Getting a grip...and hanging onto it!

[Deleted User]

[FONT=&quot]Day 1

Welcome [/FONT][FONT=&quot]:j[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT] [FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I’ve been using the DFW pages as a crutch over the past six months, privately battling both debt and depression – this seems a fairly common combination, which feed off each other in fairly subtle ways for me. Neither challenge is overwhelming – but both somewhat take the shine off most days, and so far I’ve kept the extent of both fairly hidden from family and friends. This isn’t necessarily deliberate – there isn’t really anyone here in the middle of the night when it all seems :eek:[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]The DFW pages have quite literally helped me get up and out most days – I’ve developed a habit of skimming some of the sections for ten minutes or so before I get up, it helps me shake out of the hopelessness/inertia/gloom that can sneak in otherwise. Thanks everyone!:) Reading the diaries here helped prompt me to make some positive choices over the past six months, cutting down radically on fuel by cycling to work regularly, and developing a second income stream by renting out a room occasionally. I don’t generally have a flashy lifestyle and have spent much of the last few years saying no – can’t afford it to things, but without really taking the underlying debt by the horns and tackling it. This diary is my stab at moving from lurking and liking to acting…and making my debt busting activity much more targeted and specific...accepting that its a long haul but trying to make it as short as possible [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]A little about me – parent to one near-teen DD, she spends half her time with me and half with her dad. We’ve been apart for several years and never had joint finances; I bought my first house (tiny) after we split and after several years of saving finally made it to the next size up about 18 months ago. I work full time, and have done all her life, juggling a couple of uni degrees alongside it (luckily the MSc is finished now!). I had a head injury a few years ago, and a lingering side effect is a bit of scattiness – combine this with everything above and I’ve basically lost my grip on my finances, so I’m pretty certain I could make a big difference just by systematically working through things like utilities, and putting in processes like checklists to help me stay on top of it all. Here goes![/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Week 1:[/FONT]
·[FONT=&quot] [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Complete SOA.[/FONT][FONT=&quot] I’ve tried this tonight but I just don’t know enough about some of the amounts, and have locked myself out of various sites by forgetting the Fort Knox passwords etc. So it will take a little time, but I’ve given myself a deadline of a week to get to grips with it. The debt amounts are in my signature. [/FONT]
·[FONT=&quot] [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Keep a spending diary for October[/FONT][FONT=&quot]. To aid finding the specific things to target. [/FONT]
·[FONT=&quot] [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Get to grips with at least one utility bill [/FONT][FONT=&quot]– comparison sites etc. [/FONT]
·[FONT=&quot] [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Take lunch to work each day [/FONT][FONT=&quot](its normal for me not to spend at lunchtime, but often I forget to eat which can lead to splurges later in the day)[/FONT]
·[FONT=&quot] [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Cycle to work when practicable. [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Looking at my diary, 3 days should be possible.
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·[FONT=&quot] [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Advertise bedframe.[/FONT][FONT=&quot] I have a new one gifted from a friend, arriving next weekend. I’d like to sell the original one on if I can. Reading diaries on here, FB local sell pages seem like a good first try. [/FONT]
·[FONT=&quot] [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Cancel Creditexpert subscription. [/FONT][FONT=&quot]God knows how long that’s been popping out of my account for. [/FONT]
·[FONT=&quot] [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Return B&Q items [/FONT][FONT=&quot]not needed during last DIY project (only a few pounds but hey!). [/FONT]

DreamerHelen

Hi There, I know what it's like not to want to get out of bed in the morning but it sounds like you are making positive Steps towards beginning to clear your Debt....and you should be Congratulated for that!!

I have Subscribed and will follow your Journey....I wish you well...

parsniphead

Good luck with all your plan crazy_lady2009.

I had creditexpert taking money each month as I was too disorganised to cancel. It only took a couple off minutes to do and it frees up a bit each month.

It's good that you are breaking it down into small tasks, it makes it feel more manageable doesn't it.

