Advice - Survive on a low budget..

Soph86_2

I make my sandwhiches the night before - if you freeze bread, you can butter and fill it frozen, wrap it in (cheap!) tin foil and then stick it in the fridge overnight - it is still really fresh in the morning. Just avoid using tomatoes and any other soggy things. If I want tomatoes, I cut them up and wrap them in foil seperately, then when I come to eat my sandwhich I put them in then. Saves soggy sandwhiches!

zoominov

Cheers for the advice guys i wanted to pay off my credit card today but have lost my debit card so i have to wait till Tuesday and Wednesday till it arrives and pay my mum £100 then i'll only be left with £56 for the month how am i going to survive with that plus my mobile phone bill...thats going to be tough..

Any advice

honeybear68

Please get with real world I have been reading this all day and it seems you really haven't taken anything on board, there just seems one excuse after another can't do it/won't do or is it just can't be bothered, sorry if this seems harsh but there are people on here that are taking advice on board and using it, I wish I had £56.00 for the month But then I don't live at home and am married with responsibilities and have faced up to the fact that none of us can everything we want, if you can't afford the phone get rid of it ot go over to payg this way it may control the way you use it, you need to get your prorities right.##

sorry if this seems harsh but sometimes the truth does hurt

£56 / 28days = £2.00 per day.

SeriouslySeekingtoSave

honeybear68 wrote: »

Please get with real world I have been reading this all day and it seems you really haven't taken anything on board,
sorry if this seems harsh but sometimes the truth does hurt

That may be weeney bit harsh HoneyBear; I know it can be frustrating when you see people maybe not doing what you see as very obvious but it does seem like the OP is taking on board some of the advice given and will hopefully keep it up. Don’t forget it is sooo easy to get into debt and so hard to discipline yourself not to spend. It’s Martins mantra how people should learn money saviness at school and just aren’t and then when they hit 16 it’s like being in a pool of piranha’s all wanting to take a bite!

So let’s focus on the good.

• You are paying off your CC and not paying interest – Yah! :beer:
• You know how much money you have and are now taking steps to try to keep within that so you don’t overspend and get into debt – That’s great! :T
• You are going to pay your mother rent – I know it’s easier to not do it but it really is a good habit to get into. If you agree to pay someone then keep your word if it is at all possible

I can fully sympathise with much of what you say. I know how easy it is to not make a lunch and then buy a sandwich, how tempting it is to buy a bag or nice clothes. I’ve never been one for worrying much about my hair but I do understand that for some others it is a crisis to not have one. The point is to take a realistic look at your income and tailor what you can do to that. It may mean going without for a little while but you may be surprised what you can afford if you discipline yourself to cut out what you really don’t need.

Reading your post I would have to say that I do agree with your mother regarding your credit card (sorry ), I don’t think it’s the best thing for you to have right now. I would strongly suggest either cutting it in half or giving it to your mother. Try not to think of this as a ‘losing my independence’ and think of it more as a ‘adult teaching herself how to be disciplined with money to avoid getting into the debt that has damaged so many peoples lives on this forum’. Just read around, I’m sure you’ll see what I mean.

Use your debit card instead of your credit card and ensure that you don’t have an overdraft facility on your bank account, or if you absolutely must have one, make sure you know how much you owe and that you don’t get charged fees for using it.

If you have a set time that you receive your income try to arrange to have all of your outgoings to happen the day after this comes in. For instance I am paid at the end of the month and all of my major expenses are taken out on the first. The few that I can’t get changed I know are coming and take that into account. Once you have paid all of your expenses then you know how much ‘spending money’ you have left.

Try to save – even just a little bit, put it in a decent account and don’t spend this money.

As has been suggested to you make a list of what you want (not need, I have to agree) and then prioritise and work out how you can make this list cheaper for you so you can afford to do more of it. There is nothing more motivating than deciding that a cheaper haircut means you can do something else on your list that you didn’t have the money for before you made that decision. It’s like taking Martins grocery downsize challenge in a way, if you can go to a cheaper hairdresser and live without a blowdry without it being too much worse then do it and put the money you save towards something else you want. And these are ‘wants’. A haircut is not a ‘need’. It may be a very high ‘want’ but you can do without it if you have to. And I definitely would rather than get into debt because of it. Pay as you Go cellphones are sometimes also a good idea if you have cashflow issues.

There are lots of other ways to save money as other posters have suggested. Read them, take on the advice if you can (believe me, if you can put into practise good money habits now you will bless every poster who helped you do so) and remember if you do get the odd post that might seem a bit harsh there is good advice to had and it’s all free! Unlike credit card debt

Best of Luck!

londoner1998

theoretica wrote: »

HappyMJ is quite right - if you can, pay off the credit card in full and then spend on it again (but don't take out cash).

I suggest you put all the things you want in order of priority and then see how far down the list you can go and what has to be left out.

How did hairdressers manage to persuade people they are necessary? Longish hair can easily be tidied with a sharp pair of scissors.

I completely agree with this- Last time I got a haircut was 10 months ago, and I am managing just fine-Like someone else said, something more important always comes along, so I am letting it grow, wear it up try different things until I get a surplus to get it done.

