my SOA

jackieb

SecretSquirrel88 wrote: »

masterkay: We could get part time jobs, its just finding them. I do do abit of cleaning on the weekends but its only £15 p/week - every little helps! The Tv licence is inc. in the rent. the diet is called lighterlife and I know there are ways I could cut back but this is the diet I have chose to do atm. Its easy for me. And it wont be forever. We do need 2 cars really yes, as at the weekends we are often in different places. I am usually cleaning and OH is normally helping his dad with work. A the moment, most of the money is going towards the Barclaycard and only min payments are being made to the others. £5 isnt enough really no but we cannot afford any more. Fun stuff? You must be joking - we dont do anything like that. Dont buy takeways, magazines etc. Don't buy clothes - thats more of a personal issue (i hate shopping - thats why im on this mad diet)

How long have you been on LL? I did it for 3 months (stopped because it was going up by £19 a week to £66pw). When I stopped I got gallstones. They were horrendous. I can't believe I paid a lot of money to be in agony (thought I was having a heart attack!) Read up about very low calorie diets and gallstones. I had no idea about it before I started. I know it's great when the weight falls off, but in my opinion it's just not worth it (plus I put all the 4 stone back on that i'd lost in that 3 months).

SecretSquirrel88

Thanks jackieb, sorry to hear about that. The same happened to my mum, well she didnt put the weight back on but she got gallstones and is having her gall bladder removed at the end of the month, but doesnt mind cuz shes thin now. I've done the diet before so I know what Im getting myself into, it is alot of money though. thanks

JimmyTheWig

Ok, this is all starting to look much better. [Edit: I wrote this before I read about the gallstones. Eww.]

When you said that all the debts were your OH's, did you realise that your debts account for 49.9% of these? That's a pretty even split if you ask me. In fact, this time next month you'll owe more than he does.

More importantly, his loan is due to finish in February. That's not long away. That will give you an extra £50 a week. You could either use that to help pay off the Barclaycard (the sensible option, to avoid paying all that interest), help you guys have some fun (i.e. going out to cinema, dinner, etc) or help you find somewhere to live.
And the month after that, your food bill will come down by another £200. Starting to look very positive indeed.

I know you have said that you need two cars, but how about if you think about it seriously? I know there are times when you use both cars at the same time. Are there ways you could get around that?
Fair enough if you want to keep your car and you can afford your loan repayments on it then keep it. But what about his car? That will be the one that is likely to cost more in repairs, etc. If you could get £1100 for it then that could take a big chunk off that Barclaycard. Which would save a big chunk of interest. Which, in turn, could take more off the debt, etc, etc.
So the question is, could you make it work? Sometimes it might mean getting a taxi. But you'd need a lot of taxis to make it to £1100. Maybe you could get a pushbike and cycle to your weight loss class? Maybe your OH could drop you off at a cleaning job in your car before he goes to help his dad with work?
Only you know your situation, but there's not much more room for savings.

JimmyTheWig

Also, I don't think anyone has suggested the obvious - transferring the Barclaycard balance to a better deal.
Has your OH tried to get another 0% deal?
What's the credit limit on the Virgin card?

Anything to reduce the balance on the 29.9% APR card would really help.

misspoppy

Hi

I have to say that if I had a choice of moving back home or spending £286 a month on a diet I would choose my freedom. I realise that you see it as being your key to heathier you but you won't learn anything about healthy eating and will power ie choosing healthy foods over unhealthy foods and you risk damaging your health whilst doing it.

Please don't under estimate the strain living with either set of parents will put on your relationship I know I've been there, I lived with my ex's parents and it was horrible not that they were unkind its just living in someone elses home having lived on your own is a huge adjustment.

SecretSquirrel88

JimmyTheWig: Yes I do realise that. But I do not struggle with the payments - its not a problem, Im just thinking about him really and having more money for his debts. Even if he sold his car he wouldnt get the money as his dad bought it so there is no advantage of that really. Yes I agree that ina few months we will have a lot more more to spare but thinking seriously about it, I would rather use that to cut his debts not rent a nice place. Id rather wait and go into a rented place with no other monthly outgoings (apart from my car). He cannot get anymore credit cards to transfer 2 unfortuntly, and I cannot either with the current cards I have (£0 balances) but I will look into what deals they are offering. Thanks