Does Being In Debt Ever Just Get To You?

System

Broken_hearted wrote: »

What gets me down is no-one else seems worried about the amount of debt they have and look down on those of us trying to get debt free. I waste over £200 a month on debt repayments, if I had that in my pocket I could buy loads of stuff for the house and the kids. Some days I could (actualy do) sit crying because the stress gets too much.

My OH knows the mess we are in but it does not bother her, she is always happy 24/7, she actually has more debt than me and is not one bit worried about it. I'm a natural worrier anyway with Anxiety

ltm07

I know exactly how you feel mate. Our debts really get to us at times,including earlier this week when we nearly plunged into consolidating our debts onto our mortgage. O.K. we would have been £435 better off a month if we had gone ahead,but we decided against it. We've cancelled Sky altogether as we were tied in for 12 months,so saved £37 a month there. Also started to do our regular shop at Aldi(why we didn't do this years ago i don't know as i reckon we can trim at least £80 a month off our shopping bill. It is hard being in debt,but stick at it & you will reap the rewards. We stopped buying newspapers last year & started reading them online. Also OH picks up the free metro paper on the way home from her nightshift. Good luck mate & chin up.

carrottopsuk

Hi NIreland guy,

Just hang on in there. It's only natural being in debt will get you down. As another poster says you don't know how much other people owe. They may have their head in the sand. You may find out that you're in a better position than they are by trying to get your debt down.

Are you very strict on yourself when it comes to the budget? Can you afford a little treat every so often so you have something to look forward to? or perhaps say - If I pay back £??? this month, I'll buy myself a magazine? CD? Cup of coffee? as a treat.

Good luck.

System

Hey nlg, do you hide your debt from your friends and family? BTW, if you lose to Middlebrough today how down will that make you

carrottopsuk

nirelandguy wrote: »

My OH knows the mess we are in but it does not bother her, she is always happy 24/7, she actually has more debt than me and is not one bit worried about it. I'm a natural worrier anyway with Anxiety

I know how you feel. It's hard when you worry about things and are trying your best to keep costs down and someone else has a completely different attitude. It probably makes you worry more. Just don't let it make you ill with worry. take care!

aligerdie

nirelandguy wrote: »

I think your right, I know quite a few people who have the best of everything and it baffles me how they afford it, they have to be in debt, While I have about £15k of debt it could be worse, I could have £70K, I think if I had £70K I would leave the country and not come back for a very long time

:rotfl: me too! I think its all comparable really.

There's no saying they don't go :eek: everytime the letterbox rattles is there?

ecoelle

Hi there, i'm not in debt at the moment but have been in the past and know how you feel.

Sometimes i have my niece come to stay and she lves nothing more than going out in the garden and doing some weeding and digging. She has her own little flower bed and when she digs it over we chat about school, boys and her mum. It's a great time to get to know what's going on with her and to offer advice yo her. She likes to wash the stones she finds (loooking for gold i think!) and display them around the bed, i'm sure to other people it looks a complete mess but she likes it.

We also go to the park walking and feed the ducks. Another good thing, but it means a trip to a paint shop to steal the free cardboard paint charts, with younger kids take some of the colour paint charts to the park and a little plastic bag, get them to collect the different colours on the card. A petal, a leaf, a twig anything as long as it's on the ground. It's a good chance to let them see and respect the environment, learning not to pick flowers and starts to get them to look carefully at the world around them.

Once youv'e collected all the bits then go home and glue them onto paper then get them to practice their wrting by doing a story about the park. Or get them to draw a picture and use the natural materials to colour it. Even using the trip as an opportunity to think about new words and get them to write poems.

It probably sounds stupid but i don't think you should get hung up on spending money to have fun. Many of my friends with children have made a rod for their own back as they spend loads of money on their kids so the kids then come to expect this. Most kids don't really care how much something costs they just like spending time with their parents in a fun way, so why not do that for free

ltm07

I used to want it all. The expensive designer clothes,always wanted a convertible car the house in a rich area. But now i think,what's the point,i now buy cheaper clothes that are just as nice,i've got a reliable car(touch wood)! & a lovely house which is ex council,but alot bigger & cheaper than some of the houses in the nicer area. Being content with what you have is the secret to a happy life in my opinion.

doodledo_2

Can definately relate to this.

We are the only ones in the family without a LCD tv, a Wii, new sofas etc etc but we are also the only ones who are actually reducing our debts and not adding to them.

Its sooooo hard now but I hope that it will be more than worth it when we all get debt free.:D

lynzpower

Hey!

Dont be despondent.

Every penny you DONT spend is a penny closer to being debt free. I know that sounds glib, but if you can carry that in your heart/head/ wallet then that migh help, it helped me.

Dont be too blue, there are lots of things you can do for free, it doesnt mean being a hermit.

Have you had your free dvd trials? You can get them through quidco and get paid to watch films

Have you looked into mystery shopping? Yes you do lay out for the item but then you get the cash back plus getting paid for doing it. Ive been to some great resturaunts on this, and been paid for the privilidge!!

What about rustling up a carboot sale. they are quite a fun day out and will make some cash.

Keep a look out for the free cinema tickets thread too.

Look at your local councils websites as the weather starts getting better, the local free music and arts festivals start up, and weve had some brilliant days out with a HM picnic and a bogof vino and a blanket on the ground.

Days out walking or to the beach are free

Look out for glitches, there was a national trust one not long ago that worked out after you paid for it, and quidco paid you , it only cost something like 20 quid for the year to get access to all national trust properties. that is great value!!

If you are in recipt of any benefits or tax credits, have a look at your local sure start group if your kids are little, they often do heavily subsidised or free days out- good ones too IME .

Once looking around what you can get for free, you'll wonder why you ever paid for anything before