So stressed :-/

SimIsOnTheUp

Btw -

Can't believe I was considering applying for a loan - to pay off the PayDay loan, earlier today.. :-/

Have seen sense since then thank goodness!

Sim

bikerman_2

SimIsOnTheUp wrote: »

Thanks Bikerman.

It does feel strange doing everyday stuff sober. Went to the Docs / town yesterday with my mate (she's been there - rehab / nearly 2 years sober), and it was a lovely day but I still felt a bit odd / raw / vulnerable / exposed due to being out and about sober.

Did / do you go to AA?

I did, but have always been in two minds with the whole HP concept. Might have to go back though, as Christmas is going to be tough.

Thanks again,

Sim.

I thought long and hard about AA but in the end saw my GP who refered me to a councillor - I'd realised that it wasn't the drink that was actually the problem, it was more a sign of deeper underlying problems and I was using the drink to avoid dealing with these. During and after the counselling sessions I learnt about myself and faced my problems but from a drink aspect I learnt that its one small step at a time - six days drunk is better than seven days drunk, two nights off the booze is better then none and I learnt that its ok to make a mistake and take a step back sometimes. The big thing though was I learnt what situations triggered my drinking (it was partly habitual and partly social) so I stopped all contact with my friends (told then why first!) for 6 months and took up a hobby that I threw myself into (gym) and it broke the cycle of guilt/please and habit.

I think the thing is to find what works for you and to try it, remember there is no quick fix but always move forward compared to last week, month or even year. If I drink now I still end up getting smashed and know I always will but these days I avoid starting in the first place and can honestly say I don't miss the drink and feel so much happier for being sober.

Good luck.

Sally_A

Good luck SimisontheUp, have read your threads here and on other threads, I'm rooting for you.

Re the £200 food bill - my first suggestion is to get a freezer 2nd hand or free, that way you can take advantage of all the reduced items.

Being a tight!!!!!, the best times for reduced stickers are 2.00pm for first or second reductions, after 6pm for less - I've never ventured into our local at 9.55pm to see if they practically give it away.

Recent finds at about 1500hrs.

Medium chicken £1.50 (4 meals)
Lean beef mince £1.25 (4 meals)
Ready meal curries 45p (says serves 2 on packet, I don't think so).
Pork loin chops £1.25 for 4 (4 meals)
Loaves 10p
4 bread rolls 19p

So that's 16 meat portions for under £6.

and loads more - all freezeable.

Buy veg to accompany the above at a greengrocers, usually cheaper and you can buy loose and avoid waste.

Buy passata and herbs rather than jars of pasta sauce, and get the cheapest curry sauce available, but play with herbs to get it to your taste (buy refill packs - cheaper than jars and keep sealed with a bulldog clip).

A slow cooker is great, you can even roast a whole small/medium chicken in a large one: but I still feel a freezer would be the best first item to get.

Don't forget, frozen meat can be refrozen after cooking, either as meat or in a sauce.

My cheapest meal to feed 3 or 4.

10 Frankfurters £1.79 (can be cheaper on offer)
Carton of Passata £0.41
Tub of mushrooms £0.93
Pasta £0.50
Sweet Pepper £0.80
A shake of sweetcorn from a frozen bag, say 25p tops.
Herbs incl garlic 10p tops.
Any other veg going cheap, eg courgette.

...so 3 -4 main hot meals for a fiver.

It takes 20 mins max to prepare, and freezes well (ex pasta).

JulieGeorgiana

I average at £40 a week for groceries and £60 every 2 months for butchers meat. That's less then £200 a month for 3 of us. I suggest you cut down your budget to £150 a month and go to the OS threads!

If you spend a lot of money on takeaways, then try the takeaway secret thread... how to make your own takeaways! Excellent book!

I hope you deal with your inner demons and come out on top. You have taken your first step to sorting your problems. You should be proud!

Binky111

o yes you can save a lot of money by making a good stew which you can top up with bargain things when they are on offer. and if it seems cheap to do it is very healthy to because vegetables and soem meat in a stew does not have all the e numbers that you pay for when you buy cheap but expensive food if you see what i mean in nice packets.

Robert_Roberston

Get yourself down to Aldi / Lidl for food, they do some cracking feeds for a low price, the meats are the same as supplied to Asda et al (same company).

eviltwin77

Hiya Sim,
just wanted to say, stop letting it get you down, my husband and I had huge Debts it got to a point where i couldn't afford to even pay for my Gas and Electric Bills or Council Tax etc., in the long run my Husband took out an Insolvency Agreement (IVA) and since then things have been fine and Life is a lot easier to cope with. If you want to know more about IVA's there is loads on the Internet to choose from just have a look through them you never know they might help, good luck ;o)

MFWannabe

SimIsOnTheUp wrote: »

Hiya Snowy,

You're right. £200 a month on food is high!

