Not an ostrich anymore.

SillyG

So I have covered a bit of my story in the DFW forum butthought it best to start this dairy today.

I have a problem seeing money as anything other than mineand flit it away like it was post its. I have been known to shove £550 in notesin slots machines just because I was bored or stressed. Leading me to be nearly£20k in debt. I am under counselling for this so really don’t to go into anymore detail.

I have looked into my SOA and I should be able to afford£750 a month towards my debts starting with my high APR ( Cap one @ 34.8% :eek:) 1stand then tackling the rest.

There are other areas in my life that need sorting as well,because I spend most of my time either at work, in the pub or the arcade myhouse looks like a story from ‘ Hoarders ‘:rotfl:. The really good thing about thissite is that it not only gives advice on how to deal with your debt but how todeal with life when you have to face a reality without credit.

I will be a keen lurker /poster on the Old fashion board as Ineed something to fill my next 1095 days with other than wine and slots. I wentto the library at lunch ( instead of the arcade ) and got some light reading onhow to de clutter your house, so at least I have that to look forward to nextweek J

NSD – 0
Bank account - £549
Rooms cleared – 0
Gamble free – 24 hours.

G

Ladybird.

Hello SillyG!

Hopefully you can make lots of money while you are decluttering your clutter! Amazing the things that people will buy, I have sold all kinds of broken rubbish on ebay and it all helps!

Best of luck on your journey!

Indebted.Dunce

Well done G!

I am not in a dissimilar position to you so I understand what you might be going through. I have been struggling with gambling on and off for the last 14 years. I would like to think this is due to a stressful job but I am not quite sure what it is.

I am currently in the process of trying to wrestle my life away from the clutches of the casino jaws after gambling my life away (a conservative estimate of my losses would be extremely high 5 figure sums, if not 6 figures).

You are extremely lucky to have a supportive OH, this should help you fight the gambling demons and get back your life on the straight and narrow.

An allowance, however childish it may sound, IMHO is the way to go as it will most certainly stop you from excessively gambling away your hard earned cash. If you have say £50 per week, once the money is gone it is just that gone!

Once again, well done for taking steps to address the situation!

Remember one day at a time, good luck G!

ID

SillyG

Thank you for the replies.

I came back from work and have had a long talk with OH. He is not going to help me with my debt or let me off having to pay my way (on my instruction).

Have done a Snowball for my credit cards and they should be paid off in 19 months.

I am looking at getting a Xmas job, as all I do when I am done my day job is either feed the slots or watch TV. I even asked at the local Chip shop if they had any jobs, but they didn't

Off to make tea and lunch for tomorrow so I will have a NSD.

G

SillyG

Hi all,

Just a quick update to say I have had a text saying that I have an interview for an evening/weekend job with Royal Mail.

So finger's crossed

G

SillyG

So it has been an up and down day.

Been really busy at work so haven't really had time to dwell on the past, which is good in a way. But my OH is really ill and we are due to go away for the weekend tomorrow, this has all been paid up for so there's no way of saying no.

I was supposed to have a NSD today, but forgot the lunch I made last night in the mad dash to leave the house this morning. So not a good start to my DFD but hay ho. Brought a jacket potato which cost me £2.50 and felt really guilty about it, when will it stop feeling like this.

Looking forward to the weekend away in the Moorlands. We are staying in a cottage and have already brought all the food and wine so there is not much spending to be done.

Worked out a Snowball for my Credit Cards and these should be paid off in 19 months. Also as I said above I have an interview for a Christmas job with the Royal Mail which will help me 2 fold. 1) I will earn more money to pay off my debt quicker and 2) It won't leave me much time to spend money in the arcades and pubs.

Right off to finish packing.

NSD – 0
Bank account - £540
Rooms cleared – 0
Gamble free – 48 hours

G x

SillyG

Pay day today which means my bank balance looks healthy for about 2 hours. I feel kinda lucky that I don't have an OD meaning when I do make the payments to my debt I know it's my money not the banks.

