Putting My Life Into Order

catandy

got a default thru from Wonga and another from vanquish both of which have been passed onto DCA and letter speaks of settlement terms so hopefully will do some reduced settlement figures with them when the time is right. would be nice to get rid of both of them off my signature

Ex and I agreed terms yesterday for me to re-join the company we set up as a director. we've put it all in writing and I plan on sticking it to the letter - and ex will have to do the same. time to make this company work now so I can get my money out I sank into it to start it up (and hopefully a bit besides)...

menu planning done for the week ahead, work planned out and scheduled in for me, all bills paid. DS1 given a kick up the @55 to get him to realise that if he wants to be an adult he acts like one so he starts looking for a job in earnest from tomorrow. bills paid for the month and everything ticking over quite nicely..

plans for the week ahead:-

• clear pile of washing/ ironing which is starting to get out of hand again
• cook from scratch each night - really getting into cooking @ the moment
• do some exercise, this is a by product of eating healthier i'm naturally starting to drop some lb so now I want to get fitter as well.
• blitz the flat (how does it get so messy?)

not very exciting but hey that's my life

catandy

just got some more work in on a contracted basis so it seems I am in demand again

going to look thru all the offers and options I have to make the right decision

catandy

well I just looked at my noddle report for the first time for months and I just wish I had done it sooner... all but 2 of my creditors are still charging interest :mad: (which I thought had been stopped when they accepted the reduced offer of payment on my DMP), I've got 4 defaults showing 2 that have just been added and 2 that are 6 months old and my f&f payment I did with capital one doesn't show that the debt is satisfied or dropped off it still shows that I owe about the same amount as I did. I phoned them as soon as their call centre opened and was told that the payment I made was not a F&F or partial settlement figure but just a payment to clear the overdue amount. I've still got the letter detailing the terms of the offer so I'm going into battle with them on it but uuuuurrrghhhhhh!!! I'm now worse off again and in deeper doo doo than I was 9 months ago and I though things were improving not getting worse!!!

catandy

just updated all my balances on dmp system plus revised figures for I&E form and the result is I'm back to £1 token payments to everyone till my income kicks up a notch with the contract work... it just feels like I'm never going to get anywhere with this.

catandy

and got another default thru today so that makes just one im short of now - which is the company that has been charging interest from day 1 :mad: - oh well they cant have what I haven't got!

I have actually done I&E again for the next couple of months, taking account of the disrupted month next month whilst I change job again and the change to dates when I receive payments. This month I'm ok and have a bit of a cushion into next month when the changes start. Next months bills are covered and I've got a £700 float to tide me over the extra 2 weeks of the following month for my revised pay date, so DD dates will be changed and same for SO and I will manage ok. payments for DMP will be revised upward again once I'm in receipt of my first months wages on the revised rates for the contract company.... Goodness I wish my working life was less complicated!

Back in the saddle with the company with ex, yesterdays trading made £148 of pure profit, today seems on track to match it - just need to start trading every day but that's a work in progress... I must say he's done well with it, perhaps it was ready to just 'blossom' into activity or perhaps he's just made good choices with it, either way I'm just glad that its started to happen and I can see me getting my sticky little mitts on some £££ off it soon!:)

DS2 is away at his festival, left at 6am this morning (wish he was that keen to get to work!) so even quieter than usual this weekend. I've worked out that I really do need to build a life for myself - I don't really have any friends as was virtually banned from seeing them or going out when I was with the ex so everyone drifted away, don't have any hobbies or interests cos they all cost money and I've not had any of that spare for so long that I cant really remember and I think some of it as well is that 'im hiding from life'. That's how DS1 described it to me - he said I'm scared to get out and about and meet people and mingle and do normal stuff again cos its so long since I did it (and I think he may be right).

catandy

ok back to work after the bank holiday and glad its a short week - I've found it really hard to knuckle down and actually get some work done over the summer cos I wanted to be out and making the most of the nice weather... oh well only another 3 years or so to wait till we have another one and I have the same dilemma

DS2 back from his festival and had a great time, even had £50 of his money left over so I'm glad that he's learning to budget a bit as well. DS1 gets home next weekend so life changes again then - he's going to be sleeping in the dining room as our house guest is keeping his room so got to go and acquire another bed sometime over the next 2 weeks (freegle or freecycle are first stops)

meal planning done for this week so nothing needed groceries wise till perhaps thurs or fri then its just bread and milk so will be a LSW. by mid sept im 150 ahead with my rent again so im thinking of cutting the payments down to the minimum so cut expenses by another £46 pm. I decided not to buy my way out of the fone contract as that dies anyway in January so all told another £70 freed up which will means my payments are again adjusted Jan time to reflect this.

business with ex has made £66 profit since the beginning of the trading week (7am yesterday morning) with 5 shifts scheduled in for this week. working on what the average is still with all the changes taking place so I can do a budget and cash flow forecast. The new contract we had sign up plans to do 2x the amount of shifts that the biggest client we have currently do so im looking forward to that happening :T

im working all week on a combination of 2 projects - 2 days on 1 and 1 on other then have half next month booked in for freelance work then move onto contract work. sounds like im all very organised (which I really am not!)

catandy

My place is officially snotsville with all of us full of killer colds to end the summer with - just seem to all have weird body clocks cos whenever the seasons start changing we all get really heavy lurgy doses that last a week then back to being fit as fiddles again.

