An Avalanche of Austerity for April - Mumsnet frugaleers continue!

[MissAnnersleyismyhero]

Thought I'd start a new thread for April

Yes that's right spotty it's not quite £11k but 10.5 I would say

And how much can you realistically pay off each month?

At the moment I am paying £220ish on the Barclaycard. Just about managing that so I guess need to be able to pay min on bcard minus whatever I transfer which will hopefully bring min payment down whilst also make a debt in zero percent card!

Frugal win: found old loyalty card for the "other" eyebrow/lip threading place I used to go to, went in to check and I have 3 free treatments available, one of which I used today, so saved £12. Will use up the other 2 before I go back to the good place, which is cheaper anyway!

Bought last bits for 2 weeks of meal planning and am determined not to top up shop, if we run out, we run out. DH will bring salad bag home when needed about mid way through (he has the cash for this in his car) but apart from that I am not spending a penny on food for 2 weeks. The gauntlet is down!!

Payday on Friday (who's counting!) and will pay savings to emergency fund, leave enough for planned expenses and direct debits etc and pay all the rest off debt. It's scary but otherwise I will fritter it away, and I'll have £300 in the emergency fund so I wont be penniless, just less likely to decide a wine/coffee/book is a needed treat

I'm just wondering if it would make more sense for you to get a loan. Have a look at this

It may do I see what you mean. Will it go against me credit wise to apply for a loan having just applied for a new CC?

I don't think so, don't forget you have 14(?) days to cancel. I'm not an expert by any means though!

There's more than one way to skin a cat! Let me eat this and I'll be back.

Hope it's not skinned cat you are having fluffy! I know we are being frugal and all..

MissAnn that's what I try and do with food shopping, just like my mother used to do, she wasn't always in a shop. My top-ups were wildly out of control until recently, so now we eat what there is, and if something has run out, then I just cook something else. It does make for some interesting combinations but is completely doable.

Good result today. A couple of weeks ago I went to Manchester with the dc. We parked up and got the Metro into the city centre. Anyway I got in a pickle with the automated ticket machine, ended up with 3 tickets when I only wanted one. I was also then given wrong info by the customer service person on the intercom thingy and ended up spending even more on tickets I didn't need .
Obviously, I complained and got a response today. They will refund the £21 extra we spent and send us a complimentary family day travel card .

NSD today. Should be tomorrow too although Ds needs cricket trousers and shoes for the new season. He's only 12 and has gone from a 7 to 9 in 12 months! Will have a look on eBay for the shoes later.

Have a pile of stuff to eBay so must start listing.

When I had £1000cc debt plus a £2500od I applied for a loan and got turned down, but they didn't actually refuse me they offered me 18% interest which obviously wasn't worth me going for.

Their reasoning is that if you consolidate debt and lower the repayments then you will have more disposable income and you'll spend more.

If you said the loan was to buy a car or extend the house it would be different.

I think I was too honest.

Do you pay the minimum balance every month or £200 regardless of what the minimum balance is?.

£12 on led lights. These will fit the lamp, hopefully.

northender that's great!

We've got a loan with Santander and I've found them really helpful and had no problems especially when my car was written off and we needed to increase the loan etc. I just think sometimes it's too easy to just pay the minimum on the cc whereas with a loan the dd goes out each month regardless.

Thanks guys. The min payment is around £225/ month! So I always pay that but rarely have any spare cash after everything else to top up more if you see what I mean. I suppose with a loan it would be the same payment every month & it would eventually go. I might look on mse later for best loan rates. Thanks all.

www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/cut-credit-card-interest. This is a good article.

I never knew any of this when it was me but it was 2006 and it was easy credit back then and no one worried about paying cc back. We knew people who lived on credit cards

3.50 for softplay and 1.40 on a tea.

springbright Im not sure I even lasted three weeks. I am always on a half hearted diet though. I used to be much bigger and lost 4 stone by calorie counting and then ww. I could do probably do with losing half a stone but others might disagree (they don't see me naked though) I think it's the same half stone that my mum's always trying to lose

Thanks for the advice re bf, I know its not the "tread" for it, but very helpful. The reason why I am a bit "worried" is because I have had a breast op in the past, as a teenager, and were told, that there might be a chance of me not being able to bf due to the op. So I want to try, but will be realistic about it and accepting that it most likely will not happen.

*£10,000 cc debt.

Sorry to hear that Italian. It's nice for bonding in the first few days/weeks anyway and even after that if you go on to ff

Ilove I have about a stone to lose but am sat here eating an Easter egg I have no self control and a very addictive personality

spotty Dh and I both bought each other lots of choccy for Easter, last night as we were falling asleep we mutually confessed this was a Very Bad Idea and promised next year to only buy 1 small egg each.

Have had chocolate after every meal and as snacks since Easter morning.

I also have little self control! I'm sure if I exercised more and drank less I wouldn't need a fix it diet and id be richer!! In fact I'm going to challenge myself to not put any booze in shopping basket for the next 5 weeks (until half term) that means I can still have a cheeky couple of glasses when I stay at my mum's next week ! Not that we drink in excess but a bottle of wine and a few ales for dh at the weekend is 12+ and about 500 calories for me!

Thanks adora - still no kitchen... Had dinner at friend's house this evening. Very civilised.

Tomorrow will be work then dinner at home. Yikes!

I don't think I've had an NSD this month. Today, paid £21 for ds tennis classes, and £9 for 4 days of school dinners. I brought lunch in.

queenie What's your interest charge on your overdraft? If it's more than the credit card, pay that off first.

I lost 3 stones, mostly doing GI diet and then 5:2. I still fast from time to time. It works really well for me.

So today I was in Waitrose, M & S, Tesco's and Home Bargains buying up stuff for DS party and last minute little presents for DS. Spent ££. Ah well, at least I saved money by having the party at home and not paying for an entertainer. Everyone keeps saying how brave I am . I'm a bit worried now.

www.nailsinc.com/products/get-it-or-regret-it/41/?sort=price-low-to-high Who wanted cheap polish?