Help scared and worried

RAS

SkintNscared

How you doing?

Mortgagefreeforme

It's been sooooo long since I've posted anything, but I had to post to this.

I spend £13.50 every 6 weeks to get mine and my two kids hair cut.

We never go over £250 on groceries for the 4 of us for a month, and I buy a lot of organic stuff with that. I can get that bill down to £150 when I need to, but when I have spare I buy up cereal etc that's on offer for leaner months. I make everything from scratch, and we all take pack lunches.

We both work and our combined take home wage is £1700. We get by, not just because we want to (we don't want to ever be in debt again) but because we have to. £5k is not frugal by any stretch of the imagination, that amount would be luxury.

We drive a £300 banger, which for two years has only had minor repairs, yes some people look down thier nose at us for it, but they're not worth knowing.

Please also remember if your friends don't keep in touch because you can't go with them for an expensive trip to the hairdressers theyre not worth knowing. mffm

caela_2

Hey, sorry to hear of your financial troubles. Both my boyfriend and I are looking for jobs now. I've thought of doing an ironing service from home, I've got a wicked steam generator iron so I could set that up pretty easily, put out some fliers round the block and see what comes of it. Also, doing any work, even self-employed, entitles you to working tax credits and for a couple, you can get up to £120 per week in addition to your salary (depending on your savings/ mortgage).
Anyway, reading your money saving tips gave me an idea. You can restructure your cash and keep your lifestyle, just think about where you can cut costs or downgrade. Sell one of the cars, fair enough, you save a big amount there. You get to keep one nice car, you're friends won't notice, say you're just trying to be greener. It's not a massive cut back. Better idea I had and the reason I really wrote this post, is because I was reading how you like to go clothes shopping and have girle hair days with your friends. Well, why not do a clothes swap? You can all get together over a bottle of wine and select some nice clothes you no longer wear and swap with your mates for their gorgeous top you've always liked. You're not spending money, you're doing something with your friends and you can get new clothes. I used to do this with my friend and it was great, especially if you are similar sizes and styles.
Your friends are probably going through the same thing at the moment, everyone is, whether you have money or not things are more expensive and everyone is feeling the strain. They'd probably be happy for you to suggest new ideas that don't see them spending all their cash.
Make the most of what you've got. If you can't cancel your gym / golf memberships (and can't sell them?) then meet your friends there. You've paid for it anyway, make more use of it.
You really need to (don't know if you have already) but sort out where you need to direct money most urgently, what debts, etc. total owed and how much you can live on for cheap. You might find that you can keep a level of your previous lifestyle but solving your debts will help you enjoy it, rather than just keeping up appearances in dyer circumstances.
It's a challenge and yes, very stressful, but it's all in how you cope with it and I promise you, the lessons you'll learn are priceless. Both me and my boyfriend have found that our current financial circumstance has really made us look at what we're good at and come up with some money making ideas. It is true what they say, adversity breeds ingenuity. Oh and I have turned hobbies into money saving exercies (not always out of necessity, but because I like to be resourceful). For example (this might sound really cheap but I actually find it therapeutic!) I get old candles and melt them down into new ones- fill a tea cup with melted wax and anchor a string in it for the wick. You can use anything, shot glasses, jars, even refil old candles. I love doing this, I don't know why, but it's somehow really fun (crazy I know!) For my next project, I have bought some cheap throw pillows from a haberdasher and have some old clothes cut into rags which I'll use to make patch-work pillow cases. Plus, you can tell your friends it all hand-made darling, to your specifications! Lol.
Watch Kirstie's Home-made Home on 4od for ideas, her stuff looks so cute and it's all individual, local sourced, hand-made and can be adapted to do yourself.

Anyway, I have warbled on now for long enough, but most importantly, keep in touch with people here, the last thing you need is to let the stress get on top of you. Make sure to give yourself time to make action plans, discuss ideas with other people and feel you're in control, you'll take direction and even having a plan will make you feel immediately better, trust me, I've been there. Good luck.

P.s. oooh sorry just another thing, sometimes it's cheaper to buy a good set of tools and fix old stuff or paint it than buy new ones and it looks just as nice. Plus, taking control and doing it yourself is an achievement and gives a personal element to your possesions, rather than everything being alien and factory made.