Something Has Gotta Change

SaveTheCheerleader

Hi there,

We've just got rid of sky/bb/tel package - i've now subscribed to talk talk to get the bb and tel for 20 quid a month. Lose the sky package and get freesat (25 one off payment). Sign up for talk talk through quidco and get 40 pound back.

hope this helps.
X

System

lynzpower wrote: »

To be honest with you, you are only paying off 80 per month to payplan.

You have not a huge amount of cutting back to do, and it really does seem as if whatever cutbacks you make, these are likely to be swallowed up by rising costs. I used to do 100 pcm for 2 of us for food shopping, now that it impossible, a loaf of bread was 1.94 in saisburys the other day ( dont worry, didnt buy it!) . Costs are rising all the time, and to be honest, in your shoes, I would seriously consider going bankrupt, or asking Payplan to reduce your payments further.

You have nothing in your budget for savings for say dentist, or Xmas, or anything like that, the basics, so I would say you can no longer afford the DMP.

Good luck x

Yes when something like Xmas, a birthday etc comes up that snookers us, we have to miss something else, and the cycle continues, we haven't got a lot of debt, and the major ones wouldn't be cured anyway, the biggest is £3k to tax credits, we only have about £4k on credit cards etc that payplan are dealing with

Jules

nirelandguy wrote: »

Well that is buying all the Tesco value rubbish and reduced food. We have 2 kids.

And as for them cash back sites, I went through one of them for car insurance back in January £90 we are owed havent got a sniff, We only have the basic 1 mix package on Sky anyway so don't watch movies.

No matter what I do, its not going to make much difference in the grand scheme of things, and with the continued rising cost of living its gonna get worse. For all scrimping etc, I am wondering is there actually any point in working, I need something major. I have enrolled to start Open University in September which may help me to get a better job but then I'm not sure about this either as the chances of actually getting a job when I qualify are still slim due to no experience and no one will give any experience

Just a thought. Add up all the wee savings you can make over a month and multiply by 12 to give a yearly figure. It might help you to see the long term savings. I know it did with me.

As far as the job front, have you thought of volunteering although with your current job you may not get a chance.
It looks good on the CV and most places give you free training and it may lead to a job. When I was made redundant earlier this year, I took up volunteering and I love it (I also work part-time). I'm hoping to get a job at some point from it but even if I don't the training I have received is invaluable.

Oh and as already has been said don't worry about the neigbours, they are probably jealous of you!

Jules

System

Thanks for all the advice, but by the looks of it, there isn't really alot which can change.

lynzpower

nirelandguy wrote: »

Yes when something like Xmas, a birthday etc comes up that snookers us, we have to miss something else, and the cycle continues, we haven't got a lot of debt, and the major ones wouldn't be cured anyway, the biggest is £3k to tax credits, we only have about £4k on credit cards etc that payplan are dealing with

the thing is that payplan should have gone through all this with your original SOA. You should have been able at that point, to show savings for emergencies/ xmas/ car maintainence etc etc.

If you have not got this written into your SOA, then you need to go back to payplan, and ask for them to review in in the light of the fact that your budget is incomplete.

It ight also be worth getting them to speak with the Inland rev re: your backpayments for TCs as these should be lowered if possible?

I woud call them asap tomorrow and explain.

lilly81

Hi nirelandguy,
Firstly stop worrying about what other people think/have.
Have you tried looking on entitledto.com?
It will check that you are getting all the benefits your entitled to and also you can see how much changing your earnings will effect your tax credits.
Also how old are your children?
there are free things to do at the library and at family centres (if kids under 6)
Have you tried the freebies board????
I've managed to fill my sons xmas stocking for free and have only been on this site a month!
Good luck

lilly81

One more thing, have you thought about telling tax credits your financial situation? They may reduce the repayments.....

Burlesque_Babe

I would speak to your GP about the Stop Smoking service. There are lots of ways that you can be given support to give up cigarettes without the expense of Nicorette.

LilacPixie

Do you get up to 80% of child care costs met by tax credits?? If your OH works over 16 hours a week you should get some help with child care costs.

Do you not have council tax??? I can't see it listed or am i missing something?

Burlesque_Babe

nirelandguy wrote: »

by the looks of it, there isn't really alot which can change.

Yes there is, but you have to look at making small changes first and let them start to roll into one another.

You can:

stop worrying about the neighbours and their lifestyle

see your GP about a support group for stopping smoking

become a regular on the Freebies board

sign up to Slice the Pie

sign up to mystery shopping companies

do a meal planner and only buy what you REALLY need for 3 meals a day, 7 days a week - see Old Style for lots of excellent threads on meal planning

Cook everything from scratch if you don't already - not all Value stuff is rubbish - the fresh fruit and veg. is just the non-standard sized, knobbly stuff.

sign up to free DVD rental offers such as Lovefilm and watch lots of DVD's for a few months

sign up to quidco and the other cashback sites and start doing click thrus as well as using them for anything you buy online or when you change your car/house insurance each year.

As soon as Martin says to - look to change energy supplier to see if another can save you money.

find out about the credit union

Do all of those and they will trigger more little positive things you can then do as a result.


To be honest, you sound very down and quite negative about all the suggestions which makes me wonder if you are depressed - certainly from some of your comments about accidents etc. Maybe a chat with your GP might help.