Help! I'm new and trying to reorganise my debts

Horace

Rather than have meals at work why not take a packed lunch instead using leftovers. Books and Music can be borrowed from the library rather than you having to keep spending all the time. So you can ditch the DVD rental, newspapers can be read online or you can sit in the library and read them for free, or if you do want a newspaper then buy one either on a Saturday or a Sunday and that way you have tv pages to last you a week.

Cut out your lottery spends - that would be put to better use either towards your debts or into some emergency fund so that if you have a sudden bill (eg car maintenance boiler breakdown or whatever, you have the money to pay for it). Try and limit the number of meals out that you have and if you do have meals out take advantage of 2 for 1 offers - sign up for Martin's weekly email as that will give details of vouchers for meals.

Make a shopping list of what you need not what you suddenly decide to buy once you are in the supermarket - look through your cupboards, fridge and freezer to see what you have run out of. Look at the moneysaving oldstyle board elswhere on this forum for tips on meal planning.

See if you can't stop smoking as that would free up £330 a month very easily and you would save £3960 per annum - the NHS offer help for free.

It would help if we knew the APRs of your debts so that we can work out which one to pay off first.

Keep a spending diary so you know where money is being frittered away.

Ebay or carboot what you no longer use - get rid of books via Amazon or Green Metropolis.

Why not make your Christmas & Birthday presents? There are lots of tips on the special occasions board too. Also look on freecycle as this is an invaluable resource of free things.

dangerousdodo

potogold wrote: »

Hiya,

Was just passing and read your post Well done for coming to mse, there are a lot of good people on theses boards, who know their stuff and will help you.

I have added some pink boldy comments to your soa;). Sometimes it helps seeing comments from someone else. Sometimes is doesn't:cool:

You are on a fab income, but are throwing money away, on entertainment, presents, luxuries etc.....you really cant afford too, and can use this money to pay off some of your debt.

Hope you stick around, and keep posting.

Hugs

Your right, when I started to put the SOA together I felt embarrassed by how much we have overspent

I really appreciate your comments and it is a kick up the b...side, when I see that you feed your family of 5 on £70/ week it really puts things into perspective.

Thank you again.

dangerousdodo

potogold wrote: »

I have just worked out that you could save £805 a month, by cutting out all entertainment. halving your fag costs to £165, and I allowed you £400 for food (kind i know)
I also took your Big One offs down to £100.:p

£805 a month!! Thats nearly 10k in a year!!:eek::eek::eek:

food for thought:D

It certainly is food for thought. Thanks

dangerousdodo

Horace wrote: »

Rather than have meals at work why not take a packed lunch instead using leftovers. Books and Music can be borrowed from the library rather than you having to keep spending all the time. So you can ditch the DVD rental, newspapers can be read online or you can sit in the library and read them for free, or if you do want a newspaper then buy one either on a Saturday or a Sunday and that way you have tv pages to last you a week.

Cut out your lottery spends - that would be put to better use either towards your debts or into some emergency fund so that if you have a sudden bill (eg car maintenance boiler breakdown or whatever, you have the money to pay for it). Try and limit the number of meals out that you have and if you do have meals out take advantage of 2 for 1 offers - sign up for Martin's weekly email as that will give details of vouchers for meals.

Make a shopping list of what you need not what you suddenly decide to buy once you are in the supermarket - look through your cupboards, fridge and freezer to see what you have run out of. Look at the moneysaving oldstyle board elswhere on this forum for tips on meal planning.

See if you can't stop smoking as that would free up £330 a month very easily and you would save £3960 per annum - the NHS offer help for free.

It would help if we knew the APRs of your debts so that we can work out which one to pay off first.

Keep a spending diary so you know where money is being frittered away.

Ebay or carboot what you no longer use - get rid of books via Amazon or Green Metropolis.

Why not make your Christmas & Birthday presents? There are lots of tips on the special occasions board too. Also look on freecycle as this is an invaluable resource of free things.

Thanks Horace,

Lots of useful tips here and I can see now that it is not just the cards that are a problem. I have used freecycle and its an excellant site , its rewarding even in clearing stuff you cant sell and someone can use.

Also looking at reducing the massive spend on the debts which you asked about and here are the balances and APRs:

Virgin £19 650 26.5%apr minimum repay £450/month
First Direct (his) £5950 17.9% apr minimum repay £180/month
First Direct (hers) £1966 17.9% apr minimum repay £59/month
Tesco visa £4974 18.5 % minimum repay £140/month
M&S £990 23.9% minimum repay £25/month

Thankyou for your time

dangerousdodo

Horace wrote: »

Rather than have meals at work why not take a packed lunch instead using leftovers. Books and Music can be borrowed from the library rather than you having to keep spending all the time. So you can ditch the DVD rental, newspapers can be read online or you can sit in the library and read them for free, or if you do want a newspaper then buy one either on a Saturday or a Sunday and that way you have tv pages to last you a week.

