Help us get tight!

sparklygirl1

!!!!!! soa?............

buglawton

place the card in a bowl of water and place in freezer. next time you are in a hurry to spend, you will have to wait for it to thaw out first

sparklygirl1

You are all so right, hence me posting and wanting your ever so good advice. I will love being tight, don't care what its called!

basmic

I would post your SOA, with typical outgoings so we can see what you could cut back on.

Mozette

sparklygirl1 wrote: »

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!

I've had my sofa for nearly 20 years now. Nothing wrong with it so I won't be getting a new one yet!

DVardysShadow

sparklygirl1 wrote: »

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!

Well, I don't know what to say, my previous post is being endorsed so much. My confession? I have never been in debt. So how do I know?

Basically, I have had to manage my finances through hard times and so has MrsShadow. And together, we went through a 2.5 year period with substantially reduced income [about 40% for a year and 55% for the remainder] and ended up selling our house and renting after having gone mortgage free. We did it by cutting back, we did it without touching our savings and we cut ourselves a little slack with a credit card we paid off in full each month. We controlled it all with a Spending Diary.

I don't regard myself as any different from those who are in serious debt and who are now fighting to become debt free. Some of them are making efforts which go far beyond what my wife and I have worked through. The big difference is the so called Light Bulb Moment [LBM]. I've never had one, nor has my wife, we are fortunate enough to have been born that way - or rather we learned from our parents. Or whatever. Some people either don't have parents who are themselves Light Bulb switched on or fail to grow up Light Bulb switched on, despite parents who are themselves Light Bulb switched on. When they get into debt, they need the Light Bulb Moment to get out of it. It is just a change in your thinking about how you are going to handle your finances for the rest of your life.

Sparklygirl, I think you know what the LBM is, I think you understand the need for one, BUT I don't think you have quite had it yet, even though you are close. In a way it is nothing special - it is just a decision to reach and stay in a situation where each month YOU are making the choices about what to do with your money, whether that is to save it all, to fill the larder or to spend the lot on a big night out, rather than being constrained by your obligations to lenders.

Now, with £60k coming in, unless you have a stupidly high mortgage, you ought to be able to pay off £20k easily in under 2 years and not notice. But I am beginning to suspect that you might have other credit which you have not thought about - or other expenditures you are not in full control of. I seriously recommend that you start by posting your Statement of Affairs. I hope someone will post the link to the template shortly.

At the moment, you are focussing on HOW to pay off your debt. But reading between the lines, I don't think you fully understand where your money is going - you don't actually know WHAT your problem is, but you are already trying to put the solution in place. Will you post your SOA for us? If you do, I hope people will chip in and help identify your problem - you'll get plenty of other helpful tips about where to cut down - which will be useful for later - but just concentrate on understanding the problem. Once you understand that, you will be far better placed to come up with the solution which will match your need.

DVardysShadow

sparklygirl1 wrote: »

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!

Good on yer, girl! You are going to pay cash for your next one - if you promise yourself that, it should not be too long.

Horace

Use this handy tool to post your statement of affairs (SOA) https://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html - follow the instructions on there to allow you to copy and paste it to MSE.

I used to be in a position where money was no object and then I got ill and was made redundant and now get some benefits HB/CT and am now self employed and get Working tax credits..sure its hard but I have taught myself to live within my means. I take £100 out of the bank each month and this has to pay for groceries, toiletries and any clothes or books - once its gone its gone.

Keeping a spending diary helps so that you know what you have coming in and what you are spending it on. When you go shopping..look in your cupboards, fridge and freezer before you head out and make a list..stick to the list, drop a brand in the supermarket, use your local butcher and greengrocer (they will be cheaper than the supermarket), also look at the out of date shelf in the supermarket too as you might find some treats on there that you can buy and freeze to use another day.

Re clothes - keep a few key items in your wardrobe so that you can mix and match and it looks as though you have more clothes. No need to buy clothes each week or each month either.

Debts can be cleared but its hard work and you need to be determined..I wouldnt get a consolidation loan as you will just compound your debt..better to learn some simple financial management now whilst you are able and not when you find yourself in the predicament of being made redundant or suffering from ill health.

A_fiend_for_life

Have a go at reducing your energy bill. There are threads on the Old Style board and the Green and Ethical board. Most people can easily cut their consumption by 30% and in many cases more.

There are a lot of folk posting their energy use on here:

https://www.imeasure.org.uk

there is also a club on imeasure called the MoneySaving Carbon Club.

MrsTinks

Unless you are CERTAIN! that you won't be tempted by the cards again then don't go down the consolidation route You wouldn't believe how many of us are on here because we consolidated (some more than once...) and swore never to use those hated cards again... but those £0 balances proved too tempting alas and here we all are

Why not compare the snowball calculator with how long and how much it would cost you to repay on a loan? (Oh and it's not always easy to get a loan you can overpay... Egg do/used to do one but I know loads of other loans would not allow you to over pay...)