My mate has been telling me about how much money she saves / the convenience of using a slow - cooker for stews / soups

Can't believe how much money I used to waste on unhealthy takeaways..

Cheers,

Sim.

Hi Sim

Netto's are selling a slow cooker for £10 from Monday. You could really save yourself some money on groceries with one of these; you can get away with using cheaper cuts of meat too

JulieGeorgiana

FREEZ wrote: »

Hi Sim

Netto's are selling a slow cooker for £10 from Monday. You could really save yourself some money on groceries with one of these; you can get away with using cheaper cuts of meat too

I love my Pressure Cooker, makes the cheap meats melt on your tongue... well worth the expenditure.

Try this it even has a steaming basket (makes perfect rice!)

Sometimes you have to spend money to save money. My PC Saves me £10 a month on butchers meat alone, and after 6 months I still have so much meat I am thinking of cutting my butchers shop by £20 for the next 2 shops.

Also buying from the butchers costs the same or less then the supermarkets, and the meat is so much better it lasts longer.

We can make a 2kg chicken last 7 days (3 people, plus 2 portions of leftover Nutty Chicken Curry) that's 23 portions of food from a £5.50 Chicken!

SimIsOnTheUp

Thank You ladies and gents for all your help, kindness and practical support.

Sorry for not replying earlier, but I fell off the wagon last Fri / Saturday and have since been very ill (having to stupidly take Fri / Monday off work..I was also meant to work Sunday, but misread my schedule and didn't..Job could now be at risk).

I'm so b loody worried about all this debt, especially the PayDay loan (MoneyShop) debt of £500 that's going to be going through my bank from this Wednesday onwards. I just can't afford to pay it and eat between now and 31st Dec (next wages). Very low. Any advice would be appreciated - Copied and pasted my post from here -

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2735257

- as below -


Hi guys,

Very stressed here, as it's crunch time.

'SnV' - thanks for your advice in the past regarding my MoneyShop loan.

My loan was for £500 (5x £100 cheques) back in May - paid off in June, and then stupidly ran up again in July.

Since July, I've paid £85 each month to 'extend' the loan, having not been able to pay any of it off.

While I was trying to avoid losing my A&L / Santander bank account (fully Visa card - first normal account in years), I've got to the point where this week I'm stuck and I'm getting so low over this.

This Wednesday 22nd December, MoneyShop are due to present the first £100 cheque to their bank, and then the other cheques are due to be cashed on the 29th, 30th 31st of Dec and the 4th of Jan.

I don't have the money in my Santander account to pay these, and there is no way I can raise it by Wednesday.

Due to having quite a bit of other debt too, I've decided to bite the bullet and go for a Debt Relief Order first thing in January.

Should I cancel my Visa Card / Cheques tomorrow, before the first cheque is due to go through, or instead let the cheques go through (that is *if* the bank honour them) and end up owing the bank the £500 + charges?

I'd obviously rather the latter, as dealing with Santander is probably going to be a lot easier than dealing with MoneyShop. At least if the cheques go through, MoneyShop have been paid and then I can treat the bank debt as a seperate debt to be included in the DRO (as recommended by the CAB a few months back).

I also need to change bank accounts.

Aside from the Santander account, I have another account with the Co-op (Basic, 'Cashminder' account) which I'd rather use for my wages (next due on 31st Dec).

However, I can't remember for sure, but my instinct tells me that I think when I went into MoneyShop originally last May, the guy there took my Co-op Visa Debit Card details as well as the Santander account details (he also made me fill out a 'Direct Debit Mandate' type form for Santander too I think).

So, that rules out my Co-op account for now, as they might try and raid that account too. This is gutting as that account /Co-op's staff were excellent, and it wouldn't let me go overdrawn.

I do have a third bank account, with HBOS (again, a basic CardCash account) which I've had for years, and I could use this for my wages next week.

I'm still waiting on a new PIN (can't remember my old one, as it's been an age since using it, and ordered new PIN a week last Saturday), so hopefully that'll be here soon.

HBOS account only has a Visa Electron 'unembossed' type card, but as much as I'd like to pay the MoneyShop loan off and keep my full, normal bank account with Santander, I just don't have the money and so I'd rather go bust and start again.

I was even thinking of 'starting afresh' with a brand new 'basic, no bells and whistles' bank account, and applying to Lloyds as my friend said they were very good. However, apparently Lloyds are connected to Santander? :-/

This is where an addiction to booze gets you...Due to stupidly falling off the wagon last Fri / Sat, I ended up taking Fri / tonight off work and so now my job could be at risk too.

I can't stop crying, and given that I'm a relatively intelligent 37 year old bloke, I should not have got myself into this mess.

Sorry to witter.

Any advice regarding what on earth I do would be most appreciated.

Many Thanks,

Sim x