Help needed!!! A long one!!!!

StudentLife

pink_girl wrote:

Food is around £350 this includes pet food and pack up for us both
Cannot afford a service on car
Mot in April cost £200 with repairs
Car tax £95 every 6 mths
Glasses for me £120 last year
Crimbo last year £300
We cannot afford to go out but we tend to get a takeaway each week £40 per mth
Thanks

Instead of getting a takeaway every week, why not stock up on frozen pizzas when you go to the supermarket. They only cost around £2 each for the best quality ones and they are quicker to cook than the average delivery time for a take away. I know it must be hard that you don't go out much, so a takeaway is your weekly treat, but a frozen pizza should be just as tasty and about a quarter of the cost.

I don't know enough to advise you about your big debts, but is there anyway you can live without your car? I know how easy it is to rely on them once you have one, but they are such a big expense. If you could cycle/get public transport to work, i would definitely think about getting rid of your car. You can always get supermarket shops online delivered to your door, so you won't need your car for that.

RE christmas - make sure you are honest about your financial situation to your family, explain that you can't really afford to buy anything this year and they will be delighted with small home-made gifts.

Good luck!

natlie

Hi
hope I can help

why is MOT so much? and why is it every 6 months?

Cancel - camera insurance - it is on your contents insurance anyway

cancel sky and get freeview

well worth it to quit smoking, and buy cheaper vodka and coke - don't buy brands

your home insurance is very expensive my home is worth £128000 and I only pay £20 a month for buildings and contents

change your mortgage insurance too - you can get cheaper cover

Your food shop is really expensive we spend about £300 on 4 of us, you can reduce these costs by buying down - change from brands to store own labels ie tesco own pasta, pasta sauce washing powder etc. Buy microfibre cleaning cloths, you can get them in pound shops etc, and you won't need cleaning products like polish and glass cleaner etc they cost about £4 for 4

Stop magazine subscriptions, you can read most magazines online

Get cheaper internet or get a basic broadband, tesco value one is really cheap.

Hope this helps a bit
Nat
x

lynzpower

Or instead of buying frozen pizzas you can make your own- a pizzabase mix is 59p for 2 in tescos, we make pizzas with this all the time and they are great - healthy too, and you know the standard of hygiene used, which is more than can be said for most pizza places round here!

Is this right then that you guys only smoke on a Friday? If not, you havent factored smoking into your budget.

I dont know where you live but in expensive london I took OH out for his birthday meal we both had starters, steaks and beers and I got change out of £25.

beverleyhills

p_g What is your current job? What hours do you work? What sort of area do you live in? Not being nosey, just seeing if I can help with some more lateral thinking.

Small companies like landscape gardeners or conservatory manufacturers often find it difficult to find good brickies.

robnye

can you get cheaper house insurance?
cheaper car insurance?

do you need the mortgage insurance........?
do you need the camera insurance? (is this with currys? as i took out something like that, but then changed it to pay over 6 months)

check for cheaper internet access

mobile phone - change to PAYG (i see from earlier in the thread that you are looking at this)

we very rarily have a takeaway........
can you cancel sky?

pink_girl

Thank you for all your kind words, im biting the bullet today and selling my Nikon d50 on ebay, its only a month old that was brought for me as a pressy. Im sure i can live without it. Ive some other bits for sale too including OH xbox and fish tank, so i should make enough to pay the credit cards this week, and everything else is covered when pay day comes.
I have just spent £59 on shopping for the month, just need to buy bread and meat each week for OH pack up, so i am serious about getting rid of our debts.
I have a funeral today, so tomorrow im going to ring cccs or pay plan to try and sort out some management plan with them. I dont want to have to go bankrupt, this seriously is the last step for us. We know we spend too much and we are trying to make ammends.
Does anyone know anything about IVA's and selling our house to rent it back. I think that this could be a option!! Or i could be wrong!

pink_girl

robnye wrote:

can you get cheaper house insurance?
cheaper car insurance?

do you need the mortgage insurance........?
do you need the camera insurance? (is this with currys? as i took out something like that, but then changed it to pay over 6 months)

check for cheaper internet access

mobile phone - change to PAYG (i see from earlier in the thread that you are looking at this)

we very rarily have a takeaway........
can you cancel sky?

I have already cancelled the camera insurance as i am selling my camera.
Car insurance is the cheapest we can get.
Home insurance and internet is something to look at, we dont have a home phone so i need someone who supplies it without. Any ideas!
Takeaways are being knocked on the head as is the friday night.
Sky is up in Feb and a friend gave us a digi box, so we are sorted then.
Mortgage ins.............Im not sure i really want to cancel this, just in case the worst happens. I did cancel the mortgage payment protection last week that cost £19

lynzpower

You say Sky is up in Feb, honestly loads of people on here just phone them and tell them they cant afford it and get out of the contract, give it a whirl!

lynzpower

I have just spent £59 on shopping for the month, just need to buy bread and meat each week for OH pack up, so i am serious about getting rid of our debts.

Try having egg, tuna or cheese in sandwiches its quite a lot cheaper
Or if theres microwaves where you work you can take leftovers like casserole/soup/ chilli etc

Mizz_Pink

Ive just read this post....and now I've applied to become an Avon rep !!

Good luck with your Ebay sales!