Debt Free 2007

[charliecat]

Following on from a previous 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!!!

Well Done Jarm
I got my tax credits today, long wait from MAY.
Had thoughts of a spending spree for all of 2 seconds. Once id paid back the overpayment from last year, the money ive borrowed living for the last 3 months and paid the credit card off there was Fark All Left.
And I get £80 a week, plus my rent paid so really need to get finger out and make a bit on Ebay.

Well done JARM, must feel great to be debt free.

Mummy2Olivia, I have a £1K o/d on my smile a/c (well I will on Monday when everything comes out), Barclays a/c also £1K o/d, and now owe £11K on CCs. My debts have actually gone up a lot in the last couple of months. I was doing great, both bank accounts were always in credit, and CCs were getting paid off, but a much needed holiday and a disaster with the kitchen has bumped our debts are now higher than they were at the start of the year.

Lots of knuckling down to be done.

i'm not even gfoing to say what I owe it's too depressing to tell (tho' I do know).
After the holidays we are now going to enpty the loft and find everything we can to ebay so we can start to make a dent in it all. Would be so nice to be debt free - well done JARM!!!

Mine seems to be getting worse , got my Amex bill and its onlygot food and petrol on but am struggling to pay it as my o/d is nearly at its limit.

Need to sort some stuff to ebay and am going to see about some o/t tomorrow at other schools but even that takes up to 2 months to get paid.

just had to pay £85 to the emergency plumber so now feel really fed up. am trying to look at every single thing we spend money on and work out how to cut back.

going back to school is expensive. So far this week £8 for school dinners , £9 for swimming lessons and 3 party invites (and therefore 3 presents!)

My debts are quite huge - I m not asking you your own debt, but is this thread mainly for those with just a bit of an o/d or do you think it would help with quite large debt??

Also, is it still ok to ask for the sheet from flamesparrow?

Thanks, would love some support.

Feel free to join us, everyones welcome.

no idea on Flames spread sheet though

yes she will let you have it if you cat her

we are a mix, my debt is quite large and others seem smaller. but a debt is a debt!!

Right I will cat her now. And thanks.

I am sending the kids away this weekend (3 of them) with dh and am having a bit of a sort-my-life-out weekend. My debts are very big, but from every acorn.....

I have found the schl hols very expensive and that has made things worse I think.

good luck . i am trying to have a sort it out month - loads to do after the holidays. our actual trip away was not too bad as we budgeted very carefully and the hols themselves i seta £20 weekly limit for spending on extras and mainly kept within it.

hows everybody doing? we areclearing out the loft and kids rooms and are going to do a boot sale!

£275 for car MOT and service today

How is everyone doing on this now?

Doing ok now ive got my tax credits sorted. Paying things on time and putting money by for things like cars etc so when it comes in its not a big shock. How you getting on BK?

Still finding it hard where the children are concerned I think. Have cut down loads, but not been able to budget for last four months.Lots of school trips, funds at the moment. One big loan will end in June next year so will use the money to pay of the credit card. Overpayment of f.t.c will end in December.
I find school trips so hard though, as I don't want to admit money is tight at the school or exclude my children.
When i was a teenager , we were a single parent family with little money and it was horrible.It made me into a better person too, but was hard. I even had to wear my brothers old trainers for P.E and remeber colouring them in with black felt tip. I don't want that for my kids.
Good news though, Dh's parent's have offered to pay for a new bathroom for us . Very kind

Glad you are o.k C.C

Yes when your are tight the school trips are a fecking nightmare. At some point last year on MN I had a big rant when we were a family of 4 with £40 for food a week, and a mum was bragging that SHE wasnt gonna pay for the school trip - £11 it was - and both her kids turned up with brand new Nike rucksacks and something else brand new which cost more than the farking trip...and there was me taking £11 off the farking food bill that week to pay. Oh i was so
But I wouldnt got to school and say I cant afford this either. She did, then stood in the playground bragging about it.

How's it all going?

Do you know I set this up originally nearly 12 months ago?

For me, things are easier, debts are gradually being cleared. Not as quickly as if we were being obsessive about it, but we are taking the slower process of clearing and being able to enjoy life a little bit.

well, badly to tell the truth! But we are moving to asmaller house which will free up some money and pay off debts. not sure if thi sthe way I want to go but it seems to be for the best at present. we shall have to be really careful and keep out of debt! (btw we aren't moving to pay off the debts, its a bonus!)

I am losing track of my dinances and REALLY need to get on top...happy birthday thread nearly

Haven't been on here for aaaages! Can't really comment on how things are going. Have split from Dp this week. Have been looking on entitledto.co.uk, and will be several thousand pound a year better off if I stop working. . Oh yeah and sell my house and go back renting (which is NOT happening).

Basically I am NOT giving up work - that keeps me sane! (well I can hardly call myself sane atm, but YKWIM! )

I am NOT dropping hours @ work because that would mean I would only be able to do 2 shifts a week to keep under 16hours a week and with Christmas coming up there will obviously be shifts where I will finish later, so cannot guarantee my hours would stay below 16, and then end up screwed for benefit fraud.

Hey GG sorry to hear about your split...it not keeping it under 16, its 16 and over you could work between 16 and...whatever..just give them a rough idea.
Ring them and ask.

Hello A|ll, long time no post!

Just wondering If at the end of 2007 we have achieved our objective?

And I'm showing off. I have managed to stay debt free this year (just straying into my OD before I get my payments) and save £500 too.

I also got the cash back from moving our mortgage thanks to Martin Moneysaving Expert and encouragement from you lot.

Here's to keeping it up in 2008. Thanks for the thread and your support

Oh wooohooooo ending of 2007....well Im not doing great....but ive got most of my xmas pressies for family with boots points and have been shopping with tescos vouchers in desperation this week. Havent gone into debt for Xmas but the cars costing me a mint.
Are we doing another for 2008? Anyone got a £2 tin going? I have!