Fighting debt alone- the sword is out 24 December 2019 at 10:37AM in Debt free diaries 68 replies 4.1K views

Blackberrycurved

Hello first day new diary new thread. It’s Christmas Eve and for the first time ever my debts, my income and life is scaring me. I’ve been on here doing some of the challenges for a while. I’ve spent most of my adult life being okay not well off but okay. There’s always been good food in, bills paid, money for nights out the usual things but I’ve never had loads of money and I guess never enough to build up a safety blanket. I’m a tutor/ writer and my partner was an actor. He died in 2015 and things have got worse after losing his income. I don’t seem to have lots of energy but I’m not sure if that’s the money issues or just me in general but today I have to seriously start doing something or I will drown. At a guess I’d say 20k in debt. I’ll do my figures today I hope people can help me that someone who has been here can inspire me to get out of this hole. Thanks in advance

doingitanyway

Welcome
I am in a very similar situation personal situation and wanted to say I find the community here so supportive. I'm sure you will find the tools you need to do become debt free.
Less than 2 years ago I had £24,000 of debt. I cleared it in under 2 years BY MYSELF. I took on extra teaching (I too am a creative who sometimes teaches) It was hard but doable and I felt so proud of myself. You will too when you become DF. I will be following your diary with interest.

Blackberrycurved

Thank you doingitanyway, that's inspiring working in the arts is rubbish and being freelance makes it harder. I'm seriously considering trying to get another job but I'm possibly too old to retrain. I've just done some figures I owe £15,599 and my debts cost me £513 a month which blows my mind. Since the death of my partner I've earned between £850 and £1200 a month I used to earn more but I'm struggling a bit health wise, he used to earn about £1000 so I've lost his income. What shall I do next?
Just writing it all down and adding it all up is really hard. I did a sort of debt quiz earlier and it said to go bankrupt I don't want to do that. Tomorrow I'm going to forget about it.

Blackberrycurved

Okay I’ve got through today massively difficult because of empty spaces at the dinner table but did it. The overall damage for Christmas was about £350 and I do have enough food to batch cook and freeze that will last until March. Tomorrow I’m going to write down all bills and income to see if I can reduce anything hope everyone has had a good day.

beanielou

Happy shiny new diary
Keep posting!

FootyFanDan

Hey,

Just wanted to wish you luck on your journey Keep posting as it will certainly keep you motivated and there will be some great tips here.

Blackberrycurved

Thanks Beanielou and FootyFanDan.

I've added everything up now and tried to work out why I'm in such a mess, one of the problems is when I don't work in the arts I work in Education.

January March June and October are full months and I cover my outgoings plus a bit extra but in February April May July September and December I earn less because of Half terms, Easter. Whit and Christmas which means I cover my outgoings but have no money for food or petrol .
August I earn nothing so I'm always playing catch up.

I didn't really realise how bad the figures were working in Education without a yearly contract.
So maybe I need to find a different sort of job??
Anyone else in this position?

lindez

Good luck I will be following you. I am sure you will get lots of help on the forum. x

Blackberrycurved

Thanks Lindez

doingitanyway

Happy New Year. What are your plans to improve your situation?

Blackberrycurved

Happy New Year Everyone.

I've done a few things they might not be enough but I'm hoping they help.

I've put a spending app on my phone and I'm logging everything. It's very scary but it shows me clearly exactly where everything is going. I've signed up to the 365 penny challenge on here if I stick to it, I will have enough to pay one CC off in full by November.

I've written everything down so I need to see what I can cut back on. i know there's a link on here to a statement thing that I'll download and post on here to see if anyone can help.

I have one little job which pays £60 a week I am dedicating all of that to my loan debt plus what I usually pay. My big worry is that I have house repairs that I need to do a leak that's making the wall damp, so tomorrow I'm going to try to get estimates and see if I'm covered on the insurance. I know I could do it today but I'm having to do things little by little as I feel a bit overwhelmed at the minute.

I've also advertised for a lodger very scary. I
I have this burning urge to declutter but when I try I end up with stuff everywhere but I'm going to try one room at a time starting with the first room tonight.

I also want to lose some weight and get healthy but I keep saying I have no time so I'm going to sort that, this is all about organisation I think, the money and everything and I've been grieving for so long everything has slid away from me and I need to do this or go under.