Subscribes because I'm nosey.;)

[Deleted User]

Day 4


Hi Helen and Parsniphead! Company on this journey is very welcome. Plans disrupted a little as a friend is in town for a few nights (they usually live at the other end of the country, so it’s a good chance to catch up) – I’m hoping this midweek report might help me get back on track with all those things I meant to do J. It was really lovely to spend time with my mate. We went out for a drink the first night and the second night he and some other friends came over for dinner here, DD was with me for the night and it was lovely to cook for a big group and then serve it all with her help. Very satisfying to dress up our dining table (beautiful solid wood, reclaimed from living outside in all weathers in a friends garden and sanded down over a weekend at the end of the summer) and used some cutlery I had for my birthday – first time in my adult life that I’ve had a matching set! Most of what I cooked came from store cupboard ingredients, and the bits I had to pick up (about £13) are offset a little as there was enough left over to make into a scrummy dish to contribute to our bring and share lunch at work today, and I have some wine and chocolates to put back for future occasions!


Spending diary, taking lunch to work, and cycling into work have all gone smoothly – but diary aside, these are the habits I’d already worked on (although I’m proud I didn’t cave in and take the car in the rain!). Admin and SOA much less progress, felt I really needed a few hours solidly sorting through things at a time of day when call centres etc are open, although as parsniphead points out, the phone call to creditexpert won’t take long! I’ll make that a priority in the morning.


Bed is advertised on fb pages, no interest yet, but excitingly by taking a couple of hours flexi later in the week I’ve been able to get the new frame delivered here by a friend, saving me the 50 mile round trip to get it from my cousins house. I was also given a towel rail and shelving unit by another friend – its amazing how getting a few different pieces of furniture can make a whole room start to come together!


On the plus side, I’ve sorted a lot of things out to ebay/car boot , been given a massive bag of cooking apples, and opened all of my envelopes the same day that they arrived (a big step in not storing up stress!). It was a relief there wasn’t anything too scary in there, just a council tax final reminder which I had included in my debt amount already - its now been paid in full J My ex has also transferred just over £100 that he owed me, and I realised when I started my SOA that I’ve got 20 days through my pay-month without entering the overdraft - not that long ago I only surfaced from it for a few hours on payday|!



Best I get on with the rest of that list over the next 3 days! Night all x

[Deleted User]

So, with 24 hours to go to my first deadline, I've set aside most of today to wade through the financial situation. Its more than a little daunting.

I got to grips with the creditexpert account on Thursday, but was a little staggered that it thought I had a good credit rating...then I noticed that it was still showing my old address! I updated it to the new address, figuring I might as well see how bad the situation was before cancelling the account. Just logged in and am surprised to see its still in the Good band, despite dropping about 40 points.

Its picked up the following negative factors:

• Recent deterioration in payment history
• Average age of accounts has decreased
• Total balance of unsecured amounts has increased
• Using more of your available revolving credit

and these positive ones:

• mortgage account has been running for more than 12 months
• no recent credit searches (it says I don't appear credit hungry... In truth I'm credit-sick-from-overindulging)
• some settled accounts
• borrowing on regular instalment credit has reduced over the last 12 months

Looking at the detail within the report, its been a shock to see over the last 2 years how little the mortgage payments I make eat into the total sum of the mortgage (another mini-lightbulb moment I guess, feels like I'm stating the obvious here). The balance goes down by just £250/month :eek:

I've been through all of the repayment issues in detail. This is the area that makes me feel sick, silly, and ashamed

There are 3 credit cards that show missed payments:

• MBNA 3 payments dotted between 25 and 49 months ago were late
• EE - one payment was 1 month late 14 months ago
• Amex - several late payments over the last 25 months, the most recent was just one month ago :eek:

I'm not sure anything will repair that apart from time? It says they stay on the report for at least 72 months the prospect of which is making me feel a bit sick!

Now I've got a saved copy of the full credit file to commemorate this day is there any point in keeping the credit expert membership running? I guess I can re-join when its needed rather than keep it running. Any downside to that?

cottage_retreatist

Hey crazy_lady2009!

Great news on de-lurking!!! I lurk a lot but the support and guidance I have had from posting my debt woes on this board have helped me tremendously!!!

