Can't thank you all enough...

RooBee

I have been awake most of the night worrying about my debts and kicking myself black and blue for being so careless and irresponsible and getting myself in this stupid position in the first place.

At about 4.00am I had a 'lightbulb' moment and decided a loan to consolidate all my other debts was my solution. I logged on and made an online loan application. Realised after I'd submitted it that I'd made a couple of errors in figures but hey, that's what you get for trying to sort your life out in the middle of the night with little sleep

Anyhow...submitted the loan application and then came here where I read lots of threads about debt consolidation and started to discover that maybe the loan is not the way to go for me. I saw many references to 'snowballs' but had no idea what they were or how they would help me or if I'd be able to understand what it was all about as I'm not terribly clued up when it comes to financial stuff; hence my current predicament. Anyway, with nothing to lose, off I went to http://www.whatsthecost.com/ to see what, if anything, a snowball could do for me...

Several fraught hours and another huge reality check about the state of my finances later and there is now a light at the end of the tunnel!! If I can stick to my repayment plan the I will be debt free in less time than it would have taken to pay off the consolidation loan.

I can't believe this simple act has helped so much immediately...it feels like an enormous weight has been lifted off my shoulders and, more importantly, that I have been given back control of my financial situation. This site has just spared me a whole lot of anxiety and many more sleepless nights :j :T

I don't think I've ever been so productive at such an ungodly hour! :rotfl:

So a massive thank you to all you wonderful peeps on MSE who give up your time freely and share your experience and knowledge to helps the likes of me. I am so very grateful to you all :A

immoral_angeluk

Just want to say well done. You've done the right thing. Was your loan application accepted? If so you'll have to let them know you've changed your mind.

RooBee

I don't know yet...I am waiting for an e-mail. Thanks, I will let them know I no longer want it if I am accepted for it.

Karmacat

Hi RooBee

Welcome to mse - and well done! What a great first post for your diary.... like IA said, best to let them know you've changed your mind, and be prepared for a hard sell from them, stick to your guns.

On to the next step then! What about the spending pattern that caused your debt in the first place? Have you changed that? Do you want to put up on here an SOA, a statement of affairs? You might well get your outgoings down quite a bit, since you've been savvy enough to get to grips with the snowball already, I'm sure you've seen how people can transfer providers and cut down on unused services to really push the spending down.

Anyway, well done, whatever you decide about that.

GettingThingsDone

Hi RooBee - I know how you feel! I was 'saved' from re-mortgaging through this site and the snowballer. It seemed like re-mortgaging was the 'only' answer to getting rid of my debts, and that everyone I knew was doing it. It almost seemed like free money.

However, after a LBM and frantically reading this site last year I came to my senses! If I stick to my plan I should be DF some time next year...

gtd

seven-day-weekend

Well done! And I agree, stick your statement of affairs up here, these people can work wonders on cutting back your bills without you feeling impoverished.

In_Search_Of_Me

Good for you! I would be inclined to ring though & cancel the loan as you may get in before they do a credit check! Well done for not doing t & coming to your sences - wish I had done befre my last loan application! Saving money & getting a bargain can be fun plus you get to learn to enjoy the simple things in life rather than rushing about to buy more tat that you dont need!! Hugs for you & welcome!

lunar

well done for not taking the loan, that was part of my debts, consolidating then spending again. will look forward to reading yor SOA.

GingerSte

Hi RooBee.

I know what you mean baout having your LBM in the middle of the night I used to spend my nights worrying about my finances. Believe me they are the WORST time to be worrying about them. (I used to get up at 2am having lay awake in bed for two hours and check my credit card statements!)

You've also done the right thing by finding this sitge. We're all in pretty much the same boat (to verying degrees), and know what you're going through. The amount of support you can receive here is immense. If you ever need someone to talk to, either just to pass the time, celebrate a victory or even just let off steam, you can come on here and are almost guaranteed a positive reception.

And lastly, thank you for posting your story. It's always good to see that someone has pulled themselves out of a bad situation and turned their life around. I'm not going to lie to you, it's a long hard slog, but it's well worth it for the piece of mind that you will receive.

Regards, GingerSte

RooBee

Thank you every one :-)

I've been trying to deal with my debts myself for some time and have suddenly realised that it's getting me nowhere. I keep switching credit card balances to get the next best deal but it's getting to the stage that I am running out of lenders as I've worked my way through most of them over the years. I though that by always paying more than the minimum payment every month then I would stay on top. But then I'd find myself with not enough cash to buy groceries so I'd use a credit card and an so I found myself stuck in this vicious circle with no apparent way out. The snowball method has shown me that I can make all my payments each month and have enough to live on without having to rely on the credit cards for life's basic essentials.

I got into this mess by not cancelling & cutting up cards when I transferred a balance to another card and although I always intended not to spend on those cards again, I almost always have :roll: So, I've cut up all the unnecessary cards and will contact all the relevant companies to request their cancellation.

I also have a bit of a shopping addiction. I can go for months without buying very much for myself and then all of a sudden I go mad and buy clothes, shoes, make-up etc. etc. I think if I analysed it, the spending sprees are related to emotional state...when I'm down I buy myself stuff because I firmly believe that those boots or that coat will make me feel better. In fact, I end up feeling worse because I've got myself that bit further into debt.

I think I have always known the root of the problem but I have been in denial (I am very good at denial) but now that I have acknowledged it and stated it publicly here, I think I can start to tackle it. All the unworn and barely worn clothes and shoes are going on ebay and the proceeds will go towards my debt. I think if I can finally see my debt reducing instead of increasing, THAT will make me feel better and I won't need all the material stuff as an emotional crutch any more. That's the theory anyway.

I'll let you know how it goes :-)

tealady

Hi. Can I make a suggestion. When you feel down and want to spend try window shopping (no I don't mean ringing a double glazing company!). Take a pen and a piece of paper with you, go into every shop and try on everything you want. Then write down what it was, where you saw it and the cost and (this is the hard bit) WALK OUT OF THE SHOP WITHOUT BUYING. You will be amazed at how much you don't really want (or need) and (hopefully) there are very few things you will want enough to go back to buy.