Im over £3000 into my overdraft, and the charges are crippling me

kissjenn

ACon wrote: »

All her friends have big parties in the local hall, bouncy castle etc. So Id rather do no party than one she can only invite a few to iygm. The hall and castle cost around £50 to hire, and then the food for 30 kids, its well out of my reach atm. I did think about a cinema trip with her two best mates, on the £2.50 night. We'll see. (My mum will make a cake either way, so thats not an expense)

We did a party once where we gave them a box of bits (aka rubbish) including glue, old adult sized shirts, paper, pens etc and the task to make up a play which had to include them all. They could make all the scenery, costumes etc and then use the camera to create pics to remind them. We would be the audience for the big show.

They loved it so much they wouldn't stop for tea and worked thru. They all took some pics home - all for the price of sandwiches, juice and a homemade cake. The kids who came loved the quirky non-commercial nature because they had all - big theatrical kids yawn - done all the activities we all shell out year on year for them to do!

be a quirk...quirks are fun!

donny-gal

ACon wrote: »

is £80 a wk high for a family of 4? My husband eats a lot...

There are many ways to bulk out meals so that the meat content (which is usually the dearest) can be minimised. Do you use Aldi/Lidl/Netto?
Have a look on the Old Style forum to find tips and receipes.
DG

dfh

When you go shopping,try Supermarket own brands.They are much cheaper.You might be able to cut down on your supermarket bills that way.

imamoneysaver

with regards to your husbands mobile phone contract i would definatly give them a ring to see if you can lower it.. if hes on a 18mnth contract as long as he is at least 9 months into it he should be able to lower it by £5 per month until its at the lowest rental (normally £15 pm)

good luck xxx

Fire_Fox

ACon wrote: »

my mobile phone isnt too bad, £10 a mth on 02 and I get free calls etc, but my hubby is stuck to an 18mth contract, with 6mths left at 35 a mth. (just realised its £45 a mth not £75)

It said to give a present thing divided by 12, I have 2 children and spend roughly 250-300 each between christmas and birthdays combined.,(then theres other family) I also have a baby on the way.
The clothes again is an estimate over the yr, 2 growing children... I dont buy for myself usually, except recently maternity clothes.
Ive cancelled sky and internet, net is off in 2 weeks, 15 a mth is line rental and a few calls, will probably be getting this cut off too.
my insurance was for my new cheaper car, the cheapest on the comparison site. And Im pretty sure my pet insurance is the cheapest, we've just sold one dog to make a saving which devastated me.

I honestly cant see where else I can cut down.

You have made a fantastic start and seem really open to more ideas! :T I found the food thing really hard and got completely stuck at £85 for a fortnight (only two adults) for ages. But Mr. Fire Fox got used to me saying "no I didn't get cakes, there's ingredients in the cupboard" and I got better at sneakily padding out meat dishes! He's eaten red lentils twice now, and hasn't said a word.

Eggs are a great cheap alternative to meat and easy to cook when you are not feeling energetic. Also a slow cooker (from £8) means you can buy cheaper cuts of meat and make gorgeous soups, stews, curries, chillis and bolognese with literally five minutes preparation. :j

digitalphase

I can only remember one small party at home when I was little and two other smallish parties at home when I was a teenager.
I didn't expect to get a party, so certainly wouldn't have kicked up a huge fuss if I wasn't allowed one. I was annoyed I wasn't allowed a sleepover in my mid-teens, but there we are. Your daughter will just have to accept she can't have a party, she may throw a tantrum, but she'll get over it :rotfl:

Parties requiring hall hire etc are all well and good if you can afford it, but the simple thing is, you can't. My parents both worked very hard and they couldn't afford it. We didn't have an expensive dog either. Just normal - admittedly pedigree - dogs that were happy on Pedigree Chum and biscuits. I was allowed a hamster after much begging when I was a teenager.
I am not knocking you being on benefits, but the fact is you are on a limited income, so your children are just going to have to appreciate that

I really think you should cut down the presents budget, that is a ridiculous amount of money per kid :eek: Something like £50 each for Birthday and Xmas should be plenty? Wait until they get to teenage years, you'll be glad you saved the money and got them used to having a bit less

Hope you can sort something out, don't worry, your daughter will still love you whether you give her a party or not

ACon

thanks for all the help. Im in a worse mood this morning to find a total c!ck up costing me more money.
I ordered some clothes for the baby on Vertbaudet 3weeks ago, they came yesterday, but they charged me £12 for my supposed "free gift" then after querying it,and sending my email proof, this morning (they still didnt take it off yet) I found they now wanted another £12, so phoned up and apparantly my card payment didnt go through, so theyve charged me that fee on top, I seriously cried. £43 they want off me in total for a few baby items. Even if I send them back, which Ive said Im doing, they wont cancel the £12 fee, I have a feeling I put the card number in wrong, but it accepted it, so thought it was ok. Does any one know how I can get this charge overturned?

boredofbeingathome

Hi Acon, some good advice given above.

One thing i would add, is that it may be prudent to switch banks and pay a set amount to Natwest to clear off the overdraft.

As for Vertbaudet..Just had a quick look at their T&c's.http://www.vertbaudet.co.uk/Static/Static.aspx?page=terms Send the goods back and tell them to go swing for it. If your card was accepted then the fault was on their side as card payments won't go through unless there is sufficient funds in the account. At least that is my understanding of it.Write to their customer services dept. And also fill in a letter to reclaim the charge for the account.

I would also add that i was given lots of beautiful designer clothes for my children when they were younger, i very rarely bought anything other than necessities.Myself and friends kept and swapped things. Just a thought.

Hope everything works out for you, it always seems worse when a baby is on the way as we go into panic mode..nesting, making sure everything is perfect. Everything has a habit of working out one way or another..it just takes a bit of courage to put all the changes in and start fighting your corner.

ACon

There is sufficiant funds, my bank would let it go through regardless, however I do think I may have put 2 of the numbers the wrong way round, Ive done it before but it says "incorrect card details" and lets you do it again, as it was accepted I thought it was right. Pregnancy brain!

boredofbeingathome

I am with Natwest and if there are not sufficient funds in they decline the transaction..sometimes there maybe funds at the time but there could have been a problem if you have other stuff going out..I

t may be wise to ask on the current account boards as they would have a better idea, but that has always been my understanding of it( i also have extra security with the online transaction popup from Natwest..did that not happen?)

I still wouldn't pay the charge though and i would close the account down..too tempting.