My journey to a debt free life

Onebrokelady · 19 August 2018 at 1:29AM

So I went to bed at 10.30 becasue I felt tired but just as I started to fall asleep next door came home and woke me up:(one of the boys was crying and shouting about something ,then I had about 40 minutes of what sounded like running up and down the stairs,they are still up and making noises now although I'm not sure what they are doing,it sounds like someone is trying to open a window,I thought someone was trying to get into my living room window at first but Im sure the dog would bark if it was my house, so I'm awake now, luckily I'm on holiday this week so I can have a lie in tomorrow
I worked yesterday and we were very short staffed so I had to man the Outpatients clinics on my own instead of there being two of us,I do work well under pressure but I was shattered bythe end of my shift,my boss asked me if my new hours were helping my health problems and I said it was too early to tell being as I've only done two shorter shifts and if I'm going to be doing two peoples work when I am there then no it won't help at all:mad:
I'm off for a week now and I have plans to do bits in the house, I have decided to move my bedroom furniture around tomorrow,Im going to put my bed on the wall opposite to where it is now, I'm doing this in the hope that the noise from the boys room next door won't be so bad if my bed isn't backing onto their bedroom wall,I used to have my bed this way round years ago but moved it when my ex left as I fancied a change,it will be interesting to see if it helps me sleep any better
I'm also going to do some tidying in the garden now that the weather has cooled down,I might move some more slabs for the chicken run as I really want to get that back up the garden before the winter arrives,I couldnt do it before because I need to dig some soil and it was rock hard,but we have had quite a bit of rain now so it should be soft enough
The house is still lovely and tidy and I have managed to keep on top of the washing and ironing this week so no piles of laundry around the place,I did have to use my drier the other day though because I had all my towels to wash and needed them dry,of course it decided to rain that day so in the drier they went,they are nice and fluffy now though instead of crispy:rotfl:
I am back into reading now too and have read the two books I got from the charity shop,I read one of them in a day,it was soooo good,I'm starting on The Muse by Jessie Burton tomorrow if I get time,it's a heavy hard back so I thought it would read it while I'm off then I don't have to carry it to work, this is from the library but it doesn't have to be back until September so I've got lots of time
DD and myself are going to the local shopping center at some point in the week,it's a 20 minute walk along the river and has everything you need for you day to day requirements,theres a good butcher,baker and greengrocers plus two supermarkets a pet shop and a pound shop post office and two chemists,I could actually do my shopping here and never set foot in town but I always end up going to town for one reason or another, the main attraction though is loads of charity shops so we are going to go and have a rummage,Im looking for books not anything else,I also have some bits to donate,I should seriously try and do my food shopping there at some point too,I can't get the Quorn products there but could stock the freezer up with those once a month and then get my fruit and veg from the green grocers,I will have to try it out next month and see how it compares
Right I'm feeling sleepy again now so will hopefully be able to nod off and not be disturbed again:)

Onebrokelady · 19 August 2018 at 10:24PM

Well last night ended up as a no sleep zone,the kids next door kept me awake until 3am and by that time I was beyond sleeping,I finally fell asleep at about 6.30 ish and woke up at 10.30 I had a nice relaxing breakfast then we took the dog out for a long walk along the river,but the time we got back it was time for lunch
I then spent the afternoon moving my bedroom round so it's all the opposite way round to how it was,I took the opportunity to clean all the walls and woodwork plus dust all the furniture andmimchangednthe bedding so it's all lovely and clean in there,I'm hoping I will sleep tonight,I'm not actually tired though so maybe not
We are going to the local shopping center tomorrow to check out the charity shops,both of us have cleared out some bits to donate as well, then a bit of food shopping on the way back.
I watched a bit of Country File this evening and there was a piece on there about trying to shop and live plastic free,I like the idea of this and I'm thinking if I shop locally for things like fruit and veg I can buy plastic free,we also have a shop in town that sells loose products like cereal and grains such as couscous and rice you just take along your container and fill it up so I might give that a go,it depends on the budget really and how much more it would cost to shop this way,the bakers they went to gave you your bread in a paper bag or reusable washable cotton bag,I like the idea of that too,we also have a farmers market every Thursday so I am thinking that would be good for fruit and veg and possibly cheese,there is a lovely cheese stall there,but if it's too pricey I won't be able to do it
While sorting out my room today I found a book lovers journal that I forgot I had,you record which books you've read in there and seeing as I'm constantly forgetting what I've read I'm going to start using it,I have lots of things around my house that I bought during my spendy days mostly on a whim and most of it unused,so today I decided these things are either going to be used now or they are going to be donated to some one else
I'm off to bed in a bit to do some reading,I'm not going to try to sleep until at least midnight becasue next doors kids are still rampaging round the house and being shouted at by their dad,so not a chance of any peace and quiet yet
I'm messaging the owners of the house tomorrow to see if they actually know these people to see if I can find out anything about them and whether the kids have any problems because I don't think their behaviour is normal and I might have to cut them some slack if they both have problems,if not I'm going round there this week to have a word as last night was ridiculous

