I need to save pay off an £1000 debt-any help?

Sallys_Savings

paulboy83 wrote:

I'm no expert, but I have just paid off £3000 of debt not by cutting back to the bare bones and having no sort of life but by finding a spare £100 or £200 a month.
Why not speak to your friend and say you are having problems and see if you can pay off £100 a month for 10 months. I agree that if you can you should see if there is a cheaper package avaliable for phone and internet etc. If £1000 is your only debt there is no reason why you should punish yourself by cancelling everything and saving every single penny, that in my eyes is for those with more severe debts. Are you saving at the moment? If you are why not either dip into your savings or, divert the money you are saving to your friend. If there is no leeway in your budget every month that you cant find the extra cash then perhaps you need to re assess, however I dont go with the opinion that you are somehow mad for spending your money as you want to if you can afford it.

I'm sorry..but if you owe money you "cant afford "to spend it on what you wish.

The debt should be paid off before spending it on luxuries ......especially to a friend who has loaned it in good faith.
I would be really disappointed if I lent money to a friend and they weren't paying it back to me....but instead spending money on other things that aren't necessary.

(I have no debts and don't have any extra tv package because I can't afford it..if I did I would probably go into debt)

My priority would be to pay my friend off as soon as possible and cut back as much as I could.

Perhaps the OP could cut down in other ways if the tv package isn't to go?

skintchick

Laurenbelle wrote:

I really appreciate the help i got so far, i would appreciate it if we could just leave it here. I guess i didn't expect to get so upset over some replies. For someone who can judge me so quickly over just a couple of paragraphes "Not trying very hard" and "that my priorities are all screwed up" and on top of that for someone to thank that person!! As i said thanks for the positive, genuine replies i did get, i will find my own way from here on ...

All replies are geunine. Just because you don;t like what they say, it doesn;t make them any less genuine.

misscampbell

dudleyboy wrote:

Hi Laurenbelle, welcome to the DFW board - I hope you haven't been scared off for good. I think a few knee jerk reactions came out late at night, hopefully things will look different this morning.

With regards to your initial post, here's some suggestions...

TV, phone and computer - £140 per month
That is very high, what package are you on and with which provider? I think you're spending money here that could easily go towards repaying your friend as well as saving money for the future (to avoid borrowing again if similar circumstances were to arise).

internet
I have a very high internet usage but only pay £18 a month for unlimited access. The speed is only 512kbps but more than adequate. Unlimited at a slower rate is the compromise I make to keep it to under £20 a month.

phone
With a BT standing charge of £10.50 pcm, my phone calls are through OneTel and come to about £3 pcm. their international call option gives you cheaper overseas calls but savings can also be found through other providers.

tv
I don't watch a great deal of TV but appreciate that, coming from the states, 5 tv channels doesn't seem like much. Freeview gives you about 25 extra channels, including SKY Sports News (mostly highlights I think tho), but at least worth looking in to.

So, depending on the phone calls I make (day/time), I average about £30 a month on all these expenses, or £1 a day. By comparison, you're spending just over £4.50 a day.... which is £1,680 a year compared to my £360.

I'm not suggesting you do the same as me, I'm just highlighting the savings that could be made.

I'd recommend reading the Utilities articles to see if you can cut the costs in line with your needs (and I say 'needs'):
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities

As for your mobiles, if you're locked into a contract, see if you can change your tarriff to something less expensive. Are you using all your inclusive minutes each month? If you are, do you need to or just using them because they're there?

Best of luck in raising the £1000 you need. With a few cut backs here and there it'll be easier than you think.

DB

well done, I am sure you helped.

misscampbell

jobbingmusician wrote:

Don't think of it as raising £1000. Think of it as raising 10 x £100.

Write yourself a nice poster right now, and think about strategies you can do to raise the first £100 THIS WEEK!!! You may be able to get a flying start by making the first £100 from Ebay/Amazon if you do it now.

