselling. So with a bit of luck my anxiety will soon be dealt with and finally I should be able to deal with problems better and start to move on with my life. J

Also my money situation starts to get a little better after the end of this month as I’ve paid my sister all the money I owed her (paid her Christmas Eve in her card) and I only owe my mum £32 so that will be paid soon. Then I don’t have much to pay and I can squirrel more to the credit card to cover the additional £300 in case it takes longer to sort out.

So all in all, 2013 is looking to be a better year for me. I just hope I haven’t spoken too soon!

myteeduck

Hi!

Not much has happened since I last wrote.

Went to see the doctor yesterday and found out i'll be on these anti-depressants for at least 9 months. i've taken the bull by the horns and applied for a PPC to help pay my prescriptions as i'll be picking up at least 2 items each month so this should save me loads of money. I think I need to re-do my SOA now.

Also i've got a date to start CBT so hopefully that will come around soon and things will be better.

Im going to call my cable tv provider tonight to try to negotiate a new deal as i'm being taken for a fool!

I'll update once this has been sorted.

Myteeduck x

myteeduck

Hi,

Me again!

I rang virgin media and managed to negotiate a good deal by moving to the classic collection. I get faster broadband, telephone is the same and dropped some channels I dont watch and all in all saved £10 per month (after the planned rise).

Also still currently fighting this non fault accident, but my witnesses statement has come and collobrates my version of events, so should be straightforward!

Anyways thats all I have to say other than its payday today and I have nothing left!! Cant wait until the day when I do have money!

x

myteeduck

Hi,

Me again!

Not seen the benefits of my reduced tv package yet - mainly as I had to pay for the new hub and clear off my last months bill. Maybe next month!

Started CBT yesterday but it was just a talk about what there going to do to help me rather than getting stuck in.

Ive made £70 this month from Ebay and its been paid off my credit card! I'm starting to see it finally come down..... Yippee..

Also my mum has booked for us to spend the weekend in London for my birthday in August so i've started a goal to save £220 to take for shopping money as well as to clear the card by that weekend. At least now i've got something to work towards.

Im finally starting to get my life back on track.

x