Forget GREASE - SKINT IS THE WORD....90K of it

savingholmes

Hi - just wanted to say hello and welcome. I'm not a pet lover myself but understand why you feel you need to keep the dogs.

Perhaps join things like the Make £10 a day challenge on the DFW board as a way of upping your income. Also look at the Grocery Challenge on the Old Style board for ideas on how to reduce your grocery budget....

Good luck. I have been here over a year now and have paid off loads plus managed to meet minimum payments despite now being down to one wage..... It is amazing what a difference what you learn on here can make if you let it

kiwikaz

turfy6 wrote: »

:beer:Hi and welcome youve done the hardest bit, once you write things down you will be in control. I have bits of paper here there and everywhere and a calendar which is updated daily as to what is going in and out of the bank. Its become a daily routine, its amazing how much we take things for granted and once you become aware you feel in control. Good luck and welcome to the mad world of DFW.:T

Hi Turfy,

Being doing just that. Checking new bank account on-line and, have started a spending diary. Last week spending £ 51 + and didn't have much to show for it ! I scan all goods bought which are brought into the house for TNS ( do manage to get a few vouchers thro them which comes in handy ). Before starting my diary I added up my till receipts from the week before and was horrified that I'd spent almost £ 100 . :eek:

kiwikaz

savingholmes wrote: »

Hi - just wanted to say hello and welcome. I'm not a pet lover myself but understand why you feel you need to keep the dogs.

Perhaps join things like the Make £10 a day challenge on the DFW board as a way of upping your income. Also look at the Grocery Challenge on the Old Style board for ideas on how to reduce your grocery budget....

Good luck. I have been here over a year now and have paid off loads plus managed to meet minimum payments despite now being down to one wage..... It is amazing what a difference what you learn on here can make if you let it

Hi,

Thanks for your reply.

I do think I'll be joining the odd challenge to try and keep me focused.
I have been thro my pantry already and, the freezer ll be next. Despite having done this I'm amazed at how much I seem to have spent on nothing in the last week or so.
My next move's a meal plan and work out what i need. I've stuff in my pantry I don't know why or for what I bought it for. What a waste.

Have listed some stuff on Ebay and Amazon so I'll see what that brings in. Have resumed daily clicks in a fashion too but need to be more committed because the rewards are there but I need to work at it as other DFW's have. The days seem so short. Where do the hours go ?

Good luck to you too.

Karen.

kiwikaz

Not been around for a while so not had a chance to update.

Today I had my call from the CCCS and heck I do feel as if I've had a massive weight lifted from my shoulders.
Now going for a DMP which hopefully should all go according to plan start on 1st December.

As other DFW's have done I'd whole heartedly recommend going for advice to the CCCS should you find yourself in a hole with debt. Pity I'd / we'd not done this before. Hey ho !

savingholmes

Hi kaz - glad that you have spoken to CCCS that makes such a difference - hope this is the start of something better for you.

kiwikaz

Hi All,

Haven't been here for ages as I've had loads to deal with. Can't quite believe how quickly this year continues to fly by.

My/our DMP is at long last going ahead on the 1st December which will be such a relief. With Christmas looming it's going to be a tough time I feel. We've also got DS and DD's birthdays this week too.Even though we've changed bank accounts in order to try and budget we're finding it hard and have found we're using funds in our savings account which is for home insurance, MOT etc. Really bad I know and, this is what we need to do not having the old credit cards to help us out and, long term to put us even more in debt. ( how foolish we've been ) I hope this eases with time. As I think I've mentioned before with the help of the CCCS we have in all honesty a generous budget which I'm sure can be tweaked here n there to pay off more of our debt n to make life that bit easier. Have to say I'm finding this a struggle.

I'm having trouble with my incapacity appeal too which now has gone to my having to re appeal. Moved from incapacity to ESA which they've now stopped despite my having a sick note from my doctor til January. Confused and stressed with the hole affair and I could really do without this extra nightmare. This will obviously have an impact on our monthly CCCS payment. I'm pee'd off with it all.

Will be back soon. Hope all DFW's are sticking with it.

Karen. x

Ps, Just heard the result of the court ruling re bank charges. Not what any of us wanted to hear.

kiwikaz

OMG not posted on my diary for months. Have to say I'm not always the most organised person in the world.

Our DMP is finally up and running and so far so good. We've still got a couple of creditors who aren't playing ball and continue to add interest but that's their perogative. Capital One and Barclaycard. Only one IF has been passed on to a DCA so far.
Today I've been on the phone to CCCS for a quick review of our budget and, with the odd tweak here n there and, with the added bonus of my now receiving a slight increase in benefit have managed to up our payment by £ 120 thus shaving off a few years towards our DFD.

As yet I've not really got to grips with weekly meal planning which'd help reduce our food bill . Just as last year we got a huge gas and electricity bill and so are paying for our current usage and some off the arrears. However, have swopped to a slightly cheaper tarrif with Npower in the meantime.

I'm doing some clicking here n there as well as trying to do a bit of selling on Ebay and Amazon when I get the chance. Going to be doing some car boots too weather permitting. Have got the OH completing surveys as he's more patience for that so every little bit of extra cash we're getting in we're building up our emergency fund.

So far I've found it rather strange not carrying a credit card or 2 with me while out shopping but at the same time an odd sense of achievement at not having to use them.

Think that's it for the mo.

Happy New Year to all DFW's.

Karen.