Newbie and in need of advice please

dollybeads

Have just completed my snowball, yay. DFD of October 2013. this is so helpful, and I can concentrate on tackling the most expensive first. This is very quick to do and an absolute utter godsend. Have updated my SOA with changes to date and re calculated. Anyone thinking of doing this, go ahead now its ace :heartpuls DFW. The inspiration keeps on coming.............

Soph86_2

Hi Dolly,

I just wanted to say congratulations for biting the bullet and dealing with your debts. I was in a similar situation to you, and still have problems with my spending habits. If I have money in my purse, I'll spend it, on anything.

Also, congrats for owning up to your other half. I'm 18 months into my DMP now and still haven't plucked up the courage to tell anyone - I get my comfort from reading other people stories on here and knowing that there are many many others in the same situation.

I just thought I would share with you the things I've done to save money - I'm sure you've been told them all already.......

Freeze everything that you can when you do a grocery shop and seperate packs of meat into portions. Put what you want for the next day in the fridge the night before and it will be in perfect condition the next day. I was throwing away so much food, this saved me an absolute fortune. Most things freeze, and they actually stay fresher that way than leaving them in the fridge for a week.

Take a shopping list with you when you go grocery shopping, and stick to it!

Any vegetables and potatoes you have left by the end of the week can easily be made into a soup - just boil them, add chicken stock and blend. I brought myself a £5 hand blender from Argos and this is my favourite kitchen tool. Soup makes a yummy lunch for work, freezes well, and is healthy too. Either warm it in the microwave or put it in a Thermos flask and it will stay hot until at least lunchtime.

The sealed pot challenge - I put all my loose change in this and I was amazed how much I saved in a month without noticing it had gone missing. All went towards the debts :-)

Changed my gas and electric suppliers, came off economy 7 and put my heating on in small bursts all day (even when out) instead of having it on continually all evening. This not only makes it warmer when you get in from work but the house heats up really quickly when you put the heaing on for 10 minutes when you get home. I halved my gas bill doing this. I also make sure all the doors are shut in the house, as this helps to keep the rooms warm.

Spending diary - it's amazing how less inclined you are to spend that last £2 in your purse when you have to write it in your diary.

NSD - these are great, and I get addicted to seeing how many I can do.

I can't think of anything else at the moment, but I hope something on here is a help to you.

Best Wishes,
Soph

P.S. good luck with the Debt free journey!

dollybeads

Thank you Soph, thats very kind of you.

Some of the things you suggest i am just starting to do. It is staggering just how much each day i use to spend on food we didn't need and then threw it . Although just starting out, have made some real changes and my thinking is changing already. I am now starting to think that this is my money, and I want to hang on to it rather than giving it all to the bank or ccs!

The spending diary is excellent and having a big effect. NSD for me today and set challenge for 10 this month. Have set budget for groceries of £200.00 which is half of old spend! Shopping list and menu already prepared.

I am absolutely hopeless with money, but i hope through this process it can change for good. I am truly inspired by all the other lovely people on here and their stories, it is really heartwarming just to have a listening ear and a few kind words of encouragement. Thank you for your post and wishing you success with your challenges. Dolly x :wave:

Ps forgot to say, will be checking out the electricity, water etc this week as sure we can save on these too. My OH is V V thrifty, so always telling me to shut doors, turn off lights, only boil what i need in the kettle, I have alot to learn!

Gingerjar

Hi Dolly

Great to see you are still zooming forward with your new life! So spooky reading the things you are going through as, again, I can see parallels with me. Tho' I suppose all of us reformed (!) characters all walk the same path of going bonkers with cah, getting in a pickle, getting scared, LBM, doing something about it and then feeling happier and better at being in charge.

I used to be almost phobic about going into the bank but after my final bank charge horror, I went in, changed my bank account from an expensive fee one to a free one, got a 0% credit card and set up a repayment plan. It changed everything, so well done on plucking up the courage and taking charge with your bank appointment on Thurs.

Your sons sound lovely and want you not lots of expensive pressies. Working when they were little does not make you a bad person, it makes you a great role model and you have obviously raised great kids so don't be hard on yourself.

Well Doll, keep up the hard work.

Love Ginge x:j

Verbatim

Just watch out on thursday that the bank don't sell you a new loan!

Gingerjar

That's true, verbatim. Watch out for the dreaded consolidation loan!

dollybeads

Gingerjar wrote: »

That's true, verbatim. Watch out for the dreaded consolidation loan!

Thanks Ginge and Verbatim. Have done the consolidation thing before, and it just costs more long term and extends the amount of time you are in debt. Not only that gave a false sense of security last time that financially i was doing ok!!! Am not going to go down that road again for anything.

Not this time, just want to ask if i can negotiate a lower rate of interest on it, I have one on 7.8% and the other is 19.5% (if you can believe that). It was taken out in early stage of divorce when I needed car etc, to be honest would have accepted anything. All my own fault.

I also need to check how I change my mortgage so that I am not liable if my exhusband defaults (can't remember what this is called but suggested by my solicitor) and my ex's job is a bit precarious at present, so might be safer in the long run. Also I have a joint account for our mortgage, he has been spendly recklessly from this and want to hand this account over to him (he has agreed) will still pay mortgage but don't want to be on this account.

If at the end of the day, bank say no to a better rate, its not a problem I can afford to overpay the schedule from my snowball (if I am careful) and will look around from other banks. I am surprising even myself with what I am now able to do. All thanks to support from lovely DFWers like yourselves. It really does change lives.

Thanks for the other comments Ginge, thats very sweet

dollybeads

An update on what I have changed so far since starting this time last week. This is more for me, so apologies for anyone reading this, It just helps me to keep a list, helps me to focus

• Transferred 6300 from my M&S card to 0% for 13 months (will save approx £100 in interest per month :j have set up tart alert also
• Bought sealed pot and have approx £14.00
• Keeping a spending diary, this really helps
• Fessed up to my OH who is helping me and joining me in the sealed pot challenge yey
• Put 27 items on ebay over weekend, so far £45 in bids (tons more to put on)
• Set up box of unwanted gift items from Christmas to either regift, give to charity or sell on ebay (will donate a portion to charity on ebay if I do this to assuage the guilt)
• Set budget of £50.00 per week for Groceries and budgets for children and grandchildren of £50.00 each for Christmas and birthdays
• Paid no parking charges, parked further away and walked
• Snowballed my SOA and now DFD of September 2013
• From looking at SOA, spending diary and setting budgets can save £350.00 to pay off debts per month.
• Joined a number of challenges on DFW (NSD 5/10, GC 54/200)
• Appt at Bank tomorrow, want to negotiate change to APR of loan, (wont go down consolidation route) also discuss setting up separate bank accounts for savings for christmas, car, etc and OD charges which I think are erroneous
• All meals since sunday from freezer or cupboard
• Found cheaper contact lenses saving £15 per month

It just helps me to get it down in writing as so easy to forget what small changes can do, I feel so very much better. Thank you so much to each and everyone of you who have read my posts and offered support or advice, I can't put into words what a difference this has made for me. I have at last found the courage to start moving forward. Have a good evening and an MSE one Dolly x

MFWannabe

Well done Dolly. You are making great progress. Good luck on Thursday and keep posting:T

dollybeads

FREEZ wrote: »

Well done Dolly. You are making great progress. Good luck on Thursday and keep posting:T

Bless you thanks, will post tomorrow after visit to bank eeeek :eek: