In the nick of time?

tibawo

Having successfully completed my iva, I thought I was ready to face the world and win. Sadly, it is not as easy as that and I have started to drift. I suppose the only plus point is I have realised now and know that putting my head in the sand won't help. I think the realisation that the new school uniform/shoes is needed but bills are late and the store cupboard is virtually empty has really brought it home.

Things like no bills from npower, being tied into contracts etc does not help but I have to face the responsibility and move on. In time I will post debts and planned soa but want to send token payments, bank charges letters (fees not helping me get debt free), investigate charis grants and change the BB provider so that I have time to sit and think.

I have now cancelled the sky, I am tied into it until late February but only have one payment to make. I have a now TV box and all the sky shows I like are on that. I have just picked up a six month box and voucher for 19. Once cash back and sell box on eBay, it does work out less but even so I would pay in excess of 120 if I stuck with sky. I don't want to scrape back to the minimum but I do want to be savvy.

I think one of the other things is I live for the here and now. There is nothing wrong with this if you have a budget/savings but I don't. I think it is a must for me to include these when I do my plan. I think I will look into saving onto gift cards as through work I get a discount for them and if I get one that I can also use at a supermarket it means I know I can get food in an emergency.

It would be nice to know someone out there is following my journey as I have low self esteem and motivation levels, so please pop in now and again to say hi. This might seem a strange request but it makes me feel that someone cares.


Owe - Jan 2016 - payment plan in place
Family members 403.92
B'card Visa 215
Aqua Visa 1165.53
Capital One 369.75
Nursery Fees - asked them to supply but not heard since letter sent 13 Jan
JD Williams 1337.42
Studio 144.07
La Redoute 318.19
Npower 2150
Pro 191.00
Freemans 328.00
Very 424.49

LionessInWinter

Good luck tibawo. Small changes like cancelling Sky can and do make a difference. Lots of little changes can produce bigger results.

tibawo

Been investigating the broadband and seems sky has best offer for me but seems ironic that I want to leave then because of extortionate TV price! Going to read the small print and double check that can cancel TV and they won't just upgrade it. This would potentially save another £9 a month not including any cash back I might get. Scary that within less than 48 hours I have potentially cut £25 a month off my outgoings especially when I thought there was nothing left to cut.

I also found I am not behind on two debts so will give them minimum payments rather than a token one. TBH there is not much difference and the money above will intially cover it.

Whilst tidying up and looking at the Xmas tree I have been doing a rough estimate of what we spend on Christmas, not just presents but the extra activities, food and drink. This has/should become part of the budget plan, it might have to be small amounts now but may increase as debts decrease. I would say we are talking about £750. I could put it on credit but that becomes extra debt. Theoretically I would love a 'paid' for Xmas 2016 but realistically if I could do a minimum of a 50% one, then I would be very happy.

With this is mind I need to revisit my daily click sites. This seems a nicer task to writing token letters but if I mix the two I can probably motivate myself to do it. I automatically use cash back sites and this money tends to changed to Amazon for treats/presents.

Have to confess I picked up a kilo of reduced cubed beef yesterday in'tramps corner.' Had some last night spilt it and freezed two lots as well. The stock pile has started!

tibawo

Sat down last night and brainstormed everything for the year ahead including some new knickers! It felt uplifting in the sense things are written down rather than floating in my brain.

Will be finishing sorting Xmas stuff etc in a minute. Have a pile of stuff to take to tip which I can't do until tomorrow as closed today. Just listed some stuff on eBay and have an area for next tesco car boot. Prefer this one as stall fee is reasonble.
Other than that nothing much done.

beanielou

Happy shiny new diary
Keep posting!

tibawo

So, it's dd2 family nibbles for her bday today. I suppose I am lucky that as a family we always bring a bottle and a dish when we have these. I know I contribute when I go to theirs but sometimes my pride of bringing a bog standard bottle compared to an exclusive one can make me a little green eyed and disappointed that I don't have a decent job etc. BUT I do try and keep my chin up knowing that I am blessed in many other ways.

