Please help me.. newbie with a bad memory...

sorl

Right, where do I start?..

Basically I have a poor memory due to a car crash a few years ago. Not only does this affect my day to day activity's, including my work and organisational skills, it has greatly affected my finance's for various reasons.(which is why I am asking for help on this forum)

My money is all over the place, I have been to my bank several times, but I require a definite plan, in writing that I can constantly refer to, in order to stay on top of my money.

now this is about the fifth time i have been on this site, but the first time i have posted anything on here.

Due to the nature of my memory impairment, I find it easier to follow a step by step guide, but cannot find one to suit my situation, nor can I currently afford to pay anyone to do it for me, so I am asking for people to please advise or assist me in sorting out my finances/debts and manage myself properly.

My main question is - what information do people need to know to assist me?, should I list my income/outgoings individually ? Should I list the various things that have gone wrong with my money over the past couple of years?

Any help or advice will be greatly appreciated,

James

lilly81

I would say n your situation it may be best to go and see citizen's advice bureau as they could sit down with you and do it face to face.

Good Luck

Lilly X

doodledo_2

Hi and welcome to the forum. Well done for taking the first step and posting.

I am sorry to hear about your memory problems following your accident it must make life very difficult for you in some aspects.

THe post about going to CAB is a good idea, they may be able to offer you some support.

A SOA (Statement of Affairs) is a useful tool too. This is a list of all your incomings, outgoings and debts and it shows you in black and white what you have coming in and out. Here is a link to one you can use online and then post on here http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html.

The snowball calculator http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx?country=us is also a useful tool. With this you input all your debts, their APRs and how much you can afford to repay a month and it works out a repayment plan for you so you pay the least interest possible and it also gives you a debt free date (DFD).

poorandindenial

Hi James

Sorry to hear about your accident and the impact it has had on your memory. Thankfully lots of what we do on here is step by step

STEP 1:

Complete a statement of affairs (SOA) and post it on here - there is a handy calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com

Then people here will try to help you to see what your next step is and to reduce your outgoings

STEP 2:

If you have money left at the end of the month - you can produce a plan of how you will repay your debts the most efficiently using the snowball calclator: www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx

or

If you are paying out more than you earn/recieve then you need to take action. Because of your memory this is likey to be best done through one of the debt advice charities (http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/debt-help-plan#help) rather than trying to run it yourself - although I might have got the wrong end of the stick abot the impact it has on your life. Some of the debt charities will effectively take over the management of your debts through a debt management plan and won't charge you a penny for it (NEVER pay for this service)

STEP 3:

Relax (and find new ways to reduce your outgoings and make your money go a bit further. A spending diary can be useful for this - I carry a notebook around with me that I shove receipts into and write in if I don't get a receipt)

Oh and of course carry on postinghere and we will help with whatever we can.

sorl

Thanks for the quick reply guys, i will read through it and let you know what i plan to do.

cheers!

tyllwyd

I've bought a personal money management software package (I use Personal Accountz, but MS money is the best known one). If you bought something like that, you could check your accounts online every day and update the totals - you could set it up with direct debits & standing orders, and you could put notes to yourself to remind you what you are aiming to do. Maybe that would help you keep track of the big picture.

beanielou

Write everything down & keep notes.
Internet banking is useful as well.

dND

Hi James,

Sorry to hear about the car crash and the memory problems. It's something that I can sympathise with, I had a breakdown and ever since than my short-term memory is shot. What helped me was having as much as possible on DD so I didn't have to remember it. Not the most money saving method but it did mean things were paid.

With the accounting packages, I will first say I have never used the two mentioned but used to use Quicken which was great before I was ill and before they decided to 'improve' it. I then found myself having to double check all the downloads from the bank that were supposed to make it easy, as sometimes all transactions went in, sometimes they didn't, and sometimes they went in twice. In the end I gave up; what I use now is my own spreadsheet on Excel. That way I can update my balance before cheques clear, put the DD's in at the beginning of the month so I know how much I really have left to spend. I also found that having online access to accounts was a godsend.

The bottom line is finding something that you are happy with and then if like me remembering to do it . That's another reason I like my simple spreadsheet method. It's very easy to catch up again - I sort of forgot to do it for the last 5 months:eek:

Deborah

frasersmum123

If you use the Snowball calculator on 'Whatsthecost', it also has a reminder function that you can set up for it to send you an email when you need to pay a bill - I use it because I have a terrible memory!

Arne_2

I have 2 bank accounts, one which gets my income paid into it. I have a standing order set up to tranfer money from there into the second one which is the one where all the direct debits, standing orders, come out of. I listed everything I had to pay during the year even annual stuff like MOT and xmas savings and divided it by 12 and that set the amount of the standing order. It means that what is left in the first account is available to spend and my bills get paid.

tyllwyd

Another thing we've done that helps keep on track - if you have big bills going out at certain times (we pay utilities quarterly etc) we've done a list showing the months when they are going out. It helps us keep on track of which months are the bad ones so we can plan for them a bit better (for instance in January, we have gas & electric bills, plus two car insurances, one car service, and all the memberships for the kids activities for the new term).