tired of feeling stupid

lucylong1

I know i have tried and have my DMP etc set up with ccs, i am just tired of being money stupid, this is another daft question but is there anywhere you can go to learn about money and budgets?
I have never been good at numbers, never been able to work out anything hence the situation i found myself in, im just tired of being called names, being made to feel worthless and stuipd to people who aint never had a debt. its sad that in this day and age so many like myself dont even knwo our times tables!

cccs are now going to send monies to anyone i owe to and i am thankfull for that, i just cant get away from the feeling inside that i have that i have let my kids down, let my family down etc all due to not being able to handle money. i even found it very har dto work out my soa for cccs . sorry for this , just having a rant but at times you feel even though the pressure has eased, the feeling inside dosnt

mildredalien

Is it numbers generally you have trouble with, or budgeting and money specifically? Probably easier said than done but no need to feel ashamed about it, there's loads of reasons why people find it hard to get to grips with numbers! Have you looked in your local adult education centre to see if they run any courses or classes that could help?

lucylong1

mildredalien wrote: »

Is it numbers generally you have trouble with, or budgeting and money specifically? Probably easier said than done but no need to feel ashamed about it, there's loads of reasons why people find it hard to get to grips with numbers! Have you looked in your local adult education centre to see if they run any courses or classes that could help?

hi its all of it, i would get paid for eg on a wed , by time fri comes i had nothing left, wasnt buying anything apart from food , bills etc. i get confused easy with trying to manage say for eg a switch card payment that i assume is paid for , yet a wk later it gets taken .

so i stopped and just used cash as i was then getting over draft limit charges etc , then i would forget they coming out and have no money with 50 odd ound charge then i wouldve taken a payday loan etc then didnt have enough the week after to pay the fee, just bloody stupid tbh with ya , dates for eg are another, wondered if there are any such things as debt management classes .

1000 pound and 10000 pound are much the same to me when written, feel so bloody stupid . money and numbers are a evil thing for me anyone talking apr, fees, precentage etc i dont understand. even cccs when i did my soa i couldnt really work out how much i actually paid for things i just boutght them etc... just feel tired at being stupid all the time...

mildredalien

Is there anyone who you can sit down with and could help you look through your last few months of bank statements to find out how everything stacks up? It can be hard to try and explain things over the internet, but if someone was able to sit down with you and go through all your questions in person it might help!

It might be helpful to find some general numeracy classes to go over the basics again and get you in the mindset of learning about budgeting Don't put yourself down, numbers aren't always the easiest thing to get to grips with! There's nothing wrong with asking for help when you need it.

Barneysmom

Math isn't the easiest subject for a lot of people, is it because of a lack of proper teaching, or is it numerical dyslexia?

If it is you education, then I think what I'd do first is to go and buy a couple of junior level maths books, and work through them. Do it secretly if you wish, but people are generally impressed when someone wants to learn, and will always ask if they can help.

If it's numerical dyslexia - Dyscalculia - then it's a bit trickier for you.

Have a look at this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyscalculia

See if you can figure out which of the categories you fit in to first, then you can start to help yourself.

Any maths you need help with just put it here and we'll help you.

You're not stupid, stupid is whenyou stand on glass with barefeet.

Lack of knowledge is lack of knowledge, nothing else and nothing to feel bad about, we're here to help xx

billinghamfan

Do you have access to excel?

I have a spreadsheet which is set up so you put your standard bills on one section and your spending (ie food buying etc) on another sheet and it adds it all up for you.

That way you can just see what is going out and what is coming in.

You would only have to keep your shopping receipts and just know how much you are paid and what your set bills are (rent etc).

Vickisaver

Is there anyone who can make up a simple spreadsheet for you? I have one that is all set up so that I enter in what I have spent, together with all my direct debits to come out, and it tells me how much I have left each month. Mine also shows red if I'm going over my available money.

Not sure if that would help you, but might be worth a shot if you are ok on computers, and I'd definitely agree with the previous posters too.

Barneysmom

Sorry, I clicked 'send' before answering your question, I think the Citizen's Advice Bureau will go over your figures if you make an appointment with them. xx

LittleMissAspie

lucylong1 wrote: »

hi its all of it, i would get paid for eg on a wed , by time fri comes i had nothing left, wasnt buying anything apart from food , bills etc. i get confused easy with trying to manage say for eg a switch card payment that i assume is paid for , yet a wk later it gets taken .

Sounds like you are relying on your bank balance to tell you how much money you have left, but as you've found out, it's not always up to date. If you use a spreadsheet to track your income and outgoings, the spreadsheet will be more accurate. If you're not confident using spreadsheets you can also use pen and paper although then you will need to do the sums yourself, whereas spreadsheets can add things up for you. I could set you one up if you wanted.

Little_Miss_Uni-Debt

Hello Lucylong1,

I just wanted to say hi. I know how it feels, I was totally stumped with maths for a long time. My mum is excellent with maths and I felt stupid for it not clicking into place. It is very uncomfortable to feel bamboozled by numbers. Since tacking my debt I have become much better at maths. I actually now enjoy it and have helped a few friends with their budgets and debt troubles.

The most important thing is to address feeling stupid. Where is this coming from? Are you putting pressure on yourself and who is calling you unkind names?

I'd just like to say there is NOTHING stupid about having difficulty. However ignoring money issues will cause problems that escalate into big money numbers.

Initially I think it would be a good idea to see if you do have dyscalculia as there are methods for dealing with numbers to help your brain make sense. Learning how to set numbers out on a page, counting in small increments.

If you feel you just need to generally improve your skills

Here is how I improved my maths :-

Carry a notebook, pencil & calculator - You don't have to be great at your times tables to manage money well. Even accountants use calculators.

Be accurate - People often round up or down to make adding up easier when shopping for example. This causes BIG problems. Put accurate numbers into a budget and it stays accurate, down to the last 1p.

Handwriting - Taking time to write numbers neatly really helped. Before, I often scribbled numbers down so fast that when I came to add them up, I couldn't tell my 7's from 1's and 8's from 6's. Now I make sure that I write my numbers the same way each time, align them on the page correctly spaced so that they line up with the numbers above.

Bank Balance - My HSBC account often took so long to update things were coming out a week after I had bought them from a shop. I switched banks - (no overdraft) and now my available balance is always accurate. Also having no overdraft meant that I wasn't having to live in minus numbers. It's also a boost to see you're managing your money and keeping your debts separate.

I know you're on a DMP now so you're debts are all planned for. How about keeping a simple spending diary and adding it up each day and then at the end of the week.

That will help you for when your DMP ends If you would like any help with maths over the internet, I am happy to help.