Debt Free 2007.....

[charliecat]

Following on from this thread there are a fair few mumsnetter trying to get out of and stay out of debt....chatting about it and moaning about skint
We are a friendly bunch please come in

A round up of a lot of the tips/links so far:

• Decent food budgetting/planning - Email Flamesparrow at gmail dot com for a copy of Capp?s spreadsheet! (Didn?t want to tell everyone to CAT you Capp unless you wanted them to )
• uswitch
• s/o for savings AND a s/o for treats
• Work out the birthdays that will be coming across the year and make sure I put aside enough each month to cover the hell months.

BUDGET
Work out a spreadsheet for your monthly/weekly spending. Spend a couple of months tracking every penny you spend ? you will be able to see where your money trickles away to!!!

SHOPPING
*Shop online if you make a comprehensive list (it will cost more if you miss lots off)
*Menu plan ? easier to make a stickable to shopping list

• Use Quidco to get money back on shopping
• If you can be trusted to pay it all off before the end of the month, do your shopping on a Tesco credit card to get the points to use elsewhere
• Eat before you shop
• Buy extras like milk and bread at the corner shop ? what slight extra you pay for the milk, you save on not seeing tempting offers!! (4 pts of milk is actually CHEAPER at my corner shop than Tesco Express)
• Sign up for anything that will send you free vouchers
• Pay at the self service machines in Tesco as they accept all vouchers regardless of purchases
• Avoid gift/cleaning aisle in shops ? you buy things you don?t need FOOD ? Menu plan! It can be a 2 or 3 week mix n match type thing, but have some plan to help you shop ? Work out which foods can be economised on, and which are just not worth it ? value mushrooms are just an odd shape, value mince is more fatty, but if you strain it it is fine, but frozen mince tastes like disintergrated cardboard ? Cook bulk meals and freeze ? 2 packs of mince can often make 3 meals, where as 1 pack makes 1 n a bit ? Bulk meals out with lots of veg ? again, a Bolognese sauce goes a lot further if its filled with peppers, grated carrots etc ? Take drinks out with you so you are not forced to buy ? Get Fruit and Veg at markets (have discovered that DH works next to the people who supply the organic veg box people ? we are now getting organic veg for less than basic tesco veg prices

GIFTS
? Keep a list of birthdays with you so you can buy presents as you spot bargains
? Save for Christmas NOW ? Use a club or a separate savings account with a standing order - don?t wait and see what you can afford at the end of the month ? you won?t be able to

GENERAL
? Save up spare £1 coins and coppers etc ? You can get it changed at most Sainsbury?s in a machine ? it does take some of your money in a charge, but I never get it changed if I have to take it to a bank, so it makes more sense.
? Claim back you bank charges if you have them
? Cut up credit cards ? If it is not a matter of starvation or eviction, it is NOT an emergency
ITS NOT A BARGAIN IF YOU DIDN?T NEED IT IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!

yes
Wow at £7 in 17 days!
I like looking at the morgage statement to see how much its gone down!

Im going to have to wait another year to see anymore interest...never mind
Do you have a mortgage pig?

People are overpaying thier mortgages and saving 40 grand. Amazing!!!!

I am saving all my 10p/20p atm , concentrating on CCs and O/D first before morgage!

Yep, no point saving when you are paying interest I rent..

I have looked at the tesco website and decided that I would be better off selling vouchers, so ive converted them to blackpool pleasure beach vouchers - £14 for 2, and they sell for about £38.
I ordered 4 so...76 quid for a days out fund

This moneysaving is addictive. I needed some bark for the kids play area, so off I went to homebase, loaded 3 damaged bags onto my trolley, announced that they are on 3 for £10 but they are damaged and what was the best price and she said, well they are usually 3.99 on thier own so if I just charge you for 2? Oh yes thats lovely
7.98 instead of £10 ..............................

Good on you CC. I hate it. It's not that I'm flash when I've got a bit of money. I am a saver rather than a spender, but I like to know that if I want something I can have it, but I can't at the moment.