Cut out your lottery spends - that would be put to better use either towards your debts or into some emergency fund so that if you have a sudden bill (eg car maintenance boiler breakdown or whatever, you have the money to pay for it). Try and limit the number of meals out that you have and if you do have meals out take advantage of 2 for 1 offers - sign up for Martin's weekly email as that will give details of vouchers for meals.

Make a shopping list of what you need not what you suddenly decide to buy once you are in the supermarket - look through your cupboards, fridge and freezer to see what you have run out of. Look at the moneysaving oldstyle board elswhere on this forum for tips on meal planning.

See if you can't stop smoking as that would free up £330 a month very easily and you would save £3960 per annum - the NHS offer help for free.

It would help if we knew the APRs of your debts so that we can work out which one to pay off first.

Keep a spending diary so you know where money is being frittered away.

Ebay or carboot what you no longer use - get rid of books via Amazon or Green Metropolis.

Why not make your Christmas & Birthday presents? There are lots of tips on the special occasions board too. Also look on freecycle as this is an invaluable resource of free things.

Thanks Horace,

Lots of useful tips here and I can see now that it is not just the cards that are a problem. I have used freecycle and its an excellant site , its rewarding even in clearing stuff you cant sell and someone can use.

Also looking at reducing the massive spend on the debts which you asked about and here are the balances and APRs:

Virgin £19 650 26.5%apr minimum repay £450/month
First Direct (his) £5950 17.9% apr minimum repay £180/month
First Direct (hers) £1966 17.9% apr minimum repay £59/month
Tesco visa £4974 18.5 % minimum repay £140/month
M&S £990 23.9% minimum repay £25/month

Thankyou for your time

sp1987

You have a good monthly income and although you overspend a lot, this is a positive in as far as debt clearance is concerned. Many people have to really try and cut back and go without small luxuries to enable a bit more debt to be paid off. Your overspending is so large in some areas that you should be able to lose a great degree of it without noticing too much. This is a blessing in disguise!

As people say, just halving smoking costs will help your bank balance and health greatly. When you are ready to give up, you can try. For now, try to cut it down to half. The same applies with food/grocery costs...some people seem to feed a family on a shoestring on here so £400 will not involve much of a cut in real terms. Plus, spending the same amount on food as you do on your mortgage is quite the spend, I bet the supermarket lays out the red carpet for you, I would if I was Mr Tesco! Meal planning will help to reduce wastage as you will know exactly what you need to make what you are having, not simply buying everything you might need in and preparing a meal using only some items.

Good Luck! You have a good income and around a years salary worth of debt so can be cut down fairly rapidly

hettiecarro

Hi

Have just read your thread.

I struggled for years to stop smoking (truth was I enjoyed it).

I will tell you what happened to me and you can make your own choices - This is only MY experience.

I bought the Alan Carr (NO! not the comedian) - stop smoking book.
I read it - took it all in - THEN PUT IT ON THE BOOKSHELF AND HAD A CIGARETTE!:cool:

My debt was increasing and I was smoking 30-40 a day by this time.

I then looked at the book again and saw that they do 'No smoking' clinics.

Here's what happened (HONESTLY)

The session lasts a good half day.
You have cigarette breaks throughout
They tell you when you will have your last cigarette.
You re-enter the room and put your cigs & lighters in a box.
(AT THIS POINT I WASN'T ATALL WORRIED - HAD MAPPED OUT WHERE SERVICES AND NEWAGENTS ETC WERE FOR THE WAY HOME) :rotfl:
I left the session and drove home- passed the services, the newagents etc.
No panic - NOTHING!
I Febresed my house the next day - and have never smoked since.

NOW! Nitty gritty.

YOU HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE

1. The session is about £250.00 each (re-fundable if you don't succeed).
2. You can go for a further session at no extra charge if you need it.
3 Their success rate was 97% at my time of quitting.

Believe me I KNOW how difficult it is when you are under stress - but at least consider it.

Go to the Alan Carr Stop Smoking site and judge for yourself.

As far as the other stuff is concerned - your SOA suggests there is a lot of room for cutbacks. I'm new to this myself, so wouldn't presume to give you advice (other than the smoking thing). I have found this site to be a lifeline in dealing with my situation, and I KNOW you will too.

Good Luck

DFW's
IF I HAVE BROKEN ANY RULES BY POSTING THIS I APOLOGISE - PERSONAL EXPERIENCE - NOT ADVERTISING

tallyhoh

I smoked for 30 years till my mother died from the bl**dy things. See my signature (not updated for about a year).
Just try various ways to stop till you find one that suits you, my son used nicotine gum (from poundland) but I went cold turkey. In your case just cutting down would help immensely.
Smoking under stress makes your stress worse cus it speeds up your heart rate & stuff.

Good Luck

dangerousdodo

hettiecarro wrote: »

Hi


Thanks for this. My other half is the more serious smoker and she has previously tried hypnotherapy with success and quit for a year. I believe we can do it in time cutting down may be the priority at the moment, and I will certainly look into the Alan Carr centre.

supersavershal

My OH smoked 30 a day, he attened a free NHS group.He used the tablets, he hasnt had a cig since April.Only cost was prescription charge.