Help!

spendaholicinseattle

Um er.... not in the holidays admittedly. It is a total godsend for me in term time though when I am totally snowed under and not a natural tidy person....

Shoe_Gal

spendaholicinseattle wrote: »

Um er.... not in the holidays admittedly. It is a total godsend for me in term time though when I am totally snowed under and not a natural tidy person....

I'm naturally untidy but I don't have a cleaner :rolleyes:

notlongnow_2

Me neither.

belfastgirl23

Did I miss that the £55 was for a cleaner. Sorry late in the evening and a couple of glasses of wine the worse for wear

Anyway maybe you could consider cutting out the cleaner for six months or so till you get the money side of things under control.

I also wanted to add that I never really got in debt - was lucky enough to earn a good wage and so does DH so our income kept up with our spending. But man were we spending stupidly. We could easily spent £400 on food in a month on top of eating out (easily another £400). We have brought down our grocery budget but our eating out budget is probably still the same although that said we have downsized from expensive restaurants to cheaper ones which means we eat out the same amount but our bill hasn't gone up over the last three or four years. I'm just saying this so that first of all you know you aren't the only one who has had a lightbulb moment. And I think you're lucky to have had it before you've done yourself any damage. But also so you know that this isn't about being miserable. Yes it might be worth being a bit tight for the first little while just till you get the credit cards paid off but you can still live a very comfortable life and sort out your debt.

The tool I found most useful was to have a spending diary. It was very instructive to see where the money went. It's amazing how all the little treats add up

But finally to say where I am now is amazing. Instead of going into (short term) credit card debt for holidays I now have savings towards them. Same with house repairs and car repairs etc, I put money away every month towards them. This really feels good. There aren't any unexpected expenses I can't handle any more. Yes it took a little bit of time being tight to catch up with my short term debt and begin to save but once you begin to work through saving for things rather than going into debt for them it gets progressively easier. Believe me this is where you want to be

Shoe_Gal

I agree and also agree that you still need to have a life (says she, sat in on a Saturday night )

spendaholicinseattle

Thanks Belfast. I think I need to take the first steps now and start doing something about it. What should I do first?

It is such a relief to get some help and advice - thank you so much!

Shoe_Gal

spendaholicinseattle wrote: »

Thanks Belfast. I think I need to take the first steps now and start doing something about it. What should I do first?

It is such a relief to get some help and advice - thank you so much!

Morning! (just!)

As you are on hols why not work down your SOA and try to get a better deal on all your utilities, mobile etc? Then you can redo your SOA to show how much money you have freed up each month to throw at your overdraft/credit cards

Take care

belfastgirl23

I think if you are off on hols then you could try to tackle one thing a day. I think tomorrow's thing should be cancelling your life assurance

Alongside this you need to keep a spending diary, literally every penny you spend you should note down.

spendaholicinseattle

Hi!

I am starting to feel a bit better - it is good to know that I am going to be taking some steps to improve things.

I went on the "SKYRIDE", a FREE cycling event in Manchester today - great fun, took own food, cost me nothing. Brill

I love the idea of doing one thing a day. I am going to start my spending diary tomorrow! Looking forward to getting into it!

Some things will not be easy to give up.... bit worried about my car, sky etc. I need to do it though.

schoolrunmum

What a difference a few hours makes hey Spendy?Bet you're feeling so much better just by taking control! There are so many savings to be made in your SOA,in no time at all you'll be happily opening your statements and being delighted at the amount coming down-it's a good feeling....I had my LBM last October,and by Sept I hope to be debt free!!