Prosperous soul in the making

savingholmes

So a little about me...

I have been on the forums before but have had a gap for a number of years. Unfortunately I have a serial debt habit and at times have cleared debt only to restart.

Debt excluding mortgage £46554. :eek: This does include two car loans which between them account for about £26835 of this. This leaves approximately £19719 of CC / HP debt. In good months we repay about £1070 a month. Other than the car loans it is all on 0% balance transfer cards. We snowball and tart our cards regularly. Last year we repaid over £10K ::jeven after a blip where we added about £1.5k of new debt.

So why the diary.... Well I really need to break my over-spending habits and clear debt once and for all. This year I am wanting to set up a new craft-based business to help me do that. I have never sold anything on Ebay or Etsy. I don't have a paypal account. I am debating whether to set up a company - to protect my income - as otherwise any profit will just get lost in tax. My goal for the business is not just to clear debt but also to help me fund my son at Uni.

I need some encouragement to not give in and add to the debt when the going gets tough. I also need some impetus to actually sell what I'm creating and not sit back and be perfectionist and say its not good enough. I am a closet hoarder and that's a habit I also need to break. I have also written a kid's book. I need to finish editing the grammar and have the guts to submit it somewhere and not leave it to gather dust. Oh and me and my husband both work full time in reasonably well-paid jobs that leave little spare time. We also have a teenage daughter.

I don't want to post an SOA as I have done Martin's Moneymakeover and know where we've been going wrong - mainly fritter and impulse spending. We've recently changed our utility supplier. Next I intend to look at our life insurance and employment insurance and see if we can make savings there.

Thanks for reading.:A If any of you crafters out there have used craft selling to get out of debt, please share your story as it would encourage me.

January2015

Hello and welcome

If this is going to be your diary, you might want to ask admin to move it to the diary section.

I am going to follow your thread. I have never sold any craft stuff, but would love to follow you and see how you get on. It's something my family tell me I could (and should) do.

Good luck with the budget and containing your impulse spending. It is difficult at first but soon it becomes a challenge to achieve the month within the grocery budget and hopefully come in under budget. I haven't bought any crafty goods for over 3 years now - and I still have loads to get through. Prior to my DFW days I would have bought loads and loads - impulse spending!

Looking forward to getting to know you :wave:

sourcrates

Shall I move it for you ?

EssexHebridean

Welcome back! (Well, kind of, you know what I mean!)

Fine to not post an SOA obviously but I'm going to urge you to do one anyway - for precisely the same reasons I bet you've encouraged folk to do them in the past - that accountability to yourself, and having every penny accounted for is tremendously useful. Personally I'd also say that it's not a bad idea to post even the outgoings portion of it as folk might be able to spot savings that for whatever reason you've just missed. Entirely up to you though.

So what's the plan for tackling the overspending issues? Spending diary? Using cash not cards?

I assume the plan with the cars is to keep them, keep paying the finance and then retain the cars once the finance is cleared and you will hopefully be in a position to save for their replacements in the future as and when required?

Captain_Bluebear

Hi Savingholmes

It sounds like you have the makings of a very interesting diary!

I'll also be following you as I also dabble in the craft hobby/money making business. Admittedly very halfheartedly in the past but now I have more time on my hands I've really started to embrace the idea and processes involved.

What crafts do you have in mind? Mine is mainly fabric based as I spent time years ago as a seamstress. (Please don't let the user name fool you...I'm female!)

I'd be really interested in what you create! Who knows...maybe we could all inspire each other!....That includes you January2015! (If your family says you should do it you obviously have talent.)

My biggest problem is fear. So many types of fear! of my work being rubbish/failure/success. In fact, (Even though I've never been one for self help books) I've just started reading "Big magic" by Elizabeth Gilbert (she wrote Eat Pray Love) which is all about confronting these very fears. it's well worth checking out if your local library has a copy.

The best of luck to you Holmes! I wait with interest!

And also to you January 2015....let's do this!

Bear

savingholmes

sourcrates wrote: »

Shall I move it for you ?

Yes please

savingholmes

January2015 wrote: »

Hello and welcome

"I have never sold any craft stuff, but would love to follow you and see how you get on. It's something my family tell me I could (and should) do.

Good luck with the budget and containing your impulse spending. It is difficult at first but soon it becomes a challenge to achieve the month within the grocery budget and hopefully come in under budget. I haven't bought any crafty goods for over 3 years now - and I still have loads to get through. Prior to my DFW days I would have bought loads and loads - impulse spending!

Looking forward to getting to know you :wave:

It sounds like you should join me and take the risk of selling. I recently heard a message about "gathering up the scraps" and not wasting anything. As a classic hoarder that was kind of music to my ears but only if in my new spirit of decluttering I was able to rehome the items - at a profit. I am hoping to set myself a £10 a day challenge and graduate to selling on ebay, etsy, facebook, at work and craft fairs with friends.

EssexHebridean wrote: »

Welcome back! (Well, kind of, you know what I mean!)

