Lightbulb Moment

angchris

definately either downgrade your bank account or change banks, i had a lloyds tsb gold card and didnt use any of the "benefits" i downgraded to a classic card and still have a debit card/chequebook and my £1500 overdraught for emergencies, i also opened a alliance and leicester account which is fab its free and also 1 years free overdraught open it though quidco and you earn £50 also if someone refers you you both get a free £50 (pm me if you are interested)so an easy £100 for you potentially and i have found this account great they do all the hard work and change dd`s etc for you its a good rate of interest and you save £10 a month.:j

nearlyrich

I have merged the two threads hope it still makes sense.

mintymoneysaver

I really think you need to sell that car!You could almost get rid of one of those loans with that!!!

moneyLost_2

mrs_mug wrote:

We called to cancel sky and they offered us the basic package for £7.50 for 6 months instead of £20. Might be worth trying the old 'my mate has got it for £7.50 a month, why can't I ahve it at that price' line. Sometimes works.

I agree. I phoned sky a few months ago to cancel. I really was going to cancel as we were paying £21/month, but only tended to watch the channels which we could get on Freeview anyway. We'd miss Sky 1, but could easily live without it.

To stop us cancelling, they offered us a £7.50/month deal (for life, not 6 months), which gives us pretty much everything we had before. I think we've lost some of the Discovery channels, but not the ones we watch.

The difference is that I really was going to cancel, so in a way I was suckered into staying... But it saves me getting a new aerial and STB, and we've still got Sky 1, so I'm happy.

A.

coxj2901

I have been accepted for the Alliance & Leicester account so should be able to save £30 on overdraft interest and account fees. I will use the extra to reduce my debts.

Have talked to my wife about selling the car and we are seriously considering it.

I am phoning sky today to downgrade to the minimum package.

I have also talked to my oh about getting a part time job. She would like to do this as it will give her some independence and will obviously really help in reducing our debts.

I used to give oh £400 per month and she looked after the shopping each week. I have changed this and will start shopping online at tesco so I can budget more efficiently and keep track of what I am spending.

I have also signed up for quidco.com and have just earned £1.60 from an online survey (my first!)

I have also given up or should I say attempting to give up smoking which should hopefully save me £130 per month.

I've just counted my pennies saved in a jar and I have:

1ps: £3.43
2ps: £3.20
5ps: £4.15
10ps: £1.20
20ps: £2.20
50ps, £1s and £2's: Circa £25 (These are kept in a tin whereby I can't get at the money unless I open it with a can opener! - This was to deter me from dipping into it!)

Here's to the start of a whole new world!

Rgds, John

mrs_mug_2

Hi five John. Its a blooming good feeling when you start to get organised again, isn't it?
I've applied for a few evening and weekend jobs to help out and I can't wait to get back in to working. I've got 2 under 2 and so the conversation is a bit limted in the day (and OH is far too tired in the evening for anything other than a series of grunts) so I think a part time job will do me the world of good. I hope your OH benefits in a similar way too.

all the best with your journey to being debt free.

coxj2901

I phoned Sky today and they have offered me the full sky package @ £10 for 3 months. After this I will cancel down to the basic package until I can cancel the package altogether. I will also sell the box on ebay after the year is up which should cover part of the cost of the basic package.

I changed to online shopping aswell and it cost me £54 with delivery from Tesco. This is a big saving so hopefully this can continue.

I have also telephoned Southern Electric and amended my gas bill to £25 per month as I know from experience that because I don't have central heating this will more than cover my gas usage.

I have also paid £120 off my barclays overdraft today which has bought it down to £3600 and telephoned the bank to ask them to reduce it by this month which is something I would never have done historically.

I am still feeling fairly positive at the moment but appreciate that I have a hell of a long way to go!

In_Search_Of_Me

Just to say well done for tackling things! Keep up the good work & welcome to a new way of life!

coxj2901

I currently pay £195 per month into a company pension and my employer pays £293.75 per month into the pension.

I think I can take a payment holiday from paying into my pension but I think if I do this then my employer doesn't pay into the pension either.

Does it make sense to have a 3-6 month break from paying into the pension to be able to clear some extra debt, but lose out on the employer contributions?

EagerLearner

Well done for having the lightbulb moment!

Shopping online saves money as it avoids the 'hungry' shopping and the impulse buys. Yes, you pay for delivery but a) it means you don't have to waste time from your precious time off to trawl around supermarkets and b) you don't have to carry it or spend petrol, or worry about where you're going to park when you get home! Any savings you make with the weekly shop (compared to what you used to spend), try to pay this saved money onto your credit cards immediately.

Shame you didn't apply for the A&L account via Quidco - could have earned you £50 for nothing in cashback. Still, no time like the present - go to quidco.com and sign up, then when it comes to renewing home insurance, car insurance - well, when it comes to practically buying anything you need - you can get cashback via Quidco and put this towards your debts. It's free money!

Rather than savings, try to put extra money towards debts.

First Direct have a low Gold card rate for 6 months with no transfer fee - would that help you?

Can you get Freeview rather than Sky? FilmFour is free now, so lots of movies.

The Freebies board has lots of vouchers/samples etc that can also help you save money.

Join pigsback.com - earns points and you can then redeem them for Boots vouchers, Pizza Hut vouchers, Odeon vouchers and more. Free money!