If you really, really need it and can't wait until next month (which I strongly reccomend), have you thought of getting it cut by a trainee? Last month my OH got it done at Tony and Guy for free, by a very talented trainee- he came back home looking absolutely gorgeous, Mad Men style and didn't spend a penny on it...

londoner1998

zoominov wrote: »

Cheers for the advice guys i wanted to pay off my credit card today but have lost my debit card so i have to wait till Tuesday and Wednesday till it arrives and pay my mum £100 then i'll only be left with £56 for the month how am i going to survive with that plus my mobile phone bill...thats going to be tough..

Any advice

Hey
It can be done-

for the hair, as I said, either wait (it is surprising how quickly next month comes around when it comes to hair) OR go and find yourself a place where they are giving free hair cuts by trainees- many are surprisingly good, they are supervised and they cost nothing. They need you and much as you need them!!

As for the food, organise yourself and do it at home, but if you are out, may be try and get your food from the supermarket to make it yourself (I don;t know if you are working or not)- this is always cheaper than food on the go...
You'll quickly see how this saves you pennies and eventually pounds...

CyberHelen

Having read all these posts i'm afraid i agree with everyone of them.

I actually constantly live on £120 a month for everything i want and need to do. That has to cover all my food, groceries, washing powder etc and leisure activities - it works out at £30 a week. I don't have credit cards and i work only in cash -when it is gone it is gone and i cannot take any more out. If i have any left over at the end of the week (which occasionally i do - though not often) I take out less the next week or put it aside into a money box for if i have a week when i need a bit extra.

I can understand how frustrating it is for you not being able to do what you want - but i am in the position i am in because i became ill and had to stop work. I now have debts that are astronomical and it started because i tried to use a credit card to ease the lack of cash when my income dropped by 73%

Trust me - you don't want to be where i am now.
Like others before me - i urge you to pay off the balance in full this month and cut the thing up - it is not worth it.
Out of your £156 left - give your mum the rent.

As you live at home - i'm assuming what you have to pay out on food is for when you are out and about, at work etc. If you actually have to buy food for the household (i.e your mum doesn't buy your food) then allocate £30 to that. Next allocate money to friends/family you borrowed money from then don't borrow it again. After that allocate to your mobile bill, i'm assuming you are on contract - if you are PAYG, then allocate the minimum top up and use texts not calls as they are cheaper and make sure you use your free allowances. As for the haircut it can wait another 4 weeks - mine waited from Feb last year until the week before Christmas, and came out of the money I knew i was getting for Christmas. If you have any left after this divide it by 4.33 and that is your weekly budget for the next month. Have that amount in your purse and when you've spent it - don't spend any more and don't borrow - if this means you can't go out into a club/pub/cinema etc - then go round a friends and stay in and watch a video or something - it's cheap and fun. It's only 1 month. Next month you will have more - because you won't have borrowed, will have no credit card to worry about and will be able to pay rent etc and have more fun.

1 or 2 months hardship now is better than numerous years of hardship, stress and worry of accumulating debt. You don't want to be going to court because of debt in 5 or 10 years - get it right now and pull your belt in.

woodenhill

You seem to have annoyed a few people on here havent you?
I agree with what has been said. Take it on board and stop feeling sorry for yourself. There are many with much more serious worries (financial and other). Get a grip and sort yourself out befoe it is too late!! :mad:

Linnyg

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2974082

Try this thread for a free haircut offer. If there are none near by then as previous posters have suggested look out for salons advertising free or greatly reduced haircuts with trainees. You could even go in and ask if they do this, or try a local FE college, mine does cheap haircuts with NVQ trainees.

Have a good look around this site- you might be surprised at the many ways to satisfy needs and wants for much less, or even for free!

rising_from_the_ashes

rosyw wrote: »

Sorry to say this, but this thread has made me really cross!! you don't NEED to go out, you don't NEED a haircut, etc., and why should your mum not get paid the rent which you must have agreed to pay???
NEEDS seem to be getting muddled with WANTS. If you don't go out you won't feel so bad in the mornings and can make yourself that sandwich instead of buying one, and why is it sooooo much hassle to sell something you don't need??

honeybear68 wrote: »

£56 / 28days = £2.00 per day.

This is where I usually end up for the last couple of weeks in the month (and sometimes even less) - it can be done.

londoner1998 wrote: »

I completely agree with this- Last time I got a haircut was 10 months ago, and I am managing just fine

Finally had mine cut last week for the 1st time since beginning of March last year (and only managed it as used Christmas money) - again, it can be done and isn't the end of the world.

Some harsh things have been said but I'm afraid I also have to agree with what Rosyw and others have said - what would you do if you told your mum you weren't paying her rent & she said, "OK, but there's no money to buy groceries then"?

You're not hugely in debt and it can be easily remedied with a couple of months staying in/not spending - as others have said, knock it on the head now before you end up being £000's in debt.

A lot of good advice has been given but saying things like you can't get up in the morning or "it's too much hassle" doesn't really cut it IMHO.