Batting this curveball in a positive direction...

MeandO

Not much news to report, just waiting for payday!

Buyer still hasn't paid for item they bought as a BIN on Saturday,
and I can't close the case and re-list until Friday either. :mad:

I had to fill up with petrol yesterday as was running on fumes, so that cost just over £50, hopefully it will last me for 10 days or so.

I don't think I have much left that I can ebay, but will have another scout round the house at the weekend.

Just waiting for the remortgage to go through ow really so we can start getting our lives on track again, albeit independently.

MeandO

Oh, one bit of news I forget to mention - my wonderful parents have said they would like to pay for DS's sports club he goes to every Saturday morning which he absolutely loves. It's about £50 a term, so that will help us out. Distance and poor health means we don't get to seem them much and they miss him so much, as we do them. I wish we lived closer, I have no family and very few close friends here, it can be quite lonely at times and such a worry when they're not well.

MeandO

Just had an email to say Npower have reviewed my account and are reducing my direct debit by £2 a month, now £28 a month. Every little helps I suppose!

MeandO

Well it's payday, but it's one heck of an anti-climax!

I've paid the remaining £200 of my tax bill, transferred everything else that needs transferring, and thanks to being nearly £900 overdrawn (with a £1500 agreed limit), there's not a lot left. After everything's been paid for this month, we will possibly be up to our limit, if we're not careful.

I need to bring in some extra income somehow this month, to try and keep the overdraft as low as possible. I really don't have a lot left to ebay, but I will have to turn the whole house out and have a look this weekend.
I sorted a big pile of cookery and craft books that we don't need last night and I will look at the best place to sell those tonight.

We've already music magpie'd all our cds and dvds ages ago (except DS's which we regularly use so they're going nowhere).

There's also the added issue of me having to take 2 days of unpaid leave next month as I have no-one to look after DS for two days in half term and no holiday left.

Basically, life sucks right now and it seems I'm running out of options fast.

MeandO

Right, I have just spoken to the ex and I think he now understands the gravity of the situation. He is going to transfer some money he had saved for other things and some money he got for Christmas, totalling £420, which will help us out massively. He also has a £25 gift card for Mr T he received for Christmas, so that will go towards some groceries when we need them.

He has earmarked a couple of things we no longer use that we could sell locally and has agreed to not using the (still) joint account for anything other than absolute essentials.

I have listed a couple of items to sell on Amazon, hopefully they will go very quickly. The rest I'll sort tonight.

I'm so mad with myself to be in this situation again after previously being debt free. I'm desperate to get new budgets in place so I know where I am every month, but at the moment it's like treading water.

MeandO

Just closed the non-payment case on ebay over the item I never got paid for, and re-listed the item. :mad: That's a waste of a week.

I've joined gumtree and advertised something on there, and have also advertised one more item on a local selling board. Fingers crossed it all brings in some extra pennies soon.

Feeling really down in the dumps today.

MeandO

Quite a productive evening I suppose... I now have ten items on ebay, although am dubious as to whether a few of them will sell at all, but worth a try. I've listed a couple more books on Amazon and I'll advertise the others at work on Monday.

I've just run the washing machine on an empty hot wash with vinegar in it to try and descale and clean it a bit - a tip I found on the oldstyle boards, and the dishwasher is on the eco programme tonight.

I've also set the heating back onto the timer and turned the temperature down by a few degrees. It's been on pretty much constantly for a few weeks since it got so cold here.

I've used up some of the homemade soup for my dinner tonight - its not that great to be honest but I'm not going to waste it and it filled a hole!

Now just sat with a cuppa browsing the board for a while before an early night.

3wisemonks

You really are doing so well. I hope you don't mind commenting on your martial situation as I know what you are going through is tough but from what you've said you sound like you've made the right decision. Rather than letting the bitterness set in you've remained friends and I think its lovely hearing you still be able to support one another. My sibling has a different father, her parents split when she was small and she's led a happy successful life as her parents remained friends with respect for one another. Her dad would have us round including my parents for Sunday dinner when I was small. As we got older both her dad and my parents would come together for party's etc. No rows just one big family.
You you and your ds will do well I'm sure its just new and a little scary I'm sure at the moment.

Your doing brilliantly with the ebaying (although :mad: to the non payer) I was I had even half your motivation! I've done a couple boot fairs which are OK made £100 + each time. Clothes seem to sell really well especially children's.

I've done the vinegar thing as well. It worked great

I'm doing the same with heating, its been so cold recently. I'm wearing lots of clothes in doors

I'm going to attempt to subscribe

MeandO

Thanks so much 3wisemonks, your comments really made me smile and cheered me up after a bit of a blue weekend.

So lovely to hear about your family too, thanks so much for sharing, it's really reassuring to hear that it's worked for other people and there is a chance of happiness in the future if you know what I mean.

Wow, you did well at the car boot sales. I have done a few in the past, but they start sooooo early around here (I'm talking 4 - 5am :eek:) that it totally puts me off! It's difficult with DS as well as I wouldn't take him.

Saying that, I have sold quite a few bits over the weekend on ebay as BIN's, two books on Amazon and some baby equipment on gumtree, bringing in around £55 after postage. Unfortunately, it has been a spendy weekend though, so not even money neutral, but will go someway towards recouping the loss.

I've added a few more bits to ebay over the weekend as I found stuff. There are bids of around £20 at the moment, hopefully they will rise before the auctions end on Friday.

I totally have the Monday morning blues today, am feeling so down, so I'm off to browse the boards a little as that usually puts me in a positive mindset.

MeandO

Well just when I thought it couldn't get any worse today, we've been informed this morning that the place I work is now under external review (again) and there is the possibility we could be shut down.

Feeling utterly terrified at the prospect of keeping this house up and a roof over my son's head alone at the moment.
I just want to go home and sob.