Yep! My rent was due yesterday. Checked my bank account and all seemed well, rent appeared to have gone. Checked again today and the money is back in there! But now I am more overdrawn than I was before due to council tax going out, so I can't afford my rent for this month at the moment

I have already borrowed money from my family so can't ask anyone for help, think I'm going to have to chat to the landlord about it and see if I can delay paying for a week or so until I get some money together from somewhere... having to apply for a second credit card to do a balance transfer to see if I can free up some cash and cut my interest repayments for a while.

Life has been really chucking obstacles my way since last december really, I've had expensive car troubles, my partner was made redundant the day before christmas eve and did not receive any redundancy pay as he was in the company just under 6 months, then his father passed away last month, I'm having some issues with coleagues at work... I feel like the word 'stress' doesn't really cover it any more!

Still trying to look on the positive side of things, I guess the hard times can't last forever! (I hope not anyway). I am still a lot better off than a lot of people out there, despite my current worries.

curious_george - you really have been through the mill and back. I hope things pick up for you and it all sorts itself out. I must admit we have been very lucky regarding jobs as my partner is a teacher which is (and I hope remains) a secure job. I know lots of people are suffering on the job front though and it must be a terrible worry.

Look after yourself,

awww we do get like this sometimes........things do eventually subside...best of luck.
xoxo grace

Thanks!

Amazingly, my boyfriend's mum has lent us enough cash to cover the rent this month so it's going into landlord's account today. So I feel a bit better about things!

We're beginning to talk about possibly moving house in a few months - when it comes to money we have more going out than we have coming in at the moment, it simply is not a sustainable situation and the job market is still not looking great, so we may have to look into cheaper housing... we're looking into council housing options or possibly even moving in with Chris's mum for a while! Which seems silly at our age but 'needs must'...

Moving is not ideal and we do love our current home, but something needs to be done or I will end up in a lot of debt too. In a way it would be a relief to be able to start again from scratch, to not struggle so much over bills and have some spare money to pay off debts and get stable again... then we can make some new goals to work towards, like saving up for a mortgage and maybe a much-needed holiday somewhere! So, we'll see how it goes.

I will leave you with what has become my favorite Chinese proverb....

"I cried because I had no shoes... then I met a man with no feet."

Hi Raya,

Don't see your outburst as a negative - it is good to get it all out!

And at least you had the excuse of your son being on stage at the time.

My massage tutor used to say it was a gift, the ability to cry - there are a lot of people out there how cannot and bottle it all up inside!

Your MIL is probably jealous of your achievements - don't let her knock you for stuff she wasn't able to do - it is her problem not yours!

Well done you for getting yourself a 'little hobby'!

curious_george - I'm glad something positive happened, I quite often find that just when you think a situation is bad, something good happens and lifts your spirits again - l liked the chinese proverb you quoted - it just stops you in your tracks doesn't it.

Bluefloppy65 - I agree with you - it is good to let it all out - don't you always feel a bit better after a good cry? Just out of interest - have you ever had anybody cry during a massage? (you reminded me of something when you mentioned your massage tutor's words) I've just remembered when I did my facial massage training I started crying when she demonstrated on me! Again I felt such a fool but she said it was quite common. After saying that I've done lots of facials now and I've not had anybody really sobbing like I did - a few small tears from one person but that's it. Is it really so common - anyone else heard of this?

Yes! last Wednesday I was in college doing a practical massage and the lady on the couch started shaking slightly and looked as though she was going to burst into tears! I asked her if she was ok and she said she was fine (although she didn't look fine!) so I just figured it was some kind of emotional release and kept going with the treatment. Afterwards I mentioned that she looked emotional at one point and thought she may have been releasing something emotionally, but she did not really want to talk about it, just said she felt tearful but she was fine. I guess we all need to release and let ourselves go sometimes!