Gambling / Hoarding / Debt / Depression

Aaleigha

I have never done a car boot - been to them as a buyer and cant believe the stuff people try to sell - I would not even take some stuff to the cs itwould go to the tip but may be I should do one this year - will give this some thought - are they usually worth the effort - giving up half your day and an early start etc

and well done for being able to move the debt to interest free

here am I trying to be frugal and I think I lit the touch paper with hubby and forgot to run away - he is cooking dinner tonight and just came from kitchen to tell me he has saved the hot water from par boiling spuds to cook the swede and carrots in - I think I created a monster

Mrs_Hutchins

I too have a gambling addiction and have suffered depression for around 9 years.
They kind of go hand in hand really.

I haven't gambled in a couple of months.
This is huge for me 'cause as soon as I used to get paid I use to spend all of my disposable money straight away meaning I suffered with no money for the rest of the month.

Becoming happy and improving your quality of life will really help with the gambling situation.
The happy you are the less likely you will be to revert to that and hit another low.

Well done you for your honesty and you desire to want to improve your situation for your daughter and more importantly, you

Just2Ashamed

Just2Ashamed wrote: »

So, the situation as it stands: updates are in red

0% CC1 £2300
0% CC2 £1600
0% CC3 £1330 transferred to new CC with some of DH's debt

Loan £4200 Reduced with the help of my savings

nPower £690 Still haven't had an accurate bill (hey, it's only been 10 months!) but have continued to reduce this nonetheless

Husband's debts: £2650

Current total: £12770

So, as of the end of February 2015:

CC1: £2300
CC2: £1500
CC3: £1750

Loan: £2900

Npower: £550

DH's debts: £2650

Current total: £11650, down £1120 or almost 8.8%

Other positives from this month include a grocery bill that was under by £50 (and I think could be cut more next month) and that we've paid a couple of big expenses which are now out do the way for a while. On the downside, our landlord wants to increase the rent so that will make things a bit tighter.

Aaleigha

where have you been - missed you

nearly 9% is fantastic
you may feel the progress is slow but its not and things soon speed up

what have you done with your £50 grocery save - have you kept it by for emergencies or taken it off the highest interest bill?

as for the landlord I am sorry to hear about that -

now as for my grocery bill I was going to allow myself 150 for the three last pay weeks in February but managed with 95 so that fiver is going in the pot of indoor savings - every 50 gets put in the bank

this month I wrote 4 weeks of menues and made a list of EVERTHING that was on there - then crossed off what I could find in the cupboards and freezer

I have no cleaning products or toiletries etc to buy this month and my BIG shop (with all the meat - frozen veg etc) was £60 and a few pence
was on a £200 allowance for this month but will try to squeeze that to 150 and if I manage on 175 will be more than happy

I do hope the depression is more under control - I have decided to declutter my house as it all got out of hand when my depression got so bad and some days I didnt even get out of bed

so tomorrow I have my underware tights and socks on the cards - anything I dont wear or dont like but kept just in case will be going the rest will be folded and sorted - not much but its a start

I do hope you are coping I can say with certainty I truely know how it feels - if you cant post but need a chat any time send me a pm Hx

Just2Ashamed

Unfortunately I don't get to post a huge amount due to the toddler deciding to 'help' but I have been a bit naughty with not popping on more regularly. I tend to put it off until there's a reasonable amount of progress to report, but I think little and often may be more sensible overall. Thank you for the support everyone, it does mean a lot, even if I'm not around every day.

Positives:

Grocery bill so far this month is £148 and I think will only need small top ups of fresh bread, milk and veg so expect to be under £200 for the month, £100 down from the original budget and £50 less than last month. Any savings are going to paying off the loan I think (it's the only debt apart from DH's overdraft which still incurs interest).

I emptied DD's piggybank to get into her account before the ISA deadline, £100 into her ISA and £100 into her current account - alongside what was already in there she's in better financial shape than me!

Finally managed to get some expensive bits up for sale and they've got bids! Hopefully will be able to pay off a decent chunk of the loan again.

I've been helping my parents sort out their finances, they've been paying way too much for utilities etc so we had a good sort out of bills and they look like they're going to save £1500+ a year which is a huge amount for them.

Loan is currently £2500 so half of the original amount in 8 months :j Chuffed with this progress and hope to have it cleared very soon.

Negatives:

nPower have finally sent a bill, but haven't taken off any of the credits I've made since moving in :eek: The total amount is over £1400! I've paid over £400 since moving in which should be deducted, but that's still a huge amount and they won't let me switch to a cheaper tariff until it's cleared. I'm going to make a real effort to call them and get it sorted today, but I struggle with phone calls at the best of times, and my experiences with them in the past have not exactly been positive!

HMRC have sent DH a £100 fine for not completing his self assessment on time - he's not been self employed for several years now and has told them multiple times he's paid by PAYE and doesn't need to complete an assessment I have the feeling that this is going to be long and complicated to sort, and that we'll probably end up having to pay the £100 anyway.

Just2Ashamed

Spent over 2 hours talking to nPower yesterday to try to get everything sorted! I managed to run the full pregnancy gamut of emotions on the phone, from anger to sobbing to over-the-top grateful when finally being put through to someone competent

Long and short of it is that it should soon be sorted, and I'm going to remove the nPower debt from my list as it's now being repaid monthly alongside the current direct debit (just going to treat it as the standard payment since it's less than I'd budgeted for this category anyway).

Managed to sell an item for £550 and am hoping to list some more (cheaper unfortunately) things soon, so think I'll take this off the loan and reduce that as much as possible over the next couple of months. I'm very much hoping to have total debts into 4 figures rather than 5 by the end of April.

supermum1988

Wow I love your diary and I wish you every success on your journey to becoming debt free.

I too have a gambling addiction along with suffering with depression. When I was 20 I ran up £8k of debts and a further £3k from October 2014 to now after a few dark months after a miscarriage. I finally feel determined to get myself out of this lifestyle and change my behaviour in all aspects of my life.

I have a 5 year old and he is the reason I need to sort my mess out once and for all. I am going to subscribe and follow it through to the end.

Best wishes and should you ever need to chat you can message me.

Xx

Aaleigha

Marry I have been here to support but brain went into overdrive giving me very good and very bad days so kept my head below the parapet
You have and are doing so well
You will have to give me the idiots guide to posting on eBay I have stuff that I have sorted that is in really good condition lots is peruna or next
So what are the fees going to be for pay pal and ebay if something sells for. 99p with 2.80 postage surely if all I got was the 99 it would cost more in listing selling and PayPal fees

Your efforts are remarkable I just hope that those in your re that know are proud of your achievements . They shoul be

Just2Ashamed

*Deep breaths* There have been some big personal and financial setbacks over the last couple of weeks, some my fault and some definitely not, and I need a few days at least to take stock and assess where I am now. I'll be back after the bank holiday with (hopefully) a new plan and some more motivation.

In quite a low place atm, but spending a lot of time with my little girl focusing on her to keep spirits up.

andyfromotley

Hi just2,

I am a recovering compulsive gambler. I just wanted to tell you that there will always be a seat and a warm welcome for you at your local Gamblers Anonymous.

It helps, it works and could improve your life enormously.

wishing you luck, Andy