I've got a meeting with a company that wants me to do some work for them today which means I've got to take a couple of hours off to go and see them. I think I may just ask what rates they pay first save me the trouble of getting there and being told its just over NMW or something daft... its contract work that I planned on working alongside the other contract that starts next month (only 1 day per week) to take me up to a full working week but I've decided I only want to do it if it pays enough - I'm not willing to sell myself short anymore. I can get work at 25K rates and work when I want without breaking sweat, the new contract starting next month is 30k rates for working 4 days a week so I'm just not willing to sell myself short anymore. just see what they come back with before I get my glad rags on and jump in the car.

co with the ex has made 176.70 profit in 3 days trading, we've got a big shift planned tonight so fingers crossed that's a bumper one then weekend will be slower again. want to clear 250/ 300 this week then up it again each week of next month as we up the number of shifts the system is live. Did a cash flow forecast for the business yesterday and that shows 1.5 to 2k profit pm just replicating the levels of productivity we currently have. that gives us 2 salary's at nmw rates, which for me would be money to throw at debts and for ex guaranteed income so he can pay his bills and live. payments will be in place by October.

Bed for DS1 all sorted and being delivered Sunday - gives me time to clear the furniture in there and think im going to do a quick coat of paint over the walls to freshen it up as well. looking forward to DS1 getting home and hearing about all that he's been up to (I think I will probably get the edited highlights have been deemed as fit to tell his mom

.......................................................................................

just feels like im always waiting for stuff, waiting for contract work to start and income go up, waiting to start taking a regular income from company, waiting to make a dent in these damn debts and start to see some headway. sick of waiting now!

catandy

and I've got a very mse weekend planned - im going camping which I haven't done for years borrowed tent and sleeping bag, supplies out the fridge/ cupboards, £30 for a tent pitch for a long weekend and ticket to get there £20 and a weekend planned to catch up will friends I haven't seen for maybe 4 years.... really looking forward to it. some me time!:T

catandy

well a great weekend away and just what I needed - lots of sunshine and laughs and good company and costs kept low cos we were having such a good time we didn't need to go and spend money - result!:beer:

back to work this morning and my bitty cross-over month is here - freelancing and working 2 x projects till mid month then move onto contract work that runs up till xmas (providing it all works out and I don't mess it up.... everything crossed).

good weekend for the business with ex as well, made 185 in profit between Friday pm and Sunday pm - we should make just short of 2K in profit this month which will be very welcome. Our new contract is doubling production this month so that's being rolled out and is a work in progress - come on hurry up I want it all live and up and running now (I'm beginning to feel like a kid at xmas) with all this anticipation.

Ex and I have spoken about how we pay ourselves out of the company - logic is we both take an employed salary of NMW plus we are repaid what we pumped into the company to make it work in the first place, then further along there will be dividends or bonuses to think about. I couldn't see the logic of NMW on a salaried position - then I had it pointed out to me that my NI contributions have been 'patchy' over the last x amount of years with me constantly playing catch up, so that does make sense I guess.

DS1 is home and in a coma to recover from 8 weeks of partying and travelling with some work thrown in as well it seems. He's covered in bruises and has been doing up to 11 wrestling matches a day on some days so needs to rest up and recover a bit, he also needs some decent food inside of him he looks like he hasn't eaten properly in the time he's been away. DS2 and house guest made a big fuss of him arriving home and he was the party pooper and had to make his excuses after about 30 minutes as he was falling asleep virtually standing up!

plans for this month:-

1. continue clearing out stuff from flat, I'm becoming a bit of a demon with this if its not tied down you better move it or I will sell it / bin it / charity shop it
2. go and see my mom I only managed 1 visit last month so I've got to get a bit more organised.
3. do food shop at Mr T's up to xmas to get my cash back from my bank account.
4. do some filing with all this damn paperwork - im drowing in it and said it was going to be done 3 months ago - no excuses!
5. agree with ex when payment starts from the company so we both have an income coming in, when its in place do a revised SOA and offers to creditors again....

catandy

I'm really struggling to work at the moment - don't know why I just find anything other than my day job to do which is not good for productivity or results levels and it cant carry on forever as my job depends on results so swift kick up the backside needed I think...

DS1 is starting to feel human again, he slept virtually the first 24 hours straight and has been attacking the fridge contents since, he's doing a good impression of a human vacuum as everything is disappearing. It's good to have my family back together again

ok-ish night for business and another shift planned for tonight so fingers crossed for that. apart from all of that life just plods on