Onebrokelady · 20 August 2018 at 10:24PM

Yay,I did eventually get some sleep last night,I went up to bed intending to read but started yawning so thought I would just try and sleep,I could hear the kids next door but I did fall sleep eventually and slept for most of the night,maybe moving my bed was the answer
Today we went to check out the charity shops again and I bought three books for a £1 each and one of those is a hardback
I bought
Little Girl Lost by Brian McGilloway,it's a crime thriller about corruption,greed,and vengeance and a fathers love for his child

The People Next Door by Christopher Ransom,the blurb on the back says
A Perfect Family
An Evil Secret
And A Shocking Twist Ending
The most shocking and Terrifying unforgettable novel you will read all year

Into The Water by Paula Hawkins who also wrote The Girl On The Train,I enjoyed that and this one sounds good too

Tomorrow is my day to have DGS and me and DD are taking him out for the day,we are going to our local Donkey Sanctuary,it's free to get in and we are taking our own food ,the only cost will be the bus fare to get there,so a cheap day out ,if it's not too hot we might take the dog as well,she loves it there as there are lots of walks for her to explore

Onebrokelady · 23 August 2018 at 9:30PM

Oh dear,Im having an attack of the collywobbles,I've just worked out my budget that I need to pay everyone and I'm worrying my wages on my new hours aren't going to cover it,in fact I know they won't even with the pay rise,I get paid tomorrow but won't be able to tell yet how much I will earn because I started the new hours halfway through the month
I should be ok this month to make the SC payment but I don't think I will be able to next month,I'm going to have to phone them to reduce the payments and I'm worried they won't be happy,I'm also worried my creditors won't be happy either and will start hassling me for more money
I'm need to try to stop panicking and calm down,I haven't felt like this since the week I had my LBM and realised what a mess I was in,I hoped never to feel like that again but here I am shaking and hyperventilating all over the place
Ok best scenario is SC are fine and my creditors are fine and I can just bumble along like it was
Worse case scenario is SC are not fine and I have to go to a self managed DMP, this is what scares me because I'm not sure I can manage it and I can't handle my creditors hassling me at all
I can't phone SC until I can get some time on my own,I think I will have to phone them from work because my DD is around on holiday from uni at the moment so time on my own is hard, I am going to phone them on Wednesday when I'm back at work

Cherryfudge · 23 August 2018 at 10:33PM

I am sure SC get plenty of cases of people whose circumstances have changed, and really their purpose is to enable you to make realistic repayments - after all from the creditors' point of view they would rather have the money back more slowly than not at all. So I think your best case scenario sounds likely.

Did you find out any more about the family of thunderous children? It certainly doesn't seem to be the sort of behaviour you'd expect, so either there is some sort of extenuating circumstance or they really are a nightmare family.

And with that in mind, are you sure you should be reading this? "The People Next Door by Christopher Ransom,the blurb on the back says
A Perfect Family
An Evil Secret
And A Shocking Twist Ending
The most shocking and Terrifying unforgettable novel you will read all year"

Onebrokelady · 23 August 2018 at 11:47PM

Cherryfudge wrote: »

I am sure SC get plenty of cases of people whose circumstances have changed, and really their purpose is to enable you to make realistic repayments - after all from the creditors' point of view they would rather have the money back more slowly than not at all. So I think your best case scenario sounds likely.

Did you find out any more about the family of thunderous children? It certainly doesn't seem to be the sort of behaviour you'd expect, so either there is some sort of extenuating circumstance or they really are a nightmare family.

And with that in mind, are you sure you should be reading this? "The People Next Door by Christopher Ransom,the blurb on the back says
A Perfect Family
An Evil Secret
And A Shocking Twist Ending
The most shocking and Terrifying unforgettable novel you will read all year"

Hopefully that will be the case and I am just panicking over nothing, it's just when I had to alter the payments slightly before the lady on the phone said something about it not being allowed if it would take me over 11 years to pay off the debt it was ok in the end because the payment I had to increase to my energy supplier is only for two years then it drops off so I can increase my Debt payments accordingly,if I have to drop my payments again I think it will take me over the 11 years,I'm thinking that's because that is when I retire and they want me to have paid it off before then,oh well I won't know until I phone them and it's a problem I will just have to self manage

I haven't found out anything about The People Next Door :eek: yet but their kids are still up now and banging around the house,they are constantly fighting with each other and the boy who is the bigger of the two cries loudly over everything all the time,I'm not sure which one is older it's hard to tell,the bigger boy is overweight so could be younger,it hasn't been so bad since I moved my bed onto the other side of the room,I can still hear them but it's not against my head anymore,I'm thinking I'm being unkind and they have something wrong but if so why is the mother shouting at them like they should know better:(

:rotfl:I did read the blurb on the back of the book and think " should I be reading this" but I decided to take the chance,I've read several books this year that have been touted as the scariest book you will ever read and they were very disappointing,I read a page of this book and it did make the hairs stand up on the back of my neck so maybe this will be the one:eek:
:rotfl:

enthusiasticsaver · 24 August 2018 at 7:42AM

Awful you having to cope with your neighbours kids at almost midnight. Making that much noise is inconsiderate.

