Lightbulb Moment - Please Help x

kathrynrobson1011

Morning All,

Thank you for all yur help and encouragement.

Slept much better last night. Just about to leave for work armed with packed lunch, no debit card, no money in purse and SOA so I can work on things at lunchtime.

Feeling so positive at the moment. Hope it lasts.

Kat x

LittleMissKitty

Glad you got a good nights sleep. It works wonders for the positive thinking. Hope it's sunny where you are too because that always helps . Well done on starting your journey so well - I warn you, it gets addictive being frugal

Kitty x

stroppyjock

You are dead right kitty it does become addictive, but also very vry fullfilling.

You have made a great start kathryn and staying on this site will provide encouragement. Also go to Old style saving tips thread, really friendly and full of info.

My story is £42500 debt seven years ago, changed job, wife (debt was incurred by her forging my sig on loans and cards) and whole attitude towards money. Now debt free and even have a savings account!!! So it can be done.

Keep positive and keep posting.

Good luck and well done so far.

mogchops

didnt want to read and run, well done on your achievements so far!!:T

Must admit, I was :eek::eek: at the £30 allowance per week for a ten year old!!! Is that really what all her friends get??

My DDs are 10 and 7. 10 yr old gets £3 per week, and if she wants more then she does jobs round the house to earn it - hoovering, dusting, etc etc. 7 yr old gets £1 per week, and is totally uninterested in money - it goes in her piggy bank!

They have a nintendo DS each, but thats it. We dont have a Wii, or a x box, or playstation, or tellys in their bedroom, or their own pcs.

It is difficult sometimes, DD goes to friends houses & comes back & says "so and so has a telly in her bedroom, and they've got a Wii" but she does understand that these things cost money, and have to be saved up for.

Good luck on your journey, I can thoroughly recommend meal planning, that made my shopping so much more organised, and puts and end to the "we've got nothing for tea, lets get a takeaway" syndrome!!

All the best!

anna_grant

Well done for tackling this. I wanted to say a few things rather than reading and running.

Just because you were made redundant, doesn't make this your fault. You and your partner are a team and being made redundant happens to most of us. I hope you can get him off his xBox and face up to this.

Have you looked at recycling and getting money for the four mobiles that you daughter is not using? I'm sure there are links on MSE to show you the one that will get you most money back?

eBay your clothes (well, not all of them). I was amazed what I could get for evening stuff that I had hardly worn.

Grocery shop online. I've found I've spent less when I'm not distracted by end of ailse 'bargains' I don't need. Ensure you know exactly what you have in your cupboards and add items to your order as you need them. Try and go for the less popular delivery times as they're a lot cheaper.

Compare electric and gas provider's prices.

Take cash out of your bank account £10 at a time and add it to your spending spreadsheet, together with the date. Only having £10 at a time stops the impulse buys and having the date shows how often you get money out.

Make your sandwiches for lunch on a Sunday evening, bung them in the freezer and then take one pack out each night for the next morning (worked with me with cheese sandwiches).

I've been exactly where you are. It takes time but the first hurdle is facing up to it, recognising you have an issue.

I'm in a better place now but still know I have the inclination to overspend - that is why I'm currently looking a a post-it stuck to my PC which says 'You don't need any more stuff P.S. This includes DVDs!'

Changingme

Well done for what you've done so far, my hubby hasn't had his light bulb moment yet but still working on him,was also shocked at amount of pocket money your 10 year old was getting my 13 Ds only gets £20 a month and for that he has to wash up and make pack ups for the rest of the family and the mobile was his dads.Could you sell some of the mobiles that she doesn't use.:)

Philycheesesteak

Have you tried Martin's brand Challenge?
Firstly make a list of what you need when you go shopping.
Ideally break your week into meals and avoid shopping when hungry.

If you normally buy premium brands, buy normal. If you buy normal buy the low/smart price brands. Often the cheaper brands are on the bottom shelves.

Consider changing your supermarket entirely, have you tried Aldi? It's gotten good recently. Get your toiletries from poundland or home bargains.

Check the bog off deals are as good as they first seem. Avoid food waste make soups/stews!!

Best of luck with the eBay route, it's odd which items we've put on which have sold and some which we thought were dead certs remained unsold after relisting a number of times (still have to pay listing fee if reserve set). I'll be honest I've not made much. Some things aren't worth selling (CD's and DVDs etc as the second hand value is so low eBay forces free P&P so can't make money on that even).

I've definitely made use of the 'I can't afford the package' from Sky got 3 months free then later 3 months 1/2 price, but the second time I threatened to cancel (be put through to customer retention debt), however I was out of contract at the time. Def cancel the movies/sports (you can do that after a month), and they might be able to offer you a non-HD cheaper package. - The movies repeat over after a month... and sports wise there's only the world cup to look forward to and that's on terestial.

Cut up your store cards and where possible spend with cash not plastic, it hurts more and results in you spending less.

Check out Martin's tips on saving fuel on the car too, (removing roof racks, getting the junk out of your boot, driving steadier (not thrashing it about off the lights etc), stick to the speed limit on motorways.)

It does need you both to work at it. No point you busting a gut to get out of debt and OH buying new Xbox games or signing up to Xbox live.

Don't take it away from him (make him sell it). You're not going to be going out on many treats for a while so he will need some entertainment.

There are lots of things to do for free too!!

Good luck

kathrynrobson1011

Hello Again Everyone,

Thank you for all your replies and also your stories which have really inspired me.

Not sunny in NE England today - goog job I put the false tan on last night. lol :rotfl:

Hubby has been a bit more receptive today to money saving today, a NSD so far for both of us. Day 2 of NO SMOKING for me. Was very tempted at lunchtime to go to Mr T's and get some, kept thinking only £3.05 but then realised would have to take £10 out of bank and then that would be frittered away on nothing.

Managed to do a lot of meal planning on lunch break and I really do think I'll come in at just £100 for groceries this month. That's for 2 adults, 2 kids and 2 cats. Don't think that so far we have eaten anything different, just shows how much I must buy each week when they are already in cupboards.

Slow cooker has been took out of the cupboard (aka black hole) ready to do a casserole while I'm at work tomorrow. This should do us 2 meals. I'm sick on throwing food away so will def check out OS boards.

Kat x

kathrynrobson1011

Don't think I worded the bit about the allowance very well. Daughter had asked for £30 allowance but I said no. 'All her friends' are getting that amount. Loads of her friends have their own en-suites. She is quite jealous but has understood really well about the money situation.

Also no longer a NSD as DD just pointed out that we need milk - oh well the intention was there and milk comes from the grocery budget.

Kat x

shopaholic2639

Well done Kathryn, I am impressed at how much you have done and by what Ive read on your own.
You seem level headed and organised which will mean you will succeed in your plight.
Get hubby off his bottom, sell the X box and make him realise your in it together!! You cant do this alone hun. x