advice needed!!!

asquiths_2

thanks very much for the advice so far i am on ntl the package we have just changed to is 32.99 per month that includes bb,tv and phone due to us only just moving onto this i haven't had a bill so i guessed it at £50 to cover the calls although to be honest we don't really use the phone alot so maybe i've over estimated there.

i do generally shop at aldi/netto/iceland/asda and morrisions but probably waste quite abit because we live so close to them i end up going shopping about 3 or 4 times a week and always come out with more than i went for!!!

at the minute with us still fighting for the dla for our baby i'm having to fork out travel costs to and from doc's, hospital plus phoning around for advice and information. so hopefully it will be reduced if we get accepted.

Bargain_Rzl

Regarding your savings account, I think you should keep what's in it because even when you're in debt, £550 is a good sort of amount to have at your disposal in case of emergency (washing machine breaking down, for example). However in my view you should now stop paying £50 in every month and just throw that £50 at your debts. You're losing money by continuing to save, because the interest on your debts will certainly outweigh the interest on your savings.

asquiths_2

ok right i've just phoned the bank and told them we're moving our loan and they have agreed to drop the apr to 6.9 from 8.9 so thats a start.

I've cancelled my membership at the gym and decided to use my own equipment.

am now keeping a record of my weekly spending.

and am actually proud of myself for starting to get on with it!!!

the only other thing is we have ppi on our loan (£24,000 0ver 83 months got 74 left) with the bank and it works out at 95.50 per month just for that!!
Is there anywhere else i could get thios cover cheaper??
thanks in advance.

jellycat40

Hello and welcome. Look very carefully at the ppi as I have never known anyone get it to pay out as the exclusions are very stringently applied. If you are off for 2 weeks they will pay your repayments but first you have to get a medical cert which my doc charges £50 for if you want it for insurance. Also my daughter had it against being out of work but they don't pay if you are sacked and they don't pay for the months your employer covers in the event of redundancy. My daughter was made redundant and the insurer contacted her employer and found out what her settlement was and they would not pay anything for 3 months by then she had another job!
I don't want to give advice because I do not know your situation but check if you need to be paying anything or whether you could save £95 a month and make sure you have 3 months salary for the rainy day.

You don't get carers allowance for under 2's because they need a lot of care under this age anyway. However keep monitoring the situation because you never know when the criteria changes.

good luck
Louise

bonnie_2

exscuse me but you do get carers allowance for under 2's providing they get middle rate dla i have had it for my daughter since she was diagnosed at 10months and all my mates had it for there babies as well.

Conor_3

Your house insurance is quite expensive. I've got both buildings and contents insurance from Barclays and it's only £16 a month. Contents only should be about 2/3 of that.

asquiths_2

ok heres whats happened so far......

have got 30 quid back off british gas (am awaiting a cheque)
looked at our credit cards again only to notice that my egg card is actually + £579.07 so i've bt that same amount from my yb card then am closing the egg card.

am then gonna move all other card debts onto hubby's as he has 0 % till june
this leaves us £1000 on a card paying interest. i've just been accepted for a barclaycard 0 % bt so am taking that and bt the rest of the cc onto that so we will be completely 0 % till june.

bad news.... got my credit file off equifax only to find someone has been ordering from grattan catalogue in my name diff address and diff dob but is showing as a default so am now sorting that out.

hope everyone is having a good saving day xxxxxxxxxx

lottie26_2

Hi i think you could get your food bill down as i have three children roughly the same age as you and i probley spent the same as you in the past,I now write a shopping list and check the BOGOF offers but only get them if it's something that i use regularly.
i'm sure you will sort your situation out good luck xxx

pollyorange

Hi,

Also a sahm with a partner who brings home approx same amount as your husband. Got 2 small sons 2 and 1 and lots of debt!

Some stuff/tips we have done....

We just recently cancelled sky, (and don't miss it one bit might I add!) you can get most of the freeview channels with your existing sky box at no cost. We moved to virgin for Broadband. No 12 month contract and its 14.99pm.We currently use TalkTalk, altho we may change this as we aren't sure which is best phone provider anymore.

Change your direct debits to a few days after your wages etc gets paid in, and then you will know how much spare cash you have for rest of month.

We make weekly food menus now and learn to make big batches of foods, soups, curries, casseroles and freeze them. Healthier and cheap especially if you buy cheap veg from Tesco Value, or the market.

I consolidated all 3 of my credit cards on to one at 0% with a view to being a "card tart" and changing them when the 0% runs out. Trying to get Dp to do his too now.

We cancelled all unnessary insurances, card protection plans etc

Sell stuff on ebay! Extra good if you wait for 5p listing days. We made £20 last week from selling stuff we might have chucked away! :rotfl:

If you can, dont pay for car parks, park somewhere free (we use our local park) and walk into town, I get 30 minutes exercise this way and save money, and lose weight!

Basically, once you realise you are stuck in a mess, you have to get yourself out of it. Take control of the situation, all the little things you do that save money will go towards saving money and paying off debts.

This website is a godsend!!

lottie26_2

i agree with purpleorange i canncelled the sky and i dont miss it you can still use the sky box and it picks up cbeebies and another kids channel i only kept it for so long because of the children and they dont miss it the two eldest ones even play together more which is a good thing and if they are anything like mine they will have lots od dvd's to watch