Why do I have to spend it like it grows on trees??

SkintNalsy

Yay, someone from my neck of the woods! Just thought I'd add that I smoke too which is pretty much the same as burning money

choccyface2006

Sorry if this has been mentioned before, I've not read every reply...

With regards to your Provident loan, these as you will know have a whole heap of interest piled onto them so you really should get rid of this as soon as possible and stay away from them in the future.

Maybe you could join your local Credit Union, save for a few weeks (at ours its 1 month) even a pound or two a week then ask for a loan to pay back Provident once and for all. Your repayments would be much lower and when you have paid it off you can apply for a loan from them if you ever need one again. You can get a top up loan to to if you need one when you are making regular repayments.

All the best

Sarah x

EDIT - You could probably borrow enough with a first loan with the Credit Union to pay off the Safeloan too

SkintNalsy

Hi choccyface2006. I don't really want to get into the situation of borrowing more money as I feel that this is my problem at the moment. I'm borrowing from Peter to pay Paul and its a never ending circle. I've only got a couple more months left of the Provident loan to pay and that'll be gone and I'll pay off my Safeloans loan at the end of the month.

I've decided not to go on a DMP but to live on the breadline for a few months until I get back on my feet. It's going to be hell but you gotta do what you gotta do!! :rolleyes:

choccyface2006

Thats fair enough and the right thing to do, getting rid of the debt completly is much better than moving it around

Maybe when you are on your feet you should still join the CU and save a few pounds each week, then if anything came up you could get a loan from them rather than going down the Provident/safeloan route again.

Why don't you create a diary on here to help you have a frugal month or two and clears those debts, I'm sure you would get lots of ideas and support?

Sarah x

SkintNalsy

A diary on here sounds good but don't get access to a PC with the net very often so It wouldn't be every day.

Will have a look at the Credit Union thing though, thanks for that

Natalie x

coolcait

Hiya skintnalsy

I go along with the view that you can probably manage your debt without having to go into a DMP. And it sounds like you're all set to do it - good for you! :T

If for any reason you find that you have to think about a DMP again, please have a look at the Debt Arrangement Scheme (DAS) www.moneyscotland.gov.uk . It's another little advantage of being in Scotland

It's a Scottish Government Scheme which pretty much works like a DMP. However, if you're accepted onto it, your creditors HAVE to freeze interest, fees and charges (by law) and write them off when you complete your payment programme. They CAN'T take any kind of action against you to make you pay your debt. They CAN'T ask you to pay more than has been agreed.

I don't think you'll need it by the sounds of things. But I thought it was worth while letting you know about it as it's another option that's open to those of us who are lucky enough to live in God's own (windswept and rainy right now!) country :rotfl:

JoolzS

SkintNalsy wrote: »

Yay, someone from my neck of the woods! Just thought I'd add that I smoke too which is pretty much the same as burning money

I'm a smoker as well and I'm not going to suggest that you quit - quitting is abviously a good thing, but not always that easy to do. However, if you currently smoke tailor-mades then switching to roll-your-own could save you a lot of money. If you find you can't actually roll them yourself, then there are cheap rolling machines around and you can get filters for them. I buy 3 boxes of filters for £1 and 10 boxes of papers for £1 at Poundland. I also use a cigarette holder type filter but these cost a little more.

A few years ago DH and I were running a pretty constant £600 overdraft every month. When I switched to roll-your-own cigs, even factoring in the cost of the holders, filters, papers, etc, we cleared that overdraft in a few months without changing any other expenditure. I've now got so used to smoking rollies in the holder that "normal" cigs feel and taste very weird and I now refuse to smoke them, even if offered freely.

Julie

GettingThingsDone

Hi SkintNalsy -

3 things that really helped me get rid of my debts were:

1) http://www.whatsthecost.co.uk/snowball.aspx - take 2 minutes to put your debts into the snowballer and it should make it pretty clear how massively important it is to get rid of your high APR debts. Do all you can to either get them down, pay them off or transfer them to somewhere with a lower APR.

2) If you have anything you can sell/ebay then get it sold. Check out MSE for ways of making extra money, even if it is the odd £ here and there, it really does add up. Use this money to pay off those high APR debts. Every mickle macks a muckle or whatever It really does.

3) Set yourself a goal or some goals - something that you want, or want to do, or want to be. Even if you make something up it can really help to drive you along.

Good luck and keep posting!

gtd

SkintNalsy

Thanks for the advice about the roll-ups JoolzS. I'm already in the doo doo this month though. Got paid just over a week ago and have got a grand total of £7 left to live on....:eek:

No idea what I'm going to do!!

piglet74

up until recently i would have spend a fair amount on my hair, but when the creidit crunch hit home to me, i stopped it, started colouring my own, or going to the student day at a local salon, who charge £20 for a colour, wash, cut and blow dry, i was giving my hairdressers salon £50 + for that!!