Cheeky Monkeys Debt Free Tips

cheekymonkey20

I just thought it would be an idea to start up a newer thread to help newbie DFW's save some money and pay off their debts.

I know there has been one before, but with all the challange boards flying around i think it would be a good idea to remind us all, and share ideas and tips to help shed those unwanted £'s.

Im gonna start with a few that have worked for me.



1. A sealed piggy bank.

We have 3, made from an old jar of coffee, a JD bottle and a Dooley's tin - just got some superglue to prevent the tins/bottle/jar from opening and cut a coin hole in the top.

You can purchase them, however thats money spent so its easier to get a bit of DIY on the go.

We have 1 for coppers, 1 for silvers and 1 for £2 coins.

Every 6 months we empty them out, about November and June time (christmas and holiday)

DONT USE THE COIN COUNTER MACHINES - THEY RIP YOU OFF AND YOU LOOSE MONEY SAVED

Simply get some money bags from the bank and bag up your change, some banks only take 4 bags at once, but ususally if there isnt a que and when its quiet, give them a bit of a smile and be a bit cheeky:p and they ususally take them, if not, just pop in during your lunch time over a few days or just go straight to the back of the que. lol!

2. Assess your income and expenditure

One thing my mum always told me was to keep a cash sheet, and keep ALL recipts that you have and put them in a tin, even when withdrawing cash have a reciept.

ALTHOUGH I WOULD NOT WITHDRAW CASH ITS SUICIDE FOR YOU TO SPEND MORE MONEY - IF YOU DO, ID SUGGEST WITHDRAWING £X ON A MONDAY AND CHALLANGING IT TO LAST YOU THE WEEK/MONTH

By keeping a cash flow sheet (a little bit like you would for the tax man if you were self employed) it will help you understand what you are spending and you question your need for things, eg. did i really need that bottle of water? or that chocolate bar, or those jeans? It will also show you how much milk/food/drink you go through a month so that you can start knowing the exact spend on things.

After doing this, put all your income/expenditure into MSE's budget calculator, to see what deficite/surplus income you have at the end of the month.

3. Assess your household bills

Using websites like uswitch and moneysupermarket will help you change your utilities, bank accounts, savings accounts to save or make you more money. People can save £100's a year this way.

4. Cut down your grocerry bill, but fill your cupboards

PLAN YOUR MEALS, if you dont you may find yourself over eating or overspending at the supermarket.

USE THE LOCAL BUTCHER AND GREEN GROCER, obviously it goes without saying but check against the cost of your normal supermarket, but 9/10 a butcher in the local shops, or if your lucky like me and live near birmingham - rag markets, your meat will be sooo much cheaper. Also bag your meat individually before freezing. I find things like frozen sausages useful as they seperate when frozen and you are more likely to go through less.

GO TO CHEAPY CHEAP STORES, places like iceland, cool traders, farm foods, pound land, have rediculously cheap food, and still top named brands.

Last month i went to the butcher spend £25 got 2 huge bags full of meat, which lasted me a month, then went to iceland and brought £60 worth of food. Thats £85 for 2 adults and a cat, we only had to replenish on bread and milk throughout the month which was an extra £15. £100 for the whole month.

5. If you have debts,

go to martins article about changing credit card, if you cant change, then call up your existing credit card compnay and ask to be put on a better rate.

www.whatsthecost.com an excellent website where it tells you how to snowball your debts, eg. you wish to pay £500 a month to debts (which you have saved by cutting back on utilities and shopping) whereas your paying £200 now, it will tell you which cards, loans, overdrafts to pay off when and how much, you get a progress report where you can input how much you have paid off and add any transactions like interest, or if you have been naughty and couldnt resist those lovely shoes!

