brand new wannabee looking for friendly help

littlemissclumsy

good morning evryone and happy boxing day

i have been waiting for today for a long time after making up my mind to change my life! for the better i hope!

just starting to calculate my debts truthfully for the first time - not leaving anything out...scary

looking forward to giving/receiving advice :T

doodledo_2

Hi littlemissclumsy and welcome to the forum.

This is a great place for advice and friendship so you have definately come to the right place.

Take a look at the newbies post at the top and pop up your SOA (statement of affairs showing incomings and outgoings etc) and you will find lots of advice coming your way.

Look forward to chatting more

tealady

Hello from a second hand wannabee (only the mortgage to go!). Your SOA is the place to start then you will get loads of advice.
Don't forget to check the APRs up so that you know which debts to tackle 1st.

littlemissclumsy

this is daunting and difficult. i am sitting here scribbling down my debts.
finding it very embarrassing that i have let things get to this stage.

sure i must be the stupidest poster on here!

you messages of support are keeping me going this morning though. thankyou

bellsbells

Welcome to the board and well done on making that first step. There are some wonderful people on this board - as you can see I have recently become debt free thanks to lots of wonderful ideas and advice from Martin and the forums.:T This site is addictive - once you have the debt free wannabe bug there will be no stopping you:rotfl:

hypno06

One thing to remember is that you are definitely not the stupidest. We are all here for similar reasons.

Getting everything out in the open and being honest (with yourself as much as anything) is the hardest and most important thing to do. Once you have done that, you can start making steps to clear it.

Welcome aboard!

bellsbells

We must have posted at the same time! Please don't be embarrassed - everyone here is in the same boat and we all have the same goal in mind so you really are amongst friends. The thing I love the most about this board is the face that you can be totally honest about how you feel and the state you are in knowing that people really do understand - both about the stress of being in debt, the way it makes you feel and the drive to do something about it. The only way is up now Little miss clumsy!:j

tealady

Hi. You are not the stupidest poster. The stupid posters don't want to get out of debt, they just want to have everything done for them.
As for feeling embarassed well I can only quote my dear old dad who said "He who never made a mistake never made anything"

littlemissclumsy

• okay...

• British Gas - £493 (disputed amount due to faulty meter)
• Powergen £209 ( " " " )
• BT - £160
• Water Rates - £493 (£26 pm)
• Parking Fine - £100
• Council Tax - £3630 (£30pm)
• Capital One - £298 (£5 pm)
• Lloyds TSB - £524 (£1 pm)
• Carphone Warehouse - £330

I had thought there were more but I have managed to pay off 2 debts this year. My main concern is the council tax as the bailiffs have been called in now.

Outgoings:

• Mortgage £302 (due to rise soon)
• Internet £19
• House Ins £35
• Car Ins £34
• Union £8
• Sky £21 (i know not essential but have disabled son who is v often bedbound)
• NPower Electricity £25 (nowhere near enough Im sure)
• NPower Gas £30
• Water £26
• Council Tax £30
• Lloyds £1
• Capital One £5
• MPPI £19
• TV Licence £9

INCOME:

• Hmmm, this is tricky. Basically all my earnings go into my OH account (stupid i know) - i get money to pay for food etc yet i struggle to pay for anything else.
• Need advice about this i think!!

Help! (told you i was stupid!!)

littlemissclumsy

seeing these on here makes me sure i have forgotten something...

i have spent over 15 years of hiding debts from OH, stuffing letters behind cupboards etc etc.

eventually told him bout a couple of debts, he wasnt pleased but paid 2 off (about £500 in all) they were stopping our remortgage so he had to.

as a result he is very tight with cash and i understand (i am sure if i had a card i would overspend but that is because his expectations of daily living costs are so low. there is no way a family can function on such a low amount)

please ask questions - it helps me think about it all.

bellsbells

Humm..... need a bit more info please! Are you responsible for paying all these things, or are they shared with your OH? If he has money coming in this needs adding to your SOA. Is there a reason why all your money goes into your OHs account? If you need to give him a regular amount for whatever reason change it so that you give him just that and keep the rest so you don't have to 'ask' for more money. Do you have any other income, for example disability benifits for your son? I hope this doesn't sound like too many questions - I am not trying to be nosey. It is just the clearer the picture we have the better the advice people can offer!