Teetering on the brink

SuzeQStan · 3 February at 7:54PM

Brilliant plans EB 👏🏻👏🏻 some really good ideas you are doing there - and love the @bay work station idea!

I moved to L@bara recently too and have been pretty happy - the price is certainly right! (£1.85 first 6 months then just under a fiver after that for unlimited phone calls/sms/ 1x hr free international calls a month & I think it was 10gb data monthly too) Oddly l@bara signal doesn’t seem to work in any L!dl or Ald! near me (bet it would work in sparks and wa!trose no problem Sod’s Law eh LOL)

wishing you luck as requested but I have to say you are so well organised and motivated that I think you have this whole situation sorted in no time. Well done to you 🥰

edit to say - glad to hear you are feeling better 😊

EatingBeans · 3 February at 8:11PM

I thought about doing the £3.45 first but whole £5’s, are easier to count in my head. 😁

EatingBeans · 3 February at 8:15PM

SuzeQStan said:

Brilliant plans EB 👏🏻👏🏻 some really good ideas you are doing there - and love the @bay work station idea!

I moved to L@bara recently too and have been pretty happy - the price is certainly right! (£1.85 first 6 months then just under a fiver after that for unlimited phone calls/sms/ 1x hr free international calls a month & I think it was 10gb data monthly too) Oddly l@bara signal doesn’t seem to work in any L!dl or Ald! near me (bet it would work in sparks and wa!trose no problem Sod’s Law eh LOL)

wishing you luck as requested but I have to say you are so well organised and motivated that I think you have this whole situation sorted in no time. Well done to you 🥰

edit to say - glad to hear you are feeling better 😊

£1.85! Now I feel like I have been overcharged! 🤣

I can’t believe I was paying £16pm for 4GB for so long thinking I was getting a good deal! 🤦‍♀️

ellen_vannin · 3 February at 8:31PM

Well done so far. Cheering you on from the sidelines.
I think the baby £5 steps is a really good idea. So much more achievable.

SuzeQStan · 3 February at 8:37PM

it was a Black Friday deal! Pls don’t feel bad about your deal - Lebara are defo offering the best prices I’ve seen anywhere.

Well done on getting off the spendy sim only too! I was just like you except I was paying £14 for 1.5gb pm!! 😳🤣

DrunklMunkee · 3 February at 10:06PM

Well, good evening @EatingBeans; I am so pleased you have managed to shake the headache.

Personally - I think it may have been down to blueberry muffin withdrawal symptoms. That means dd2 is just gonna have to keep making them

What a sweet thing to do, though - well done for looking after mum

So - it turns out the weekend chore list was a little bigger than anticipated and the washing machine is whirring away in the background. Though tea has been made & destroyed, dishes have been washed & dried, clutter has been ignored & avoided 🤣. So a success all-round.

So your plan looks absolutely fab-you-lous. That is some great work - and really motivational for you. I am loving the new sheet, which helps to really keep a hold and track of your focus. You are so right - it will really help you celebrate the small wins, and if we're winning - then we are no longer losing.

A quick tally - and if the £175 from the bank transfer comes through this month - that is a whole 35 steps taken to February's target. woo-hoo. With the 11 already taken - you are going to smash that OD before dd2 gets a chance to bake a celebratory muffin.

Also, I am so with you 100% on the whole dog walking lark. such a lovely time to "stop & smell the roses", so-to-speak.
I was walking around, lost in my own thoughts....

Was it Descartes who said,... "I think, therefore I am"? or was it EatingBeans who said, .... "I list, therefore I sell"???

I can't remember now - but I know it was a great philosopher

Anyhoo - I got thinking about my house/living arrangement plans - and thought, I would pose you the same question I asked myself.

So out here in PhantasyPhorumLand, I have hypothetically won the lottery. Only - it is a special kind of lottery win. I am only allowed to make 3 purchases, and they ALL have to relate to house repairs / improvements. What 3 "projects" would I prioritise over the others?? I am trying to get myself to stop procrastinating - and actually plan & implement just the first step. My thinking is - if I can decide which job to do first in phantasyphorum scenario (when money is no object) then it should allow me to decide irl - becuase, once I have a plan of action, I can then budget, save & action accordingly thus, taking money out of the equation.

I just thought - that might be something for you to ponder - while I hang up the washing.

EatingBeans · 3 February at 11:18PM

@DrunklMunkee “clutter has been ignored & avoided” - I absolutely love it! (And know the feeling well!)

