Advice/Guidance Needed Badly

thyme_2

HI Poz,
#12000 plus debt! For a start save half your food bill till you can cut further 150.00, your milk bill as that should come out of the other half thats 10.00, 5.00 which, and sorry but if your debts stay around for a while due to other unforseen circs you cannot afford that much per month for charity. You can make it up when you are debt free! thats 33.00 (you can still put money in street collections ie loose change) = 198.00!! Why do you need two phones?! I think you should stop one of them or as was said earlier go onto PaG so can limit cost. Check out how to snowball your debts. You should pay slightly over the minimum - suggest extra 10.00 on each of three largest and then pay off the smallest debt with all your remaining money. You would be free of the 1611.00 in 8 months approx (that is ignoring interest). Good luck:)

roversbabe

O/S stands for old style - really useful for cutting costs and is a really friendly board

poz_newbie_sel

roversbabe wrote:

O/S stands for old style - really useful for cutting costs and is a really friendly board

CHEERS - HOW DO I ACCESS THIS OLD STYLE BOARD?

muddled_midget

It's been suggested a couple of times before, that you could stop/reduce the charity donations, and donate your time instead. I know you work full time, but could you spare a couple of hours a week to do this instead, as this would mean a saving of £33/month. You could almost think of yourself earning wages for these hours and donating these to the charity.
Also have you looked into ways of making cheap calls abroad, I'm not sure of the details but I know my stepdad uses a dialling prefix to call the US for about 2p/min.
Also, £166 per month 'pocket money' really isn't bad. Try working out a budget for this as well to see exactly how far it can go. Ie factor in socialising, Xmas/birthday presents, magazines, papers, clothes. I think you'll be surprised just how long you can make it last. (My pocket money is £20/week)
If you think you need to spend more than this, then maybe you think more carefully about how committed you are to clearing your debts. Also remember that every penny out of this £160 you don't spend, can be thrown at your debts, clearing them quicker. I think this helps some people remember why they're cutting down.
Sorry this is a long post, but I hope some of it is helpful

poz_newbie_sel

muddled_midget wrote:

It's been suggested a couple of times before, that you could stop/reduce the charity donations, and donate your time instead. I know you work full time, but could you spare a couple of hours a week to do this instead, as this would mean a saving of £33/month. You could almost think of yourself earning wages for these hours and donating these to the charity.
Also have you looked into ways of making cheap calls abroad, I'm not sure of the details but I know my stepdad uses a dialling prefix to call the US for about 2p/min.
Also, £166 per month 'pocket money' really isn't bad. Try working out a budget for this as well to see exactly how far it can go. Ie factor in socialising, Xmas/birthday presents, magazines, papers, clothes. I think you'll be surprised just how long you can make it last. (My pocket money is £20/week)
If you think you need to spend more than this, then maybe you think more carefully about how committed you are to clearing your debts. Also remember that every penny out of this £160 you don't spend, can be thrown at your debts, clearing them quicker. I think this helps some people remember why they're cutting down.
Sorry this is a long post, but I hope some of it is helpful

NO PROBLEM WITH IT BEING A LONG POST - I'M LISTENING TO WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING AND REALISE I NEED TO RE-EVALUATE MY PRIORITIES. THANKS FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTION :cool:

poz_newbie_sel

Bokken wrote:

Welcome to MSE and well done for getting that £400 surplus each month that really is good going.
As lynzpower has said to really take this further and to help in a structured way it would be best to post a SOA.If not everything then what relates to the credit cards and the APR's.and outstanding amounts.
I wouldn't worry too much at this stage about the Northern Rock loan I was rejected by Egg a couple of years ago and went on to open six bank accounts and 12 credit cards including American Express so don't feel too dispondant at this time.
There are some good Life of Balance credit cards out there including the new Intelligent Finance at 4.95%.
So there is a way ahead you just need to make up your mind who is gonna captain the ship into the future the credit card companies or YOU!
Good luck

HAVING SEEN THE REPLIES I'VE HAD TO MY SOA I CAN SEE THE AREAS WHERE I NEED TO MAKE FURTHER SAVINGS AND WILL ACTION THAT ASAP. BUT - AND I REALLY DO WANT TO "CAPTAIN" MY SHIP IN THE FUTURE - WOULD REALLY VALUE ADVICE ON HOW I CAN SWITCH MY CARDS (OR TAKE WHATEVER APPROPRIATE ACTION) TO DEAL WITH MY CREDIT CARD DEBT. I'D REALLY VALUE INPUT FROM YOU (AND LYNZPOWER AND ANYONE ELSE) ON THIS PARTICULAR SUBJECT. THANKS AGAIN

magentadreamer

poz_newbie_sel wrote:

CHEERS - HOW DO I ACCESS THIS OLD STYLE BOARD?

In the main menu for the board you'll find Money Saving Old Style. Have a look around as you really will find ways to save also the grocer shopping challenge is an excellent way to start by cutting down that food bill! Basically you post your aim on how much you will spend that month on food/household stuff. If you do do it then I'd say gradually cut back no point in thinking this month I'll spend £100 when you've been spending £300 a month - wuth taking pack lunch you'll notice a good dint in your spending on food this month as it is. And how many pints of milk are you getting for a tenner from the milkman?

poz_newbie_sel

magentadreamer wrote:

In the main menu for the board you'll find Money Saving Old Style. Have a look around as you really will find ways to save also the grocer shopping challenge is an excellent way to start by cutting down that food bill! Basically you post your aim on how much you will spend that month on food/household stuff. If you do do it then I'd say gradually cut back no point in thinking this month I'll spend £100 when you've been spending £300 a month - wuth taking pack lunch you'll notice a good dint in your spending on food this month as it is. And how many pints of milk are you getting for a tenner from the milkman?

SINCE YOU'RE ONLINE I THOUGHT I'D GET BACK TO YOU PRONTO - I CANT FIND THIS: DO I CLICK ON "MONEYSAVINGEXPERT.COM FORUMS" TO GET TO IT? THANKS - SOUNDS REALLY USEFUL

Lucie_2

link to Old Style board

poz_newbie_sel

Lucie wrote:

link to Old Style board

Cheers you're a star - going grocery shopping online today!