Some other ideas

• Reduce the usage of your car, walk to work, or contimplate the bus or train.
• Walk the kids to school, or better yet bycicle in.
• Turn all plugs off when not in use
• Shower not bath
• Keep all paperwork up to date and know when things have to be paid
• Look out for money off coupons to help save that little extra when shopping
• Use cashback sites for shopping
• Sell any unwanted items stuffed in cuboards, garages and lofts, be brutal, if you havent used it in 12 months get rid, dont be a clutterer.
• Use the library for renting books
• Look out for films on channel 4 and 5 rather than rent, or if you want to go out, use Orange 241 wednesday.
• As for extra hours at work, or use your spare time to make the most of what your good at for a little extra money.
• Start christmas in january, dont leave it until last minute, be thoughtfull with presents, dont just buy them because they are flashy, think will they like it, will they use it. A Fixed Rate monthly saver will give you high interest and ususally you cannot get to them for at least 12 months so your Christmas money cannot be got to.
• Rather than a night in the pub, try a house gathering once in a while, invite your friends round for a few social drinks - something we do all the time (due to the fact of young children)- lads can get a crate in £5 each with a good few cans, and girls a few bottles of wine - one each will be £5 at the MOST!
• Use Money saving and frugal websites to keep you motivated
• Take packed lunches to work, and leave your wallet at home. - my uncle is a right tight pocketed person, and he will only take a pound with him to work in case of an emergency, now he has his mobile its less necessary, but he saves a fortune, he hasnt got the temptation to buy anything.
• Seperate your accounts to stop any charges, having a bills account, and personal spending accounts, plus a shopping account is great, you know whateve in the joint account comes out direct debit so that account you dont have to worry about, your personal account is the money you have to spend each month, so once thats gone its gone, and same goes for the grocery shopping account.
• Think about things before you buy them, do you really need it?
• Stop smoking and cut down on drinking, not only will you become healthier but you will save soooo much money.
• Set yourself goals, and creat a star chart- as silly as it sounds having a DFW chart with gold stars and regular updating to show your progress will really help you on your way, if you do put a little savings to one side, maybe treat yourself, rent a dvd and cook an out of the ordinary meal.
• Ditch the gym! Why go when you have 1,000 of miles of english road and country side to walk or jog in. Walking is also a great stress releaver, a 30 min walk a day (even if it is to get milk from the shop) will do you the WORLD of good!
• Dont leave the tap running when you brush your teeth.
• Use energy saving light bulbs.
• Turn down your heating by at least 1 degree
• Put your heating on as late as you can, if you leave it until it gets REALLY cold then you'll save money, if your chilly put on a jumper you'll soon warm up, think about how much money you'll save.
• Consider cheap running appliances, on the energy companies websites a lot of them have energy saving kettles, lightbulbs, night lights, etc.
• Set yourself challanges, whether it be daily or monthly.
• Create yourself a to-do list, money saving or not you will feel a lot better emotionally when things get done and be in a better frame of mind for moneysaving.

Well thats me done for now, I have used all of these ideas and they do work. It does take a bit of getting used to but it will reap benefits in the future.

Please if you have had anything work for you, share your tips. As i said at the beginning of the thread although there is a lot of update on debts and savings threads which is very impressive and encoraging, people need to know how to get there.

HAPPY SAVING GUYS!:rotfl:

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klairbear

thank you sooooo much cheekymonkey - was looking for a ticklist of what i could do right now and there are sme great suggestions! :A

cheekymonkey20

Good luck klairbear... keep at it, it will pay of in the long run..

Set this site as your home page. And Dont Forget to Watch, Martins Money Saving show is on tonight so Dont forget to watch, think its on 7.30pm on channel 5. I have it set as a reminder lol so sad, but a DFW.

MrsPorridge

Hi Cheekymonkey - thanks so much for taking the time to list all the above. I have picked up some good tips from you!

I am saving coppers in a pot and am also doing the payment a day challenge. This I find great as all those little pennies do actually count up at the end.

The biggest expenditure in our house (after the mortgage) is petrol as we live in quite a remote part of the country and both myself and DH have a 50 mile round trip to work. For the first time last month we actually saved all our petrol receipts and were horrified when we saw the amount. This has resulted in us thinking twice at the weekends (when we don't work) about unnecessary travel and also we hope to car share a couple of days a week. This will all help.

Last year we started switching all the appliances off at the plugs when not in use (and not just at night) and were amazed when our electric bill came in over £50 less per quarter!!

I always take a packed lunch into work but now I take my purse but without any money whatsoever in it only my debit card. That way I am not tempted by the vending machine or canteen. In fact, the only thing I buy during the week now is diesel.

I love the old style boards and have picked up so many tips from there - I plan all meals now and do one monthly shop just after pay day and then spend the rest of that day batch cooking for the freezer. I also use individual dishes to freeze meals e.g. cottage pie as I find that is much better for portion control and is easier if DS has a sleepover and eats at a friends I then only need to take out two portions rather than a large one and then eating extra.

Best of all, of course, are these forums. You know that you are not alone, that no one judges you, and it certainly keeps me motivated.

nickynoo08

Hiya Cheekymonkey, love the list. Some great tips and advice on there. I've been out of work for the last 6months and your tips will certainly come in handy. I've recently just started a sealed tin to fill with 10p,20p and 50ps. I'm planning on opening it when its full and using it to pay towards my visa. Starting another one soon for next years home insurance and tv licence renewal. Need to get to grips with a few things again tho. I seem to be really good for ages then do something really stupid that un does all my hard work.

Numpty_Monkey

AAAAAGGGH another monkey, we're taking over the place:rotfl:

Another one to add
Use this whole site:money: there are great tips on all the boards.
DFW is great and my home on MSE:A , join in on the daily threads the challanges go to the meets,
but don't try and do it all in one day:eek:
you'll go

and be nice to all :A :T

cheekymonkey20

I agree... its probably better to implement something new every day.

Mrs Porridge - could you not work from home a few days in your job!?

I cut down a lot on my insurances last year, as we live in a first floor apartment I cancelled my cat insurance which was £6.50 per month, she doesnt go outside at all. Once we have paid off the debts i am going to look for a cheap policy again so that she is covered, may not ever need it but dont want to get stung by HUGE vets bills.

I also got rid of my car, now in a job which has a company car, they pay me a monthly shift allowance of £28.99 and the tax for the car a month is £33, and i get 12p a mile back, saving a bit here. But before i got rid of my car (only having a car under £1000, i changed my policy to TPFT.)

We have made sure that we shop around every year for contents insurance and are now paying £2 less than we were last year.

For the time being as well with another 34 years on our mortgage we have changed it to interest only until we pay off the debts. I hope to be debt free by the time our mortgage is up for renewal summer 2010, because we will have no choice then (due to negative equity and market conditions) to go back on to Repayment mortgage.

Sounds silly as well but i have started using kim and agies home made recipies for cleaning, ie, flat coke etc. I have got rid of my plug in air freshners and got some simple non battry powered air freshners and pot pure in the house.

http://dirt.4tips.net/

Also i keep all my old perfume bottles in my underware draw, keeps them smelling fresh.

Just a idea for you night outers, i brought a top for £2.50 in the sale, it was a size 16 a little big for me a size 12,and i wasnt quite sure on the way the straps went at the top.... well a little DIY sewing and vouala! A fantastic top that i really liked and looked like I'd brought it for a good few bob!

Ohh if your anything like me and my OH and like going out, well we have started to have themed nights in. Where on a sat or fri night we are having maybe a curry night, and i will cook it, etc. Plus were getting a load of films from his dad and friends to borrow so that we can enjoy the evening. I am also doing a x-stich and kniting to keep me occupied during the evening when there was nothing on tele. Or a soak in the bath. OH is happy with the online games he gets from the internet and then after i have gone to bed he goes and plays his silly call of duty game (keeps him quiet lol - apart from the odd sware word when he dies).

We are also a member of the local social club with our friends, the membership is about £5 per year for the men, and women can go in with a bloke free... the voldka and coke's there are £1.70, but im trying to loose weight as well as cut back so I'm going for a pint of coke for 90p this lasts me a good few hours. Also taking up walking down there, although it takes us 30mins,there and 1 hour back after a rather enjoyable evening, it means im not having to worry about the car and picking it up the next morning or wasting our money on taxi's.

Focus yourself with your work, the better you are, maybe the bigger bonus youll get and the bigger pay rise you'll get the following year. Plus more importantly in todays financial footing... prove your jobs worth! With employment on the decrease, make sure that you are a member of staff that they just couldnt do without.