Sold the now TV box on eBay, been busy trying to get the daily clicks going. Not sure how am going to manage over next three weeks till next payday but will buy the basics today like bread, milk etc to tide us over.

tibawo

To be honest I think I have been avoiding updating my diary as the whole feelings and letting my family down and the whole pride business getting in the way. I didn't get round to sending off the token payments and letters as that would mean facing up to things. I get easily annoyed with the kids at the moment e.g. for dumping stuff around the house and expecting me to pick them up and the worse thing I have done is not open any letters as I am just too scared to see the damage and then the whole cycle starts again.


I know I need to shake this feeling and that it has to be done in baby steps. part of me now realises taking a zero hours contract is not a good move for someone who struggles with budgeting. I need a regular pay so I know exactly where I am. I have found a few jobs to apply for so will see.


I am going to put the washing on as uniforms not done yet and then revisit my brainstorm book I did on new years eve as I literally put everything down in that. I have just done a SOA on stepchange and will print off the advice budget they did. I am also looking at trying to reclaim the bank charges but am trying not to start everything at once and end up not finishing one job.


the only positive thing to report so far is that I am in the momentum for two of my daily click sites and have already got £4.

tibawo

Unexpected time off this afternoon so as I was in a 'doing' frame of mind decided to make a start of the creditors letters. The letter itself is the template from stepchange but it is time consuming printing off soa and digging for account numbers especially since letters remained unopened and scared I will set myself on downward spiral. Even so I have done JDWilliams, Very, Provident, Freemans and Capital one. These will be sent shortly and then I will do the rest when I get back in tonight. I will post the balances as I get the next statements but all in all my rough estimate is about £10000.


The new years chores we started also seem to be going ok so the house is not half as bad as normal. we have more things to introduce but instead of starting them all at once and then failing big style we have started with two and getting them to be part of the routine before introducing the next. So far washing up and recycling all done before bed, coats and school bags put away,washing in basket and the kids have now mastering bringing their rubbish in from car.

tibawo

Well, I didn't do the remaining four letter. They just need account numbers on and then are good to go. Hoping to sort today. My excuse? Dd1 was in a flood of tears over some homework she could not do so by time I had calmed her and sorted it it was time for bed.

Yesterday I was in no place despite having a virtually free night, there was an incident at the after school club and it really annoyed me how bad the parent was, not the kids, a parent. I was absolutely gobsmacked as if this is the example she sets to her children then I can partly understand the things they do that they think is acceptable as they have just copied her. I had never realised how bad she was until another parent told me that when someone stood on her daughters coat when it had fallen off the peg she demanded school buy her a new coat!

Hoping for a positive day today.

tibawo

Just been catching up on the other threads I subscribe to. I am a couple points short of my next Amazon pound voucher on instagc, I know this is not tackling my debts as such but it is building up money for other things like towards bday pressies etc.

I have just put some tickets on eBay and later will put on a stack of stickers. I might not make loads but it will all add up. Checked the bank account and my CTC has gone back up, I had to pay some back from last year so now there is an extra £20 coming in which is good because the phone needs paying. Payday this Friday so amongst other things I am going to do a list of what I need to pay and in what order.

tibawo

The final letters are now done and will be posted when I walk DD2 friends home. I have had a peaceful afternoon in that they dug out the sledge and went out. There were lots of cold hands on their return despite gloves!


I have collated most of the reminder letters and shredded them. if I open them I know it will make me cry again as I have seen the balances online. Weirdly I have had my car renewal quote which has gone up by £5 a month yet on one of the comparison sites there is one that works out a good £100 cheaper.


The snow waylaid me putting things on ebay yesterday but will be done later. Next task is to write letters to see if I can claim any charges back from Barclays for both bank and credit card.


Yesterday I also spoke to dd1 about wasting her [well mine really] dinner money at school with her drinks. she said she would take them in but often nothing in house or she forgets. We have decided to try buying some flavoured water as a compromise which would save over £10 a month! They both get school dinners but drink loads!