where to start?

saxysarah

Yes finlly got myself in gear and made some payments - feels good to! thats CC1 now clear (£33.40) and CC2 £500 lighter and i've finally made a tiny dent in my olympic challenge! £533.40/£19000

curlytop12

no advice but had to say you really impress me.single mum to 5 children,holding down a job and studying!you are superwoman compared to me.
well done,keep going...your reward is in the future waiting for you.
good luck.

gfplux

I have not read all the postings but just have focused on the money spent on presents.
If your £200 per month = £2400 per year is what you want to spend, that is your choice.
We have one child 18, still in full time education. Birthday and Christmas present total normally £200 so if we had 5 children our total would be £1000 a year which is lot less than you spend.
I suspect our income is a little more than yours but as long as you have no debt you are entitled to choose how you sped your money.
Well done and good luck.
edit,
Sorry I have just realised you have +£20000 debt. sorry for my mistake.

theoretica

Have you checked out if your studying qualifies you as exempt from council tax? As you are getting a student loan I think it might.

My other thought is about making your life easier while passing on life skills. I suggest getting your boys to do their own laundry and maybe more!

saxysarah

lol thanks gem just don't ask me 'how' cos most days are spent in a whirlwind of frantic chaos! but i am quite driven although its mainly the hectic life that has left me still with debt as I borrowed to consilidate a couple of years ago but never actually got around to paying off the cards! horrific I know!

and gfplux u hve a very valid point in that I don't really have a right to spend £300 per child on xmas (plus we have a £50 limit on birthdays) but a lot of that does go on clothes and school necessities (as well as the 'wished for' present) which i would be buying anyway the only other time we do the school stuff is prob start of term (and in all fairness they only ask for what they actually need replacing). eg the 'main presents this year for the oldest 2 consisted of a rather flash docking station (£99 got some cashback on that as well tho) and a decent digi camera (£45 again had some cashback) for DS1 all the rest of his budget was useful stuff - and Ds2 had let me think ipod touch £140 (again had cashback and free speaker) all the other presents were clothes/pjs/trainers/rugby kit etc.which i would have to buy at some point in the year. I could pay off everything quicker if we heavily reduced our xmas budget but i'd rather keep the christmas and take a bit longer/look to earn a bit extra as far as the debt goes. It'll be too late to enjoy xmas with them in the same way when they've grown up. I wouldnt however go into any further debt for xmas at any time so if that situation should arise when i couldnt fund the mad christmas then we wouldn't do it but i know plenty of people who spend far far more per child and don't work at all. plus we're not a drinking household so i don't have to budget for extra alcohol at xmas like a lot of people - no big issues with it i just prefer tea ;-)

saxysarah

theoretica thanks for the suggestions i am going to have to check this council tax thing out - normally as i get tax credits i wouldnt qualify (i don't think) but although i'm only in college 2 days a week i am classed as full time student cos its a squashed together degree course and i keep hearing ads on the radio saying a lot of people in our area are not getting the full entitlement so its got to be worth a shot!

Yes i def need to get the kids to do the laundry! I did once start charging them cos i got so fed up with their bedrooms etc and clean clothes ending up in the wash! i told them i wasnt doing any more washing for them and they could have free use of the machine once a day and the dryer for 45 minutes - anything more than that would be 50p a go!!!
Rooms were immaculate by the next day!!!:rotfl:

saxysarah

hmmmm done the meal plan and shopping list and if i use whats in the freezer/cupboards etc i can get away with around a £50 spend this week! if i mae it up to £55ish i shouold be able to use both my £5 farm food voucher and my instore only tesco voucher? they are both £50spend vouchers so i dunno if i can use both - i could add in my clubcard vouchers £20 and end up only forking out about £20 for shopping!!! unheard of! but i might hang onto them for now.

saxysarah

gosh all this money saving lark has put me way behind the other stuff! managed a bit of art homework with DS2 but only just got chook in the oven still gotta hoover do my coursework and help DS1 and DS3 with homework! finally got all the ironing away and got clothes ready for tomorrow tho thats something! poor hounds have only had a quick run round the park next door instead of the usual long sunday walk (but they've broken a window today so thats tough!) and I never did make any cakes with the TTs (troublesome twosome) grrrrrrrr i'm definately NOT superwoman lol!

kingfisherblue

Well done with how you are doing so far. I'm a single mum of three (one disabled) and have been a student until recently, as well as doing voluntary work, so I know what it's like not to have enough hours in the day. When somebody asks what I want for Christmas or birthday, I usually comment that it's a shame they don't sell extra hours for each day

A couple of tips that I have found useful might help you - not all about finance though

* Ask about the Access to Learning fund at college (it used to be called the hardship fund) - you might be able to get some financial help that you do not have to pay back

* When you all get in from school/work/college, any dirty washing to be put in front of the washing machine straight away. The kids can wear their dressing gowns if they are not going out or having friends round (saves on yet more washing!)

* Put the washer on immediately - it only takes a few minutes and it can be doing the wash while you make the tea

* Give each child a job when they get in. One could get out whatever is for tea, a second could set the table, a third could clean the bathroom, fourth could collect dry washing from radiators and fifth could empty the bins. Even small children can manage these. My son has Down's syndrome and several medical conditions, but he can change his own bedding, put the washer on (I have to select the programme, but he can do everything else), and a few other jobs as well. Jobs can be on a rota basis to make it fair.

* Get some plastic pegs (preferably five colours - one for each child). When they take their socks off, they have to peg them together for the washer. Saves lots of time sorting!

* Get everyone to take their own plates into the kitchen and rinse under the tap. Have the washing up water ready and get the kids to put their cutlery into the bowl and pile the plates at the side.

* The older children should be able to help with the hoovering

* Only iron if absolutely necessary - I put school shirts into the dryer (don't leave things in for too long - waste of electricity) and hang them straight away. Saves loads of time

* Get the kids to help you put away shopping. If you're really organised, you could have a list of what you have in the cupboards that you update each evening. When you have a few minutes to spare during the day, use it to meal plan or to make a shopping list of what you need

* If you buy fizzy drinks, limit them to weekends. It's better for the kids and will work out cheaper

* Use energy saving lightbulbs and turn off PCs, mobile chargers, etc

* Have a basket at the top and bottom of the stairs. Put in anything that you want to take up or down and make it a rule that whoever is next upstairs /downstairs takes whatever is in the basket and puts it into the correct room

* Once a week, sit down and sort money into envelopes (dinner money, club money, etc) for the kids. It saves you scrabbling around on the last minute

* Consider Rainbows for the girls - it is an inexpensive group compared to most clubs, but great fun. I charge £1.50 a week, but local drama and dancing groups are £4.00 a week. This way, your daughters will still be able to be in a group and have a social life, but cheaply. Look at www.girlguiding.org.uk for more information

Good luck with you studies and your DFW x

saxysarah

:Tthanks for all the tips! and yes if i could buy more hours i would put them on my CC in the blink of an eye:p

at the moment the only real responsibilities the kids have are seeing to the dogs food/water/walks - their own bedrooms and occasionally the dishes DS1 and 2 share the responsibility of a thurs night for tea and looking after the others - I keep trying to install chore rotas etc but not much luck so far:D will keep trying! for this wek tho I have asked them to be vigiliant at turning things off! our house is awful and pcs/laptops/phone chargers and anything else u can think of are of the always on variety so i've made this priority! although we all like to sleep with music on which is quite amusing if u stand on the landing after everyone is settled for the night! have to find a way around that! definately need to sort out the weekly dinner money etc in advance too monday mornings are.............*******:o
Thanks again for the support and encouragement :T