I am not trying hard....

allons-y_2

Dear Del',
Thank for for posting such an honest message. I read it today and feel inspired to face my demons too. Wow - this is scary but so necessary!
I have acquired so much debt since university, and I think through having a lack of self-confidence I have gone from one job to another never realising that I was good at these jobs or that my work was appreciated, and so have been on a bit of a self-destruct downward spiral of acquiring yet more debt and going for less-well-paid jobs. I went back to university last year to do teacher training, but again this caused another problem -I had to pull out of my last teaching practice due to illness so never completed the course. I am going back in April to resit the practice but finding a job inbetween times has proved fruitless (despite my good references I can't commit to a long-term job just yet because of my resit).
Here's my plan.... 1. Get a job and get off Job Seeker's Allowance - phone those agencies!! 2. Get a grip on my debts - find out EXACTLY what I owe (I know it's 'around' the 40K mark) 3. Set up Direct Debits for my credit cards so that at least I won't be paying any more late fees 4. Set myself a weekly budget and stick to it 5. Try selling some stuff on Amazon and Ebay.
I know there is probably a lot more stuff I could do, but this is a start. It's MY start and I guess that's the important thing. I CAN DO THIS!!!
I have read all of the replies to your thread, and am certain that I have found the right place for the support I need - lots of people in the same boat! I am fortunate to have very supportive parents, but they sometimes run out of patience (understandably!) and my friends don't always understand that I just can't afford to do things - even visiting them is costly for me.
I will probably need several 'virtual' kicks-up-the-ar*e (you've had fair warning!)
Thank you so much for your original post.
This is me committing myself to the first rung of the debt-free ladder.
Phew!

MartianGirl_2

englishmac wrote: »

Join your local library. Libraries are something we don’t tend to bother with in these modern times when our lives are so busy. But they are a great cheap way to read/access the internet/hire CDs and DVDs. If you pay for internet access but don’t use it much, it may be cheaper to ditch it and use a library pc. Choice of books, etc may not be as good as when you buy but you can usually find something and why not try a new subject/area such as autobiography instead of novel?

So, so right englishmac.
I rediscovered the joys of our local library last year.. it's small - but you can order books from all the libraries in the county. Fabulous money saving!!:rolleyes:

deliciosa

CAFCGirl wrote: »

I looked like a woman possessed.:eek: Jumped straight back on the band wagon and didnt spend a penny today though

Ohh dear i am glad i wasn't around... then again, you probably would have infected me and at one point we just start shouting at people things like "don't you see that even its a bogof it's still more expensive than that other one on the bottom shelf!" :eek: I once told a random fellow customer that the milli yogurt was a ripoff and the tesco own brand was just as nice. she looked at me with such pity...

I'm impressed at how many days you've been without Amex...

"My name is Deliciosa and I am an American Express Addict, It's been 8 days since my last swipe" :rotfl:
I think you defo deserve more than a tap on the shoulder... just not a DVD tho :rolleyes: lol

Ummm.... My name is deliciosa and I am an american express addict, it's been now 10 days since my last swipe. But I have been charged some membership fees on it (but that's automatic and I really didn't even touch the card) and I am committed not to use it again until the 7th of March


What are you planning on renting from Aunt-Buster this week then?

She's got virtually everything, give me some ideas please?

My weekend will be taken up with working and dealing with a new staff member... Just looking forward to a day off finally..... next wednesday! :eek: Friday 15th was my last, and I'm feeling it now


Yay for day off! :j :j :j when's payday????

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

deliciosa

:rotfl:

MaggieBear wrote: »

Right, I'm on page 29 of your diary....

Well done!!! :eek: how's it going??? :rotfl:

Ok, let's remind eachother (and ourselves):

there is no emergency that the plastic can help me with.
:j :j :j

deliciosa

allons-y wrote: »

Here's my plan.... 1. Get a job and get off Job Seeker's Allowance - phone those agencies!! 2. Get a grip on my debts - find out EXACTLY what I owe (I know it's 'around' the 40K mark) 3. Set up Direct Debits for my credit cards so that at least I won't be paying any more late fees 4. Set myself a weekly budget and stick to it 5. Try selling some stuff on Amazon and Ebay.
I know there is probably a lot more stuff I could do, but this is a start. It's MY start and I guess that's the important thing. I CAN DO THIS!!!
I have read all of the replies to your thread, and am certain that I have found the right place for the support I need - lots of people in the same boat! I am fortunate to have very supportive parents, but they sometimes run out of patience (understandably!) and my friends don't always understand that I just can't afford to do things - even visiting them is costly for me.
I will probably need several 'virtual' kicks-up-the-ar*e (you've had fair warning!)
Thank you so much for your original post.
This is me committing myself to the first rung of the debt-free ladder.
Phew!

Hiya allons-y :wave:

Well done for coming in and facing your debt :j you've made the hardest step!

Your plan sound very good - make sure you come here every day so we can kick your a** if you are not doing it I guess you could maybe start temping in an admin or so role which gives you flexibility and a relatively good income. Temps at my company earn a min of £10 / hour which is not bad especially if you're on a 9hours shift a day.

You MUST find out first how much you owe. This is what you need to do TODAY. Right now. Phone therm all up and get figures, aprS AND MINIMUM PAYMENTS, BALANCES AND LIMITS!!! Please do this asap. Then post the details here. People will come and help you with good advice. Also post your full SOA (income + all outgoings, plus debts) so that we can help you with it.

