New around here.....and an attempt at a diary!!

Bunnyinthelights

Welcome Dan,
This place is great and will help to keep you on the straight and narrow.

DebtFreeDan

Sea78 wrote: »

Hey Dan Welcome and well done on posting for SOA - I haven't got anything to add at the mo - but sure you'll have lots of different suggestions from others

xx

Cheers Sea, I notice we will both be debt free the same year !! :beer:

savingholmes

Hi only cut backs that are "obvious" are:

Phone - is this mobile or land line? If land line potentially changing to talktalk could give you a combined internet/phone bill of more like £17 - also you might be able to get phone and internet thro sky - if not perhaps you should drop sky? If it is your only entertainment however and you are managing then - no pressure. If your phone is mobile - see if you can get a broadband deal thro your mobile?

Use cashbacksites to get best deals - and get paid for any changes...

Also it might be worth breaking down the £190 per month to see a) where it goes and b) where you can make changes so that you can be debt free quicker. I appreciate your iva date may not be changeable but once you've paid off your friend's loan that will be a weight off for you...

Keep a spending diary - I think there is a web site called that that you can use or you can just post here. The best savings come usually from not spending in the first place!

I understand your argument about gambling as entertainment but I think if your debt partly arises from gambling you need to ideally give it up altogether or failing that put in safeguards to prevent it getting out of control again.

All the best.

SH

DebtFreeDan

Hi savingholmes and thanks for your input!

Yes I should look into broadband through sky or even orange but I think at the moment I'm tied into a 12 month deal, but I shall search around for other deals as this expires.

Lula-Hula

Hi Dan,

well done for posting SOA, apart from what other people have said I reckon your contact leses are quire pricey, I'm currently paying £8 a month through specsavers, admittedly they are monthly disposables & I assume yours are daily, it might not seem much but still adds up to over an extra £80 a year

lula

GeorgeUK

Hi Dan, long time no chat.

Good to see you are pretty much sorted now, but can i ask who your IVA is with?

Most people on an IVA are trying to protect property or possibly goods, but as you do not have either a house or car, was wondering why you were advised to go for the IVA rather than a Debt Management Plan? Was it to ensure that there would be no legal proceedings and interest be frozen?

I think a spending diary would be a good idea so you can perhaps see where you are spending money and can find a cheaper alternative (you don't sound like a latte man though). Have a look at the old style board too - they may be able to suggest meal plans that can save you a bit on the groceries.

take care.

john_boot

Hi Dan.... Im also pretty new around here and a single and in debt person. Im also in this for the long haul as far as clearing my debts, but this board is a good place to be connected to for staying on track and keeping motivated.

DebtFreeDan

Hi George good to see you on here mate. :cool:

IVA company - Clear Start - were very efficient at sorting everything out for me and have been no bother so far (9 months in). Someone I knew in a similar situation for me recommended an IVA and I pretty much jumped straight in with not a lot of research. I did discuss a DMP with the company but their reasons at the time suggested an IVA was a better plan for me, I took their word for it.

John boot - hi! lets hope so eh mate, it's been a pretty !!!!! month so far though - I've had FOUR people come to stay the last 4 weekends, this kind of thing never happens and I've blown my budget 12 days early and that was trying really hard not to spend money :eek:

Good news for me though - PAY RISE next month (and back dated from August) so I'll be able to pay this miniloan straight back! This may affect the IVA company (I'm only allowed to earn 10% on top of what I have declared before they get 50% of the difference).
Anyway, a quiet weekend of non-spending and hopefully non-gambling to come - how am I doing in that area you may ask? ... down £371.61 on the year :mad: (yes I know, lost £10 more since I started this thread but it was an entertaining way to spend an afternoon)

Ok off to seek more inspiration from the helpful folk on here...

Dan

DebtFreeDan

Lula-Hula wrote: »

Hi Dan,

well done for posting SOA, apart from what other people have said I reckon your contact leses are quire pricey, I'm currently paying £8 a month through specsavers, admittedly they are monthly disposables & I assume yours are daily, it might not seem much but still adds up to over an extra £80 a year

lula

Lula, mine are monthly lenses but the direct debit covers all solution too and free eye tests every 6 months which I think is a fair deal. Does your £8 a month cover solution and tests?

Dan

epsilondraconis

Hi Dan, good to read your thread. I really hope it works out for you. If you stay focused and keep posting, you'll reach your goal soon enough.

I don't have much to offer, I guess all I can think of is:

1. Regarding your broadband, you should be able to reduce this one way or another. I have an Orange mobile and get free broadband, okay so it may not get the best reviews in the world but I've not had any problems with it over the last 4 years or so.

2. If you do buy anything online ensure you use the cashback sites - I use either www.topcashback.co.uk or www.quidco.com.

3. Although your gambling has cost you a few bob over the years, I personally don't think it is too bad, provided you are able to control how much you spend. Make sure you keep a spending diary so you can see how much you have spent on gambling. If you find you have spent a lot and it is getting you into financial difficulty and getting you stressed as a result, please don't hesitate to visit your doctor. They will be able to put you in touch with people that can help.

I have to confess that I go onto gambling sites every day, the difference is that in the last 8 months I haven't lost any money, in fact I am up £200. I have the fun of gambling but without the risk of losing a penny. It was this site that showed me what to do. Basically there are a number of bingo / gambling sites run my St Minver - these include Littlewoods Bingo, Chit chat bingo etc. All of these provide you with a free daily scratch card - which guarantees that you win anything from 10p though to £100. In order to get the daily scratch card, you need to register and deposit money in your account. The trick is that you deposit £10, play the daily scratch card, to get at least 10p and then withdraw your £10. From then on, by keeping the account in credit you can play the daily scratch cards to build up your credit balance (some days you get two free scratch cards, other days you get £1 just for logging on). As your credit balance grows you can either, have a flutter on some of the games that are on the site, or you can keep increasing your credit balance until you have at least £10.10 in your account. At that point you can withdraw £10 leaving 10p in your account. If you open more than one account from the same site, you will need to register a different bank account with each (they do that to stop you opening multiple accounts). I know of people that have opened multiple accounts and they have been closed by St Minver. Anyway, I personally don't gamble just because the odds are always stacked against you; however if its brings you enjoyment then that is fine - just ensure it is controlled. I guess now you have this info, you can perhaps claw back some of the money you have lost.

Keep posting anyway, you sound like a good chap.