I want to stop drowning

elsien wrote: »

I also decided to cancel my charity donations when I lost my job. But there are other things you can do to support charities if you wish and you can restart payments when you're in a better position. I got a phonecall from one charity asking if they'd done something to upset me, but that was all.

Saver-upper wrote: »

Hi debtaghh.You are sounding so motivated,and I know you will crack this debt.You really do sound so focussed.

For surveys,you could try Pinecone.I have been doing Pinecone for a couple of years (might be coming up to 2 years,I think),and,as per my signature,have so far earnt about £220.Surveys pay £3 each,and I usually get 2-3 a month.You can be paid into Paypal,by vouchers,or hundreds of different "things",experiences,etc.They only open their books for new panellists every now and again.Maybe start by Googling "Pinecone",and see if you can find an invitation.ALso,there is a long-running thread on MSE about Pinecone.Maybe people post there when there is an opening?
I find the surveys really interesting.And you don't get timed out.I think this is because they are so thorough with their "household surveys",which determine which surveys are appropriate for you.
I also think I get alot of surveys because I have a big family (OH and 4 children),so I get surveys on a range of consumer habits-relevant to adults,different aged children,school-age children,teens etc.
Once I was even given £25 for taking part in a 90 min "live chat" survey,which was really interesting.

I know it can be hard to work around you husband's work pattern,but do you think you can work on weekends?This is how I started my cleaning business.I put a brief post on Netmums website,asking if anyone would be interested in having a cleaner come in on the weekend.Had a couple of interested people.I worked 2-3 jobs each Saturday and Sunday,at that stage I charged £8/hour (6 years ago).
Now,with no pre-school children,I work mostly weekday,unless I have had to take time off (kids sick,school plays,etc),I work school hours,term-time only, except during the long summer holidays,when everyone gets 1-3 cleans,fitting in with my childcare arrangements and their holidays.Because all my customers are mums,they understand having children means school plays,sick kids,etc.I have had some of my customers for 5 years,and now charge £11/hour,going up to £12 in September,£13 for longer distances. Since that netmums ad,I have never advertised-everything is by word of mouth.
For yourself,I would suggest you put ads up,maybe Netmums (my local site is not as busy as it used to be,but yours may be),Mumsnet,local supermarket (when starting out I did work for a family for about 2 years,until they moved out of the country.They had responded to a card I had left on a Sainsbury noticeboard.)Say you are looking for cleaning work on weekend,times flexible.Maybe to start with,have 1-2 customers (might be a total of 5 hours).See what cleaners are charging locally.When you see how that is going,with fitting in with hubby's work,taking time out of your weekend,customers allowing you the flexibility,etc,then you might advertise some more,or ask your current customers if they know anyone else that needs a cleaner (or,often what happens, is your customer says "I have a friend who is looking for a cleaner......").

I know you are a bit shy,but I really do think putting up your SOA is a good idea.Even if you get one suggestion for saving money,it will be worth it.For example,it amazes me how cheap people can get their mobile phone plans: mine is £10/month,but I have seen people on here talking about paying £5-6/month.Also cheaper broadband.

Have you contacted your energy supplier to see if there is any credit they can repay you?I changed to Marks and Spencer energy (SSE) about 2 years ago.When I had been with them for a year,I realised I was about £350 in credit.I phoned them to ask for that back,it was in my account about 2 days later :j.
Twelve months after that,I did the same thing.They checked that my DD's would cover the winter months,then refunded me about £120-150 (can't remember),AND reduced my monthly DD's.

LAST month,when I checked my bill online,there was a note,unprompted by me this time,saying my electricity was in credit by £220,my gas by £75,these would be refunded to me in the next few days,and my DD's for gas and electricity would be going down by a total of £50-ish from August :T:j.

Good luck debtaghh.I will be following you and cheering you on.Sorry for the wall of text,hopefully there is something useful in there for you
Take care.

TheSilverYew wrote: »

Well done on not spending and going home to cook:T! You see, you are doing little things now and while you feel anxious to clear the debt quickly, its the little things and the slow and steady push that will do it in the end.
Ebay, Gumtree, Surveys, it all adds up! Regarding surveys I would suggest:
Toluna
Globaltestmarket
Pinecone as suggested
OnePoll
Swagbucks
Inboxpounds
Maximiles
Valued Opinions
YouGov

They all pay but Toluna, Valued Opinions and Globaltestmarket send you surveys often and so you'll get a payout quicker. What we do is that I do these and save them throughout the year and use the vouchers I earn to buy Christmas and birthday presents.

It must feel terrible to be stuck in this and not tell anyone. Are you in a position to tell your friends and family frankly that you can't afford things like takeouts, expensive presents and holidays, or does it need to be kept a secret? A problem shared is a problem halved, would you feel a bit better if you told someone? (apart from your therapist, like a friend). In our family it's no secret that we owe money and have not had a lot of money and it is so nice because people understand and respect that we have to watch our pennies.

kbl wrote: »

Just wanted to wish you luck in your journey, just a couple of thoughts, regarding your trip away in a hotel, when we used to go and the littlies were little, we always paid for the bed and breakfast option, would have the full fry with toast etc, then take some fruit and yoghurts for later. We always went down later rather than as soon as breakfast started, and that tended to fill them up so the fruit etc was enough for lunch. We also brought some cereal with us and some multibags of chocolate, that really only left dinner to pay for? Also, if you live in a town, perhaps you could take in some ironing? I know back in the day before the !!!! hit the fan, i would have gladly paid someone to do mine Hope that helps