A packet of 10 and a 2 litre bottle of diet coke please

mammamia2

Hi all after seeing everyone elses diary thought i would have a bash at my own to help me be smart with my money !

I am a single mum to a wonderful daughter(even if she is in bed whinging at this very moment ) who is soon to be 6 in a few weeks and as the title suggests i am addicted to smoking and diet coke and have a feeling that this is where my hard earned money is spent !

I work part time and get working tax credits and some housing benefit I also get some child matinence from the Ex so i dont think i do too badly ,however i never seem to be able to afford things and seem to be robbing peter to pay paul basically i waste sooo much money on rubbish !!

I have two debts from before i had the whinging one and when i was working full time as a rough guess they are First Direct -£3000 and Marks and spencer loan -£8000 .I have a DMP with payplan to pay theese at the current rate it is going to take me another 31 years :rolleyes: . I really want to pay it off quicker and need to up my payment but i am scared .I dont seem to have any money at the moment what will happen if i increase my payment !!

there is soo much info on here on things i should do reclaim bank charges all £2000 of them, change utility supplier ,phone ,broadband ,quidco, grocerie shopping challenge ,saving accounts ,bank accounts blah blah blah i dont know where to start

Am slightly worried about pay day friday as i have had over half my wages deducted for taking parental leave will have to see exact situation when payslip drops through the letter box :mad:

I am getting some working tax credit and child benefit tomorrow this is how i plan to spend it
£50.00- food shopping
£10.00 - Rent (I still owe 40 from last month )
£10.00-council tax (I still owe 15 from last month )
£10.00-birthday present
£35.00 me money (£5 per day )
£20.00- left over (if it is still available next week i will split between rent and c.tax )

I also forgot to mention that i am looking for a new job that will fit in with family life as current job is weekends and late nights .

sorry to be boring but this is quite theraputic just writing away

jenjade

hello

i am in a simular situation... single mum to my daugher aged 6 years
was addicted to drinking coke cola but have given that up (and skips)
do you work? if so how many hours? there is loads to do on here to make extra cash also loads of ways to cut your spending

the knowledgable will be along soon could you post a SOA statement of affairs so they can help you?

good luck looks like my sort of thread so i might check in now and then

Numpty_Monkey

Well done on the title:rotfl: :T
The thing i noticed with all the help and advice i got is i didn't know what to do with it all so tried doing it all and made a right mess of it
So another bit of advice do them one at a time
probably bank charges first
Then Quidco
then grocerie challange, i put this in after Quidco because if your going to do your shopping on line might aswell get cashback first:T
Then utilities
Then daily clicks and surveys, if you haven't got it firefox is a great browser to use instead of IE and lots of email adresses :rotfl:
But again do them 1 at a time and get used to them

HTH

Horace

Hi and welcome

As Jenjade has suggested, please post a full Statement of Affairs (SOA) so that we can see whats coming in, whats going out and APRs on your loans etc.

https://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html (there is a button on there to formulate it for MSE).

As for challenges, yes there are a few - the grocery challenge is good as it helps you get your grocery spends down to a reasonable level. Also, on this board there is the Giving Up Smoking support thread, which will help you cut down or give up altogether. I think the best way of approaching these challenges is to take little steps.

In the meantime, it may help you to keep a spending diary so that you note down everything you spend - then you can see how much is being frittered on ciggys, diet coke, coffees out etc.

mammamia2

Thanks for all the advice !!
Daily clicks -what are these can you tell i am new !!

Did do a soa yesterday but am going to do it again be back in a tick

mammamia2

Monthly income after tax................ 615
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 480
Other income............................ 200
Total monthly income.................... 1295


Mortgage................................ 0
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Rent.................................... 550
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 105
Electricity............................. 15
Gas..................................... 20
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 20
Telephone (land line)................... 39
Mobile phone............................ 40
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 360
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 30
Road tax................................ 11
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 15
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 50
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1285

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 0

No Secured Debt
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Dmp/ payplan...................11000.....43........0
Total unsecured debts..........11000.....43........-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,295
Expenses (including secured debts)....... 1,285
Available for debt repayments........... 10
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 43
Surplus(deficit if negative)............ -33

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total Secured debt...................... -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -11,000
Net Assets.............................. -11,000


So there it is does not look to bad on paper but believe me it never plans out like this ! my car expenses (except tax) and my t.v. license is kindly paid for by my parents which i am very grateful for and really want to pay for myself but they insist . My groceries includes the daily packet of 10 (tut tut!).

This is a basic SOA as i do get housing benefit and commission which i have not included as income as these things are always changing and are not a set amount .

LoopyLinz

Hi mammamia

Your title definately made me chuckle. We are in slightly different circumstances to yourself but can definately sympathise with the 'where does it all go' thing! lol

Like you I have a bit of a vice with cigarettes and coke.....grrrr! Im a bit of a newbie too but would definately recommend popping over to the Old Style Board. Even if its not to join a challenge I have picked up some fab hints and tips. Im a bit of an un-domesticated godess so OS has been a bit of a godsend!

Will pop by your thread to offer any advice I can...........might not be that great but will try!

Linz xoxox

LoopyLinz

mammamia2 wrote: »

Monthly income after tax................ 615
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 480
Other income............................ 200
Total monthly income.................... 1295


Mortgage................................ 0
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Rent.................................... 550
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 105
Electricity............................. 15
Gas..................................... 20
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 20
Telephone (land line)................... 39 - Could you possibly change supplier/package?
Mobile phone............................ 40 - Again can this be changed?
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 360 - Get over to that OS board! Lol!
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 30
Road tax................................ 11
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 15
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 50
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1285

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 0

No Secured Debt
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Dmp/ payplan...................11000.....43........0
Total unsecured debts..........11000.....43........-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,295
Expenses (including secured debts)....... 1,285
Available for debt repayments........... 10
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 43
Surplus(deficit if negative)............ -33

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total Secured debt...................... -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -11,000
Net Assets.............................. -11,000


So there it is does not look to bad on paper but believe me it never plans out like this ! my car expenses (except tax) and my t.v. license is kindly paid for by my parents which i am very grateful for and really want to pay for myself but they insist . My groceries includes the daily packet of 10 (tut tut!).

This is a basic SOA as i do get housing benefit and commission which i have not included as income as these things are always changing and are not a set amount .

Sorry I cant really offer more but that seems to be the things that stand out to me. Hopefully someone with a lot more wisdom will be along shortly. Well done for posting by the way. I think that deserves [STRIKE]a quick smoke and a glass of diet coke[/STRIKE] a nice cup of tea! Maybe Im not the best influence!

Damita

Hey and welcome Love your title!!!

Am addicted to the fags too want to give up though..

mammamia2

hi loopy linz ,

I try to be a domestic goddess only between the hours of 9am-3.30pm when daughter is wrecking the classroom instead of our house . I have been lurking in the old style thread but again dont know what to do first it is like being in a sweet shop .

mammamia2

the landline includes my internet it was a gift last christmas from parents am looking to change in a few months when contract runs out . Mobile is again under contract till Dec 2009. I think i get charged extra for not having it DD will have to check this out ! scared to have DD incase i have not got the money to pay it at least paying in cash gives me a few days