Battling Debt and Mental Illness — and (hopefully) Winning!

Bobarella

Well what a brilliant day! You sound like you really aced it!

12_month_challenge

Its good to see you so inspired and upbeat. Well done and keep going.

Small steps is the answer

Were all debt busting together :j and one day we will all be on the
I'M DEBT FREE PAGE :beer:

crazy_cat_lady

That is brilliant news! Congratulations - and enjoy it

AspiringButAnxious

Thanks everyone My next goal is to impress the CO with my work!

AspiringButAnxious

Added £1 to my savings pot — though a chunk of the money in it will be used for an Indian takeaway tomorrow night! My best friend, K, is coming over and we're celebrating the launch of my website and ebooks (a few months late, but she caught a virus when we originally arranged it) with cava and cocktails (already in stock ).

Also got the £4 Amazon voucher and added it to my account, bringing the total balance to £13.24. ValOp should slip over the £15.50 mark soon, so I can add another £15 to Amazon. The next few presents I want to get are free delivery only over £20, so I will be able to get them all together when I get the £15 voucher. That should take care of the 2 remaining kiddy birthdays this year and 1 Xmas present. I will probably then aim to get my Dad's birthday present before aiming for the remaining 3 kiddy Xmas presents. I'm really pleased with how well it's going so far — I should be able to get presents for my friends too, and maybe even my family, which means I can save more

I'm going to take it easy this weekend — play around with my new writing job (it feels weird saying that!), do some bits and bobs of writing without pressuring myself, do some research and perhaps submit a proposal or two... The ebook I'm writing is going dreadfully slow, but I haven't had any success with setting tight deadlines for myself lately.

AspiringButAnxious

B*****ks. Hit a snag: I thought our family computer had Microsoft Publisher, but it turns out it doesn't. I need it for my new writing job, but a one-off purchase for my laptop is £110.

I guess I should try to look at the situation from all angles...
Pros
1. I will probably earn more than double the cost for the writing job (their top budget is £300)
2. It's a business expense, so as long as I earn enough to cover all my expenses this year, I won't be out of pocket
3. I can use it for future jobs/projects
4. This job is a fantastic opportunity and will look great on my CV

Cons
1. It's a lot of money and will put my already-meagre savings on hold until next month
2. My skills might not be good enough to complete the job — I'm doing it on a trial basis, so I need to impress
3. I might never use it again

My gut instinct is to buy the software. It's annoying, but I've overcome much bigger obstacles. I could spread the cost a little by putting it on my credit card, meaning I have a month until it needs to be paid and since I get my ESA on Monday, I will have another payment that's not spoken for before the CC payment is due. That way, I can still put a little in my EF.

Ugh :mad: I'd rather not have to buy the software, but I think it's the best option in the long-term.

lcc86

Hi ABA, I think publisher sounds like a good investment, I'm sure you'll use it again given the line of work you're in. Congrats on the job opportunity too :j

AspiringButAnxious

Thanks lcc86 That's what I was thinking, so it helps to have someone back me up — otherwise I keep wondering if I'm mad or making excuses, like when I used to convince myself that designer shoes would bring me eternal happiness

Part of me keeps hoping for a Magic Wand Situation when I encounter obstacles — i.e. that someone will wave a magic wand and solve my problems for me. I see some people who appear to share the same attitude when they post their SOAs on the DFW forum and claim they can't live without their luxuries, despite drowning in debt. I think I'm learning to be more proactive and work through my problems — spelling it out, like I did in my last post, helps a lot.

I will bite the bullet and buy it!

crazy_cat_lady

Yes, you need to get it. None of this rubbish about you not being good enough for the job - that just is not true... It's a good long term investment for when they make you permanent.

AspiringButAnxious

Lol! Thank you CCL