IF YOU DO MAKE ANY SAVINGS PUT THEM TO ONE SIDE.

Although i can see the point, i dont like the way that it is said. EG. you change your credit card, you are paying £250 interest at the moment a year, but then you switch it to a 0% and now you are saving £250. I think it should be called avoided spending.

But say you are in that situation, eg. the cancelled cat insurance £6.50, £2 reduction for contents, £15 knocked off my phone bill, £18 for cancelling sky, £60 for cancelling the gym.... put it all into paying off your debts a month, the more that you can throw off it the better. So keep your outgoings the same, unless your obviously in the read, and any money that you have "avoided spending" throw it at your debts and pay them off quicker.

I also put £190 in my grocerry account a month, although i only use £100 of it, when i get paid and top it up for the next month I withdraw the extra money and put it into my debts. £90 per month soon whittles down a £900 credit card.

monkeyintrouble

Just another Monkey saying hello. Must be something about Monkeys and debt, this forum is full of them!

PoorPrincess

cheekymonkey20 wrote: »

OH is happy with the online games he gets from the internet and then after i have gone to bed he goes and plays his silly call of duty game (keeps him quiet lol - apart from the odd sware word when he dies).

Haha this made me laugh as is sooo familiar!!

Well done on this thread, reading it was like a breath of fresh air knowing that there is always something extra that i can be doing to get myself out of this situation!

Princess

x

cheekymonkey20

Yup.. im officially a Call of duty widow! lol.. now currently a FIFA 09 widow tut! Boys and their toys!

Does anyone else have any tips? Anything that has worked well for you. Im always interested in the Pay of £20k by Xmas thread, which was started earlier this year, some people have paid off over this amount, or very close to... i would be interested to know, how they came up with the money to do so... was it surplus income, extra jobs etc.

talliedebtbuster

Hey there cheeky monkey this is a brill idea, I am always on the site but I don’t make use of all the boards. That’s the first tip I will use! You’re doing good things to try and clear the debts/ The car is a mass expense for you both. I live in the suburbs of London and work in London so lucky. I will use the car for getting to work tomorrow though and wednesday. I work shifts and the weekends I need to drive to work. It has its service on Monday 260 pounds…..i hope no more! It’s a must though and I will get a tenna back in nectar points as they have an offer going….so my first tip is take advantage of any points offers. I just earnt 35 pounds worth and so got the shopping at home. Lots of store cupboard and freezer bits.
I am a diff situation, I live at home with sister and mum, they are frugal but not in the way us lot would say be. There is much more I oculd have done with the points but I did a good deed I think! Good karma I hope! There are plenty ideas id have but its not my home so I go with what’s here! But I am waiting to get a keyworker rental in the right location I want, and I will bring all you guys and my current frugal ways to that! It could be another year though before the right place comes up!
What I do however is the best I can, I have my lapses, like later I have 35 pounds left to Friday payday but am going to spend it! Its been a really difficult month non finance wise and I want to cheer myself up! Its spare cash so not getting into any debt.
Here are my tips! I am determind to stick to them come FRIDAY!!
But anyways! Staying is fab idea, I’m doing that today for a bit. If im off at the weekends I watch all the stuff ive recorded whilst ive been on shift. Why pay to go to the cinema? Like you guys say, film 4 or films on telly. I get my tv times and I plan my viewing lol! Really I plan what I want to record and its my fun! CSI, Without a trace, friends, come dine with me…..oh and bring it on is on this week ill record! The most important programme is it pays to watch and spendaholics! It always give me a motivation again even It doesn’t apply to me the topic!
Underwear/ clothes draws? I do that too with pefume! A good one is get the samples for free in magazines, or in the store on their bit of card and it really does make the draw smell nice!
Papers – if you live in London, don’t buy them, get the free metro, London lite and London paper – or read them in the library. My small little local library is mins away so ill read them there – why pay for them?!!
Uni students = go online and look for free journals! I got quite a few sample copies now. If you can, print articles at work and your study materials
Loyalty cards – always use them, your be amazed that 6months down the line you can get a free drink or sandwich from boots!
Move to pay as you go – I will be April 2009 when my contract runs out! Keep in touch vai text and email!
Tallie