Don't know what to do next??

Numpty_Monkey

A good start on the groceries
Have a look on
Old Style MoneySaving
They'll make £80 last you the rest of this month, probably even longer

Have a look at Martins guide on insurance
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/

SegWy

My original plan was to snowball - I just didn't know thats what it was called. I do get bonuses, and because until recently my boyfriend was getting paid in cash eacah week it just went. He is just setting up his own account which means that we can use his money for living and then he can give me £1000 per month so I can spend this on debts and food. The more I think about it the more snowballing feels like a good idea. Especially as it wont affect my credit rating in the future. Thanks for all the really helpful advise and giving me some idea of what to do.
Angelicmary85 - do you mind if I ask how your weekly shop breaks down so I can use a better budget planner?

angelicmary85

Hiya,

I tend to do a 4-weekly shop online from ASDA as I found it to be the cheapest. We only spend £120-150 each month which includes nappies and wipes.

I will (not happily!) admit to buying the same old stuff on a regular basis so I can get a clear idea in my head of what I'm buying before I buy it and as much as it's not very nice to do, I will usually buy 4 times everything I need for one meal so we have it once a week, it tends to get boring so I obviously try to change what we buy the next month...if you see what I mean.

I tend to do meal plans then order everything I need for that meal so I don't forget anything! I buy ASDA wipes and nappies as in reality, there are no different to branded ones. I would suggest getting your bf involved in the planning though as I found that mine wouldn't 'feel like' anything that I bought and therefore he would go to the shop and get something else which started to cost a fortune!

Not sure which supermarket you use so I wouldn't be able to offer you a full breakdown unless you shop at ASDA!

SegWy

That rings so many bells "doesn't feel like anything" that I have bought. Thats half the problem!! I am going to show him this thread

Lotus-eater

angelicmary85 wrote: »

Hi SegWy,

I've got a 16month old and another due in 5weeks so I understand how expensive kids can be but I've found alot of own brand toiletries are just as good as branded and should your toddler not be eating what you're eating (or has she got a special dietry need?) I'm not judging as my bambino, as gorgeous and adorable as she is, won't eat anything except branded super noodles!!

What the heck are you doing feeding your DD super noodles?

The nutritional value of Super Noodles is very low. They are very high in fat (around 20g of fat per serving) and crammed with calories (500-ish per serving), flavourings, etc. I would not recommend that you eat them too often, unless the rest of your diet is very healthy. It is easy to become addicted to Super Noodles though, but after a while you may find that you can't bear to eat any more!

http://www.ciao.co.uk/Batchelors_Super_Noodles__Review_5519996

GeorgeUK

One more thing i would add here. If you do try to get some 0% creditcards, you ened to be careful not to spend on them or it negates any savings you would make as your payments will go towards the interest free portion of the debt and anything you spend would be racking up interest every month until the card was cleared.

You can usually have about 3 credit searches in a 6 month period before your credit rating is affected - so don't just apply all over the place. Spread out the applications to a few months and if you don't get what you want, use what you can get and don't apply to too many places.

angelicmary85

Lotus-eater wrote: »

What the heck are you doing feeding your DD super noodles?

The nutritional value of Super Noodles is very low. They are very high in fat (around 20g of fat per serving) and crammed with calories (500-ish per serving), flavourings, etc. I would not recommend that you eat them too often, unless the rest of your diet is very healthy. It is easy to become addicted to Super Noodles though, but after a while you may find that you can't bear to eat any more!

http://www.ciao.co.uk/Batchelors_Super_Noodles__Review_5519996

Thanks for the judgemental attitude there!! haha! I know that they aren't good for her but I've tried everything I can think of to make her eat.

I've spoken to at least 4 different health visitors about it who have told me it's just a phase but when I can't even get her to eat even a strawberry what can I do?

She doesn't get sugary snacks or fizzy juice or anything like that and I try to give her things like little star yoghurts and cubes of cheese but she isn't interested. I'm not sure if it's because she's a bit of a late teether (she's only got the 4 teeth just now) and finds things difficult to eat but she's just not interested in eating...If you could offer any advice I'd be willing to take note...

Tixy

Hi
To work out the best way to snowball look at these calculators, have a play around with the different options.
http://www.makesenseofcards.com/snowcalc.html
If you saved your SOA you can preload the info for this one straight from there (but you do need to find out the APRs)

Or the other one is here
http://www.whatsthecost.co.uk/snowball.aspx

Usually the rule is to pay minimum payments to all but the highest interest rate and pay as much as you can to the highest interest rate. Once you've cleared that one that move to the next highest card.

There are some exceptions such as if you have a card with a very low balance you could clear quickly the cc company then may give you a lower rate balance transfer to move another debt onto that card.

izzybusy23

SegWy wrote: »

I see what you mean about the groceries, but we have a toddler so includes her food and tolietries but will seriously work on reducing it.

In our household it is just me, DH and my daughter who is 4 and we literally take out £200 cash each month and use that for food and toiletries and we have a healthy meal with veg at least 4 times a week and fruit every day (which are the things that cost the money) and are never without the toiletries we need ... so you could easily slash your bill more than half and add the extra £350 towards repaying your debt.

izzybusy23

"I think that the cost comes from my boyfriend who eats like a horse and likes meat"

So does my DH.. believe me, he can eat... but we still manage our monthly food bill on £200 ... take the cash out of the cashpoint each payday, make a list of what you are going to eat each day and then put that on your shopping list and stick to it. We do our shop at Asda's too and we normally get the meat that is 3 for £10 (two lots of chicken breasts and pork chops normally) and we eat that like I say, at least 3-4 a week with veg and potatoes.. and their whole chickens are sometimes 3 for £10 too.. so that does 3 Sunday dinners... you really need to meal plan. And as for branded wipes and nappies.. Tesco's all the way. Their superfit nappy range is fantastic and when your toddler is wearing pull ups then I would deffo recommend huggies as Asda are always doing them on fantastic deals.. 2 packs for £5 which is more than a months's supply. Luckily my DD is 4 and doesn't need wipes and nappies now, but when she did we still managed to buy them in our £200 a month shop.