Debt support thread #2

[Nerfmother]

Here we are! Can't be bothered to think of an exciting title, sorry

Hi Mitzi (cant name change back on phone) sounds like a good idea to have booked to see money matters.
Especially before you have hit any huge problems.

I HAVE JUST CLEARED MY CREDIT CARD

CC1 gone!!!!

Go missA. Bet that feels great

Can you tell I'm pleased, themoney?

Well done miss a :)

Whoop whoop! Fantastic news, well done you!

Mum2fergus sounds like nice budget meals!

Mitsi welcome, I'm sure you'll pick up loads of tips here. Do you want to post your income/outgoings, and I'm sure everyone on here will be able to suggest loads of savings you can make while you wait for your appointment. Well done for tackling it before it gets out of hand though - you are far wiser than some of us on here!

MIssAnnersley wow, well done! That's brilliant news. Must feel amazing.

I am astonished at how much food we are getting through this week - have various relatives kicking around the help out with the baby when it appears, so more mouthes to feed. Did v cheap stew yesterday (£5.10 on meat, the veg was all bottom-of-the-fridge stuff or brought by MIL to empty her fridge), and there's still a couple of servings left - normally it would feed me and DH and the DCs for 2-3 meals though! MIL, ermmm, likes her food .

I am, however, feeling v smug as have only spent £278.14 (don't forget the £0.14!) on food so far this month, out of a budget of £450. I need to do another big shop today, but even if it comes to £100 I will still be under budget for the month. And we have a good week's worth of evening meals in the freezer (although will buy in more food as my mum and MIL will cook this week after I give birth and then DH and I will have the freezer meals the following week when we are abandoned). Given that food has been my trickiest area to get control of, I'm really pleased that we've managed that this month. We are generally on track to spend a bit less this month than expected, which is nice.

wow possibly what are your secrets wrt food budget!? :) well done!
I have to feed 3 adults (ds1 eats more than I do!) and a child.
That includes packed lunches for ds2 and dh.
Good,point about portions...both ds1 and dh eats tons whereas ds2 and I are a bit less gluttonous :)
Have told dh we need to sit and go through ynab. Am fed up of never having any money. On paper we should be ok, but we aren't :(

Miss A - that is amazing, well done!

I got another £130 moderating money today, so that's £230 in the holiday pot now - yay!!

Thanks Saturday
Thought it was a good idea have been doing ok but now I really need to be prepared here's hoping it helps will let you know how I get on etc xx

Thanks possibly orange seen my mum struggle with debt I'm hoping not to end up like that

I don't mind posting my income and out goings here goes
Money coming in
£534.91 child and working tax credit (get it together every month)
£81.20 child benefit
£211.54 fortnightly wage
£292.52 housing benefit

Outgoing
£25 bright house ( fortnightly)
£80 council tax (£70 next month)
£20 freemans catalogue (nearly payed off)
£168 littlewoods catalogue (goes down every month)
£130 credit card (dread my next bill as have been using it a lot )
£240 ( makes up the rest of rent which is £550 a month)
The rest is small things
£9.50 (bus pass)
£6.50 (daughters dancing)
£60-80 ( food shopping)

Hello all - will read and respond but just showcasing my new inspirational nickname. Got fed up with Nerfmother - all the Nerf guns have been abandoned in favour of kindles and there just wasn't the same ring to it.

Mitsi Not sure how to advise with some of the debts you have - I'm used to fiddling about with loans and cards. Money Saving Expert - Debt free wannabee is a really, really helpful board. If you are happy to share income with them and bills, they are very good at trimming stuff. Link here:

forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=76

2BFree Yes, you must now be on this thread always to keep us inspired. Might change mine to albatrossofdebt. Not as nice as yours though .

Possibly well done on food budget. Am as we have burned through it again at the supermarket of evil temptations, also known as the little Tesco over the road. This week sees my total Aldi conversion, so should get better from here.

ishe well done on holiday fund. I contacted exam board about extra work and, once again, heard nothing back. I am unsurprised. I have too much on with regular work to try again, plus just intend to mark like a fiend in June. I did a solid six weeks (around work) last year and made a decent sum after tax.

Hello to everyone else .

Well. It is payday. It has arrived with a bit of a damp fizzle as we hadn't done as well last month as I'd hoped. I had £330 left, so put £500 on card immediately today. This month will see me being much more organised, although I do have Dad's 65th and Mum's 60th which will see a £120 contribution towards a gift for them, a big family day out which will be about £60 and then a second big family day out in early May, although this will be after next payday.

We are also going to visit DHs parents over Easter weekend. Premier Inn is paid for as we got a cheapy deal, but we will have petrol to get down there, then days out. MIL is so lovely and usually feeds us, so hoping to avoid meals out.

So even though we are avoiding holidays this year, we will still be spending a fair bit on the visits.

These things are one-offs though. The two key challenges are getting the food shop into proper order and not putting anything else on credit.

Mitsi, some quick thoughts on your outgoings ...

