Diary of a Poor Person aged 46 1/2

A question about : Diary of a Poor Person aged 46 1/2

So I am sitting here when everyone else is sleeping and I am worrying about the rediculous state of our finances. Before i start listing our debt... yes i know its bad, yes we only have ourselves to blame, yes, we spent the money - no one else did. Yes, we dont know the value of money...

Best answers:

• Hi - am 45 and 11/12th's (god now everyone knows) and feel better after reading your list of debts, mine being in the region of Ј160k (peanuts really.... ) - or did you make yours up to make others feel better? Neat trick - only kidding - being on here so late is curdling my brain....oh and you being older than me is also chuffing (well we have to get our boosts where we can ).
  Can't you sell a house???
  Do you have good jobs???
  For me it's neither of the above - but carboots are fun and it's amazing what you make by selling tons of stuff for peanuts (charge low - people won't pay much at carboots - stick to your price and you'll go home with it). Do you have a garden? I split up and pot my overgrowing plants - best sale last year made Ј130 !! What are you selling? (being nosy now)
  Want to go into business and make a killing? I do but can't decide what to do....am talking absolute drivel now, so night night - and good luck
• Morning Squink
  thanks for you kind [i think] words.
  well i didnt make this up... its happend for several reasons. oh and i have good jobs, we could get credit easily with nice large credit limits. selling house - tricky in this time and we still have to live somewhere. its a fine balancing act. each month we are paying out Ј5800 in payments to mortgage, bills and credit repayments. i think we are a financial nightmare.
  i posted this to show people that even if you think u are well paid and money isnt an issue then i have shown that you can get into big debt very very easily. its probably becos we are greedy, and needy but since nov 08 we have cracked down on spending and working to knock down debts.
  my own personal spending was way out of control and i would think nothing of spending 600 on a saturday, buying all the new games for the kids and not thinking about it. i dont do that anymore though! nothing.
  i hope that my example shows people that anyone can be in debt doesnt matter who you are.
  have great day
  mrs cmr
  Be positive and get out of the negative!
• Love the tittle of your diary
  Glad I dont have your debts though!
  Pop up a SOA if you feel it might help.
• thanks beanielou.
  i know that by 2013 we will be debt free - just as long as we dont add more or some dreadful catastophe hits us. we are not the luckiest of people and some times i think we are a bit simple and need to wise up.
  i prob will do a SOA though. im sure people dont believe my thread and the amount of debt but its really real. i dont think we are bankrupt we have assets worth 900k but cant sell either of them so we sit and stew.
  mrs cmr
• [quote=mrscmr;19811367]Morning Squink
  thanks for you kind [i think] words.
  well i didnt make this up...
  I was teasing - I go a bit daft that time of night, especially if I've been on this site (just have a quick look, still on 2 hours later....) - frazzles the brain.
  Can't even get my head round the lifestyle you sound like you have, but guess the same principles apply - if you've taken a grip and clamped down then you can pat yourself on the back for trying even if something happens outside of your control.
  Are you working to a debt management plan of some kind, if you have a target date for solvency? Good to have a light at the end of the tunnel. I know what you mean about feeling you're a bit simple - we can all be clever at some things and amazingly stupid in others - I can tell other people (my kids! ha ha) what to do with money but am hopeless myself (amazing they haven't sussed me yet).
  What's an SOA? (don't know any of the jargon).
  Went to a business training workshop today and the guy said something like "luck is for those who work hard" (meaning few successful businesses come from luck, it's the grafters who are "lucky" in being successful). Sounds like you're working hard to get it right - good for you. Now it's my turn....
• the thing is this.. from the outside people would look at us and think wow they are so lucky to have all this.. but if they only knew that it was all held together by the most fragile of bits of string and financials are finely balanced they would be shocked.
  soa - state of affairs as in finances!
  this website is addictive i agree. i still think people are not taking me seriously on here. as for a plan, only the plan that i have put together to get out of this mess, head down work hard, cut back, and wait till 2013. im no different to anyone else on here other than my debt is size of a small country.
  still - its sunny day and we are all still here!
  thanks for ur reply!
