proud of myself!

MikeJO

MikeJO wrote: »

Coming up to three months in it's working pretty well for me now after a difficult start.

We have a monthly budget; go to Sainsburys, Tesco and Morrisons at the start of the month picking up special offers then Asda to complete the shop. Whatever's left from the budget I divide by thirty-one (or thirty...or 28 next Feb) and that's what we live on on a daily basis.
This month we have £8 a day which, as we've been spending less than that so far, has built up to the point that we have £33 in hand as of today. Son needs a winter coat, school jumper and a haircut though so that'll soon go.

The one slight worry is that my car's exhaust is making a strange noise; at the moment I'm dealing with it by keeping the windows shut and turning up the radio but I don't suppose that solution is sustainable long term .

Updating this....it's been getting worse and worse so finally I bit the bullet and took it into the garage this afternoon.
Wasn't the exhaust....it was a metal plate that had come loose under the bonnet (to be fair to me the mechanic thought it was the exhaust as well at first and spent ages under the car in a vain search for the problem).

He tightened the plate. They charged me £10. Result:beer:.

andyf1980

Now that really is a result Mikejo! It would quite make my day I think :beer:

crumbling

Great news on the car! Still no nearer to affording my new tyres as other wretched stuff keeps cropping up and catching me off guard which is pants really as I'm so new to my new budget. Can't put the unexpecteds on a card now so I'm wondering what will give first. Bit scared of not having car on the road as its rural round here with the only public transport running 3 days per week. Not very useful when i have a fair few hospital appointments to work around.

Hm. Not doing as well as I hoped to be.

FavDaughter1

Hi, we found a budget plan set out on this site,i think it's used for helping plan a IVA, it shocked me to work out what we'd be ALLOWED,it helped to see clearly everything we need to account for,things my hubby didn't even think of,there is bit over that the IVA(if we're not advised BR is best)will eat up, looking at that budget we couldn't afford a credit card,let alone the 6 my husband has got!!!!

we must take responsibility for our debt BUT what about the greedy banks that are giving these cards out?

my husband has agreed that when we eventually get through all this that he will not have another credit card,he can't control it.

i'm going to have take over the spending/budget when all this is set in a IVA or BR. i'm not great with numbers but if i have a savings account as well as a basic bank account i'll be able to manage it. i know from previous experience this will cause arguments with my hubby at some point as he wants to be in charge of the money but he gets in a mess.

any tips for budgeting would be great!
to all you guys on track with your budget,well done!

kepar

we must take responsibility for our debt BUT what about the greedy banks that are giving these cards out?

I had 4 credit cards, i do not blame the banks . At the time I was applying for them I was very happy that they had agreed to allowing me to have one. I do not feel it was their greed , I feel it was my inability to require credit at that time. Looking back now having had them taken off me through br, I realise that I could manage without them. If I want anything I save for it and I appreciate it more. It is hard to get used to , having no credit facilities to fall back on. We managed without a car for 6 months and then bought a cheap run around. We are trying to save for another but in the mean time if any thing goes wrong with this one it will be scrapped.

I know people do not like to hear it, but one way of saving money is to get rid of your car. You will get a lump sum for it, also work out your costs. With fuel ,insurance and maintenance costs can well exceed £100 a month.
We walked every where and once a month did a large shop and used a taxi to get home. Short journeys were cut out and we once hired a car to go off on a day trip. By using buses as wee=ll our transport costs reduced by at least £50 a month.

Every one feels that they cannot do with out a car, but start a log of all your journeys and you will see that a lot of your journeys are not essential.

Doucam

Well done crumbling, it's a good feeling isn't it? x

And kepar I hear what you are saying re the car but a lot of it depends on where you live, public transport etc....

Where I am there are buses at the moment but a lot of them are to be scrapped in the next few months due to cutbacks, the nearest station is 9 miles away, and the buses run infrequently out that way...

I would love to live without a car and all the extra expense but just don't think we could, we would be trapped lol!

FavDaughter1

Hi, i understand what you're saying, we are responsible, but banks are lending money out when they know full well people are already struggling in a spiral of debt.
my husband managed to get in a worse mess by taking extra cards &loans out when the account was already in the red,any banker looking at the account would have been able to see he shouldn't have more credit/loans. i do accept the buck stops with him, he buried his head in the sand,he made some very bad choices and made the situation much,much worse,he hid things, letters and his actions.we are in the midst of trying to deal with all the practical issues but the emotional side of this is just as traumatic.

i took out a credit card a few years ago,i'm on benifits due to my disability,the bank gave me a limit that was more than the money i have in over a year! no, i didn't take it,i told them it was too much.

my husband has admitted that he can't control himself with a credit card,he's never said that before. how many more people out there know this to be true of themselves? the worry for me is that we get through this with BR or a IVA and he could create this situation again. he's a grown man,i can't stop him taking credit cards and loans, yes, the buck does stop with him.


i have a neuro condition,i'm in a wheelchair,i have different aids for getting around indoors etc, my car is vital to me,i can't get out without it. yes if you can manage without a car you can save a lot of money,we had time without a car many years ago before i became ill,we had 2 little children,we coped then.i remember the how thrilled we were when we got a car-it's something our grown up children still talk about. but, it isn't possible for everyone to manage without a car.

i felt so frightened and alone,this site has been a huge help to me,emotionally and practically .thankyou

now

crumbling wrote: »

2 weeks since br and i've just about managed food, petrol and the mundane stuff on the budget i hoped to stick to.

its only a small step i know and not that big an achievement but i actually feel quite proud of myself in an odd way:o

Only 50 weeks to go :T

kepar

Another thing and this applies to a lot of posters on here. Car insurance,if your car insurance is over £500 a year how are you going to pay it?
You cannot have a monthly direct debit without notifying the company you are br, in which case they may refuse you or put the premium up. Failure to disclose this is against your terms of bankruptcy, otherwise the only way of paying is with a lump sum.
As stated this only applies if your car insurance is over £500 a year, so for a lot of posters/readers on here they need to think about what they will do when their insurance is next due.

kepar

I agree your husband is a grown man, and unfortunately for me reading your post reminds me of how I was. But now 2 years after going br I look back and realise what a mess of my life I have made. I do have a credit card, Vanquis let me have one 6 months ago with a small limit. I carry it when I am about in the car, it is an emergency back up.
My wife thinks I will take more credit out because of how I was pre br, but I have been given a chance to live again stress free and I am not going to waste this opportunity. For the first time in a long while I have money in the bank, not a lot but it is mine not credit. I am careful what I buy and wait for things rather than impulse buying. Br has taught me a lot and I would say the most important lesson is --appreciate what you have got, do not worry what cars , holidays etc others have enjoy what you have.

Because one day those others may find themselves in you shoes , only you will have gone through it and moved on.