Help us get tight!

sparklygirl1

I really want to be tight with money. At the moment me and hubby spend if we want something which means we use cc we have a total of £20k debt. Were gonna get a 5 year loan to pay this off, which is horrible to think it's gonna take that long. But how I see it is we know how much to pay each month and it's all one payment! I want to be tight with money, what tips and advice can you offer?!

Burlesque_Babe

some ideas

-spending diary
-cut Sky and get a freeview box
-sell everything not nailed down on ebay
-Batch cook and freeze portions
-swap as many CC's to 0% as you can
-cook everything from scratch
-drop any gym memberships
-scrap most going out/social life stuff and turn to 'indoors' entertainment
-use the grabbit board and vouchers/codes board to find gifts and buy throughout the year for Christmas
-Join the supermarket challenge on the Old Style board to get your food bills down
-join Quidco
-Review all your outgoings to see what you can swap for cheaper alternatives
-drop any mobile contracts to cheapest tariff
-ensure you are claiming any benefits you are entitled to
-sign up to do mystery shopping (see the Up Your Income) board

Should start you with a few ideas

Pop your Statement of Affairs up so we can see how we can help

Burlesque_Babe

oh, and please don't get the loan - you'll be paying interest on interest already incurred and unless you 100% know you've changed your spending habits, there's every chance you'll run the cards up again.

EssexHebridean

Yes, I agree with what BB said above - consolidation loans are a terrible idea for most people - better by far to work out a sensible plan, Balance Transfer onto a 0% card for the most expensive debt if you have that option available to you, try to shift other debt to low life of balance cards, and then pay everything off in the order of highest interest rates first. That way you put in the time and learn new habits as you go. Credit cards aren't bad as such - it's the way many people fall into using them that is the problem.

Get yourself an SOA worked out and posted up then people can start looking at where you can cut back and make savings, and also advise you how best to priorotise and manage the debt you have to pay it off in the shortest time.

DVardysShadow

sparklygirl1 wrote: »

I really want to be tight with money. At the moment me and hubby spend if we want something which means we use cc we have a total of £20k debt. Were gonna get a 5 year loan to pay this off, which is horrible to think it's gonna take that long. But how I see it is we know how much to pay each month and it's all one payment! I want to be tight with money, what tips and advice can you offer?!

The highlighted bit sounds like credit sales spiel. Unfortunately the logical conclusion is that if you know how much you spend on it each month and you can afford it, then there is always a bit left over, which, because it is a loan, you can't use it to pay down your debt. So 6 months down the line you have a moment of weakness and want a new sofa [it's always a new sofa - back me up people] and you start on the credit card again.

If you want to be tight, then every spare penny you have is put into paying down your debt. You cut yourself no slack, you accept that life is made up of multiple payments and that that the convenience of a single monthly payment is the wide entrance to the road to hell. You forget about replacing your sofa and you make the sole aim of your existence to reduce your number of monthly payments to zero and you derive your satisfaction from each card you pay off. To the point that when you have done it you love your old sofa to bits because it lasted you while you were going through the process.

tlc123_2

DVardyshadow that was a fab post!! You're so right!

sparklygirl1

Oh no, not sure what to do now. I said loan as we always run cc up so fast. I want to keep one and have just a limit of £1k for exterme emerg, I don't even want that but hubby wants it. Hubby has a good job £60k but we spend stupidly. We have cut back sky etc as much as possible. I just think if we clear the cards we know we are paying one every month min and its being paid off. Rather than keep x-fering balances at 3% every 6-9 months. Also we will pick a loan that means we can over pay without getting charges as well. For the past 6 years its been a constant circle of clearing and raising more debt. As at mo we just aren't making a dent in it!

LeeSouthEast

What dVardyshadow said. Spot on.

Nargleblast

Sooner or later you will find banks and credit card companies no longer so willing to extend your credit, and then you will be deep in the brown stuff. Suggest that as you pay a card off you then cut it up immediately and cancel the account. Think of what you have paid off in credit card instalments over the past year, and what that could have bought - a luxury holiday, a big chunk off your mortgage, a new car. Just think of all the money from your wages going out in credit card and loan repayments each month - just what do you have left to show for all your hard work? And your OH's job may disappear overnight - firms go bust, people get laid off, people have unforeseen illnesses and accidents, you can never 100% rely on always being in work. So it is good that you are thinking seriously about changing things. And don't look on it as being "tight" with money because that sounds like deprivation. Think of it rather as being careful and clever with the money you have - be a savvy shopper and look out for bargains or for ways of getting what you want for free or little cost. It's all in the mindset!

racer256

I cut my spending by leaving my purse at home or take out my cards so I can't get cash out and I put a pound so that is my budget for the day. I have a use up month and use what I have before I buy anything new. Take a packed lunch buy yourself a Thermoflask and take yesterdays leftovers. Its best t put up a SOA. Good Luck.

sparklygirl1

DVardysShadow wrote: »

To the point that when you have done it you love your old sofa to bits because it lasted you while you were going through the process.

Love this, hubby has wanted a new sofa for past few years. I's nine years old and I refuse to buy a new one yet!