Putting My Life Into Order

1HANNAH

Great news

catandy

and today has started out good

* finally got jsa payment thru so we can put some leccie in the meter and food in our bellies (the freezers are now both totally empty so this came right at the time we needed it to).
* housing benefit and CTB all in progress of being put into payment.
* meeting set up next week at JC to sign off again and get my back to work bonus sorted ...
* contract come thru from second freelance job for a 3 month period taking me up to end of April with option to extend after that.
* business with ex had a mega day yesterday with just over $1000 of sales in 3 hours today is on track to match it.
* just signed another big contract for business starting early march so we now have 3 companies in place and using the system and we in turn are making 15% profit on all business. (doesnt sound like much does it but it costs us £400 a month to run so everything after that is pure profit).
* just had 3 sales in of the smaller software totalling another £100+ every month and that took no effort on our part - its starting to grow and self generate more business which makes me super happy:T
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plans for the rest of the week? work at freelancing job and then over the weekend work out a payment plan for CC co's so i can start getting back on the straight and narrow!

catandy

so whats new then in my debt busting world?

* HB and CTC has to have another form filled in for payment to be made so its a trip to the neighbourhood office today to get that sorted out - I was out of work 6 weeks in total so I cannot afford to cover the rent and CTC in that time and without getting it paid it means my arrears have grown again and im at risk of being evicted. I feel like such a scrounger claiming this even though I'm entitled to it which I know is really silly but it is how I feel.

* I've put my bank loan onto a payment holiday for February - last time I can take one in the next 12 months and its going to add a raft of interest and put my last payment date for that back by another 2 months but at the moment thats the last of my worries. I havent yet missed a payment on the loan and I dont want to now so I've done this to give me some breathing space till I get a full payday in March when normal payments resume on all debts.

* February I've worked out Ive got 620 thats not earmarked for non essential spend - I could use that to pay a chunk off each of the CC that I've been paying minimums on or I could carry on paying the nominal payments for another month and then resume normal payments when my money goes back to normal. or then again ive got some of them put onto reduced payment plan for between 4 to 6 months with no interest being added so if I was really naughty I could carry on paying the nominal amounts and 'save up' the amounts owed without putting interest back onto my accounts - thats probably the most sensible but again it feels like 'cheating'. or then again i could just about clear my rent arrears and get the suspended eviction notice lifted so im not worried about losing the roof above my kids heads - dont know what to do yet.

* business has sold 2 of the smallest software licenses on a recurring monthly basis which makes another £35 each month and theres another 2 set to go into payment by the end of February. 20 licenses sold would cover all our overheads and all the other income streams from the company would be pure profit - time to get promoting it I think

everything going ok to be honest - not very exciting but ticking over just fine and heading in the right direction

catandy

just got another contract so im back to where i was this time next year earnings wise and income wise from end of next month when i pick up a proper paycheque but with 2 months worth of bounced/ reduced/ nominal payments to all CC's and my loan having had 2 payment holidays over 3 months

money wise that means ive got 1000 free feb to pay off some bills and 1500 each month from march onwards. Im going to clear my rent arrears as a matter of urgency and get rid of the yoke of the suspended eviction notice - thats about 300 odd apparently so I then need to sit down and seriously make some decisions what to do next / pay off first etc. Decisions decisions uh?

lushplus4

Keep going :j:j You are doing fantasticly well. I'm glad all your hard work is paying dividens.:T

catandy

so contracts are in for my work over the next 3 months so im a bit more settled now i know whats going on and coming in (to be paid out again in bills lol). I'm trying to work out a list of priorities money-wise with the order of things that need to be paid off.

so far ive come up with

clear rent arrears and suspended eviction notice against my property - at least this means me and my kids have a secure roof over our heads again.

