oh my life...... Light Bulb moment.

julie2710

I'm mid forties too! It's a difficult age for dating I think! Men "our age" seem to fall into one of two categories. 1: They have been married, have grown up kids, don't want anymore kids and want to travel, go out or away at the drop of a hat or 2: They have never been married, don't have kids and are looking for someone to quickly settle down with and start a family with :eek: oh or there's the guys who are just looking to play the field and make up for lost time :eek::eek:

I think we are probably our own worst enemies because we are strong, although we've had little choice in that. I've recently had two guys I dated over the last few years come back saying how they made a huge mistake and they always thought I was out of their league or I wouldn't have been interested in them :mad: Nothing like people deciding for you what you want! :wall:

We will get there and then they will all be queuing at our doors :rotfl:

MiMi66

DebtClearer wrote: »

You will notice a big difference once the 0% goes, not to worry you definitely plan for it if you can. Mine start to expire in Jan so I know around that time I'll have to start thinking about my next plan of action.

Tesco are annoying, have you thought about buying produce from somewhere like Morrisons? As an organisation they are a bit more sustainable and there produce is not only cheaper but usually of a better quality.

Hi Debt Clearer

You are the second person in two days to say sdomething positive about Morrisons - I will check them out - there is one in a town about 10 miles from where I live but I work sometimes over that way and could incorporate a visit to them I am sure on my way home.

MiMi66

julie2710 wrote: »

I'm mid forties too! It's a difficult age for dating I think! Men "our age" seem to fall into one of two categories. 1: They have been married, have grown up kids, don't want anymore kids and want to travel, go out or away at the drop of a hat or 2: They have never been married, don't have kids and are looking for someone to quickly settle down with and start a family with :eek: oh or there's the guys who are just looking to play the field and make up for lost time :eek::eek:

I think we are probably our own worst enemies because we are strong, although we've had little choice in that. I've recently had two guys I dated over the last few years come back saying how they made a huge mistake and they always thought I was out of their league or I wouldn't have been interested in them :mad: Nothing like people deciding for you what you want! :wall:

We will get there and then they will all be queuing at our doors :rotfl:

So funny reading your post Julie - I have had very similar conversations this last week - a man I bumped into after a few years saying - oh wow if only I'd realised you were single, you're lovely etc etc....and he's getting married to wife no 2 next year....

And the thing about having to be strong - what else could we do! It is inevitable sink or swim - and I am defintiely the swimming type (at least on a good day!)

So focus on debt repayments - much more straightforward..... and that is saying something isn't it!!

MiMi66

So I have jsut paid a £207 off my debt and am trying to get together £520 to pay off by the end of June so I don't have to do a another balance transfer - I think I can do it as long as I am tight tight tight! - I have worked out the sums and as long as no unexpected things happen and I keep the food budget from overflowing I will be able to do and that means I will reach a figure of around £19800 - the magic under £20K at last - so that will happen around the end of June - I am nmore excited than at Christmas!!

I do have a couple of planned outgoings this month - taking the kids to the County Show - we all love this so much. And I have to try and give my daughter some money for clothes but it will only be a little. Everyone has now had hair cuts but it has had to go on my using credit card (still paying that one off every month in full and I don't include it in my overall debt - but it was a monster bill this month - paid now though. One day I hope to get that extra £500 together to stop from having to use a monthly card - it seems a cycle type thing for me that is proving hard to change. But at least it is not building up more debt.)

So almost at the under £20 000 - I know it is still a huge debt, but it does feel good to be working at it and I know I will meet my annual goal of getting it down to £18300 by Christmas.

Now I am heading out into the sunshine to go and listen to some music at a free festival in town, wait for my daughter to finish her work and go and sit in the sunshine together and soak it all up....

MiMi66

Panicking and panicking tonight. 4 weeks to bext pay and having to think overdraft. Arghhhhhh. Life!!! Why is it so expensive! I am trying to get myself and the children off camping for two nights and the budget has been blown already. Batteries for some lamps are a ridiculous price. Amongst a zillion things. And it's just mad that money is just not going far at all now. What is happening! Is anyone else struggling facing June?

prettyplease

Oh yes!!! I feel Im out of money already and its going to be an expensive one!
You doing so well and some months are just more expensive than others so dont pressurise yourself too much x

YORKSHIRELASS

Hi, just found your thread and can identify so much with your problems and how you feel about it. I am not a single parent but have two older kids, similar debts to you and not much spare cash for overpayments! My debts built up by just overspending a bit for a long time and not keeping track of it.

Like you my strategy is never to buy anything on credit unless its planned for and just chip as much as I can off the debts. I worry about bigger things like my car though, its 8 years old now and I dont know what I will do when I have to replace it. We had to borrow £3k to replace some of our windows last year too. Our patio doors were literally rotting so we had to do it. In an ideal world I would like to save for this kind of thing.

I took my kids camping this week and spent £30 on food for a 2 night trip!! Lesson learnt, I should have done the shopping before we went. We had a good time though.

I try and find a balance between having a few small treats and being able to do some things with the kids and paying as much as I can off the debts. Its so hard though, my 14yo really needs some new clothes so I need to budget that in this month.

Anyway, sorry for rambling on. I will be following your progress if thats OK!

MiMi66

Hi Yorkshire Lass and Pretty please - oh, so hard isn't it this very tight holey boat we are all in - mine has been a ship wreck this month - so fed up.
I have had to resort to CC to get through the month for food shopping, fuel and various bits for the camping trip and now that is going bite me. While I will be able to pay that £520 off one of my cards which the 0% will run out on next week (once I get paid later this week) I have built up an amount on my using credit card tat I cannot cover - so that will have to be balance transfered - debt reapid with one hand, debt created with the other - @&&%%**words....

I don't think overall I am going to make that magic under £20 000 mark after all this month once one is paid off and the other is added in - I shall pay as much as I can, but it will mean that I am around the £20200/20400 mark I think. Growl or should that be howl ..... And like you Yorkshire lass - my 14 year old is growing and needs new clothes, shoes etc etc...

Just sometimes I think about selling the house and clearing the lot -rent and start over, but then I think, "it's the kids home, where would we live, the cats would be upset (rental and cats??), we're right near school and my work..."

Ah but the house - I try to think how I can fix things on it - garage doors are about to fall off and back rendering is pretty cracked up - a bit like me:-). Ah my - what to do....

MiMi66

Feeling a bit soppy here...I've just spent time reading back over all the advice and kind words on my thread, no harsh judgements (I do that one well enough on my own). I am so grateful fo rthe time people take to give there thoughts and ideas - it really has helped me get going on this journey and largely stick to it - going to forgive my self for June and get back on track ASAP. Road to Damascas stuff isn't really - with a few pitfalls.

Big thank you to all those still reading and for all the past advice and comments!

Sellurgranny

Hi Mimi, just wanted to say hello from another single parent with growing kids and enough debt to keep me going for the next umpteen years. (Dont be fooled by my signature.... I have MUCH more secured debt but have decided to deal with the Unsecured first before really rolling up my sleeves to tackle that).

Yes its very hard to make ends meet especially when unexpected expenses crop up mid month. I dont know about you, but Im almost reluctant to join in on any social events with friends if its going to cost me money and distract me from my money saving. That being said, I was persuaded to go with a friend to a Bingo hall last week and won £50 so that was a bonus.

I get fed up with being the poor relation both with friends and my family but at least Im doing something about my situation - and you are too so that's some compensation isnt it!

Take care and will keep an eye on your thread for mutual inspiration :T