My sad story

southernscouser

dreameR.78 wrote:

We've spoken about cutting down on our spending. We even considered cancelling our Sky subscription over the bank holiday weekend. I know it will help but I still can't see what an extra 60 quid a month is going to do to relive the situation. Looks like I need a miracle!

£60 a month is a saving of £720 a year! Lets say you can find savings like that again in your outgoings, thats £120 a month or £1,440 a year!

Thats the equivalent of someone paying the Lloyds loan for you!

It all adds up my friend!

Imelda

Hiya dreamer,

Well done for posting, it's not easy is it? I'm not in the best position to advise you but from my time on here I can give you these suggestions:

1. Food, £200 is too much. If your OH is at home all day she can prepare/ batch make food from scratch, will make her feel like she is helping too. Also Silverfoxdude was right, packed lunches are the way forward. I am on my own and spend £80 (food and other groceries), and I in no way scrimp, just meal plan and shop wisely.
2. Mobile phone, ditto silverfoxdude.
3. Sky, that's a taboo on these boards, it's a waste of money and you can't afford it. Freeview is an option or at the very least reduce it to the cheapest package going.
4. Cigarettes, loads of people on here are quitting and will offer you support. I understand that it maybe difficult at this time but it really will help you in the long run both financially and for your health.
5. Your OH, I take it she knows the extent of the problem? Is there an underlying problem why she cannot get work? You would get a huge boost if you could up your income by even a small amount, could she work a few hours per day? Even if it paid for your food it would be a start.
6. Keep posting. You will not believe how much support and encouragement you get from the guys on this board. They don't care how much you owe, earn, whatever. It really will help. Use the thread you have started as your own debt diary (see southern scouser's and James 240's threads).

Good luck!

juana

£60 is 11.8 hours at the minimum wage of £5.05 so it could make a big dent on any additional weekend work you take (depending of hourly rate of course)

Imelda

dreameR.78 wrote:

We've spoken about cutting down on our spending. We even considered cancelling our Sky subscription over the bank holiday weekend. I know it will help but I still can't see what an extra 60 quid a month is going to do to relive the situation. Looks like I need a miracle!

Saving small amounts like this really does add up, keep a spending diary for a month and see how much you spend on the "little things". I was shocked to find I spent £50+ per month on chocolate, magazines and diet coke!

dreameR.78

southernscouser wrote:

£60 a month is a saving of £720 a year! Lets say you can find savings like that again in your outgoings, thats £120 a month or £1,440 a year!

Thats the equivalent of someone paying the Lloyds loan for you!

It all adds up my friend!

Can't argue with that to be honest. You are right... it does add up. I will discuss this with my OH tonight.

dreameR.78

Imelda wrote:

Hiya dreamer,

Well done for posting, it's not easy is it? I'm not in the best position to advise you but from my time on here I can give you these suggestions:

1. Food, £200 is too much. If your OH is at home all day she can prepare/ batch make food from scratch, will make her feel like she is helping too. Also Silverfoxdude was right, packed lunches are the way forward. I am on my own and spend £80 (food and other groceries), and I in no way scrimp, just meal plan and shop wisely.
2. Mobile phone, ditto silverfoxdude.
3. Sky, that's a taboo on these boards, it's a waste of money and you can't afford it. Freeview is an option or at the very least reduce it to the cheapest package going.
4. Cigarettes, loads of people on here are quitting and will offer you support. I understand that it maybe difficult at this time but it really will help you in the long run both financially and for your health.
5. Your OH, I take it she knows the extent of the problem? Is there an underlying problem why she cannot get work? You would get a huge boost if you could up your income by even a small amount, could she work a few hours per day? Even if it paid for your food it would be a start.
6. Keep posting. You will not believe how much support and encouragement you get from the guys on this board. They don't care how much you owe, earn, whatever. It really will help. Use the thread you have started as your own debt diary (see southern scouser's and James 240's threads).

Good luck!

Thanks for your wise suggestions. Looks like I need to work out a proper plan and stick with it. I will dedicate a couple of hours tonight and plan this through with my partner and let you guys know what we come up with tomorrow.

Thank you once again.

all_hours

If you cut back on the food bill, cigarettes, sky and mobile that could free up an extra £150-£200 per month so adding that to the £48 gives you at least £200 per month. You could split that pro rata between your friends and relatives.

Then if your partner gets a job or you get extra work, you could put the additional income towards the higher interest debts. I guess that the interest on the monument card is highest.

savvy

dreameR.78 wrote:

I’m 27 years old and I feel depressed most of the time. I fear that I will lose my job soon as I am not performing to the best of my ability and my job requires concentration and a clear head as it involves complex calculations and massive attention to detail. Most of the time I am thinking about my debt problem instead. I don’t know what I would do if I lose my job!

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks for reading.

Just discovering this site can help with depression!!! Get in the Arms and have a laugh

The best bit of advice I can give you, is to almost 'file' away your debt thoughts, everytime you have one at work, mentally put it in a box file marked 'debt' and put it back on the 'shelf'...........it kinda clears your mind so you can concentrate on work.

Then when you get home you can certainly open the box file and then start working on sorting it out. What you have to think is that you can't really do a lot about the debt while you are at work so why waste time thinking about it. It's also a useful tool if it's keeping you awake at night too, train yourself to only think about it, as and when you need to

nadnad

your partner really needs a job - has she been to recruitment agencys? is she willing to do anything? i'm sure she could get a job pretty quickly if she tried - bar work/waitressing work shouldn't be too hard to find - and everything she earns is ging to be a bonus - I'm not suggesting that she pays your debt - but at the very least she should be paying half the rent and half the bills -which would save you about £550 a month - which would really free you up to pay your debts. I think thats your best option.

If your partner worked and paid half the bills freeing you £550 a month - you could clear your monument credit card in a month, your mum's debt in a month, your relative's £1000 in 2 more months and your friends 1200 in 2 further months - in 6 months you would have cleared all your friends and family's debt bar that in the name of your partner and your brother. That looks better already and best of all it doesn't look too difficult.

Obviously if you got a second job and cut down in the areas mentioned above it would help you even more.

Edinburghlass_2

The total of mobiles, internet, telephone and sky comes to £145 a month so there is plenty of room to make a big saving there, probably £100 per month!

Sit down with the individual bills and work out where the money is going and read the Telephone Boards on how to get these utilities cheaper and you will get plenty of help on how to do this.

Good luck