(I do agree that your TV/phone/computer package sounds crazy - you could get loads for £40 a month and this debt would be gone in 10 months with hardly any pain, it seems to me. But horses for courses...........)

This was a really helpful idea!

Uniscots97

Hi there, I agree with the people who have mentioned the free kids channels. I've lost count of how many times I've been at my cousin's house and seen her youngest watching the same thing on the disney channel. Get rid of that at least, only a fiver I know but its a start.

Also we don't really have yard sales here but we do have car boot sales there's bound to be one in your area. Have a clear out. Kids toys always sell well. Car boots can be a good way of making £50-£100. Which at best is one tenth of your target.

One area I don't think that has been mentioned (apologies if I've missed it), is your food budget. How much do you spend on groceries? There's loads of threads on here to help you cut your food budget.

I hope you've found this useful.

Reuben_3

Laurenbelle

Only my second post and yes there are some on here who could do with diplomacy lessons

- but -

if you drop your Telewest package extras and one of your mobiles (seeing as your other half is at home with a landline) by my sums you could clear that £1000 in around 5-6 months. You don't want to lose a good friend for the sake of cable tv. If you can get out of your contract I think BT are doing £9.99 for first 6 mths broadband/phone.

cattie1

she obviously isn't coming back, but i have just read through this and if i was her i would have felt the same!
i understand you were all trying to help but u were quite hard on her especially for a new poster!
never mind.

lil'H

Laurenbelle wrote:

Thank you so much for your prompt reply, i know i know i have the supreme package - £17.50 with the movie (because we never go out) and sports package (the sports for cricket and the American football) - £26.50 and Disney Cinemagic £5.00 for the kids, the phone is £11 for line rental, £3 for talk international which really does save a lot because my mum and brother are overseas as well as dh's family. Call display - £1.75. We also have the Blueyonder broadband complete package the £25 - that package was recommended because i email and IM and download a lot of pictures etc.
I am thinking of calling Telewest and trying to get this cut by threatening to cancel but need to get my ducks in a row so i can be sure i am telling them the correct thing.

OK I pay NTL £21 a month, for cable TV (basic package but with on demand), line rental and all landline calls 24hr a day, and 4MB Boradband, so you have an awful ot of room for manouver. With regard to broadband, it was recommended by who? I email, IM, download photos films etc all day long, and run a web based business and my own website with my broadband and am paying a fraction of the price, so again it might be worth looking into again. With regard to the TV could the children not cope with CITV etc, and could you now manage a few months by downgrading, until you've paid debt off? Blockbuster DVD rental is £15 a month online, with a months free trial, use that cancel it before first months charge and you've already saved.

Good luck, I reakon there are loads of savings to be made so you can pay off your friend, you can always have your luxeries back once your debt free. I'm not sure if you'll be back, but thought I'd post in case you are still reading the replies!

Lil'H

lazy&indebt

Freeview is the way forward honey!

Although I will say that if you ask for advice on how to pay back a debt of £1,000 and you say 'I'm not cutting back on A, B or C' where A, B & C are the only things you can cut back on - it seems you want to know how to raise £1k out of thin air. If we knew how to do that we'd be debt free. The money you are spending on non essentials technically isn't your money to spend.

dudleyboy

lazy&indebt wrote:

The money you are spending on non essentials technically isn't your money to spend.

I think that pretty much sums up why the initial reaction was as forthright as it was - someone else is £1,000 out of pocket while the OP is enjoying their money... although, to be fair, on this board, that's like the big black kettle calling the big black pot "black". Bunch of hypocrites...

Sometimes I feel that the DFW board is like an exercise in stating the ble*ding obvious or giving advice to people who are incapable of reaching a decision by themselves. Although a bit of sugar wouldn't have gone amiss, the points raised were true and fair (except for the parental criticism), but were pretty unsupportive and, ultimately, counter productive.

If the OP doesn't return then I can't blame them but I hope they do for the subsequent help they have received.