Starting to face up to it all

EvieandPeanut

Still here - just been busy doing all the weekend chores and visits etc. Now sitting down to go through all the letters etc. Hubby refuses to move from watching the rugby but tells me he'll get involved later!!

Have taken step of giving up my cleaner and now contemplating having a dirty house for a while as I genuinely do not have time to do it myself!! I don't get home until 8.30pm - 9pm most nights and I am often abroad for work, including weekends. Been asked if we have any kids - no just the 2 of us but we are approaching 40 so time to think about it.

Re Hubby giving up flying - we've come too far to bin it all now and there is earning potential. Just not sure how long we can keep hanging in there until the job materialises. HB has applied for a driving job as a part time stop gap but it seems to be taking ages to get any firm answers.

Anyway - on with the paperwork.

hypno06

Hi there, just seen this one for the first time.

Re the cleaner - I gave mine up at Christmas. OK, so I can't now see my worktops, and people often aren't allowed any further than the front doorstep, but it does save me money!

I KNOW I should be able to do the housework, but on top of everything else it would be a step too far!

Good luck with the paperwork. Scary steps, but as you will see from my sig we have been there and are starting to come through the other side.

Definately use the snowball calculator and keep on posting. The support here is the most valuable thing in the world!

barron_hard_up

Hi Evie,

Good luck with the debt reduction, it's amazing what you don't miss when you put your mind to it that you are going to reduce debt. Lots of others have posted much, I just want to send my best wishes.

always_amazed

hey evie,

good to see you back!!

hope the paperworks coming along fine, well done for getting stuck in.


xxxx

bexxie90

You should read pilotindebt's thread either i am lost or he is your other half. Think I am going mad

Good luck though hun with what you are trying to get done you will do it with hard work and determination
bex.x

barron_hard_up

Just been looking at some other threads, and it appears your other half is posting about the problem, have a talk with him, maybe he isn't doing the ostrich thing? If he's posting, at least he is thinking.

Good luck.

OberonSH

Hey evie, glad it seems to be getting started for you.

I understand where you come from with the whole no time thing - I'm luckier than most in so much as I'm on maternity, so I'm at home - though I'm doing more hours than I did at my business, thanks to a thriving ebay business.

My tip would be find a free day, rope the kids and hubby in and get one room completely clear of clutter (ebay fodder) and tidy. Just one room. Then just be really strict about keeping it tidy. I did this with my front room, and now every night I do a quick whipround - literally 5 mins returning stuff, taking cups to the kitchen etc and the place looks really tidy, and doesn't take any time at all. Hubby knows better than to leave his models out, and should he dare leave his cowboy boots in there, he runs the risk of having them thrown at him.

Then when that was under control, I tackled the next room. To start with it was a bit hard going, but once it's done, it;s just a matter of keeping up with it, and I uncovered whole boxes full of stuff I realised I didn't even want.

Don't let hubby & kids be lulled into thinking that Mum = Slave. We have a 'we all live here, we all clean it' policy, and it works pretty well. Even the 2 year old puts her toys away bfore switching on the TV! (That'll be the whip and threat of rats in the cellar)

Good luck with the paperwork - personally I would have pulled the plug out the wall and not put it back until stuff was sorted, but don't let him get away with not helping out. This is a joint debt, so it shouldn;t just be you that shoulders the stress of sorting it.

chevalier

The main thing about debt reduction is that it doesn't just require you to spend less, it is to see that this is possible. By that I mean if you always shop in Sainsbury see how much cheaper it is for the same shop in Tesco, or Aldi or Morrisons. You can do online shops so you don't even need to leave your home to price compare.:D You may be surprised how little a basic shop costs by switching stores. Also take the time to see what you already have in your cupboards/ freezer. Not only might you find that you don't have to buy any cleaning materials or toiletries this side of xmas, but you may also find that there is a lot of food stuffs in said cupboards/freezer, that can combine in decent meals for a week or two, with the money you would have spent on food going to the priority debt.

When was the last time you changed your electric/gas/ car insurance/ building and contents insurance/checked you life insurance etc? Do you just automatically renew without thinking about it? Well now is the time to think! I save £123 on my car insurance this year, just by checking on moneysupermarket.com. If you do find a cheaper provider, then don't forget to go via www.quidco.com to get cash back when you switch.

Is you credit rating still good. You can sign up for a free trial via Experien on the quidco website, and get £5 cash back (just make sure you cancel within the month or you will get charged). If you (and you OH ) scores are still good, then you could try applying for a low life of balance card to balance transfer the debt with the highest APR onto. Then more of you monthly payment is going to the debt not the interest. Debt busting is about making the same money work harder for you, but it does take some time!

To further motivate yourself, then have a look at the snowball calculator on www.whatsthecost.com . It will give you your debt free date, as things stand now, but also how much closer it will get if you throw and extra £x to the debt each month.

We look forward to your SOA. Good luck
chev

EvieandPeanut

Thanks everyone for all the advice. Just to let you know that I'm not married to "Pilot in Debt" on the forum. I have my own pilot in debt but he's only just starting to get up to speed with all this!!!! I can back up everything the PinD posts. All the pilots my husband knows are in the same boat although possibly not as deeply as we are. We've just added up all our debt and it is far higher than we thought. I think we could win "the biggest amount ever posted" award. Definitely feel sick now.

slowlyfading

keep posting though, getting it out in the open and talking through things will really help you. Do you have anything you could sell on amazon/ebay? You need to start thinking of bringing in some extra cash or cutting back on things. *hugs* x