You really seem ready to tackle the debt-bull by the horns and that is brilliant news! About credit expert -you never need to sign up again! You can write to the credit reference agencies and for 2 pounds they can send you an up to date credit report! My OH wasted 30 pounds a month for god knows how long on credit agencies and really all they seem to do is sell your contact details on to debt collection agencies!!! :eek::eek: :mad::mad:

So best just to send the request in for it and that will save you some money!

Once you've done your SOA if you want to - do try posting it on your diary as then we can try and help you with things like groceries etc. So many people have such great advice on this board!

I will be following your journey.

Big hugs
C-R x

[Deleted User]

Yay! :T Thank you C-R and Parsniphead for your encouragement - I've just got off the phone, and managed to withstand the soft sell for a 2.99/month email alert option too.

They gave me some (seemed like) useful advice too about increasing the rating I have:

• close off and settle any accounts that you aren't using or likely to use (for example I have a debenhams storecard that I got once, used once, paid off in full and have no intention of using again - another job for the list!)
• Get the proportion of available credit being used below 50% (although that will get trickier I guess as you do the above)
• Paying just over the minimum payment (even by £1) each month is viewed by lenders as better than paying = the minimum payment, so altering repayments just slightly even if you cant pay off big chunks/in full (which is obviously better) is also a good habit.
• And a lot of the missed repayments are about to drop off the point at which they play a big role in the score (although they stay on the record for 72 months). The exception is the recent Amex payment which is there for another 11 months. Still, its going to take me that long to remove my current debt, so I think the conversation has encouraged me to protect my credit health as I do that, so it all comes together nicely in the end

beanielou

Happy shiny new diary.
Keep plodding & keep posting

shinner

Good luck on your journey. You have made some good moves already.

Pippilongstocking

Same from me - happy new diary and goodluck - will pop in with interest - lots going on!

[Deleted User]

Sat here, neat piles of paperwork covering my whole dining table, and in lines along my new shelves that a friend dropped off this morning , which are serving a useful purpose but are stuck bang in the centre of my lounge, wondering why it has never really dawned on me until now that the administration for running a household/family takes time!



I’m finding it hard to believe that I hold down (and would like to think I’m pretty successful at) a fairly decent job, managing a budget and a whole team of people, but don’t apply any of those skills systematically in my real life, or set aside any real quality time to do it! I’m bizarrely like an ostrich when it comes to both my health and my wealth (?), ignoring lots of warning signs about them…not sure who I thought was going to sort either of those things out!



So, after nearly a whole working day trying to make sense of this confusion, I’ve made progress towards the SOA (coming soon), but also ‘found’ a lot of little bits of money:


About $40 and 85 Euro. Potentially I’ll have a work trip to the US again next year, but it is far from certain. Similarly likely to have a continental trip early next year, but date not set yet. It would be a trip I’d try to take DD on, so one idea is to give her a Euro gift for Xmas (assuming it’s a certainty by then!), but are there any suggestions about the best way to exchange these smaller amounts or use them to pay towards my CC bills? I’ve only ever changed larger quantities back if its left over at the end of a trip, not sure if there is a way to pay other currency into a UK account?



2 x currency pre-loaded cash passport cards. Sadly haven’t got a clue what the pins would be or how much, if any they have on them. I guess there will be a way for travelex to help me work that out, I know when I got them that they were linked to my passport for ID purposes, so hopefully I can prove who I am!



A £25 amazon voucher I got for my birthday in May; this might come in handy for DDs birthday at the end of the month. She devours kindle books but might like to get something different, so a voucher she can use for either would be good.



A £10 theatre voucher, this was left over from a gift for DD a long time ago but looks like its still valid. We love the theatre but I’ve cut back a lot this year, and we’ve hardly been. This will help next time we plan a trip. I wouldnt recommend the vouchers again though - part of the reason its hung around so long is that its rarely the cheapest way to buy tickets, in my experience!



Thanks for all of the cheering me on today guys, (and welcome, Pippi (Good luck for I do!!), Beanielou, and Shinner) its been hugely touching, and helped keep me on track! :beer:
Off shortly to help with my friends DDs woodland birthday party - sausages round a campfire, scary stories and hot chocolate, and a walk in the dark through the trees. What a fab idea! :T