Advice needed

magentadreamer

eeeeeeek@wanadoo. I'm assuming you've got the money stashed some place just in case the bill finally turns up!

ozzyfan_2

the moneysaving old style forum is further down the main forum page in the next section.

its a fantastic forum & everyone there is really helpful, its well worth a visit if you are trying to save money on food

ozzyfan_2

If you bought all your misc (!) items out of your food budget of £80 you will be back in the black :j

you should be able to do this quite easily

try packed lunches instead of school dinners
use online shopping with codes from MSE (I used one for £15 off if you spend £75 this week)
make a meal plan & shopping list
invest in a slow cooker, these are great to save you money & there are lots of recipes in the old style forum
keep a spending diary
try postal DVD free trials to get your dvds for a while

If you got your clothes budget down to £40 a month that would save another £60.

you will need to make a plan for the month when your wife goes over to monthly pay so try to put some away each week to cover this.

I don't think you should worry needlessly as by taking a few small cutbacks you will easily be back on track

good luck

newmum1

WELL DONE for posting, heres goes
H/K £80.00 seems quite high,try cutting back
Charity £10.00 begins @home
Savings, you cant afford to save at mo
misc £40.00?????
Gifts/ holidays £80.00 use to pay off debts for a while
clothes £100 every month???
Emergency £40.00???
I think by making cutbacks you will be able to throw more at your debts and pay them off it will seem hard to begin with but it will get easier, and you will do it!!!

Q_Who?

Hi everyone. Thanks for all the replies and suggestions. Sorry I've not posted sooner but I've been in negotiations with the other half and had computer problems. Taking onboard all thats been said I've adjusted the budget in several areas. Housekeeping I've reduced to £70 a week with the aim of making £60 as soon as I have figured it out. Charity, savings and emergency has gone which has left me with an additional £86 a month to throw at the creditcard/overdraft. It could be more but my wife thinks that as the budget is working we don't need to be "to hard" on ourselves. I'd rather get the debts out the way but I need her on board as well obviously. I do overestimate costs on things deliberately, for example the total phone bill for January came to £40 not £50 so theres an extra £10 for the debts. It won't take too long to clear the Overdraft and Credit Card now. Once thats done its "just" the personal loan. The interest rate is very low though and I am fairly confident its a manageable monthly amount. The only way is up, or in the debt level case, down!

Thanks again for all the help and suggestions. Hopefully one day I'll be able to give advice and suggestions too.
Cheers
Q Who?