How is the paying off of debt going and dp was spending wasnt he? Hows that going GG?
I had £75 in my paypal account and for the 2nd time in my children lifes (they are 9 and 6) Ive brought them some new clothes.
2 pairs of jeans, 3 t-shirts and 2 skirts from Next = £64 That will be why I have only ever brought new clothes once before then LOL..and its took me 5 years to go back and do it again!!!!!!!!
DD1 has shot up and had that ankle swinger trouser look, and dd2 gets hand me down and shes the 4th on to have them so they are a bit faded by the time she gets them on her......so needed to be done.
Nice to know there will be something for them to wear in the drawers, and it was money I had to spend so

The paying off debt's going quite well. The CCs were at just over £9000, they are now just over £7500. Our current accounts are both OK too, not o/d there, although smile will be on Monday when everything comes out, but not for long.

Having no access to cards DP has had to stop, if he does go out, then I get the money out for him. TBH he's too tired most of the time to even want to go out, so he's in bed by 8.30.

I hide my tips in a tupperware box in the kitchen cupboard, when thats full I'll stick it all on one of the CCs. Since being back at work I've realised how much i miss those tips.

I think the biggest thing for me is food. Our shopping used tobe about £120 a week,its down o £45-50 a week now, thats all those luxuries that I'm missing out on. DP doesn't eat a lot, so thats not really affecting him.

Childrens clothes here only come from Asda or Tesco . ds2s clothes are all hand me downs too.

If I had an Asda or Tesco or Hennes I may have brought them new clothes more often, but its H and M, or mothercare, bhs, m and s or Next here....and my kids are skinnys, the other shops seem to cater for heifer children lol
Excellent reduction on food bill What sort of stuff are you noticing your missing out on?
I find the expensive food tends to be the prepacked no need to cook stuff which im trying to steer clear of.
And snacks, prepacked again.
So unless something is incredibly cheap its yogurts and fruit for snacks.

We're lucky, we have huuuuuuuge Asda & Tesco Extra so loads of choice for childrens clothes.

It's things like fizzy drinks (yes, I'm 12 really ), biscuits & chocolate bars (penguin type things) are the most noticable things really. I don't drink hot drinks, so I alwasy bought Vimto, Ribena, Tesco high juice (the expensive ones basically) & went through a lot of them, probably about 5 litres each of squash, fizzy & fresh juice. Now Im buying the cheapest squash thats on offer & it's horrible! 6litres of squash is lasting about a month now.

I've been really good keeping the food shopping down so much, I don't want to lapse now & buy some goodies one week. I know if I did I'd be really with myself.

Apart from snacky type things, our food shop is very similar stuff, so thats quite at how much I used to spend each week on crap. I have lost 1/2 a stone though in the last couple of months, but have gone up a dress size.

Er, tescos value balckcurrant, the blue value stripey stuff is about 36p, and its drinkable
unlike the orange stuf..........eeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
My kids are water drinkers, the squash is for me.
OR when your fav stuff is on buyone get one free buy a tenners worth, and store it away

The cheaper the drink, usually the sweeter it is. YUK!. I'll have to try the value one next time.

Losing weight but growing? Weird lol.........

Hi you two - no one else seems to come on at the moment. I have stuck some stuff on ebay but despite compulsive checking only one thing has sold. Shame as my dss had put some things on too. feel like i need some good new saving money ideas although you are right that slowly and steadily is probably the best way as it feels less painful!

What your internet business ska? anything that would sell on ebay? LINK!!

My weakness is Pepsi! and the cafe when out with work (nearly always buy a cake , can't resist when every one else is ) not too bad usually though usually

DP suggested a car boot today. I've been a bit about doing one because I don't want to get up at stupid o'clock on a Sunday mornign. But he's said that we'll sort things out together & go together , and try to get rid of a few bits & some money.

Go for it before he changes his mind!

Do you think I should get a written contract so that he can't back out?

Definatly

my internet business is a service:look here
not selling products. I have been running it for 6 months now and it is really taking off. Lots and lots of interest and it can be a way for mums to make extra money themselves around the kids (if they have a dp I guess).
ebay is just a way of getting rid of stuff and releasing extra cash! I did have an idea for something to import and sell but have no idea about the rules around it and not sure I really have the time at the moment to sort it out! I'm not a natural entrapraneur

Great looking site ska, very good

thanks cc. It took a lot of hard work and hopefully will bring me in some money too. What I wanted was something that didn't rip people off and provided a genuine service! Still need to cover set up costs but nearly there!