Tips for post bankruptcy.

IF

Some more tips on hunt85's thread :-

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/40726776#Comment_40726776

katygeorge

forget about it, its done now. just keep looking forward never backwards.

its what ive done, dont give any of it a second thought, apart from when im on here

confused76

just bumping this up, lots of useful info on here x

tigerfeet2006

Quite a few of the Freecycle groups have now transfered to Freegle so if you can't find a Freecycle group then check Freegle.

http://ilovefreegle.org/ (oooh! I love that chair )

http://www.uk.freecycle.org/

IF

Bumping up the board x

IF

Another bump from me

empty_wallet_2

Well it's been 3 years now so half way, over the time I've learnt a few things.

CO OP Bank have been invaluable with their understanding banking, although after 3 years of perfect banking with them they still won't let us have a savings account.

My CASHPLUS prepaid MasterCard has been invaluable.

Never realised how much I would miss not having a cheque book and postal orders are a pain in the !!! and expensive.

Get an accounts App for your smartphone if you have one, as I record all my income and expenditures broken down into all my budgeting catergories and with carrying it all the time I can see in an instant if I can afford something and record my expenditure on the go, much better than trying to remember to record it in a book especially when the wife is always chucking receipts away.

Make sure you look at your annual expenses and then budget for them every month and don't forget to put some away to replace the washing machine, fridge or tv when they conk out at the least expected and what ever you budget for your car mot/servicing then double or triple its never enough for these bottomless pits.

Shop around for everything, don't buy off eBay without checking if it's cheaper online, I've found loads of stuff on amazon or other websites that have been cheaper than eBay, people have this perception that eBay is the cheapest, it's not always. Also shop around for gas & electric, we recently changed supplier and not only got a cheaper rate we also got£100 joining rebate and don't forget shop around for car insurance, I saved almost £200 last year.

So have I missed anything in the last 3 years

Well yes I've missed not being able to just go and buy that new camera or gadget etc without saving for it and I've caught myself thinking about using the money from other catergories to get the item there and then and then hopefully replace that money before it's needed but touchwood my head has over ruled my heart on those occasions.

The biggest thing I have missed though is owning my own house, its annoying seeing that you can afford the monthly payments on a mortgage but unable to get one and instead paying thousands a year to rent somewhere and then knowing in 3-4 years when hopefully our credit reports are ok that houses will be out of our reach but I guess that is the price to pay for living beyond our means for so long. We've tried for social housing and have been on the register for over 4 years and have been told all we are eligible to bid on is a 1 bed flat as we are only a couple (I had a 4 bed house before and still have enough stuff to fill a 3 bed house so how they expect us to downsize to 1 bed I don't know) plus we are in the "don't have an f'ing chance" bronze category as we are already private renting. When we looking at the housing website it often shows there are 60/70 people above us if we wanted to put in a bid for a property.

Ineedaname

Brilliant thread!

I'm a weird woman in that I've never enjoyed clothes or shoe shopping and am just not interested in fashion. I get stressed in the High Street too, so charity shops are wonderful. They are usually off the High Street and much calmer places to be and you can get some great bargains. They have got a bit more expensive lately though and I've found myself putting things back because they cost £7 instead of just £4.

I've already sold everything on eBay and use Freecycle regularly for offering and wanting odds and sods. Best received on Freecycle was 150 Readers Digest condensed books that nobody else wanted. Delivered to my door and took me 2 years to read them all! Now I used the library every week to give me enough reading material.

Definitely cook from fresh, use the local greengrocer/butcher/fishmonger (if you don't you'll lose them) and batch cook for the freezer so you still have 'ready' meals.

I even bulk order my dog food every 6 months as it works out cheaper and I get it delivered. That way I can also afford to buy them better quality more natural kibble, rather than the rubbishy meat derivatives stuff.

Walk or cycle everywhere within a few miles, saves tons on bus fares or petrol and the car will appreciate the longer trips, so better for maintenance costs too.

Will try out some of the other suggestions as time goes on.

wok_boy

empty wallet,

You can open an ISA account with Co-Op and use it like a normal savings account.

empty_wallet_2

wok_boy wrote: »

empty wallet,

You can open an ISA account with Co-Op and use it like a normal savings account.

Thanks, yes I already have one that I put car tax, insurance, holidays & repairs & maintainence money in. Almost didn't get one of those though as I applied and got my letter through telling me the account number and then next day got a letter from some department saying sorry but after careful consideration they were unable to offer me an ISA, I thought that strange as the day before I had my account details, it was never closed down so been using it for 2 years, it's a very poor rate though that pays 0.5% if not less.

We wanted a savings account with a cash card as a bit more flexible but as for some reason they do a credit search on you for what is supposed to be the most basic of accounts. I also received some inhertance that took me over the ISA limit and wanted to put that into savings rather than it being sat in my cashminder.