Bright House - I understand this place to be extremely expensive? Are you tied into them or can you break contract and try to replace goods with something second hand? Are the good essentials, or something you could do without perhaps?
Council Tax - are you eligible for single person discount and is it being applied to your bill?
Catalogues - once your repay Freemans, put the 20 toward Littlewoods and try to get that paid off faster. You say the payment for this is going down every month - try to keep it at same amount as you can afford now, that way you will pay less interest and pay it off quicker
Credit Card - can you look at a 0% balance transfer offer to stop the debt building? Ideally you need to get to a position where you stop using it for day to day living but appreciate that might be a challenge for you right now.

I really empathise with you, I remember how tough I found it moving out on my own, and I didn't have any DCs at the time! But you're doing the right thing in getting support early and avoiding falling into what can be a downward spiral ... so well done you!

Bright house is just one thing laptop and took the 2 week option as wasnt sure if I would have the money every week
as for council tax I get a reduction anyway and has been applied

its hard ive always had money left over but now its like ive nothing first few months were ok
knew I had to ask for help as I could see I was going to struggle with paying something and knew if I didnt i would be in debt

Very down today

Whenever I think we are keeping our head above water, an emergency crops up and we are back to square one.

We have been living tightly for five years. The first 3-4 years our debt barely reduced as the interest was sky high. We applied for balance transfers and were declined. We are now actually paying off our debts. Online debt calculator shows we have another three years.

I am on ML and do absolutely nothing bar look after my baby, take and collect dc from school. I had arranged to meet old friends next week for lunch but may decline. The £10 I would have spent will now have to pay for something else.

We have no long term savings.

I am constantly taking €5 here and £10 there from dcs piggy bank. We replace it, then use it again. My dm used to do exactly the same thing to me - only it was never replaced.

I hate myself and feel like a failure.

There I know how you feel - once you become conscious of money, suddenly there seems so little of it, especially if you were using credit to do things in the past and have stopped (as we have here). Life does feel pretty bleak at times. I suggest some nice free treats like a long soak in the bath or a walk in the sunshine where there are plenty of spring flowers. One thing we both need to do is keep telling ourselves that this too shall pass. If the debt is going down, choice will come eventually and time does pass really quickly.

There...I know how you feel :(

Thereishope
You'll get there.
I know how you feel - when we were maxed out on al forms of borrowing and only bought reduced food

meeting friends for lunch : get them all to come round but get everybody to bring a dish of food and then you can chat and let kids play and spend almost nothing

mitsi
All of the cards : convert the direct debits into standing orders at £1 than last months amount
the credit card, st the standing order as exactly the minimum payment if you had maxed the card - that way it will clear itself without you worrying about changing amounts ever again

badvoc
hang on in there
there is light at the end of the tunnel and the sun will come out soon
try to have a couple of 'store cupboard' food days
or even take up 5:2 fasting - as the food bills on those two days are minimal

Hi very pleased to have found this thread. Struggling ATM to get to grips with my debt. Recently my issues were exposed rather public ally by my former friend and landlady and have left me feeling incredibly judged and lonely in a small isolated town. I moved here nearly 11 months ago and virtually all of my former friends here now know and are no longer interested.
I have 1 CC debt of around £500 1 large vets bill of a similar amount, an overdraft of around £1850 and some livery arrears of around &1000.

My former landlady gave me notice on my room (despite me being up to date with my rent) and have moved into a flat locally. Finding it really hard to step even outside my own front door ATM as it feel like I'm being judged by the entire town right now. My former friend I have now been informed is trying to find out where I live so that she can inform my new landlord that I have debts.

I have been working hard hopefully I have secured a second job and so that will take the pressure off somewhat. I have a lovely job in this town which I really enjoy and I love the area (which is why I moved 250 moles from friends and family in the first place). Beginning to think that I should pack up and leave and move back to where I was before!

Think- if your trying to pay back what you owe don't move. Some people have nothing better to do than poke noses in other people's business. Keep up on this rent make payments to who you need to as soon as.
Tell no one your business and walk with your head high, there are more people in a situation that let on, they just hide it better.x

thinking she sounds like a horribly judgemental person. Plenty of people have debts of far, far more than that and consider it normal! You can get to grips with it. Ignore the silly cow.

Thanks for your encouragement. It is so hard sometimes

Thinking
When you have paid off your debts, you will no longer have financial problems.
Your ex friend will, however, still be a bitch

Get the debt sorted, hold your head high and enjoy the job and the town
if you show people that you are the better person all will urn out for the best

Mitzi, one thing really jumped out at me which was where you posted that 168 (goes down each month)' - can you fix this a la TalkinPeace? So you always pay 168?
Thinking - your friend sounds very odd. Your LL will not give a monkeys if you have debt provided you pay the rent on time. Laugh it off if they do - she told you what? How weird, some people are so bizarre!
Kinky, yes much prefer this name.
Whoop whoop increased my hours and will have a cple hundred extra! Will be paying it straight off my cc!