• Wow, well done for writing it all down and controlling the spending.
  Your list makes it easier to see how people get into huge debts, I know I could be in a much worse place if used all the credit available to me when my earnings were at their peak.
  Good luck.
• But what is the value of your assets? Is it more than your debt, if so, great!
• mrscmr - it seems as if you've had what we call a "lighbulb" moment. From now on you'll feel different about spending money so you're on the right track. Keep readind and posting here and you'll find the motivation to keep going on your debt free journey.
• thank you everyone... yes i am at the point of no return. value of assets is greater than debt but doesnt feel like that when its only on paper. 4 yrs and it will be all paid, but for now we shuffle along daily.
  i spend so many hours on here reading and thinking of things i could do.
  each month debt gets smaller...
• Hi
  Can I be cheeky and ask if the Cyprus house is a holiday home? If so do you rent it to other people cos if you can that might ease things up a bit.
  Oh and I'm 47 1/2 by the way and we know a few couples that are in your situation. Its very easy to get into debt when you have regular weak moments and buy lovely things for yourself and your family. It seems (until now at least) the more you spend the more the credit companies love you.
  At least you are doing something positive.
  Cuddles
• yes the cyprus house gives us an income of about 20k a year which covers the mortgage payments. getting credit is soo easy and then you take advantage of it and end up like us.
  good news today, reduced debt by Ј200 pounds .. yes i count it day by day its the only way to keep it going, i have a spreadsheet which i copy each 4 weeks and it shows the decrease - even if its only a few hundred off the overall total.
• Hi mrscmr,
  Hope you don't mind me stopping by. I understand your situation completely, my debts are a lot lower (although what isn't on my signature is 2 mortgages...) but I understand how easy it is for things to spiral. We were also in the trap of thinking, we earn a decent amount, which keeps edging upwards, so we'll be able to pay everything off at somepoint. Then you realise that somepoint never comes and you want to pay it off now! Sounds lke you've got a great plan to get it all paid off in 4 or 5 years. The difficult thing is to keep the motivation going.
  I'd recommend doing the SOA, even if you don't post it on here. It'll really help you see where the money is going, and will allow you to do all the painless cuts before starting on the painful ones.
  before I start rambling, good luck! And I shall pop back and see how you are doing. I've been a lurker on here for years and have only just officially joined so am enjoying being able to write things!
  Enjoy the sunshine.
• Well as long as we can keep up the repayments during the next few years then we stand a good chance. we have over 3k a month just on credit repayments. its scary if you actually look at it. i assume that we dont declare ourselves bankrupt if we have assets worth more than we owe? not really sure what bankrupt is - anyone ?
  some days are better than others.
• well another sunny morning... this morning started for me at 4.45am woke up with big worries on head. firstly money one - thats always there and then secondly the work worry cos i havent done the work i should have done.
  im freelancer and have 5 outstanding projects to finsih, but just cant get my butt moving which is stupid cos if i work then i invoice then i get PAID! duh its not hard. then had thoughts of paying extra into the smallest debts we have to see what impact that might have long term.
  then late last night i had calculated that we had reduced our mortgage by Ј4500 since november - so surely thats going in the right direction.
  well have good money saving day everyone. now im gonna get this work done/finsihed and invoiced hurrah!
  check back later and shout at me if i havent finsihed it
• Hope you are working hard so you can get those invoices out!
• mrscmr - we have all had fun chucking money away and then come to realise how big a hole we are in. For some it's a few grand, for others several. At least you have put it down in black and white and can forsee a debt free future one day. Remember that assets can gain or lose value, and a house is only worth as much as someone is prepared to pay for it. I think several people gambled on the value of their houses and now wish they hadn't. We are now older but hopefully wiser and with each others' support will get through these difficult times.
  I am now official DFW Nerd 1162
• Hi MrsCMR - I trust you are cracking on with your work and not spending too much time on MSE - it can be rather addictive. I've noticed that you posted today at 10:30, 11.51, 11.55 and 12.36. We'll be keeping an eye on you to ensure you get your work done, so that you can submit your invoices and reduce your debts!