diary of strugglin working mum

barnaby-bear

~Yorkshire_Belle~ wrote: »

But you have + £20 in savings and a car that works! No CT arrears and you know what's what and where's where, money wise.:T

You are doing so well , keep being positive and have the end in sight. :A

YB

...and the rest of her life ahead of her.
It's a real achievement to keep out of debt when you seem to be the sole positive contributor to the household, you've done this *in spite* of the concrete ball chained to your ankle.

pavlovs_dog

come on then Mrs, where's this new SOA you promised me?

BartGirl

Hi Pavlov

I know. I know. Am shattered. Tomorrow. I promise!

Goodnight all...

Ellidee

Aww hunny I am gutted for you that most of your savings have gone BUT what would you have done without them. ? How would you have paid to get your car fixed ? I know it must seem like an uphill struggle but PLEASE stay strong and positive. Sending you loads of positive vibes and lots of love. XXX

Keeping_Positive

Bartgirl as the others have said you have cleared CTax arrears and got a working car without increasing your debt. Im sure you will build up some more savings in the mean time. You are doing great.

BartGirl

Hello all

Alot's been happening so i'll try my best to bring you all up to speed..

MBNA refused the CC..oh well..life goes on..

The last 2 days have been v. MSE..ish! I spent £17 on a desk and chair for DS from Toys R Us. I went thru Quidco and cos i'm so skint; i put it on that horrific credit card I have. The thing is, I have a desk and 2 chairs for him but the 2nd of the 2 chairs broke on the weekend and he plays alot on it so...

However, yesterday I made spag bol for lunch and used the rest of the mince to make lasagne for dinner. So 2 meals from 1 ??? hahahaha

Have also done laundry and hung outside since weather's been nice. Also washed and cleaned car in and out where in the past I'd have paid a tenner! :eek:

In terms of OH he's started playing up again - but i shan't go into that again - I posted on the Relationships board here - in some ways I wish i hadn't..

Other than that I am finally ready to post the 'debt' side of my SOA on here..this is what's outstanding so far..

Vanquis - £780.35 - been paying £100/month: apr: 38ish%
Provident - £208.00 - been paying £50/month
Barclaycard - £ 134.38 - been paying £30/month apr 6.9%
Council Tax - owe: £1,902.63 (incl '07 arrears) - paying £173/month

My savings have been depleted so i'd intended to throw lots more into the savings account to boost up what I'd already had - and although some have argued its better to throw it at debt THEN aim for savings - in my situation I'm glad that I did save a fair bit too instead cos otherwise I wouldn't have had the cash to fix my car / pay council tax either!

However - as usual I'm open to suggestions..I'll probably have an extra £100 ish to throw at debt - in addition to what I am already paying above..so just want to know what people think i should do!

BartGirl

I need some pointers on the following please as well..ideas on where i should go etc

I'll also need to fork out on the following at some point:
1. toaster - not working
2. kettle - on last legs
3. camera - on last legs
4. contact lenses (have seen some thru Quidco could get)
5. spare pair specs ( " " " ")
6. shredder - necessity

My corridor carpet is mustardy-cream and is getting grubby now. I covered it with a rug but that too is grubby now. Can anyone recommend a cost-effective way to get this sorted ? I've seen a carpet cleaning machine that can be hired - but have no experience of how good this is. It'd set me back £40 though..

I also have a table-top dishwasher that i need connected by a plumber. A few in the Yello Pages have quoted £80-90 to do this..any ideas on how it could be done cheaper ?

Keeping_Motivated

Hi Bartgirl you are doing really well... Even though the savings have gone like you said if you didn't have them the car would probably have gone on the CC or you would have had to do with out the car both not good options so thank goodness for the savings you had built up.

The way you are dealing with things is helping to keep the debt stable and also improve it.

As for the extra £100 ish per month you may have to throw at debt I would throw it at the Vanquis card coz of the horrendous APR and by paying £200 per month off it it shouldn't take too long to clear it.

As for kettle and toaster they have cookworks kettle for £5.59 and a toaster for £5.99 at Argos online. As for the hall carpet I would keep buying cheap runners and replacing when necessary to avoid expense of cleaner or replacing carpet as I guess you might be leaving the house if you leave OH?

Take care
KM x

chevalier

BartGirl wrote: »

I need some pointers on the following please as well..ideas on where i should go etc

I'll also need to fork out on the following at some point:
1. toaster - not working
2. kettle - on last legs
3. camera - on last legs
For these 3 things above and maybe 6 below, I would suggest you get onto freecycle as certain kettles and toaster are advertised often on my local site. Sometimes also cameras and maybe the shredder.
4. contact lenses (have seen some thru Quidco could get)
5. spare pair specs ( " " " ")
6. shredder - necessity

My corridor carpet is mustardy-cream and is getting grubby now. I covered it with a rug but that too is grubby now. Can anyone recommend a cost-effective way to get this sorted ? I've seen a carpet cleaning machine that can be hired - but have no experience of how good this is. It'd set me back £40 though.. Maybe there is someone you could go halves of the hire on, so you use it for half a day and they use it for the other half?

I also have a table-top dishwasher that i need connected by a plumber. A few in the Yello Pages have quoted £80-90 to do this..any ideas on how it could be done cheaper ? There are websites on the web that show you how to do this sort of basic work, maybe that would help?

Best of luck
chev

pavlovs_dog

BartGirl wrote: »

Other than that I am finally ready to post the 'debt' side of my SOA on here..this is what's outstanding so far..

Vanquis - £780.35 - been paying £100/month: apr: 38ish%
Provident - £208.00 - been paying £50/month
Barclaycard - £ 134.38 - been paying £30/month apr 6.9%
Council Tax - owe: £1,902.63 (incl '07 arrears) - paying £173/month

not sure if ive asked before - are the above amounts the minimium you must repay, or are your overpaying on some/all of the them? either way, vanquis needs to take priority because of the horrible interest rate.

something thats occured to me - is your OH around when your provident person calls? if so, i would focus on your other debts before that one. so long as the provvy agent is still calling, you can convince OH that you're in debt, skint, cant lend him money if he realises that you've cleared that debt he might either think you've got money to spare (which you will... just not for him!) or he even encourage to renew the loan with them :eek:


i can fully understand you wanting to build up some savings again, and its already paid dividends for you. whilst your bank balance might be low, it isnt in the red. you are coping brilliantly, and even a broken car and other appliances cant throw you off course. you go sister :j

about mbna - you could try writing to them? when ive been declined for credit in the past, a letter stating that im dissappointed, would be prepared to accept a low limit to prove im not a bad credit risk blah blah blah has often got me a new bit of plastic for the collection. worst they will say is no again! anything that you can get some £ off of vanquis onto a cheaper rate will sve you serious money. i reckon its worth your time and the cost of a stamp.

your broken kitchen appliances - freecycle, or argos/supermarket own brand ranges. should be able to get each one for around a fiver.

dishwasher - are they any more difficult to plumb than a washing machine? why not go post on the in my home board further down the forums, see if they can help?

contact lenses - have you tarted around all the free trials you can find?

shredder - matches are cheap as a short term alternative. documents can be destroyed suitably with a small flame (just dont set everything else alight :eek: )