which route to choose

jcr16

were a family of 2 adults and 2 children , 1 child is 2 and the other is 4 months. and were all big eaters and we spend £200 a months and that is for food , nappies , toiletres , cleaning and a takeaway once a month. we used to spend £300 but i have cut down, it is amazing when u put your mind to it , budgeting can actually be fun.

kiz-el

I am currently paying

Barclays 25.9%
Sainsburys 15.94%
Morgan Stanley 21.75%
Egg 15.9%

kickingkay

hi just repeating others above actually i used to shop every 2 weeks spending anything up to 200 a go i now go weekly and so far ive been able to spend 60 quid a week tops there are 5 of us in our house me o/h 3 kids 11yrs 7yrs and 8 months so some weeks will be more expensive for nappies and milk buy in bulk its cheaper we also have 2 cats 1 dog and ive managed to save 32 quid in £2. coins over the month so instead of spending it ive saved it
i will also be cancelling sky at the end of nov then the kids get it over xmas as for mobile i have to cancel my contract and buy out the remainder months which is cheaper for me to do rather than carry it on with out using it i pay 25 quid plus vat to just own it but my contract charge will be 93 quid for the remainig 6 months so im going payg find out what it will cost you?
hth ps i owe a great deal more than you and if i can still smile so c an you
take care xxxxx
klare

Magentasue

kiz-el wrote:

I am currently paying

Barclays 25.9%
Sainsburys 15.94%
Morgan Stanley 21.75%
Egg 15.9%

Don't have to tell you these are high rates! I suspect you have been paying your debts as best you can and then not had enough money to eat at the end of the month. And then you use a card.

Well maybe you don't, it's how my debt climbed though. It's because that's the wrong way round - you have to work out your budget, getting rid of the unnecessary AND then work out how much you can afford to repay. Then you make offers (obviously they cut off your credit) and ask for the interest to be frozen - this is where the likes of CAB and CCCS are so helpful. Another way is to go for lower interest cards and snowball but if you have arrears that's probably not an option. The only other way is to increase your income by changing your job or your partner working and perhaps using childcare. I went for the budget and snowballing when my children were younger.

In short, you have to change your life - make drastic cutbacks, stop using credit and live to a budget. It gets easier -it's just hard to think you can't have what you think EVERYBODY else has.

Hope all that makes sense.

kiz-el

Magentasue wrote:

Don't have to tell you these are high rates! I suspect you have been paying your debts as best you can and then not had enough money to eat at the end of the month. And then you use a card.

Exactly right. I know it means I will never improve my situation but if there si no food in the house and the kids are hungry i don't have much choice but to use the card. Yes the rates are high although all had introductory 0% rates which have now expired.

Magentasue

Well, you have two choices - carry on as you are or change! I really think you would be better off if you got rid of the cards, cut your outgoings and reduce your debt with what is left.

Yes, it means no mobiles, no Sky, no takeaways but you can still eat well and have the occasional treat. You will know that you can pay everything. You will have your home and your family and every year you'll owe less and the end will be nearer. When the kids are older, you may have two incomes to live on and be able to live like you do now.

We did what you did and it was miserable - now debt free is in sight and I wish I'd had that 'lightbulb moment' sooner. Good luck with yours!

happiness_fairy

kiz-el wrote:

and that both myself and my wife have food intolerances. Buying wheat/gluten free alternatives is often more expensive.

If you have been diagnosed with a gluten intolerance look and getting some of the specialist stuff on prescription. If your doctor writes the paper properly you get 6 (or more) loaves of bread for the NHS prescription charge of £6.50. Potentially saving quite a bit. If you buy a prepayment certificate you can save even more. You can get loads of gluten/wheat free stuff on the NHS - pastas,breads,rolls pizza bases - if you can buy it in the supermarket you can probably get it in the chemists!

kiz-el

happiness_fairy wrote:

If you have been diagnosed with a gluten intolerance look and getting some of the specialist stuff on prescription. If your doctor writes the paper properly you get 6 (or more) loaves of bread for the NHS prescription charge of £6.50. Potentially saving quite a bit. If you buy a prepayment certificate you can save even more. You can get loads of gluten/wheat free stuff on the NHS - pastas,breads,rolls pizza bases - if you can buy it in the supermarket you can probably get it in the chemists!

That is an amazing idea. I will look into it because if true it will save us a small fortune, on the shopping bill every week.

kiz-el

Magentasue wrote:

Well, you have two choices - carry on as you are or change! I really think you would be better off if you got rid of the cards, cut your outgoings and reduce your debt with what is left. Yes, it means no mobiles, no Sky, no takeaways but you can still eat well and have the occasional treat.!

unfortunately i am on contracts for all those things but have now made sure I am on the lowest tariff for all of them. As soon as they are up though I am outta there. As far as "getting rid" of the cards goes, do you mean try to pay them off, or are you referring to something more drastic like cutting them up so I can't spend?

tattooed_lady

kiz-el wrote:

That is an amazing idea. I will look into it because if true it will save us a small fortune, on the shopping bill every week.

Definately ask your GP, I work in a pharmacy and we do lots of scripts for GF food and there's quite a lot of stuff available eg bread, pasta, pizza bases, crackers & biscuits.