You know what is particularly telling? I can’t even say which three projects I would prioritise in PhantasyPhorumLand because just thinking about it is WAY more stressful than even the thought of tackling this debt. There are so many interconnected issues that just tackling one would likely open up the can of worms for the next. I just can’t go there. Unless you count superficial things like paint the landing. That I could do, (and frankly does need doing), but the bathroom/kitchen/sloped floor/drain saga, no, no, no. Just not in a happy enough space to even dream about that. My dream is 100% to sell the house and hand the problem to someone who can stand the stress of dealing with it. And they can take a look at the roof too whilst they are in their happy place! 🤣

Baby steps remember. The current level of goal I can cope with is ‘can I make £5?’ THAT is the level of stress I can cope with, and even that is feeling difficult to deal with as I sit here with e-mail notifications popping up reminding me that some of my promotional rates are ending soon! 😩 Just let me make it to July. If I am still afloat by then, then maybe, and no promises, I might consider making some headspace for PhantasyPhorumLand. I mean seriously - how much rain can come down between now and then anyway? ⛈️😅

DrunklMunkee · 3 February at 11:59PM

A-ha!

You saw through my cunning plan to lure you into thinking about household jobs. There's no pulling the wool over your eyes. I am sorry that I momentarily took you out of your happy place, BeanzMeanzPeaceLand

We have temporarily closed PhantasyPhorumLand for the foreseeable future. If you please make your way to the admissions kiosk where all tickets shall be refunded.......Aaaaaand - And now you are back and so very correctly taking the baby steps we all should.

In all seriousness though - I too have a long list of house repairs to undertake and am procrastinating over what to do first. Although - in my heart of hearts, I do know which I should do first.

There is a leak coming from the flat above mine that drips through every time they have a shower. It has ruined my bathroom and seems to be getting worse (mould developing, plaster falling away). I have spoken to the tenants - but I need to speak to the owner. The reason I am putting it off is because my mind sees it as being confrontational - because at the end of the day - he needs to fix it AND repair the damage to mine. So I keep putting the conversation off until I know I can speak to the owner in a calm and rational manner.

@DrunklMunkee ponders.....Maybe that is my task for tomorrow (day off tomorrow). There - now that I have typed it.... does that mean I have committed to it??? and so the circle of procrastination begins......

DrunklMunkee · 4 February at 12:18AM

HaHa - I am just giggling to myself

I have imagined the last ride in PhantasyPhorumLand, with a load of puppets singing...
"It's a real world, after all, It's a real world, after all, It's a real world, after all,.....It's a real REAL world" 🤣

EatingBeans · 4 February at 8:48AM

@DrunklMunkee I am trying to find a nice non-pushy way, to say “call the owner!”, but I am a bit lot for words. So maybe just imagine the puppets singing it? 😆

I ventured out this morning to pick up my first items from Olio…

All this for FREE! 😍
The bagels are for dd2 as they are her favourite but she hasn’t been able to afford them in ages, and the lemons are so she can bake a lemon drizzle cake… she just doesn’t know it yet! Haha
The rest are mainly for me (and guineas if there is anything I don’t quite manage to use up in time). Nothing will be wasted. 😋

End of	Dec-24	Jul-25
Brother	5,400.00	8,100.00
Overdraft owed	1,349.90	-
MBNA CC	10,534.20	12,073.22
Barclaycard CC	9,667.21	9,725.88
Fluid CC	-	712.50
NatWest CC	12,018.14	12,171.46
Aqua	-	342.08
Total debt	38,969.45	43,125.14
Paid off in the month		- 4,638.17
Total paid off 2025		- 4,155.69

End of	Dec-24	Jul-25
Brother	5,400.00	8,100.00
Overdraft owed	1,349.90	-
MBNA CC	10,534.20	12,073.22
Barclaycard CC	9,667.21	9,725.88
Fluid CC	-	712.50
NatWest CC	12,018.14	12,171.46
Aqua	-	342.08
Total debt	38,969.45	43,125.14
Paid off in the month		- 4,638.17
Total paid off 2025		- 4,155.69

End of	Dec-24	Jul-25
Brother	5,400.00	8,100.00
Overdraft owed	1,349.90	-
MBNA CC	10,534.20	12,073.22
Barclaycard CC	9,667.21	9,725.88
Fluid CC	-	712.50
NatWest CC	12,018.14	12,171.46
Aqua	-	342.08
Total debt	38,969.45	43,125.14
Paid off in the month		- 4,638.17
Total paid off 2025		- 4,155.69

End of	Dec-24	Jul-25
Brother	5,400.00	8,100.00
Overdraft owed	1,349.90	-
MBNA CC	10,534.20	12,073.22
Barclaycard CC	9,667.21	9,725.88
Fluid CC	-	712.50
NatWest CC	12,018.14	12,171.46
Aqua	-	342.08
Total debt	38,969.45	43,125.14
Paid off in the month		- 4,638.17
Total paid off 2025		- 4,155.69

Teetering on the brink

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