Also find out if you credit rating is ok. If it is you might be able to switch some of your debt to 0%, saving you massive amounts per month.

Do this NOW! Until you know how much you owe and on what conditions, you can't even start tackling it.

Now the direct debits - careful with them. Paying the absolute minimum can be dangerous. If you post all the details here we will help you with allocating your debt repayments so that you pay the optimum amount everywhere. Also the snowballcalculator will help (www.whatsthecost.co.uk then click on snowball) but to use this yiou need to know what you owe!

If you have a debt around £40 then sell everything that's not nailed down. Books, cds, dvds, find out whats ebayable and sell it.

Well done for your commitment and YES YOU CAN DO IT!!!!!! :j :j We're here :j Post those figures!

x x

MaggieBear

there is no emergency that the plastic can help me with.
Hee! :T

I'm just about caught up with your diary now, comments forthcoming shortly

I'm in a humph today, I tried to pay £450 (overtime, counciltax free month and cutback savings :T ) off my visa card today, and they said they could only take £100 over the phone because my card wasn't registered :mad: , so I did, and I'll have to find my cheque book at home and send them £350 tommorrow. I'm fizzing because I get phone calls for free, but not stamps and envelopes (and they don't give you a free envelope anymore!). So I'm !!!!!!ed if I'm going to spend any more money at all EVER on that card.

Does not spending on plastic because they've annoyed you so much you could scream, count?

I still have my £10 "pocket money" for treats tommorrow - food stuffs from the farmers market are food budget, treats, breakfast out and coffee are pocket money . You can usually get loads of nice wee things, too.

CAFCGirl

Hi Del,

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOh what films to suggest. One I watched the other night called Reign Over Me with Adam Sandler is a really beautiful film, not at all what I expected from him but really enjoyed it. Transformers is god for effects. The Notebook for a good old weepy... or Die Hard 4.0 just because its Die Hard!

Phew LOL now what am I gonna watch?

Day has now had to change to thursday! And half a day on wednesday, but then I've also got the friday through to monday off! Woohoo.... definitely need it though.

Also scored a comission for a product photograph for my company, I've done a couple before but best of all I get paid for doing it! So that'll be really cool!

Payday is the 26th of ever month for me, so thats...tuesday?
I'm going shopping at Bluewater on the thursday for my wedding shoes.... am so excited, gonna be making a real day of it!

Maggie - What a load of old waffle from your CC company... They do everything they can to be able to charge a bit more interest. I think thats appaling on their part! Do they not take payments over the internet. I know Abbey's MBNA card do.....

Again did really well today and didnt spend a penny...

locutus2003

Well, I still seem to be failing miserably.

Went out yesterday to our local shopping centre. They had 'buy one get one free' at Lilley and Skinner (they're closing down). How could I NOT buy 2 pairs of shoes? So I did.

Then went to IKEA. Always a nightmare for us. Bought very MSE drinks (free with a family card) - and DH and I are dieting so we only had a banana each (50p in total) and then orange juice and chocolate for DS. Then we spent £120 in IKEA on the soft drawer closers for the kitchen DH put in last year. Dur.

Final confession ... bought DH a combi oven/microwave thingy. He's a stay-at-home Dad and I go back to work on Monday after 7 months' off on Maternity Leave . Bought it as cheap as I could - but it was still £219.

I think there's no hope for me ...

CAFCGirl

Aww Locutus, there is hope for everyone!

You may just need to look further into why you're feeling the need to spend money. Are they things you could live without? Is not having tem detrimental to your health and well being? Might sound a bit extreme, but one thing I've learnt from Del's first post is that softly softly encouragement and praise doesnt work for me.... Until I get slapped in the face that there are 2 weeks before payday and I literally only have access to £20, I dont learn....
The beauty of a Tough Love club I think
If you do need to spend, find ways of spending as little as possible and getting as much as possible, find out about discounts, see if buying via something like quidco will earn you some money back.... anything that will essentially end up meaning you paid less then you would have done normally...

Now in terms of me...... I needed tough love yesterday, I spent £5 on lunch! And after I'd eaten it, I did feel a bit guilty, I could have got something cheaper (and healthier!).... or I could have made something at home... There are no excuses but I know I spent it because I wanted to feel better. So it was all for that mental and emotional lift. I'm starting to catch H2B's cold, and am run down from being at work for 13 days straight.... so I was just feeling crappy and demotivated!

However I did get my print out of Del's first post out and sat there and re-read it a couple of times so I'm confident the same will not be happening again today. I've got a lot on at work to keep me occupied so Im sure it'll all be fine

In_Search_Of_Me

Finally had time to read the thread. I agree that we're all a bit naff at the extras but a word of caution, especially for the long haulers amongst us! Its important to plan in SOME treats but to balance this with paying debts off. I discovered to my cost that if you have years to go and never buy anything that the "sod it" mentality comes in fairly soon so its about balance! Pretty much in all things I am realising - a LITTLE bit of what you fancy does you good, but only a little bit!
Also look at why you need the thing you crave - diet coke BTW is very addictive & I wonder how much that habit is costing you! Its also know to be very bad for weight loss - something to do with the chemical reaction to aspartane...water is much better for you, free plus great for your skin & digestive tract!!
ANyway, just wante dt pop in and say hi! Will be keeping an eye out!