Help, drowning in Debt!

crossleydd42

Morrison are selling low-energy bulbs at present for 99p for 2. Buying some of these will cut your power bill. Go for the 100w ones every time for brightness. They actually only consume 18w. Don't have your TV on standby when not using it. Don't leave lights on in rooms which are unoccupied.

Look at home insulation - see http://www.est.org.uk/myhome/

Check your power supplier with a site like https://www.energyhelpline.com and change if you find better value. If you have PAYG meters, or cannot pay by monthly direct debit, Equipower/Equigas will not penalise you with a higher tariff. See: http://www.ebico.co.uk/

Now is the time to act before Autumn comes and power usage starts to rise.

Good Luck...........

Toto

Even better on the energy saving lightbulbs if you are on any tax credits or other benefits you can get some free by calling the number on this thread. Check out the freebie board you will find loads of useful stuff there.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=197069&highlight=energy+lightbulbs

sallyx

Thankyou everyone for some of your tips, I will go away now and see what I can do. Will come back asap and let you know how I get on
Thanks again

MoaningMyrtle

I second the getting a prt-time job whilst the child/ren are in bed, two or three nights week should bring in quite a good salary. Also Ebay items or do car boot sales. Also look into washable nappies or buy the cheapest own brand ones, use cotton wool and baby lotion or water instead of wipes.

joflo_2

If you are interested in evening work, anyone opening until 10pm ie Tesco or Marks and Spencer are worth a look. I know that cars can be a requirement for some jobs but if not perhaps look at selling and buying a cheaper car might be a consideration at this point. Also are you getting working family tax credit as the first baby year you get extra on top for only the first year so you may need to be aware if you are claiming that this will reduce after the first year.

Prudent

With mortage /rent taking up a third of your income,you may find it hard to manage on that amount. I strongly agree that your food bill could be cut. I manage on aroung £100 per month for myself, teen daughter and two cats. Great ideas on the os board and you will get lots of support from other people trying to save money on shopping.

Dr.Shoe_2

In order to see just how much money you waste on food, just try looking in your dustbin. Ask three questions: how much edible food is in there? How many packets are brand names and how many are supermarket value ones? How many packages are ready meals or convenience foodS?

The food we throw away is virtually identical to what people in poorer consume. We pay a 20% premium for "branded" items such as heinz etc. This figure is even greater when you compare to the "value" or "smartprice" ranges which frequently have money back gaurantees. We pay for the cost of preparing ready meals, if you make a meal from scratch, make it up in a batch and freeze your own ready meals! I make a "basic" meat sauce and then add the right spices to make either spag-bol or curry. You only need to add red beans and spices to a beef one to get chilly con carne.

sallyx

Ok so here is an update on the situation so far

Council Tax £130.00 - This seems high, is it a back payment? This is just the normal rate so can't change or lower this!!
Water £27.00 - This also seems high. If your not already on a water meter you could go onto one and cut down. I've cut mine down from £35 per month to £12 per month. Have checked and have asked to go on meter
Gas Bill £40.00 - This seems high too. Waiting for unit rate on bill then switching to cheaper suplier
Electricity Bill £40.00 - This is also high. Cut down on electric by switching things off that arnt in use, having candlelight in the evenings and not having TV on all day (not that I'm accusing you of that) Everything is off that can be off also changing supplier as above
Internet Bill £33.99 - Very high. Look for another IP. Husbands domain.will leave this to him!!
Food £259.80 - Have a look on my menu planners Ok spent £14 this week and plan to only spend £20 max per week....vast improvement
Car Insurance £38.85 - Do you really need a car? Yes live in the middle of knowhere and no public transport!Car Tax £12.38 - Ditto
Parking £2.67 - Ditto Was using this as it was cheaper but cutting down on visits to town so will go back to pay and display as needed
Petrol / Diesel / Gas £40.00 - Ditto Should go down walking everywhere I can...long walk!
Childcare / Play Schemes £11.47 - Is there a Sure Start in your area? If so you may qualify for free playgroup or playscheme places. No surestart but I think this is one thing I will keep doing for my daughter...only once a week and she needs something
Hobbie /sports £11 - Go for a long walk or jog instead. Cut this out
Haircut £5 - Grow it! My husbands which he needs...

So hopefully over the next month I will be able to cut my overdraft down...see how things pan out and continue to cut back wherever possible.

Thanks everyone

Hillfly

Make sure your hubbby does swap Internet provider - i reckon you can easily cut that bill in half!

Annie_Fanny

black-saturn wrote:

Food £259.80 - Have a look on my menu planners http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=157526&highlight=black-saturns+menu and http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=2340412&posted=1#post2340412 to see how I've got mine down to £43 per month for 3 people.

Ha ha ha! Black Saturn you are such a star! £43 a month for 3 people! OMG! I bet loads of people spend that on fags alone. I will definately be looking at your threads Black Saturn.