Finally facing up - SOA

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  • Soozzi
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    Do you roll your own cigarettes? If not then that will cut your smoking costs down. I won't tell you to give up. Stopping smoking is hard enough but with your depression and anxiety it will be even harder! I too have an addiction to a certain diet fizzy drink. I hunt around each week for the best deal. I will give it up eventually but at the moment I feel i "need" it. Sometimes crave it more than a cigarette. Do you meal plan? I plan every 4 weeks and make a list and stick to it religiously when in the shop and won't get tempted. I then give my grocery purse (yes, I have a separate purse for this. People think I am crazy) £20 every Friday for little bits like milk bread eggs or what ever else I forgot in my big shop or run out of. Sometimes I don't spend the whole £20 so the following week I will top it back up to £20. On average I will spend around £170 a month on food to feed me, my son and my other half who works away mon-fri. This figure also includes nappies and formula for my 22 month old. I can't really see anything else that you could try cut down on. Lodger seems a good idea for the moment though so definitely worth looking into that.
  • getmore4less
    getmore4less Posts: 46,882 Forumite
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    theoretica wrote: »
    For fizzy drinks have you tried sparkling water (big bottle of the cheapest sort) + squash?
    Kittykat85 wrote: »
    I'll give that a try, thank you.

    We have gone with Clearview 2ltr from Tesco at 25p a bottle.
    (the same water Tesco branded is 45p)
  • getmore4less
    getmore4less Posts: 46,882 Forumite
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    Lodger ASAP would be the best option to increase income.


    Maybe a mon-fri if you want to keep some personal/space/time.

    Don't forget to factor council ta going up or find a student.


    Second jobs like bar work can be useful to get some social without spending

    I think breaking down the groceries into sub categories will help focus where individual cuts could be made.

    Smokes on separate line is one to split out think bout others.

    Mobile how much allowance are you getting do you use it.
    review real use against other options
    we have 3payg on the 123 and find it better than a contract.

    Also review your internet/TV/phone it is not that high but might be able to squeeze few £ for no loss of benefit.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0 Newbie
    First Anniversary First Post Debt-free and Proud!
    edited 15 November 2014 at 2:24PM
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    You need to do something about Very, as the amount you are paying, is far less than the interest being added, meaning the balance is rising, rather than falling.

    With you current level of payment, your balance in January will be £1,357.39.
  • patman99
    patman99 Posts: 8,532 Forumite
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    Op, try watering-down your fizzy drink by 25% (to start), Over 28 days, your taste buds will get used to the change & you can dilute it a bit more.
    Pretty soon you will be able to switch to proper juice instead of fizzy pop.
    This will save you money and will have the affect that you will gradually lose weight into the bargain.

    Also, look at how much spare capacity you have on your credit cards with a view to using it to pay-off as much of Very as you can.

    As for shopping, have you tried Aldi or Lidl ?.
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  • northerner999
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    I am not a big drinker of pop, but do drink it occasionally by mixing Tesco value lemonade (17p for a 2litre bottle, mysupermarket says aldi and asda also match that price, with Sainsbury's 20p) with cordial. If you pick whichever cordial best matches your preference, I reckon you could save yourself quite a bit.

    Of course, if you wean yourself off the fizzy element it'd be even cheaper (and healthier) to drink cordial with just water. Perhaps something to try if you find you like the taste?
  • spearmintsorbet
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    Another fizzy drink addict here- I realised the only real addiction was the caffeine, just like with coffee, so I switched to caffeine-free and bore the withdrawal. After that I had no cravings, so it was easy to move to fizzy water which gives you that nice fizzy taste and is a health-win :)


    I was drinking sugar free though- sugar is the other thing that may cause cravings so you may need a substitute for that
  • gfplux
    gfplux Posts: 4,985 Forumite
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    I believe there is a huge amount of suger in fizzy drinks so not only costing a lot in money but long term huge cost in your health.
    Please try to switch to fizzy water.
    Having one addiction (smoking) is bad but two (fizzy drinks) will long term seriously hurt you.
    Good luck.
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  • Kittykat85
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    Lodger ASAP would be the best option to increase income.


    Maybe a mon-fri if you want to keep some personal/space/time.

    Don't forget to factor council ta going up or find a student.


    Second jobs like bar work can be useful to get some social without spending

    I think breaking down the groceries into sub categories will help focus where individual cuts could be made.

    Smokes on separate line is one to split out think bout others.

    Mobile how much allowance are you getting do you use it.
    review real use against other options
    we have 3payg on the 123 and find it better than a contract.

    Also review your internet/TV/phone it is not that high but might be able to squeeze few £ for no loss of benefit.

    Tird into phone until Jan 16 but can review. Just knocked tv/broadband/landline from £47pm with Virgin. Gave meter read to Npower yesterday and new bill from Jan in £48pcm dual fuel. Will defo split out smokes
  • Kittykat85
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    gfplux wrote: »
    I believe there is a huge amount of suger in fizzy drinks so not only costing a lot in money but long term huge cost in your health.
    Please try to switch to fizzy water.
    Having one addiction (smoking) is bad but two (fizzy drinks) will long term seriously hurt you.
    Good luck.

    It is DIET/ZERO drinks I'm addicted too, can't stand full fat as the sugar makes my teeth feel wierd.

    No spare capacity on cards, both maxed out.
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