Can someone please review my SOA

bluenoseam

Cooking isn't that difficult, honestly, your problem here may be youre trying to run before you can walk - you don't start off making fancy dishes, start with the basics! When you master the basics then you can start all Jamie Oliver in the kitchen - until then, based on your screenie, head out, try & find Maw Broon's Cookbook & get yersel started!

Entertainment is very high, lets put it this way, if you reduce that to £100 a month you'll raise over £3k, you've mentioned you have tons of DVD's so use them, i'm gonna take a wild guess that you're spending that down the pub/clubs (sorry if you're not though!), now i'm not gonna preach responsible drinking - but 3 crates of lager is only £20 in Tesco/Asda!

Your emergency fund, what exactly do you consider an emergency? I know if i was in debt i'd consider that an emergency, that extra money could go towards paying a bulk off your debt total.

If you make the changes i've suggested (as others have) you'll easilly clear that debt inside a calendar year, however the underlying problem is the reason for your spending which it might be worth seeing if you can get some help with. Again, it's guesswork, but i guess a lot of it has to do with you having too much time on your hands - you don't spend £400 a month on "entertainment" if you're not bored oot yer skull, but there's no need to go all responsible boring git, you can still go down the pub with your mates, just limit it to a couple of hours a week & best bet is to set yourself a limit, i.e. withdraw an amount of money prior to going out, leave your bank card at home & stick to that budget. Similarly if you're clever you can get the boys round 2-3 times a month, watch a few movies or the footie - granted no chance to eye up the women, but hey, small sacrifices, if that's too much of a problem there's none of us who can help you wi that!

Clarie_2

I found internet shopping to be the winning way of budgeting on groceries - I plan meals, write the list of things I need, and then buy them online. (just discovered mysupermarket.com, which is much easier to use than the tesco website tho I still end up getting it all from tesco).

The best thing is, when you go over budget, you can just take things out your trolley till you are back under. No more spontaneous aisle purchases!

If we decide to go in person, then I still do my shopping list on line, print it off and take it with me, and if it's not on the list it doesn't go in the trolley! (on strict days anyway:o)

Oh and freezing bread is a brilliant idea, much less wasteful! I separate bacon and chicken pieces and everything and freeze as well. Maybe that's a little retentive, but it's much better than having to defrost whole packs of stuff and waste it.,

Clarie

PS Do you have credit good enough to transfer to a 0% credit card - saves wasting money on all that interest.

CH27

Clarie wrote: »

I found internet shopping to be the winning way of budgeting on groceries - I plan meals, write the list of things I need, and then buy them online. (just discovered mysupermarket.com, which is much easier to use than the tesco website tho I still end up getting it all from tesco).

The best thing is, when you go over budget, you can just take things out your trolley till you are back under. No more spontaneous aisle purchases!

If we decide to go in person, then I still do my shopping list on line, print it off and take it with me, and if it's not on the list it doesn't go in the trolley! (on strict days anyway:o)

Oh and freezing bread is a brilliant idea, much less wasteful! I separate bacon and chicken pieces and everything and freeze as well. Maybe that's a little retentive, but it's much better than having to defrost whole packs of stuff and waste it.,

Clarie

PS Do you have credit good enough to transfer to a 0% credit card - saves wasting money on all that interest.

I do that too:)

hostie

I keep a bag of frozen peas and a bag of frozen carrots in the freezer and try to have a carton of juice in so that when I am short of veg I can still get my 5+ portions of fruit and veg a day.

Also, you say you have a lot of meat in the fridge and freezer. That is great for this week but you will save money in future if you try to have a few veggie meals a week.

hostie

Also, you will find it easier to sell your DVDs on Amazon than on ebay. Ebay is best for most things, but for books and DVD Amazon make it really easy - you just type in the ISBN barcode.

westlothian

Clarie wrote: »

I found internet shopping to be the winning way of budgeting on groceries - I plan meals, write the list of things I need, and then buy them online. (just discovered mysupermarket.com, which is much easier to use than the tesco website tho I still end up getting it all from tesco).

