SOA, ummm

nuttylou

RE OH cooking skills lol. Yep I agree but he doesnt eat what I eat. He likes crap I like fresh proper food. Usually ill make myself something and he will cook for him & the kids as Ill be home after theyve had tea and gone to bed.


I will look into the ATHENS account thingymiggig through the unu though.

xx

nuttylou

niccatw wrote: »

Hi Nuttylou

I think you're doing quite well with what looks like a tough budget! I agree with you that the groceries might be the easiest place to start to cut back!

If there are any decent charity shops near you, I'd definitely suss them out. I very rarely shop in "real" shops any more. The trick is knowing your labels, you'll get Asda, Tesco, Primark etc. as cheap in those shops. But if you find kids labels, Gap, M&S, Debenhams etc., snap them up!

Could your OH perhaps fit some mystery shopping in whwn he's out and about with the kids. Given where it looks as though shop, chances are, he wouldn't need to go out of his way as he'll be there anyway. Ok, it's not much, but £10 here and there always helps!

Also, can you access your midwifery journals online through your uni Athens account? Got to admit I always got two subscriptions (I'm a speech and language therapist) when I was a student, now I'm working, I cancelled one and take the other into work as it "clutters up" my wee flat Don't miss the one I cancelled as I can get in it online (the other I get as it's part of my membership, so it needs paid anyway!)

And hopefully, in a few years, when you qualify (assuming you work for the NHS) you might qualify for a lease car - you only pay personal mileage, they pay the rest!

Good luck in both your course and in your debt free journey. I know it's tough and sometimes you wonder where the light is, but hopefully you feel more in control just having sorted out the paperwork and doing your SOA. That is itself helped me put the little extra I had to my debt, wheras before that I though, what difference is a fiver going to make? Truth is, quite a lot actually; for my confidence in tackling my debt and because all those little amounts do add up eventually!

Which reminds me, I have a coppers piggy bank, a silver tin and £1 jar too... they might also help...

Thankyou. It has made more sense now Ive done a full chart etc. I know I can make some cut backs and I will be looking at these.
I will look into the ATHENS thing as that is well worth a look, not sure if I have to have my subscription for a year though?
I do have a savings pot but its one of those ones you cant open. Ive been saving all my change in it apart from coppers! There is probably in region of £70-100 in there I think.
I just want to straighten things out a little really so as once I am qualified hopefully I wont have as much debt.
Thanks x

littlemissmoney

nuttylou wrote: »

RE OH cooking skills lol. Yep I agree but he doesnt eat what I eat. He likes crap I like fresh proper food. Usually ill make myself something and he will cook for him & the kids as Ill be home after theyve had tea and gone to bed.

So he is feeding your kids crap?? You need to stop this, for both their health and your buget!

Can your OH not drop you off and collect you from work so you only need one car? You cannot afford two cars, however much you try and convince yourself you can!

nuttylou

littlemissmoney wrote: »

So he is feeding your kids crap?? You need to stop this, for both their health and your buget!

Can your OH not drop you off and collect you from work so you only need one car? You cannot afford two cars, however much you try and convince yourself you can!

Yes in a sense! I know problem being its not sooo easy to convince the OH and 4+ 2 kids!!!

No he cannot drop me off/collect me as I need to be there at 7.30 am and finish at 20.30pm on long days, nights are 20.00 til 08.00 and I also do community which is everywhere and anywhere and on calls of a day or night so its shift work and not predictable. I am a student & therefore I get given what I do and thats that.

Not having the car is not an option to be perfectly honest, like I have said before. Once the £1800 rent arrears are cleared then I will have £110 free to pay the old debts off .

Pitlanepiglet

How much better off are you likely to be once you qualify? £1800 a month net is a pretty good income, I guess it equates to around £28k a year?

You really do need to get OH on you side with this, if he's blowing you budget on crap AND feeding it to the kids then you're never going to get your costs down and if you can't give up a car and you can't bring any of your shopping bills down then as far as I can see you are just going to continue to get further into debt which you are then going to be clearing for years to come.

Is he not interested in helping or do you not let him (sorry I mean that much more nicely than it sounds!), does he understand the mess you are in, does he understand that things need to change. By that I mean really understand - it's very easy to assume that others realise how bad things are but often they don't really realise.

It sounds to me as if you are doing this alone.

Pitlanepiglet

BTW how old are the kids?

nuttylou

Its £21k a year. I will qualify on about £20k per year but I will entitled to working tax credits.
I will also be able to work out either negotiable shifts or work bank after the 1st year of qualifying which will enable OH to go back to work.

I have said I am looking into the food side, the only thing Im not willing to loose is the cars as they are needed. You may see this as stubborn or unneccessary but for me at the moment it IS.

The kids are 10,7,6,4. PLUS we have an 11 & 12 yr old staying alternate weekends.

The petrol cost breaks down to £50 per month for hubby and £30 for me, he collects the older 2 from their parents which is a 40 min journey each way. My petrol costs vary depending on whether I am on placement, if I am not mine are 0 as I said because I can walk to uni & back.

nuttylou

Ok tonights dinner menu was pasta topped with plum tomatoes & cheese, cooked by OH. Different and quite tasty. Cheap!

Tommorow its sausage casserole with sweet potato mash.

OH has a couple of days work this week with an old contact whilst I am off for a few days. That is £150 to shave off the rent.

firesidemaid

i wonder whether you could try and help your OH move from his way nearer to your way?

you could sit down together and work out a meal plan (with some of each of your favourites and ideas) and then also make a shopping list based on this plus all you need for the week - we spend so much less when we do this.

also, if he can make some meals that will freeze and save him from making a whole meal another day then that might make his life a bit easier too.

did either of you watch economy gastronomy? see if he can borrow/order the book (or any others) from the local library or charity shop.

i can see and appreciate that you have a lot on your plate x

nuttylou

firesidemaid wrote: »

i wonder whether you could try and help your OH move from his way nearer to your way?

you could sit down together and work out a meal plan (with some of each of your favourites and ideas) and then also make a shopping list based on this plus all you need for the week - we spend so much less when we do this.

also, if he can make some meals that will freeze and save him from making a whole meal another day then that might make his life a bit easier too.

did either of you watch economy gastronomy? see if he can borrow/order the book (or any others) from the local library or charity shop.

i can see and appreciate that you have a lot on your plate x

Thanks firesidemaid. I think he is kind of getting the idea now! I am making dinner tommorrow as he is working and I shall make and freeze meals for wed, thurs and fri hopefully tommorrow. I am aiming to spend less than £75 this week on groceries etc and I think at the beginning of March im going to open my savings tin and add that to the rent too.

Do you know what this 'clicking' entails? x