Help my daughter please?

nanto3girls

mdeebee wrote: »

Spooky!

You must be from the posh bit! LOL.

What posh bit.:rotfl:

downshifted

Thanks for all your replies - downshifted's poor daughter here!!!

The gas bill is paying off arrears, but has recently gone down from £95 a month so I am getting there!

Also, the £55 is more than just landline, its Virgin Media, with 2 V boxes. I am going to call them and try to reduce my telly package see if i can save a bit that way. Also, have budgeted £50 a month for presents... not so sure it is that much but mum disagrees! Need to stop being so generous methinks!

I thought £40 a month was quite a good deal for my mobile :-/ ... iI am due to upgrade in November so I will review it then see if I can save in any way.

Really want to save the inheritance from my nan, most of the money i spent on the credit cards was silly things like food shopping in Sainsburys (I know i can cut down there!!) so it would feel like i had frittered away the savings on crap if I used it. And she would be disappointed!

Anyways - really appreciate all the comments!! thanks xxx

[Deleted User]

I don't know which area you live in but notice you are renting paying 700 and have a lodger paying 400. If 700 is an average rent in your area the lodger seems to be getting a very good deal. I think you should go halves on the council tax and utilities as well as the rent as it looks like you are renting together???

DVardysShadow

downshifted wrote: »

Really want to save the inheritance from my nan, most of the money i spent on the credit cards was silly things like food shopping in Sainsburys (I know i can cut down there!!) so it would feel like i had frittered away the savings on crap if I used it. And she would be disappointed!

:wall::wall::wall::wall::wall:

Look, you have frittered the money away on carp! You have already spent your Nan's inheritance. And now you are spending £650/year on a debt pile to fool yourself you still have the money.

Mrs_Jojo

Sweetie, use Nan's money to pay off your debts and then, as a legacy to her, build impressive savings of at least 3 months income - that would make her more proud than watching you pay interest when you don't have to!

Nottoobadyet

mdeebee wrote: »

I love it too. In this part of Yorkshire we say "ducks in a row".

I'm not sure where I picked it up from, I'm from New Jersey (a long time ago!) and its certainly not local there!

Pollycat

I think you have a mental block about this inheritance from your Gran.

Quite a few people have advised you to pay off your debts with the £5K, but you still seem to be resistant to that sugggestion.

Assuming that you consider Martin Lewis actually knows what he's talking about, maybe if you read this link that explains why having debts AND savings doesn't (usually) make sense, you might reconsider.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cards/pay-off-debts

Do you split the bills with your lodger or are you paying for all the utilities?
Is this why he/she pays £400 and you pay £300 out of the total £700?
Is there any reason why you can't/won't split equally?

How many people do you buy presents for?
Why don't you ask them if they'll consider just buying token presents for each other?
That's worked for quite a lot of posters on this board.

What are your plans to reduce your grocery bill?
£300 for one person is massive. (or are you paying for the lodger's food too? If so, WHY?)
Our food bill (for 2 people plus one cat) has averaged out at less than £200 per month over the last 45 months - and we eat very well, cooking mostly from scratch and it includes beers, wine & laundry/household cleaning items.

If you paid off most of your debts you'd be in a position to take advantage of BOGOF offers (do you have space to store cans etc?).
My garage is like a corner shop, full of tinned tomatoes, dried pasta, coffee etc. I rarely pay full price for anything.
If you're working full time, you're possibly buying ready-cooked meals which are expensive (and not as good for you as home made), why not try batch cooking and freeze portions for next time?
Lots of tips on this and other ways to cut your grocery bills on the Old-Style Board.
Are you the sort of person who buys glossy magazines, make-up and expensive coffees? That may be where your £95 per month surplus is going.

xyellowx

you need to use the savings to pay the debt off then start with a clean slate and build the savings back up thats a no brainer wether you like it or not
also cancel the landline cable one year wont hurt until you sort yourself out
stop being so generous with presents your in a mess so its the last thing you should be doing (possibly what got you in a mess to begin with)
try a different supermarket tesco or asda would save you money compared to sainsburys

best of luck and remember once you start watching what you are spending and paid your debt off and got sorted you will probably continue in that way so your savings will soon be above and beyond what they are now
look at it as a interest free loan to sort yourself out for a year or so

Firewalker

In my opinion a compromise is called for - use the inheritance to pay the debts off now but make sure that yiu save the £5,000 within the next couple of years. If I were your grandmother I'll be looking at you from Heaven feeling very proud that you have show acumen and financial savvy - £5,000 is only a number.

Firewalker

little_miss_T

What are your plans to reduce your grocery bill?
£300 for one person is massive. (or are you paying for the lodger's food too? If so, WHY?)
Our food bill (for 2 people plus one cat) has averaged out at less than £200 per month over the last 45 months - and we eat very well, cooking mostly from scratch and it includes beers, wine & laundry/household cleaning items.


I agree with this... We spend £120 per month and there is me my hubby a cat and a dog (who both eat alot) that i shop for.. this includes things for lunches at work, cat and dog food and treats for the cat and dog, meals for both of us and cleaning/houshold things and treats for both of us... i really think that this is where you need to make changes..