The best thing is, when you go over budget, you can just take things out your trolley till you are back under. No more spontaneous aisle purchases!

If we decide to go in person, then I still do my shopping list on line, print it off and take it with me, and if it's not on the list it doesn't go in the trolley! (on strict days anyway:o)

Oh and freezing bread is a brilliant idea, much less wasteful! I separate bacon and chicken pieces and everything and freeze as well. Maybe that's a little retentive, but it's much better than having to defrost whole packs of stuff and waste it.,

Clarie

PS Do you have credit good enough to transfer to a 0% credit card - saves wasting money on all that interest.

I have very good credit I would imagine as I have never missed any payments at all and have had cards for many years. I might look into 0% deals etc.

westlothian

hostie wrote: »

Also, you will find it easier to sell your DVDs on Amazon than on ebay. Ebay is best for most things, but for books and DVD Amazon make it really easy - you just type in the ISBN barcode.

thanks!!! I am planning a weekend clear-out!!!

westlothian

hostie wrote: »

I keep a bag of frozen peas and a bag of frozen carrots in the freezer and try to have a carton of juice in so that when I am short of veg I can still get my 5+ portions of fruit and veg a day.

Also, you say you have a lot of meat in the fridge and freezer. That is great for this week but you will save money in future if you try to have a few veggie meals a week.

I am living from my freezer this week and next although i will buy fresh veg in. I dont quite manage 5 a day though.

westlothian

bluenoseam wrote: »

Cooking isn't that difficult, honestly, your problem here may be youre trying to run before you can walk - you don't start off making fancy dishes, start with the basics! When you master the basics then you can start all Jamie Oliver in the kitchen - until then, based on your screenie, head out, try & find Maw Broon's Cookbook & get yersel started!

Entertainment is very high, lets put it this way, if you reduce that to £100 a month you'll raise over £3k, you've mentioned you have tons of DVD's so use them, i'm gonna take a wild guess that you're spending that down the pub/clubs (sorry if you're not though!), now i'm not gonna preach responsible drinking - but 3 crates of lager is only £20 in Tesco/Asda!

Your emergency fund, what exactly do you consider an emergency? I know if i was in debt i'd consider that an emergency, that extra money could go towards paying a bulk off your debt total.

If you make the changes i've suggested (as others have) you'll easilly clear that debt inside a calendar year, however the underlying problem is the reason for your spending which it might be worth seeing if you can get some help with. Again, it's guesswork, but i guess a lot of it has to do with you having too much time on your hands - you don't spend £400 a month on "entertainment" if you're not bored oot yer skull, but there's no need to go all responsible boring git, you can still go down the pub with your mates, just limit it to a couple of hours a week & best bet is to set yourself a limit, i.e. withdraw an amount of money prior to going out, leave your bank card at home & stick to that budget. Similarly if you're clever you can get the boys round 2-3 times a month, watch a few movies or the footie - granted no chance to eye up the women, but hey, small sacrifices, if that's too much of a problem there's none of us who can help you wi that!

I do a fair amount of socialising and do spend quite a bit on the average night out I must admit. Thankfully my review of my debt was sparked by some of my mates wanting to "cut down spending on lager" and by others saving for babies and weddings.

I also have an addiction to the cinema. I might invest in one of those monthly cards as they would save me a few quid.

hostie

How are you getting on using up the freezer stores?

You said that you aren´t getting your five a day. You will probably find that once you start cooking for yourself you will get it.

I usually buy a carton of innocent smoothie with my weekly shop as a glass of it gives you two of your five a day. Even ordinary pure fruit juice counts as one. I also buy a bag of fresh spinach as a handful of it can be chucked in pasta, curry, sandwiches or plonked on the plate beside whatever else I am eating. Sometimes if I haven´t had much fruit or ve I just eat a few spinach leaves like crisps.

Have a look at what is involved when you socialise. Do you take bottles of spirits to parties when you could take wine. Could you take your own sweets or popcorn to cinema.

hostie