Our Journey from Debtdom to Freedom

hazeldreams

Igamogam wrote: »

I would give even your very old clothes to weigh in - where I take mine they dont check the bags for quality - I believe anything they cant use they recycle..............well I hope they do and it doesnt end in land fill. Oxf*m will give you a £5 voucher for M&S items. Also if you have a Nect*r card you can link it on the Oxf*m website and any items sold in their shops ( not just clothes) will generate Nect* points - Think I have made about £12 this way this year on stuff I didnt want and would not sell on Eb*Y.

Eb8y is a bit of a minefield regarding clothes - unless you have new stuff or designer I would say steer clear and sell on fceb**k.

Happy decluttering ........good for the soul:)

Thanks Igamogam - I had no idea I had this many options! Great tip re f***book I'll have to look into it! I've now managed to clear all 3 bedrooms wardrobes and drawers and the dreaded under the stairs cupboards - I'm exhausted but feel so much better for it!

hazeldreams

NoOneAround wrote: »

Hi Hazel, sorry to hear you have all been poorly - hope everyone feeling fully better today.
Wow- well done on clearing such a large amount by PAdding :T
I also have loads of old clothes - just never seem to get the time to get everything posted - have been following a few FB pages and some things do seem to sell well and quickly - plus you only deliver locally or arrange for items to be picked up. Posted a few things to test a few weeks ago but no interest, so need to post a few different things - toys/dvd/games seem to go really well, clothes seem to be hit and miss - but I did manage to sell some toys through local Netmums site- free to post!
xx

Thanks NOA everyone is on the mend now thankfully! I'm really pleased with the progress so far, although its not all PADing as I did kickstart with the scraps of savings I'd had around! I plan to update my signature once per week now, probably on a Thurs/Fri so I can see the progress and keep motivated! Thanks again for the selling tips - I need to tackle the loft next as I know there's some great toys up there that would sell so will look at ebay for those. I've had some success in the past with clothes on ebay - I might give it a go and if it doesn't work out take yours and Igamogams advice and try other avenues.

hazeldreams

So whats with my signature?! Any advice on what I'm doing wrong would be gratefully received! Where on earth have these exclamation marks come from?!


As for life in hazeldreamland - slowly getting back to normal after all being ill. Feeling a bit rubbish about mse activities as they've all gone a little out the window with spends here and there on trips to the chemist and not really keeping track of every penny. I've managed to fully update YNAB as to where I stand now though so that's good. I've been reviewing where else I can drive down the bills but I'm failing. DH is working overtime at every opportunity to generate some extra but its not enough to really make a dent in the huge debt that we have. I've spoken with him about students/lodger as we've a spare room but he's absolutely adamant that he doesn't want to share the house, even though the extra £300pm+ per month would make such a difference! We've also a property abroad that we bought with my parents many years ago that would be a great holiday let, however my parents are adamant about not letting this out either as they see it as their home and have heard not great stories about letting houses out abroad before. So feeling a little deflated tonight as we've 2 great assets that could be generating lots of extra cash to smash the debt that aren't! Any ideas on how I can bring the family around, would be really welcomed!

NoOneAround

Hi Hazel, its frustrating isn't it! We have spare room and rented or rather hosted international students over several years ot of necessity. It is Ok but I ended p running around them all the time as we are rural and they couldn't get into town by themselves, The other problem was that meals had to be included (so it would be different if you had a lodger) and that meant I always had to cook properly even when we felt like just having a baked potato or something simple. Also bills were a lot higher as heating was on a lot more ....DH hated it and wold have nothing to do with it even though it is what saved the day and kept our heads above water for so long. We didn't take a proper lodger as I didn't want to be home alone with a stranger in an isolated place like ours, or at times have to leave one of the kids home alone with them when taxi-ing the other. However it is the easiest way to make good money if you can persuade family! Good Luck!

hazeldreams

Thanks NOA, although your reasons for no longer hosting students are exactly the same reasons my DH doesn't want to consider it!

Life is ticking along ok here...after a family meeting we talked about all of the activities the children are doing-the poor things are exhausted and as we can't afford to keep sending them to everything they've chosen one thing to give up - saving us £720 over the year.:T

Only £80 of shopping budget left for the month with 2 weeks to go it's going to be tough-but shopping list completed ready for a trip to A**I and the freezers are pretty stacked with meat so should be a relatively cheap week, fingers crossed!

Still plodding away with the PADs, HM bread etc...just trying to build up the courage to attack ebay with all the stuff from the wardrobes and there's still the loft to tackle!

Off to read some more diaries ..and keep motivated!

Puzzcat

Hi Hazel, mse was spammed earlier in the week and the !! in your signature will disappear if you amend it slightly.

PinkPoppies

Hi Hazel!

Enjoyed reading your diary, you seem so lovely! I wish you all the best on your journey!

Are you going to keep the Sky TV? We got rid of ours a few years ago and I have to say we don't miss it, which surprised us! It was DH's love of sports that stopped us getting rid in the past but since cancelling it all DH gets a Sky Sports day pass for £10 to watch 'important' matches now and again as a treat.

There are so many bugs flying about round here, we have managed to avoid them so far but expect it is only a matter of time!! Glad you are feeling better

hazeldreams

Puzzcat wrote: »

Hi Hazel, mse was spammed earlier in the week and the !! in your signature will disappear if you amend it slightly.

Thanks puzz- think I'll update my sig early this week then and hope all the wierd exclamation marks disappear! Hope all is well with you?

hazeldreams

PinkPoppies wrote: »

Hi Hazel!

Enjoyed reading your diary, you seem so lovely! I wish you all the best on your journey!

Are you going to keep the Sky TV? We got rid of ours a few years ago and I have to say we don't miss it, which surprised us! It was DH's love of sports that stopped us getting rid in the past but since cancelling it all DH gets a Sky Sports day pass for £10 to watch 'important' matches now and again as a treat.

There are so many bugs flying about round here, we have managed to avoid them so far but expect it is only a matter of time!! Glad you are feeling better

Thank you so much for dropping by pink poppies, that's really sweet of you to say you've enjoyed reading so far! I really really want to get rid of the Sky TV but DH somehow managed to lock us in to a contract until Jan 2016 by agreeing to change our telephone package to a cheaper tariff- I was so mad he'd only called them to fix a fault with on demand! However how I'd get him to agree to reducing the package anyway I don't know! But he doesn't go out drinking doesn't smoke etc..the sky package is his only vice so I can't complain - however come jan 16 some of the packages will have to go!

hazeldreams

OMG utterly fed up and depressed! I totally miscalculated my signature last week - I forgot to add in £2k which I owe to family...I knew it seemed a lot to have paid off - don't know how I've managed it I feel a complete idiot! I have managed to make loads of overpayments this month over £700 but some of this was swallowed up with a balance transfer fee to BC. Feel such an idiot and now utterly depressed...booooo!!!