Stepchange will be fine about reducing the monthly payment if your wages have changed due to hours. I would tell them ASAP though to get it sorted before the next monthly payment. Is your DD unaware you are on a DMP?

I use the Goodreads app to record what books I have read and review them and keep a note of which ones I want to read.

enthusiasticsaver · 24 August 2018 at 7:46AM

Is this the daughter who would give up her course if she knew you were in debt? In that case I can understand you not telling her. Wednesday will be fine. Or write to stepchange.

Onebrokelady · 24 August 2018 at 4:54PM

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

Awful you having to cope with your neighbours kids at almost midnight. Making that much noise is inconsiderate.

Stepchange will be fine about reducing the monthly payment if your wages have changed due to hours. I would tell them ASAP though to get it sorted before the next monthly payment. Is your DD unaware you are on a DMP?

I use the Goodreads app to record what books I have read and review them and keep a note of which ones I want to read.

Thanks for your reassurance,I have calmed down a bit today,I have enough this month to pay the payment and not leave myself short,so I'm going to pay this one then I'm going to log into my SC account and contact them via there,I keep forgetting that I have an account on the website so don't have to phone them, no my DD doesn't know about my debts and would be really worried if she found out,she would want to give up her course for sure and I don't want that

The neighbours children are a nightmare every night,the noisy boy obviously got told off just now or couldn't get his own way and was shouting and crying at the top of his voice,it's like when a two year old has a tantrum except he is at least 7 I would think,she does shout at them a lot though so the parenting doesn't sound too good,they just let them run riot all evening and they don't go to bed until later than I do and I stay up until about 11pm most nights.im hoping they will go to bed earlier when they go back to school

My DD keeps on at me to use Goodreads and I keep saying I'm going to then I forget,I am going to sign up for it today......in a minute.......:rotfl:

Onebrokelady · 24 August 2018 at 5:23PM

Right I have pulled myself together and given myself a stern talking to so it's back to the plan
I was paid early this month because it's a bank holiday on Monday,so my wages went in today,I checked my bank this morning and I've worked out my budget for the month,I have drawn the cash out for my food shopping for the month and I'm going to split it into envelopes so it's not in one lump sum,I was doing this when I first started my DMP but I've let things slide a bit and I'm not paying enough attention,this stops now and I'm going to be more organised

I had my back pay today which came to the grand total of £125 so I have transferred £100 to my emergency fund ,here is confession time,I messed up my money last month and had to use £100 of my emergency fund to bail myself out so it had gone down to £350,it's now back up to £450 and I am back to accounting for every penny
I have enough money in my account to pay all the bills including SC this month and I have one more rent payment to come from DDs boyfriend so that will be going into the Xmas savings when I get it

I've been on holiday this week and have been out for several coffees but me and DD usually take it in turns to pay,I've got into a little habit of buying a cold fizzy drink if I'm out and about and at £1.30 a bottle that has to stop as that adds up to £5.20 a month and £62.40 a year,I have a water bottle but I don't like water so when I went shopping I bought some really nice flavoured squash,it's more expensive then the shops cheapy one at £2 a bottle but will last me for ages so will work out cheaper than the fizzy drink I've been buying,I'm sharing the bottle with my DD so she will buy the next one when it runs out

Food wise I've just bought the ingredients to make Gnocchi bake so that will feed me for four evening meals I also have a portion of Quorn meatballs in the freezer to that's another meal plus sausages for another meal so I'm set for the next 6 days of evening meals,lunch will either be eggs on toast using my eggs or cheese on toast and I have weetabix for breakfast,I should be able to stick easily inside my food budget this month if I don't spend recklessly on things I don't need.
The dog food comes out of the food budget too and I managed to get a bag of her food reduced today to she should be ok for a few weeks now,I'm going to sit down and work out how many meals I can get out of one bag later so I can plan how long it will last
The chickens need stocking up on food too and I have been buying 5kg bags at the pet shop but I'm thinking this month I will order a 25kg bag online and this will last the two of them for a couple of months,this will stop me going to the pet shop and buying other things while I'm there that I don't need,plus it's really heavy to carry home so it will save my back

So today is clean slate new start day :A

My journey to a debt free life

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