Trying to sort my finances

Stripeycat

Hi everyone. So I haven't been very careful with money over the past few years. I'm self-employed and have got less work done (in the same amount of time, everything is taking longer) due to mental health issues. I've been earning less but haven't reduced my spending, in fact I've spent more as I developed a shopping habit.

The wake-up call came when I calculated my tax bill and didn't have enough to cover it for the first time ever. I have an excellent credit rating as I have never missed a payment ever but I also have about £12k of debt.

So I thought I would make a post because it will help to just set everything out in writing and obviously any advice or encouragement is hugely appreciated!

I think I have sorted things as best I can for now:
- I have a fixed rate personal loan I got last year (3.9%) which I'm paying off.
- I moved some of my credit card debt to a Halifax card which is 0% on balance transfers for 26 months.
- I moved the rest to a Fluid MBNA card which is 0% on balance transfers and money transfers for 29 months.
- I am doing a money transfer to cover the shortfall on my tax bill. I will have the money to pay this back in February.
- I am setting fixed rate payments for my cards not just doing the minimum payment so I get it paid off sooner.

I have also been through my house and ruthlessly assessed what is and is not needed. I have put lots of items on eBay and Gumtree.

Other things I have done:
- Made about £45 from trading in CDs and DVDs (£17 from Music Magpie, £28 from Ziffit). Kicking myself as a rare box set came up as £30 trade-in value when I scanned it a few months ago but is down to £10 now.
- I'm trading in two old iPods for about £20 each once Gadget Panda reopens for business, they are on holiday right now still.
- Might trade some books in on Amazon if they don't sell on Gumtree.
- Returned a £30 dress I impulse bought from ASOS.
- Deleted emails containing discount codes instead of buying something just for the sake of using them.

I do have some savings (two months' rent and bills) in an ISA but need to hang onto them in case I have a low cash flow month or I'm ill, being self-employed means I always need a cushion just in case, eg last year I had flu for a week, lost £500 of work and got £20.70 in ESA. I'm not entitled to tax credits as I earn over the threshold.

I'm also trying to shop more mindfully and plan and save up instead of impulse buying. I feel a bit sick when I think of all I've wasted, some of it went on worthwhile stuff but some of it I've just wasted on things I don't need or in some cases haven't even used.

I keep telling myself I can't go back and have to just start from here but part of me just feels so worthless and stupid. I can afford the repayments so I don't need an official plan and hopefully I've given myself some breathing space at least.

CountingPenniesClaire

Can't offer much advice but didn't want to read and run. Well done for recognising and admitting the problem, and taking action. You are certainly neither worthless nor stupid! They'll be lots more people along I'm sure, with friendly tips and constructive suggestions.

Sazzie23

Not much advice from me either, but I thought i'd mention the snowball calculator which shows you how to pay off debts quickest. Just search for snowball and link should pop up.

I'd also recommend re-assessing want and need. If i'm planning a purchase, I try to leave it a week at least to give me time to decide, is there another way, do I own something already that would do the job nearly as well? Do I really need it? You'll find strategies that can work for you and good luck, sounds like you are in a good position already.

Sarahf

Stripeycat wrote: »

Hi everyone. So I haven't been very careful with money over the past few years. I'm self-employed and have got less work done (in the same amount of time, everything is taking longer) due to mental health issues. I've been earning less but haven't reduced my spending, in fact I've spent more as I developed a shopping habit.

The wake-up call came when I calculated my tax bill and didn't have enough to cover it for the first time ever. I have an excellent credit rating as I have never missed a payment ever but I also have about £12k of debt.

So I thought I would make a post because it will help to just set everything out in writing and obviously any advice or encouragement is hugely appreciated!

I think I have sorted things as best I can for now:
- I have a fixed rate personal loan I got last year (3.9%) which I'm paying off.
- I moved some of my credit card debt to a Halifax card which is 0% on balance transfers for 26 months.
- I moved the rest to a Fluid MBNA card which is 0% on balance transfers and money transfers for 29 months.
- I am doing a money transfer to cover the shortfall on my tax bill. I will have the money to pay this back in February.
- I am setting fixed rate payments for my cards not just doing the minimum payment so I get it paid off sooner.

I have also been through my house and ruthlessly assessed what is and is not needed. I have put lots of items on eBay and Gumtree.

