Hello

Nargleblast

Hello Gary and well done for cutting up those cards - you are no longer in chains!

You could try and reduce mobile phone use = get a cheaper contract or better still go Pay as you go and set yourself a limit of say £10 a month - see how that goes.

try to economise on using the car - walk short journeys if possible. Keep a daily record of every little item of expenditure so you can see where your cash goes....

try drawing out a set sum in cash every week and stick within that amount.

Just a few ideas to be going on with.

garyh_uk

Hi

Cant reduce phone contract as its still got 12 months to run. Locked into it i'm afraid ( however I dont tend to stray over this amount as the package offers a lot and I get free broadband with it too for my house.

Car - agree on this, its a 2.0 litre car, but if its a nice day I like to go out than be stuck in the house. Guess I will have to stay in more! Have started keeping a diary of what I am spending and will see how I go with it.

Question : how do you cope if something goes wrong, e.g car breaks down, unexpected bill - you dont have the credit card to fall back and on no saving so dont you just end up in the brown stuff at that moment?!?

TurnaroundSue

Hi and welcome - I notice that you do not have anything down for car insurance, holidays, birthdays, christmas, hair cuts etc. It really will help if you put an estimate down for these expenses so that you can get a true picture of your monthly disposable income.

I think you can cut your food bill in half. Go over to the MSE Old Style board to get loads of ideas on how to eat healthily and reduce your shopping bill at the same time.

As someone has also mentioned, could you not get a lodger to help you pay towards your debts/living expenses for the time being. There is a certain amount you can earn (around £4.5k pa I think) without you having to pay an extra income tax for additional income.

Keep posting and well done for cutting up the cards. It is scary and maybe you could use Martin's tip of freezing one for dire emergencies or maybe give it to a family member to look after who will only let you have it if it is for a real emergency - that way you are safe in the knowledge that you can pay for something urgently if needed, until you can start putting some savings away.

There are also lots of challenges you could try, ie, make £10 per day, pay off a debt a day, save all your odd change, etc - give those a go and you will see how easily it all mounts up, every penny counts.

Good luck and once again, welcome!

garyh_uk

I tend to pay for my car insurance, tax, tv licence etc in one go rather than monthly. I get an annual bonus in work which I use to pay off these things, after which none of it is left!!!

Make 10 a day - hmmm, cant see anyone wanting to pay me a tenner lol. Now I have been saving a lot of pennies in a pot, will have a count how much is in there! Thanks