Hi everyone im a newbie !!

brodie82

Hi

I hope this post isnt to long for you all sorry , I joined MSE over a year ago but never posted as I felt ashamed i now know I don't need to feel like that.... it all started when I went back to work after having my first baby in september 03 , i worked part time as a waitress just to give me some pocket money my boyfriend bless him paid all the bills I just paid for my horses, i was doing ok got a couple of catalogues paid them off when the statement come through i wanted to open a bank account at same branch as B/F so it would be easier to transfer money for things got offered an overdraft (took it), got offered a flexi loan £1000 (took it) , everything was fine I was on top of it all untill I fell pregnant with my second baby in 05 , I had the pregnancy from hell !!, (later i gave birth to the little she devil !! bless her xx) I was in and out of hospital b/f had to try and juggle work with looking after our other little girl grandparents were brilliant but she was only 19 months ! so she wanted mummy and daddy andyway sorry ...... back on track !.. I missed catologue payments i wasnt earning , oh my god how quick it gets out of hand ! I spoke to my bank and thay actually gave me a loan to clear all exsisting debt , fantastic ( I thought ) but then I couldnt go back to work so my bf had to pay it ( providing he had been paying his loan which he had before we met ) so now our joint debt was approx £12,000 when i came home with my new baby girl i thought everything was going to be great.......................THEN i started staying in all the time , not bothering to clean flat , didnt want to see anyone , got possessive over my baby , sat at computer BUYING things bigger fool me I never closed my catologues as I thought I'd be fine , cut a long story (too late) short I ran up over £19,000 f debt on credit card (my b/fs cc ) my credit card my catologues .. couldnt tell ya what I bought , oh I have a dinning room table rest I have no idea clothes and shoes which i later kept giving to my sis as I never sent them back even though they didnt fit me I felt like I couldnt be bothered it was too much hassle to phone up and pack parcel for collection I even got £9000 cahoot loan and got bf to sign it saying it would help !

Anyway in total at aug 06 our debt was over £30,000 as we had overdrafts to , couldnt afford min payments on anything, getting charged £125 each month on 3 over dratfs !!( which we are now going to try and claim back , over £4000 worth ) so went to see Bank got a consolidation loan as 2 loans were with them and creditcards and obviously overdrafts , we cleared O/D , CC'S and two loans, closed one of the accounts I know not many like con loans but it reduced out outgoings so much !, I started 2 part time jobs janary , my bf works sats as well now when he can. never saw each other for about 2 months hehe .. i am now down to one job but earning same amount , i rang my catolouges and asked them to hold my payments as was in 3 months arrears until end of jan when I first got paid ( which they did ) i have now since cleared over £3000 worth of debt since dec as loan didnt start till then....... I am very proud of my self now , and am not ashamed anymore about having PND , it's something thats out of your hands and i'd just like to say just watch out for any signs and hope it can be treated before you end up like I did , as alot of my debt wasn't run up out of spending too much I was always quite good with money( except 1st loan that was naughty !!) , it was through not being very well and I understand that now and am facing my demons............ good luck to everyone there is a light at the end itcould be a very long tunnel but you'll get there....no matter how you got into debt. sorry to gabble on just wanted to make people aware of pnd and debt xxx

Lucy1982_2

Well done!

You have every right to be proud of yourself. I think you have done very well in paying off the amount you have. Keep at it and cancel everything once it has been paid off. That way you can't get in to this situation again.

Welcome, everyone is really friendly and will offer advice if you need it.

brodie82

Thank you Lucy that means a lot, yep I am deffo closing catologues and and 1 last credit card which the bank loan wouldnt cover !!, the other two debts amounting 90% of debt are loans for another 5 years but HSBC loan had an offer when we consoilidated we get 25% of interest back which is bout £1400 ill have £1000 left on other loan when that happens so am going to save it up and pay it off with interest money Wahoo !! unless I can get enough to pay off before xx thanks again xx In a way Im glad it happened as I am so much aware of what i spend , I got hold of sky and got 3 months half price for full package then i dropped it to minimum and now only pay £15 , my home phone and broadband are £17.99 amonth with all land lines free, my shopping budget is £30 -£35 a week inlcuding nappies I love lidl !! , no takeaways at all his year so far Getting there !, I feel like all i ever seem to do is talk about how much ive paid off and get really excited and then frustrated that I wanna pay more i even account for evrypenny in my account !! and have a budget spreasheet for weekly ins and outs which really helps !! x and if we get our charges back that will pay of catologues but I cant rely on thatx

Bunnyinthelights

Welcome Brodie,
You'll get lots of help and support from this forum!
Bunny

Sweety83

Congrats, you must be made of strong stuff to go through PND and be in debt and to still sound so positive!

Long may it continue!

brodie82

thankyou , it has made me stronger to go through all that , i use not answer the phone , dread the post coming it was horrible now if a bill comes in and i can;t afford it straightaway , i phone them and tell them they'll get in when i've got it , one electric company agreed to wait 1 month and a half for a payment, their not to bad if you ring them straight away , I was 3 months behind on 3 catlogues i got them to agree( 1 dec 06) to wait till my first payday end of jan 07 to clear arrears they were fine and didnt add any charges either !! acutally one catolgue did after i phoned , so they got another phone call had an argument down phone with customer services , he said he couldnt remove charge , so i asked him in 2007 your telling me your computer system dosent have something to let you take charges off, so i asked to be put through to compliants wahoo charge taken off straight away , they are just like banks if they can get away with it they will !!!! dont let them !!! xx any one in arrears with catolgues dont be afraid just ring them xxxx

newleaf

Well done you. PND is a dreadful thing and is not very well understood by most people. I'm so pleased you are feeling better, and positive about the future. It sounds like your boyfriend is very supportive and that's half the battle. Good luck!

clearskies

Well done Brodie! Everyone on this site is so friendly and helpful you'll get loads of great advice if you need it, but you sound really positive and upbeat which if fabulous considering how you were a few months back!!!

chunky79

Awww hun how moving, i am pleased to see you have come out on the other side PND is terrible and most women suffer in silence for too long.

Welcome i am sure you will get more to tips to help you along you DFW way. Congrats on getting 3k off too x

KellsBells

Hi Brodie,

I too suffered PND, with the birth of my youngest son, but my symptoms were more weepy and lethargic. Lucky, I had two very switched on health visitors who spotted the signs straight away and nipped it in the bud.

My financial woes are not directly liked to the PND, but I am certainly someone who practices retail "therapy" to counteract feeling down and low. But then, when I see how much I have spent, I feel REALLY depressed!

Anyways, welcome to these boards - there's a wealth of information on here and some extremely supportive and friendly people. We'll look after each other!!xx