Finally worked up the courage to write it all down...

LaughingLorna

Haha thank you ck that gave me a much needed giggle!!! and my trousers were worn through to holes so wouldnt have been a pretty sight for anybody!!

you're right that the guilt can just lead to more to make everything seem better but i bought some cheap crimbo pressies for my god children so managed to justify that to myself though know i shouldnt even be doing that.

Got a couple weeks off soon which i really need to get my head back in gear and generate some money - gonna comb the house and garage for stuff to flog while ive got the time to package it all up!

anybody got any ideas on cheap things to use as padding in boxes. fatbrain said not to use newspaper and i save all old packing materials so have some old brown paper etc but not enough since i'll have lots of parcels to keep within weight limit for each pack?

citizenkitten

people use popcorn, by bag of kernels use no oil etc, perfect for delicate items and good for the environment.

go ask whoever orders the stationery at work if you can keep the boxes it comes in, especially the boxes that come with paper. if they do the post then ask for any used jiffy bags etc or packaging that comes with any orders they may do.

LaughingLorna

Inspired suggestions ck thank you!! i will check on stationary staff next time i'm in the office but meanwhile will totally get on the popcorn - awesome thought!!! :j

LaughingLorna

Couldn't find the popcorn kernels so used spare carrier bags scrunched up :-) should have about £70 coming from fatbrain and have had an awesome week. felt on top of the world and been super productive. house bottomed, fatbrain books posted. wardrobe cleared out and clothes sorted into bundles for eaby plus a couple of boxes full ready to list. and much needed quality family time :-) also lots of therapuetic cake baking. None of it really debt busting as im paying off the recent clothes bill of £120 but feel loads better for it. needed a boost to keep me going and ive decided that actually staying same and not going backwards is enough of an achievement for now :-):-):-)

thatsean

Hi LL - you don't have to be ploughing forward all the time. As you used to be getting yourself further and further in debt (as we all were in this thread), there's no crime in treading water for a while. Bedsides, the numbers in your sig still look like they are heading down!

citizenkitten

achievement indeed!

did you manage to get some stuff of the stationery people?

my debt will be styaing stagnant atm but I am going to start applying for new jobs, i have got the itch to move again also i must start photographing some items for ebay.

just need to find the motivation to picture them all and write descriptions... SNORE!

ohw ell i have deadline of december as my sisters will be visiting and they will demand to have my clothes for free (sometimes things never change eh?!)

LaughingLorna

Aw thanks both. havent updated my sig but acquired an extra couple hundreds debt which i'm absorbing in my overdraft at mo but considering a BT to cc if i can't clear it by Christmas. Have been selling books and ebaying to cover it and it has taken soooo much time but been worth it and been feeling good the last week or so and trying to make the most of it and be super productive. Our stationary guy said he couldn't help as it was 'against the rules' I would have laughed if it wasn't so tragic. The stuff just gets landfilled so he's just being a jobsworth!

Beginning to think you're right about not needing to always move forward. just so many people on here seem to do well all the time and i'm nothing if not aspirational lol. just want the albatross off the neck as soon as possible!

ck can you have an ebay marathon when your sisters arrive and agree to give them one or two bits as early christmas pressies if they help you sell the rest and package it all up for posting. might stop them 'stealing' your clothes in future if they see how much money you can make by selling them?

i need to sell some clothes but they are mostly summer items so may wait till next yearas totally wrong time of year and probably wouldn't get much :-(

thatsean

I think you're right to hold off - that said, it might be worth testing the water with a couple of items, especially if there's a list for 1p offer on - at least you can start to attack the increase in debt that the OD has had to swallow.

Do you know why that happened? As much as you don't have to be going forward all the time - backwards is no good - do you need to look at your budgets or contingencies?

LaughingLorna

I don't have substantial enough contingencies it's true but hopefully that may change as been in discussions today about a pay rise which would work out at about an extra £40 a month and allow me to build up an emergency fund. A few things happened - really really needed some new clothes (my boss mentioned it as a joje when my trousers wore through to holes but i knew it was a serious comment and could affect pay rise so thought it was worth it to replace work clothes that were not really wearable and a lot of my stuff doesnt fit properly any more after losing weight i put on with pills) then had to take one of dogs to vets and had used the vet fund money to cover unexpected train ticket back from london after delayed tube caused me to miss my train with advance cheap ticket. had gone down for friends hen do. bought one round and had cheap advance singles so was going to be a cheap weekend :-( problem is no security blanket if anything goes wrong.

still...managed to resist the urge to spend to cheer myself up so could have been worse!

citizenkitten

lol my sisters would never accept that though it is a great idea.

i can live in hope right???

CONGRATS! ON THE PAY RISE!

we have already discussed that you needed clothes so dont feel bad and it proved you right after all you got the payrise and before christmas too! excellent!