Speaking of which, Made the 1st payment to one C/C today. My HSBC minimum payment is £26.10 but i paid £36. I know not much over the min but i am going to focus my efforts on my Cap One card.

Off to the Moorlands today for a weekend of walking and Gin which should help me regain a bit of focus on life.

Haven't spent anything today and the shop for the trip is all done so should be a NSD.

NSD – 0
Bank account - £1595
Rooms cleared – 0
Gamble free – 72 hours

G x

Igamogam

SillyG wrote: »

So it has been an up and down day.



I was supposed to have a NSD today, but forgot the lunch I made last night in the mad dash to leave the house this morning. So not a good start to my DFD but hay ho. Brought a jacket potato which cost me £2.50 and felt really guilty about it, when will it stop feeling like this.


Dont be too hard on yourself SillyG - its done its past look at the positives you have achieved so far

G x

SillyG wrote: »

Pay day today which means my bank balance looks healthy for about 2 hours.

Oh I know how that feels........!

Speaking of which, Made the 1st payment to one C/C today. My HSBC minimum payment is £26.10 but i paid £36. I know not much over the min but i am going to focus my efforts on my Cap One card.

Have you looked this thread here Its an excellent way of finding a bit of fun in paying off your debts

G x

Have a lovely walking weekend - hope the weather is as bright an sunny as it has been so far:)

SillyG

So I have had an hectic week, so haven’t had time to sitdown on the computer.

Had a lovely weekend away which gave me a lot of time tothink and reassess my life. I am going to stop beating myself up about things Ihave done in the past and concentrate on things I can sort out in the future.

DFD things I have done this week :-

Re-set up all D/D on my credit card to insure I do not miss1 payment even if it’s the minimum.

Start a snowball ensuring that all my spare cash is utilizedon my debt.

Set a monthly budget for spends

Gave my bank card to OH

Cut up all C/C

Made sure I never had more than £5 in my wallet

Meal planned for work and Home making sure that I useeverything that is brought.

I must admit that this week I have felt very tearful andquestioned if life is really worth all this hassle but one thing happened on Wednesdaythat made me think that other people want me around, my OH was reading a magazineand passed it over to me saying that I would really enjoy the article he wasreading. I don’t know why but this lifted my heart a little.

I have the weekend in the house so I am going to tackle theS**t heap :mad: and hopefully find some stuff to sell on e-bay.


NSD – 2
Bank account - £725 ( All bills Paid)
Rooms cleared – 0
Gamble free – 10 days (240 hours) :T

G x

Igamogam

Its a FLW on Eb*y so get sorting

SillyG

So today marks 14 days gamble free, This is a BIG mile stonefor me.

I am not going to lie it has been tough but with thebarriers I have in place it has either been impossible or with the counselling Ihave had has made me think is it really worth it.

To celebrate I have paid off £55 my C/C over the minim limitthis month. I know it’s not much but it is slowly getting there, hopefully oncemy finances are sorted out I can start my Snowball.


2 things are spearing me on this week. 1) I lost 3lb atslimming world. 2) I cleared out 3 rooms this weekend!! Didn’t manage to getanything on E-bay as of yet but all the !!!!! has been boxed up and is ready forthe next FLW. Just got to tackle theupstairs this week but I am working nearly 60 hours a week and all I want to dois get in to bed when I get home ( this is also part of my depression as well).But I have been making sure that I tidy at least 1 thing away as soon as I get throughthe door which I find tends to lead to doing more other proactive things.


I have been referred to slimming world by the NHS and when Istarted my 12 weeks I did really well, then I had a massive fall from grace andstarting slipping on the plan but as I know it works I am back on the plan likethere is no tomorrow. Also it helps with the NSD as I have to take my lunch towork so I don’t need to pop out a lunch which use to be an expensive hourwasted in the arcade. I have got my chunky but back to the gym as well, with mytimetable given to my OH so he knows where I should be.


NSD – 3
Bank account - £566
Rooms cleared – 3
Gamble free – 14 Days :T

G x