Fixing the dripping tap - aiming for a debt free life

lurvlyloz

Hi catriona.

well done for coming back to your diary. i have juustr started my own diary & find ti really helpful already.

good luck & i've subscribed to keep up with your progress

Catriona_P

lurvlyloz wrote: »

Hi catriona.

well done for coming back to your diary. i have juustr started my own diary & find ti really helpful already.

good luck & i've subscribed to keep up with your progress

Hi Lurvlyliz *waves*

Thanks! This debt business is so hard, isn't it? But we have to keep going...

Catriona_P

Checked my account today, very depressing. Despite all my money shufflings a few months back, again I'm back into being in my OD all the time, even at payday. And that's even with my extra earnings from writing articles. I'm just so tired of this, I'm leaking money.

And we have a severe leak in the roof that needs to be looked at this week. God knows how much that'll cost.

beanielou

Keep plodding.
You can do this.

Catriona_P

Now that my team order articles on Textbroker have finished, I've been tallying up how much I've earnt from them lately - just over £1k (give or take Paypal fees). Which is great. Waiting for my last article to be accepted now.

I've been reading up about clearing clutter (I have a hoarding problem), so the other day I went through my 'going out/fancy' dresses, and I'm selling a few of them on eBay to clear the space and make some cash. They all finish tonight so hopefully might make a couple of pound. Some of them are lovely but either don't fit me anymore or I think I won't wear them again.

Making an effort on the money-saving front will be going on the back-burner now until mid January - I have a big diploma exam just after New year, and I havn't been studying as hard as I should have been. I failed this exam in the summer so my hopes aren't high . Getting the time to focus on studying is really difficult with all my other worries. Half the time when I get home from work, put little one to bed, have dinner etc, I'm far too tired to study, and I have another 2 years of this.

I'm also being kicked out of my work office in the new year for somebody more important, so a lot of my work time will be spent packing. Not really what I need right now.

Onwards!

Catriona_P

Payday is tomorrow so taking stock of the monetary situation today. I sold all 4 of the dresses I removed as part of my clutter day - made almost a tenner from those. Just checked my bank account and if I spend nothing today, I will be out of my OD by £20 tomorrow. Which will probably last all of 10 minutes by the time direct debits start going out.

Fixing the roof is going to cost almost £700 (half of which I will pay). Not great news and it can't be done until the new year, so the leak is just going to get worse. It looks bad enough already.

I have tomorrow off so planning on decluttering the dining room in preparation for the xmas weekend - I have my Mum staying and she and my husband tend to gang up on me about my hoarding so I need to do what I can before she gets here. I'm putting together a list of things I need to do tomorrow, which includes waiting in for a parcel.

Not much sleep in the house right now as little one has a bad cough. Selfishly hoping it doesn't get worse so she can go to nursery tomorrow and I can crack on with my decluttering.

Catriona_P

My list of things to do today:

- [STRIKE]Buy nappies[/STRIKE]
- [STRIKE]Wait in for parcel[/STRIKE]
- [STRIKE]Tidy dining room[/STRIKE] - Half done!
- [STRIKE]Pop into town and buy last few xmas presents[/STRIKE] - Mostly done!
- [STRIKE]Pay cheques into bank[/STRIKE]
- [STRIKE]Go to tip with cardboard/TV/Assorted stuff[/STRIKE]
- Start tidying DD's bedroom
- [STRIKE]Do as many clothes washes as poss[/STRIKE]
- [STRIKE]Do Zumba DVD[/STRIKE]

Catriona_P

I've not posted on this for nearly three months - to be honest I just don't have the guts to admit that I'm still struggling. It's been a year since my light-bulb moment and my debt isn't any lower. It's demoralising and depressing as I've been trying so hard.

I think I need to do a new SOA. But not even sure if I can face that. It's all so frustrating.

beanielou

Baby steps.
Keep plodding

Catriona_P

beanielou wrote: »

Baby steps.
Keep plodding

Thanks. It's just so demoralising when I've been working so hard to bring it down in the past year and have so little to show for it.