1. carry on paying loan each month - ive managed to keep up with this all thru all of the total mess up over the last couple of months. at the same time i want to start tracking my overdraft down bit by bit as I use it less.
2. CC's are the next to tackle, I need to work out who to prioritise and pay off in full or even if I need to make offers to all of them (im inclined to pay one off in full but not sure how the other companies will take this with regards to unfreezing interest charges) then again perhaps it will be worth it anyway by clearing one of them to clear up the money I would have been paying i know what i mean even if i dont explain it very well at all:)
3. business with ex is coming on in leaps and bounds - we've made 82 profit in 3 hours of trading today so far and have another 2 hours scheduled that the system is due to be used for so should finish on 125+ profit for today - now we just need to be in the position that we're doing that every day:T. actually development work with software is being amended - it may be costing us more than we thought or it maybe a big reduction in what we've been quoted - tomorrow is judgement day.
4. from may this year I will be taking a salary from the business as will ex - that in turn means we can start building a life apart. hes going to go and start viewing flats this week - hes moving down to the south coast by his daughter and grand daughter so will need some time to find a place and get it sorted out. im actually getting excited about the future!

im actually feeling really positive things are turning round!

catandy

so i just opened the post from this morning to find aqua have accepted my reduced payments for 3 months giving me time enough to be back in a position to pay it off in one lump sum - they have given me until april meaning i will have picked up 2 pay cheques so thats going to be cleared completely - its the highest in terms of interest rates so it makes sense to do it that way. vanquis is next on my hit list - for the same reasons. it will also take my minimum monthly payments down by 50 quid or so just by clearing that one card which in turn will be thrown at the other balances.

not a lot planned this weekend - just for a change! ex is away for the weekend so the flat is peaceful, S2 is away at his girlfriends house and S1 is out tonight watching one of his mates bands play a gig and acting as a 'roadie' moving all their equipment so no spend needed there. got food in freezers, leccie in meter so im having a chill out weekend.

catandy

much slower nights business last night with our business - made just £23 in 2.5 hours of trading is the second worst shift we've ever had. No reason for it just one of those things and I'm not getting down about it - today will be better

plans for me today - clear out some of the paperwork and make some sort of order on my desk!

catandy

and another slow night at the business - the co using the software have changed the formula they were using to 'mix things up' - I think from the results they are getting they will be changing this to back how they were

back at work in an hour and i cant wait - now how sad is that? im one of those people that are defined by the the job they do and I cant wait to be gainfully employed again and knowing that I'm making a difference to the balances on everything. Its going to take about 6 weeks to be in a position to make an impact on the numbers but it will happen its in process its just a shame it takes so long to actually pan out.

oh and good news from the software developers - the revised figure for the part they got mixed up on has come down by 200 usd which saves us £125 not a life changing amount but I will take it

catandy

so glad to be back in the world of work - and got another approach from an ex client yesterday who wants me to do some work for them later in the year - so things are picking up nicely on that front. got to find a way to fit in selling our software as well at some point so thats a project from next week to rearrange my work hours and get myself sorted out properly.

Theres a problem with my claim for HB for the time I was out of work - I need to show that my DS1 is a child and still in education, proof of receipt of child benefit and a copy of his student union card doesnt merit enough proof apparently...so back to the neighbourhood office later in the week with more documentation again....

better night for our business last night we made 70£ in 2 hours last night of the system being live and have got another shift planned thursday night which should match it. so thats the final tranche of development work paid for in its entirety with 11 weeks to spare. now we need to concentrate on making the 3K that was 'lent' to the business and have 15 weeks to do it in - should be infinately do-able.

I've set myself a challenge this week to bring grocery shopping down to £65 maximum and ive got just bread/ milk/ fruit and veg etc left to get and 24£ to do it in - should do it easily. this menu planning is working out great - it means I've cleared the cupboards and freezers of stuff that just isnt used, we're eating more healthily and its costing me less than it used to (whats not to like about any of that)

so plans for today?

• work my project full time want to get at least one lead each day which should be easy (I did it yesterday no problem)
• pay off some nominal payments of CC to take the pressure off for this month till I get a proper pay cheque and then can make some proper payments
• go and pay some rent at the post office at lunch time - this will be taken off the arrears that I owe, I get it to anything from £235 to £500 so until I get proper figures from the HB team Im just carrying on paying what I can
• take DS1 to his sports club tonight and do a 'perishables' shop at L*** at the same time - saving petrol.

gonna crack on with it - have a good MS day