I can't quite believe it's got this bad

HappySad

This may help. I am really adding to what has already been said. If your attitude is that you can greatly reduce your spending then you will see your outgoings in a different way. You will be always 24*7 be thinking of ways of not spending more and spending a lot less.

I have been focusing on getting things for FREE!. Freecycle is great. I post on their for all sorts of things... children clothes, outdoor toys. With the FREE attitude and being on the look out.. I now don't and will not pay for my eye test. Family got eye tested this year from free with vouchers. Will negoiate with local optians to get my glasses reduced because I don't want the free prescription sunglasses and would instead get money off.

I order food online with free delivery where possible and compain for any slight error on their part.. usually get voucher off food for this.

Getting free chidren's birthday party entertainer by being a using networking to promote that's company's party business.

Very rarely buy books as they are free in the library.. or cheap from secondhand shop. Get lots of my clothes for free by swapping clothes with my friends.

Look on Which? Magazine before you buy. My wasing machine has lasted our family over 7years with 1 repair. With Which you know that you are buying a long lasting better performing product for your money. Your library will always have the magazines to look through. Sometimes we think that spending more on a product means that it will last longer & perform better but sometimes it is not true and Which? Magazine gets you to see which produces are the best for your money. If you get the best quailty produce it will save you loads in the long run in repair costs and replacing it later.. not to mention a better performance.

Reduce, Reuse, REcycle.....going green... if you follow this in order then you can save loads. Don't buy stuff in the first place as you may be able to borrow or use something in the house to perform the task you want. Recycle - sell on ebay/carboot and make some money while being green.

Always expect good quailty service and products when buying. ... and if you don't get it complain and expect to get compensation for this in some way. Could get you money off vouchers.. free products.

Don't waste the present that you will be getting this year. 2/3 of presents given are unwanted. Hint to your close friends and family the sorts of present that you would want... this allows them to use their imagination in getting you something that you will use... and this also means that you will not be buying that product yourself.

While you are selling at the carboot sale your stuff, have a look round for thing for yourself and see what good quality stuff that people are trying to get rid of. Don't do what I used to and buy stuff because they are cheap/reduced/sale.. only buy when you decide before hand that you want/need that product.

joflo_2

I have the same income as yourselves and I get working tax credit. I believe up to 50ish K a year earnings you could still get the 545 basic payment which is about 40 pounds per 28 days a year. Its not a lot but its still adds towards paying off debts.

joflo_2

Also as you are on a water meter please look at your water consumption. As you now know what your bill should be a month you can work that out. A bigger washing machine will lower your water bill so taking that into account might work out cheaper with this in mind.

Talheedin

Thank you all so much for your help and advice.

I haven’t had time to log over the weekend so when I looked at the forum yesterday and saw that this thread was down to around page seven I didn’t think anyone else would be reading it. In most forums I’ve used once your post gets past page three then it’s probably pretty much archive. Obviously not here though and it’s fantastic that there’s so much support here.

I must admit that after I’d first posted my SOA and received some replies I felt a bit picked on. Everyone was saying “this can go” and “you don’t need this” and I felt that I did need it and it couldn’t go. However, after reading more of the threads and the posts on this thread and having had chance to sleep on this and digest what’s being said I realise that I CAN do without many of these things and that I wasn’t being picked on; just getting good advice.

I’ve also started to come to terms with the problem rather than living in denial with an “it’ll be alright” attitude. This brought me right down over the last few days but now, with the help of my Wife, the kind and useful words here and a second call to CCCS, I feel that I’m coming out the other side (even our teenagers are being really supportive, one of them even did a load of housework the other day without being asked!!!). The only thing that I’m worried about now is the interview with the CCCS councillor. I’m sure that they will be really nice but I’m still worried that we won’t be left with enough money despite the fact that we almost certainly will be. If it was just me, hey I’d live in a box, but I have the family to consider and I can’t help worrying. My interview is on the 18th August and it seems so far away but at the end of it I’m sure I’ll be able to heave a huge sigh of relief.

I’ve got a load of things that I’m cancelling or reducing now and it doesn’t seem quite as hard as it did. I’ve joined the library and have gathered all the editions of New Scientist that I haven’t read over the last (about twenty of them) so I’ve got plenty to read without spending money. I’ve also been writing a spending diary and found that this is a brilliant way of not spending. Every time I want to pop to the shop to buy some tucks I think “NO, I don’t want to put it in the diary!” so I don’t go. I might huff about for a few minutes but then I get on with something else and forget about it.

Once again, thanks to you all and I hope that soon I’ll be in a position to offer advice to others in need.

Talheedin

lynzpower

Talheedin

Im so pleased you are back I thought maybe we'd scared you off a bit.

Your experience of feeling picked on, is completely natural i felt it too when DFWs were going "you dont need your dvd delivery" I was like aargh too.

All the best

Talheedin

I'm going into Nationwide today to open up a basic bank account. Before I do that could anyone tell me if they are linked to any of my creditors? (Creditors being LloydsTSB, Capital One, Cahoot, Egg)

Also, are any of my creditors linked with MBNA? There have been lots of bad stories about their phone calls and I want to prepare my Wife for this.

Thanks

Talheedin

spud30

Talheedin,

Have you read Martin's latest email? Your thread is mentioned :T :j :T

parahandy

Sorry to throw another suggestion into the mix...

You say you spend £400 per month shopping. When you buy from Asda is this on-line or instore? We shop at Tesco and from time-to-time do it on-line. We spend around £60-£80 instore, but when we do it on-line we only seem to spend around £50!! (Impulse shopping when you're in the shop I suppose).

So I would suggest trying that with Asda - even with the delivery charge, you might find you spend less...

Adrift

Hi, you should be able to cut the cost of insuring your dog. I insure mine with Marks and Spencers which gives me a LOT of insurance for the money. They have an option which means you can choose how much excess you have to pay before the insurance kicks in. I pay just over £8 a month and the excess is around £70 or possibly £80. Taking the higher excess reduces the amount of premium you pay.


BWs Adrift

Let_Robinson_Sing

Talheedin wrote:

Just as an aside: all the debt management adverts say “We can even write off up to 70% of your debt!”, how can they claim this? Can they (or the CCCS as I wouldn’t go to one of them after the posts on this forum) actually write this debt off or is it just a gimmick?

Talheedin

they can write it off BUT they take a nice big fat chunk of your money first. Basically they enter you into an IVA (Individual Voluntary Arrangement) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Individual_Voluntary_Arrangement

if you are going to do an IVA do it with CCCS or Payplan. Stay away from those SCUMMER Debt management adverts they will suck money out of you like a vaccum.

these Debt management adverts its not a gimmick but they'll get their nice cut first