Just wanna cry :(

moongarden

MyLastFiver wrote: »

Oh and I love beans on toast :-)

me too! we have it about once a week. and soup another night. lovely home made soup at about 70p a portion.

Barneysmom

HI Sugarpants! You've come to the right place, as there are loads of people here who will give you advice on how to save money.
Personally I think your rent is high, but I'm not sure how much the rental market is these days.
I would move to somewhere a bit cheaper if I could, if I were in your shoes I mean. And save what you would have been paying in a completely different account, call it your 'looking to buy' account or something. Even if you rent somewhere £50 a month cheaper, you'll soon see that account grow.:cool:

Have a peep at the Moneysaving Old Style board and get some fantastic tips on how to save ongrocery shopping. I have learnt so much from the lovely people on there, and saved money too.
I saw a lady in Asda today buying cake mixes and couldn't understand why when it's so much cheaper and nicer to make your own.

Good luck hun xxx

Jacks_xxx

Hiya sweetie, :wave:

Do you know about The Snowball?

The basic principle is that you pay the minimums on everything except the debt with the highest interest rate and you throw every spare penny at that one until it's gone - and then you do a little happy dance :dance: - and then start throwing every spare penny at the next highest interest rate.

It's the quickest and cheapest way to pay off debts.

Punch in all of your debt details in here and see what it says.

http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx

Having the light at the end of the tunnel of an end date really helped me when it all seemed hopeless and it was getting me down.

If you're up to date with payments could you try getting a balance transfer deal at a lower interest rate? It really helps get the debts paid down faster.

Chin up cherub you're doing really well - everybody struggles when they have little kids, it's not forever. Things change. And everybody above me is right - little kids don't care about monetary things so don't beat yourself up on their account.

Love Jacks xxx

rugbymum

Hi hun
Your SOA looks incredible!
I can't see anything to trim.
I just want to repeat what I said earlier. You are doing an amazing thing and you can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Your kids love you unconditionally! That is how they are programmed. You care enough about them to bother with the beans on toast and the fact that you tart them up too WOW!!!!!!!!!!! In fact you seem far too generous .
I can only empathise with you about the fact that you are having a bad day. I don't think the weather & time of year help.
Think of all those picnics you can have in the garden when the weather gets better!
In the meantime, if you're feeling brave, how about a living room floor picnic, with something silly on the tv afterwards?
Get the kids to dress up and ask them to put on a play for you 9even if your two year old ends up being iggle piggle!)
hugs

newlywed

When we were kids we used to stay in our aunt's house while she was on holiday - it felt like a holiday for us as it was 200 miles from where we lived - do you have any relatives you can house swap with

The other thing we did as kids in school hols was instead of going away we did "days out" - whether that was a national trust place, a picnic in a big park, visiting another town, going to a market, boot sale etc in another town and having a small amount of money to spend there.

We were never ashamed of our parents, they did the best they could and we were always looked after, fed, clothed us and kept us clean and we had somewhere to sleep. When they had a little bit of money we appreciated any treats at all.

I think the less you have, the more you appreciate what you do have and what you do receive.

Your kids are not likely to grow up to be people who moan about how little the presents received were, but grateful for anything given - as we all should be.

pink_princess

rugbymum wrote: »

Hi hun
Your SOA looks incredible!
I can't see anything to trim.
I just want to repeat what I said earlier. You are doing an amazing thing and you can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Your kids love you unconditionally! That is how they are programmed. You care enough about them to bother with the beans on toast and the fact that you tart them up too WOW!!!!!!!!!!! In fact you seem far too generous .
I can only empathise with you about the fact that you are having a bad day. I don't think the weather & time of year help.
Think of all those picnics you can have in the garden when the weather gets better!
In the meantime, if you're feeling brave, how about a living room floor picnic, with something silly on the tv afterwards?
Get the kids to dress up and ask them to put on a play for you 9even if your two year old ends up being iggle piggle!)
hugs

Great post rugby mum ,and great ideas (i love MSE ):T

jenjade

thats for this thread i have read it through it is fully of great ideas and help for other thanks!

mags33_2

i love this place i wish i found it a lot sooner than i did

group hug

sugarpants_2

LHB
Was it easy to change? How did you tell Bt you only wanted the basic line etc? Been on at DH to do this for months but he scared we will lose out internet access etc,..We both use it for work you see daily.

longhotbath wrote: »

Hi Sugarpants - sorry if Im out of line, but have you looked at you phone/internet charges.
I pay bt 11.50 per month for the basic line, and my OH rang aol and told them that he wanted a cheaper deal or he would switch broadband provider.
He got the monthly bill on broadband down from £35 to £14 and they threw in free anytime uk calls to all but 084* numbers and mobiles. For an extra £7 we get free calls to about 40 countries (both families live abroad). I love being able to just chat to my mum for the first time in years!

I told 02 that I wanted to go pay as you go and they gave me a £10 per month with more minutes and texts than I can use. They dont advertise the £10 rate - you have to ask for it or say that you are going payg.

Im sure that there are cheaper deals out there for you, but this way suits us (and 8 year old daughter!!)

cheers, LHB

sugarpants_2

Thanks for all your lovely posts about the kids..Its really making me feel not so bad about not holidaying etc..

And youre right at least my kids will definatley not be spoilt brats and appreciate the best things in life are FREE!!..for example the advice on this forum! YIPEEE!!