Turning the page...

EasilyLed67

I've been putting off posting here for a while but have finally pulled myself together so here we go.

I used to be a regular poster on here many, many years ago and managed to clear over £16k of debt on a relatively small income. I stayed DF for a long time afterwards but due to a few not so great years have found myself back in a pickle, and am tired of treading water. 

I've taken the first steps and totalled all my debts up, and also APRs etc. to give myself an initial plan of attack. Its depressing reading but I've already started making some (small) inroads. I'm hoping a diary might give me some accountability to keep ploughing on. 

The main issue at the moment is being SE with a somewhat unpredictable income. I have taken on additional work which is helping to turn the tide but also means I have less time generally. Longer term I am considering returning to full time employment, but that's not a decision I can take lightly so needs some more consideration. 

Short term the plan is to focus on budgeting, concentrating on repaying what I can and making sure I have a handle on the situation - no more head in the sand. I need to give this my full attention and remember that lots of little steps really do cover a long distance. 

doingitanyway

Well done for facing up to your situation and coming back to remedy it. I have been where you are with S/E income and understand the struggle. 

You have the advantage of having cleared debt before so you know you can do it.

Wishing you well and looking forward to seeing your progress

EasilyLed67

Thank you doingitanyway - I love the quote in your sig by the way!  

I need to update my signature with all my totals to help keep myself on track but just as a starter - I have a £500 O/D with Halifax which is my most expensive debt in terms of APR, they offered me the option to freeze the interest for 30 days so that is my first target, to get that cleared before the 30 days runs out - an average of £17 per day extra.

So far I've transferred £10 from Paypal in today and worked an extra 5 hours on my second job - I won't see that until next month but it's all a move in the right direction. 

One thing I have found is that a lot of the avenues I used last time around to generate additional income seemed to have dried up, so I need to get myself immersed in the boards maybe for some inspiration. 

EasilyLed67

After much searching, I'm not able to add a signature, maybe as this is a new account? I lost access to my old one a while ago when the site updated. All changed innit?  and I'm older and considerably more easily confused now!

Guess I'll just stick it here for now:

Starting total: £8412.85
Current total: £8120.73
Paid so far: 3.5%

EasilyLed67

Not much to update today, aiming to get £5 cashed out from SB today. Got my payslip through for job 2 so that will temporarily clear the Halifax O/D, although I think some of it will need to be spent. I still feel as though I'm lacking a bit of a plan, and also realised I'm behind on my utility bills which I haven't included in my totals... 

I feel as though I have so much going on, its difficult to keep track. I think tonight I'll sit down and get all that info together to see what else I need to deal with.