My brand spanking new SOA!

littlepinkstars44

ElizabethJH wrote: »

My entire present budget is £100 for Mom, Dad, 2 Sisters +BIL, BF, 3 Grandparents and 5 friends.

The money is spent now but it's worth looking at the vouchers/special freebies with magazines etc offers for presents!!

I think it'll be worth keeping a spending diary - is your SOA what you actually spend or what you hope to spend? I think if you stick to your above budget, maybe consider getting a better paid job then the debt will fall quickly!!

It's what i hope to spend, starting next month.

crazyhazy

There's a snowball calculator somewhere here which shows the benefit of paying the min off all debts except the one with the higest apr where you put as much as you can to get it paid off quicker, it shows how much you can save in interest by dealing with debts in the right order. Do you actually have to pay £100pm to your overdraft if you're a student? If not then use that £100 towards paying off the other debts first, I'd start with the additions since it's the highest apr and then move onto the other store cards, you should be debt free in no time :-)

Burlesque_Babe

littlepinkstars44 wrote: »

I haven't been saving money for Christmas, i've just been buying bits and pieces, so far i think i've spent about £200 on pressents, and still have a few more things to get for my mum, bother, sister and boyfriend.

unless you've bought them nothing - stop there - please! They will understand you are a student with very little income. I budget £10 per head for my family (mum, dad, 2 sisters, 1 brother, 1 niece, 1 set of grandparents) and then get my OH's presents separately, but don't spend £200 all in. It's possible to get really nice stuff if you are really savvy and shop around - there are threads around for a 'neutral' Christmas - ie earning money for presents through cashback sites such as Quidco and so not actually spending any 'real' money.

littlepinkstars44

crazyhazy wrote: »

There's a snowball calculator somewhere here which shows the benefit of paying the min off all debts except the one with the higest apr where you put as much as you can to get it paid off quicker, it shows how much you can save in interest by dealing with debts in the right order. Do you actually have to pay £100pm to your overdraft if you're a student? If not then use that £100 towards paying off the other debts first, I'd start with the additions since it's the highest apr and then move onto the other store cards, you should be debt free in no time :-)

Yeah i need to pay the £100 to it, as it's my old student overdraft (i have 2, been in and out of college since i was 18)
Don't know how but went over my limit by about £700 an had the card took off me, so i don't even know the acc number or anything about it anymore, and i don't get statements through from it anymore.

littlepinkstars44

Burlesque_Babe wrote: »

unless you've bought them nothing - stop there - please! They will understand you are a student with very little income. I budget £10 per head for my family (mum, dad, 2 sisters, 1 brother, 1 niece, 1 set of grandparents) and then get my OH's presents separately, but don't spend £200 all in. It's possible to get really nice stuff if you are really savvy and shop around - there are threads around for a 'neutral' Christmas - ie earning money for presents through cashback sites such as Quidco and so not actually spending any 'real' money.

I have already bought them some bits and pieces, i can't just give my little sister (12) nothing, i've not seen her in over a year! An my little brother is 11 so i can't just give him a ps3 game

I only have to buy for my mum, stepdad, brother, sister and my boyfriend.

Jesthar

littlepinkstars44 wrote: »

I have already bought them some bits and pieces, i can't just give my little sister (12) nothing, i've not seen her in over a year! An my little brother is 11 so i can't just give him a ps3 game

When, I was that age (which wasn't so long ago, thank you ), I was perfectly happy with a couple of bars of chocolate or a few bags of sweets! :rotfl:

Pink, you have to start paying more attention to what you are spending, sweetheart. Your heart is obviously in the right place and you want to spend money on making people happy at Christmas - unfortunately, your bank balance isn't in quite such a good place! Hoowever, that doesn't mean you can't make people happy, just that you have to put a lot more thought into how to do it on a budget.

If there is ONE thing I have learned over the years, it's that the most expensive presents often aren't the most appreciated, is the ones which the most thought in which really count. For example...

One birthday of mine when I was doing a course with some friends, and we were also loving together (four of us in a small flat!), I'd had a fairly nice but long and tiring day. I was the only one of us with a car, so I had to take someone else home id evening, and when I got back it was to the best present I EVER had.

One of the girls knew I had been really longing for a nice, hot, deep bath, but couldn't really have one as the boiler didn't get the water anywhere near hot enough (rather lukewarm, really), and there was rarely enough time! So whilst I was out, she made sure everyone else was done with the bathroom for a couple of hours, then boiled the kettle several times until she had managed to create a lovely, deep, hot bath, complete with a mass of bubbles and several candals to lignt the room.

I can honestly say that was the BEST present I have EVER received.

~Jes

Burlesque_Babe

littlepinkstars44 wrote: »

I An my little brother is 11 so i can't just give him a ps3 game

Of coure you can!! It's not the amount that is given, but the love and thought that goes with it!

Burlesque_Babe

Jesthar wrote: »

and we were also loving together (four of us in a small flat!),
~Jes

that's a whole lotta love..........;) :rotfl:

I echo your sentiments exactly Jes - I don't know how much a PS3 game costs, but I know he will be very happy with it.

littlepinkstars44

thanks everyone, i know where your coming from, money doesn't buy happiness eh?
Well i have hand made all their Christmas cards (It was a college project to raise money for breast cancer...we made £70!) And they do look really good!
I think instead of getting him another big present, just get him 2 or 3 little things that he needs, socks and pjs!
Cause i don't want him to have just one thing to open on Christmas day, i don't think he appreciates how good of a big sister he actually has - lol!

Burlesque_Babe

ok then - how about this as an idea? You sound as if you have excellent creativity skills if you have hand made your cards.

If you are determined to spend more (even though, I really hope you realise you can't afford to and don't need to), why not set a budget of £5 for him. Go over to the Special Occasions board and look at the huge number of threads about making baskets. It is great fun putting a basket together and incredibly thoughtful. You can put a great themed present together for a fiver - go on, check it out, I reckon you'd be great at it