Other things I have done:
- Made about £45 from trading in CDs and DVDs (£17 from Music Magpie, £28 from Ziffit). Kicking myself as a rare box set came up as £30 trade-in value when I scanned it a few months ago but is down to £10 now.
- I'm trading in two old iPods for about £20 each once Gadget Panda reopens for business, they are on holiday right now still.
- Might trade some books in on Amazon if they don't sell on Gumtree.
- Returned a £30 dress I impulse bought from ASOS.
- Deleted emails containing discount codes instead of buying something just for the sake of using them.

I do have some savings (two months' rent and bills) in an ISA but need to hang onto them in case I have a low cash flow month or I'm ill, being self-employed means I always need a cushion just in case, eg last year I had flu for a week, lost £500 of work and got £20.70 in ESA. I'm not entitled to tax credits as I earn over the threshold.

I'm also trying to shop more mindfully and plan and save up instead of impulse buying. I feel a bit sick when I think of all I've wasted, some of it went on worthwhile stuff but some of it I've just wasted on things I don't need or in some cases haven't even used.

I keep telling myself I can't go back and have to just start from here but part of me just feels so worthless and stupid. I can afford the repayments so I don't need an official plan and hopefully I've given myself some breathing space at least.

How do you trade books in on Amazon?

Stripeycat

Sazzie23 wrote: »

Not much advice from me either, but I thought i'd mention the snowball calculator which shows you how to pay off debts quickest. Just search for snowball and link should pop up.

I'd also recommend re-assessing want and need. If i'm planning a purchase, I try to leave it a week at least to give me time to decide, is there another way, do I own something already that would do the job nearly as well? Do I really need it? You'll find strategies that can work for you and good luck, sounds like you are in a good position already.

This is great advice, thank you - I will check out the snowball calculator.

Thanks for all your replies.

Re Amazon... I can't post links yet but search for 'Amazon trade-in store' and you'll find it - if a book can be traded there's a link from the product page. Not usually much but a few have come up at £3-5.

Time_to_face_the_music

If you trade in books on Amazon, you receive Amazon online gift vouchers in return. I have done this a few times and saved the vouchers for Christmas and birthday gifts etc.

You need to be careful that the book isn't vastly undervalued in the trade-in and you could be better off setting up an Amazon seller account, this means you can also cash in your proceeds of sales rather than getting a voucher.

TTFTM x

asparagus1968

Hi,
firstly ,stop beating yourself up, you haven't killed anyone!
you've recognised an issue, and seems like you are taking the bull by the horns, with the stuff you have done so far,so well done you.


have a read of martin's de-motivator, and definitely have a look at the snowballer.


you could post a statement of affairs from www.stoozing.com if you would like us to have a look and see if there is any more help we can offer?


welcome to the forum anyway, we've all been in a pickle at one time other

Stripeycat

Thanks for "you haven't killed anyone" - that is really helpful and I will remind myself of it!

Will do the statement thing soon...

takingcontrolatlast

hi stripeycat, we are all human and we all make mistakes/poor decisions and im guilty and still do feel stupid at some of the decisions i have made and wastage in the past. You should pat yourself on the back that you have taken control and ownership - im a newbie and i think this site is full of inspiration and tips and a place to share. There's no point beating yourself up as whats done is done so to speak - im in the same boat and taking one day at a time - all positive

Its so hard being self-employed and not knowing sometimes where the next pay cheque is coming from - believe me i know ! but this site gives you some ideas of making extra cash (though you are making efforts already).

do you spend because you are bored? Whats helping me is posting in my diary every day. Its keeping me focused on what i want to achieve - to get out of debt! Be strong and try to make right choices - you can do it !

asparagus1968

Hi stripeycat, how are you today?

Stripeycat

I think I spend as a distraction. Less from boredom; more as a distraction from stressful or boring things.

Some of my ebay auctions are doing well so that's good but I'm a bit stressed about balance transfers. (Think I mixed up the lengths in my op, Fluid is the 26 month one.) Halifax did the balance transfer within a couple of days of my application and they've sent me various bits of post already (pin etc). Fluid/MBNA emailed me confirming that my application was successful and with details of my credit limit but I've had no post from them yet and no sign of the transfers I've arranged.

I guess I'll phone them to see what's going on but I'm a bit worried that there's a problem. Or are they just slow? I went on a website that listed transfer times for lots of cards but it didn't include them.