It is tough NOW. So how are we coping

savingholmes

I'm only on page 33 but just wanted to come along and say hi.

I'm losing my job in a few weeks - it was only a temporary one though but I've had it a year - not long enough to get a payout.

We would just about manage on my OH's income and still meet minimum payments providing we can keep our 0% credit lines - need rather more than that to actually pay it off though. By the time I leave I should have 2-3 months money in savings which will also help smooth the transition. If I do lose my job and don't get another one quickly, I expect I could become a very regular poster LOL!

Good luck - I know there are a lot of people worse off than me - we all just have to keep pressing on though don't we.

BB1984

RE university students - I graduated in the summer of 2006, with a student loan debt of about £16,000. HOWEVER, I had managed to save all of that in an ISA, so by the time interest was factored in (even taking off the interest I was paying on my loan), I finished uni with a nice lump sum in the bank. That was how in September, OH and I managed to put down a deposit on our house!

Throughout uni, I didn't work at weekends (apart from the odd hour here and there for my uni department), but I did work during the holidays and saved as much as poss then. This kept me going through the following term. Also I was lucky to have a bursary throughout my course - £1000 per year for the first 3 years, then £2500 in my masters year. I was doing engineering, and companies and charitable organisations were falling over themselves to give us money - you just had to go looking for it!
At the start of the term , I put by my rent and bill money. Then I divided up whatever else I had into the number of weeks. It normally worked out as about £30 per week - this was for food and beer! I found that it was fine, I had a slow cooker and learnt to cook cheap meals. I went out several nights a week (beer was cheap!) so certainly enjoyed my student days. Some of my peers, however, frittered away their money then claimed to be broke. These were the same ones that thought nothing of spending £50 on a night out, bought Playstations and iPods at the start of term then wondered where their loans had gone. (I'm not trying to be self-righteous BTW, it just amazes me how careless some people were with their cash!)

I am just so glad that my parents advised me to try and stash some of my loan in an ISA - if I hadn't done that it would have taken years to save for a house deposit. I will definately be advising my (as yet non-existent) kids to do the same!

BB

Caterina

Thanks BB, my DD will go to University next year (she is doing a foundation at the moment, which I paid) and that's exactly what I suggested her, to take as much loan as she possibly can, with the fees part to pay her fees and with the living part just to save in an ISA. At the moment interest is not so great but it will be better than just fritter the money (which she might or might not do, as she is a level-headed young woman, but one never knows!).

She can live here at home and keep doing her babysitting and other odd jobs and save as much as she can towards repaying her fee loan. Once she has graduated she should have a fair lot of cash saved up and then decide, depending on the interest rate situation then, whether to repay all at once (if savings rate and student rate are more or less the same) or repay a bit at a time (if savings rates are significantly higher than the student loan rates).

I think that unless saving rates go back to good levels (6%+) it would not be really worth it hanging on to the savings as you would have to take into account the compound interest.

Anyone knows whether there is some sort of calculator to check this? Any actuary out there with a ready reckoner formula?I knew the formula when I studied for my accountancy diploma but this was more than 30 years ago and have forgotten it all! Thanks.

steerpike

sorryusernamesgone wrote: »

Back on topic ... I'm not coping at all.

. I have housing benefit to pay my rent, council tax benefit to pay my council tax, and £56 a week Income Support to live on. They stop £4 a week out of my Income Support because I receive £4 a week private pension.

Out of that £56 a week I have to pay for my electricity, gas, food, telephone, tv licence on DD, mobile phone, water rates, diesel, car tax, car insurance.

Perhaps you could save a little by opting to have either a phone or a mobile if its not necessary to have both?
Would you consider 'helping' out working or holidaying neighbours with dog walking, house & pet sitting, baking, ironing, gardening, home helping in exchange for groceries or (dare I say it..) cash in hand?

As a working mum in a rural area, it was always a big headache trying to look after my 2 daughters during the school holidays -they hated out of school club and i would have given my right arm (and ready money) for a mature responsible lady to childmind them in my own home using my electicity, gas etc.

If there are no shops or public transport near you why not offer a shopping service to car-less neighbours? If you have to drive to do your own shopping, it would be easy to shop for others and charge them a few quid for the service...idealfor taking advantage of the bogofs.

if you are artistic, it is possible to make gifts inexpensively that could be sold at Craft Fairs...or by word of mouth...for example £2.50 will make over 2.5lbs of homemade fudge, which if inexpensively but attractively packaged in HM boxes would be a good seller.

As we have no shops nearby, I used to bulk buy cans of pop from the cheapo shop in town (6 cans for £1) and sell them out of a cool box at the garden gate to thirsty cyclists and walkers for 50p a go...

Since working people usually lack the tiime or can't be bothered to pick the fruit from their trees -offer to pick it for them - bag and sell it at the garden gate. Local horse owner will let you poo-pick their paddocks and take it away for free...again to be sold at the garden gate for a couple of quid a bag. There will be some horse owners willing to pay you a couple of quid to go on a regular basis to clear the paddock - as this is a much hated weekend job.

I hope that you take these suggestions in the spirit that they are offered. I have been frugal all my life, through necessity rather than choice and I sincerely empathise with your difficulties.

Softstuff

I graduated uni in 2000. Fortunately then tuition was free, and I had a small grant (think it was about 1000 quid twice a year).

I had started saving for uni though when I was 16, since I knew I was heading there. I worked weekends and every holiday from my 16th birthday, so by the time I was heading for uni I had a bit of a cushion. When I arrived at uni for the first year I didn't get a job in term time, but continued working holidays. In the second year I also worked in a carpet shop 1 day a week in addition to the existing holiday job, but the commission was fantastic!

My third year of uni was a paid placement. Hell on earth, but it was paid, so again I set some money aside for the fourth year (this had been a deliberate plan too). My final year I didn't work at all, since it was more important to study, but still managed to leave uni with savings.

It was hard going, but I feel good about it now.

savingholmes

Caterina wrote: »

I think that unless saving rates go back to good levels (6%+) it would not be really worth it hanging on to the savings as you would have to take into account the compound interest.

Anyone knows whether there is some sort of calculator to check this? Any actuary out there with a ready reckoner formula?I knew the formula when I studied for my accountancy diploma but this was more than 30 years ago and have forgotten it all! Thanks.

I think there is a stoozing calculator either on this website or on the whatsthecost website.... HTH

kidcat

Hi Have just finished reading this thread from begnning to end, its taken days. I just wanted to say thank you, I have got loads more ideas and a boost in confidence to try them, (my DH really hates when I try to implement money saving ideas), I have always been preffty frugal since we hit a patch of debt many moons ago, this year we finally became debt free, although its taken ten years, its a relief and couldnt have come at a better time as cost of living has increased dramatically. My DH keeps saying "we are £x better off each month", he doesnt get that in fact we are worse off, our gas and electricity bill will hit £1000 this quarter and food staples have all doubled in price.
Thanks to MSE I am managing to keep on top of things but it takes hard work and perseverance.

mardatha

I think that's the hardest part --persevering. It's easy to do it for one week, or four, but to do it forever takes determination. Sometimes (ok often !) I lose the plot..

diamondgirl78

I read this article on the BBC website with interest today. Made me chuckle a bit as I've been slowly going OS myself thanks to this forum. It did make me think back to how I had needlessly been spending money only a few months ago on shop bought sandwiches - but it seems that people are slowly realising what a waste this is. I liked reading the comments at the bottom (have they been reading this board?) :rotfl:

EssexHebridean

I guess now we know how much sales of baked beans have increased by, it explains the supermarkets extortionate rises in the price of their economy branded tins of them recently!