Fine to not post an SOA obviously but I'm going to urge you to do one anyway - for precisely the same reasons I bet you've encouraged folk to do them in the past - that accountability to yourself, and having every penny accounted for is tremendously useful. Personally I'd also say that it's not a bad idea to post even the outgoings portion of it as folk might be able to spot savings that for whatever reason you've just missed. Entirely up to you though.

So what's the plan for tackling the overspending issues? Spending diary? Using cash not cards?

I assume the plan with the cars is to keep them, keep paying the finance and then retain the cars once the finance is cleared and you will hopefully be in a position to save for their replacements in the future as and when required?

Hi I won't post an SOA right now but may do later. With regards to the cars - yes we plan to keep them. They probably aren't worth what we owe so we would potentially be worse off. We both work full time and decent cars help make that easier. When my OH's car loan ends in about 18 months we are planning to go for a cheaper car and have started exploring whether there is any way to end it earlier without damaging our credit rating but no joy so far.

Over-spending goals: Trying to stop spending on credit cards and stick within budget. Doing the £10 a day challenge to try and get some income in to help cushion any wobbles!

I have recently done a packaged bank account reclaim against Barclays - currently waiting to see if I was successful. If I was the account goes back to 1996 and it could be a significant payout. Should find out within the next week or so.

Captain_Bluebear wrote: »

Hi Savingholmes
I'll also be following you as I also dabble in the craft hobby/money making business. Admittedly very halfheartedly in the past but now I have more time on my hands I've really started to embrace the idea and processes involved.

What crafts do you have in mind? Mine is mainly fabric based as I spent time years ago as a seamstress... Who knows...maybe we could all inspire each other!...

My biggest problem is fear. So many types of fear! of my work being rubbish/failure/success. In fact, (Even though I've never been one for self help books) I've just started reading "Big magic" by Elizabeth Gilbert (she wrote Eat Pray Love) which is all about confronting these very fears. it's well worth checking out if your local library has a copy.
Bear

Thanks for following me. I am planning to start with recycled glass - coffee jars, bottles, candle holders etc. I am collecting them for free from relatives and friends and then decorating them with glass paint and decoupage napkins so far. I also make cards, hampers and so on. I am refamiliarising myself with MSE at the moment. Will then post photos.

I don't know whether the hamper thread still exists on MSE? There used to be a special occasions board I don't know if there still is. I used to get great ideas from there.

savingholmes

Captain_Bluebear wrote: »

My biggest problem is fear. So many types of fear! of my work being rubbish/failure/success. In fact, (Even though I've never been one for self help books) I've just started reading "Big magic" by Elizabeth Gilbert - Bear

Realised I hadn't commented on this bit. Yes I have the Big Magic book on Audible from a year or so ago. Good thought provoking book.

For anyone interested in a non-traditional business - I like the books, "Screw work let's play" by John Williams and "Free Range Humans" by Marianne Cantwell. I have met both of them and they live by their words.

[Deleted User]

Happy new diary xx

savingholmes

I was awake at the crack of dawn today so have already been decorating some recycled bottles / jars with decoupage napkins ready to take to a craft fair at some point.

I shopped at Aldi the other day so pretty much have the food in I need - other than my parents are coming for lunch tomorrow and potentially need to buy some soft drinks and a pudding. Maybe some bread too in case they stay for tea. May be worth sending OH as he won't be as tempted to spend more as I would.:money:

I am one of those people who has overly full freezer drawers and tin cupboards. I should check whether the store cupboard challenge is still running and do that. For some weird reason we have loads of frozen fish but none of us is keen on it so I don't know why I bought it. I am doing Sl1mm1ng w0rld too and have lost 2st9lb since I started but like with my debt issues still have a long way to go. It does mean that my food bill tends to be more expensive than when I am not doing SW though as I eat more fresh fruit and salad.

I need to buy my daughter some shoes this weekend - hers have holes in the bottom but she was in love with them and wouldn't let me change them earlier. Hoping it won't cost too much. In theory there should have bee money in my budget to pay for it - but in practice paying off a CC I used at Christmas swallowed it up .If I do the store cupboard challenge that should help offset the cost. I may end up spending less if just give her the money to buy them instead of going with her.

I also need to contact Ebay and take some photos as I bought £10 worth of stamps for £7.35 but when I added them up the only came to £3.70 so I need to complain. This week I was also sent an unsealed empty envelope from either ebay or a marketplace seller on Amazon so I need to work out which and file a missing item claim. Amazon is my biggest temptation spot... In theory I allow myself £50 personal spends a month but in practice I usually go over...

Choccygirl123

Hi saving and congrats on your new diary.

Your crafty business sounds like a great idea. I!!!8217;d love to make money from my hobby but I only scrapbook.I used to be a secret craft hoarder and went cold turkey about 12months ago. I!!!8217;ve vowed not to buy anymore until I at least use 5% of what I have.

Good luck with venture, will keep popping by x