i need help and options!! MY SOA ADDED

lynzpower

carter - are you sure you only spend 50 a month on food- this is some mean feat, Ive been trying to get to that for months, and we barely manage it ever . Are you SURE this is all you are spending?

david_hellier

Hi and welcome. According to my figures you have £156.26 per week to spend on food, clothes, going out, entertaining the lodger, etc,etc. To prevent overspend, I suggest you write this amount in a little note book on a Monday and keep a note of what you buy by subtraction. If you have any over, use it to pay your most expensive debts (HSBC) in addition to the budgetted amount. Stop using CCs for any more purchases and maintain the repayment level, never the minimum.

Good luck, the figures are as follows:

income weekly monthly
self 1300.00
partner
lodger 250.00






total 0.00 1550.00 divide by 4.33
£357.70

£357.70 total weekly income

spend weekly monthly
rent/mortgage 549.90
council tax 0.00
elec 25.00
gas 25.00
water 10.00
secured loans 0.00
TV licence 10.99
fines 0.00
phone and bb 30.00
mob 60.00
amex 81.00
visa 1 51.00
visa 2 30.00

















total 0.00 872.89 divide by 4.33
£201.44

£201.44 total weekly spend

Start= income - spend = £156.26 per week

carter_3

thank you all for the advise so far, i will start a spend diary on monday morning.

im just starting to get really worried now it coming up to crimbo as i have no money for presents yet but i dont want any one to know about my situation.

beverleyhills

carter wrote:

thank you all for the advise so far, i will start a spend diary on monday morning.

Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today

im just starting to get really worried now it coming up to crimbo as i have no money for presents yet but i dont want any one to know about my situation.

Give them a promise, offer something that you can do for them.
Tell them that you have made a donation to charity on their behalf. Choice of charity and size of donation is what you can afford

coral

definatly start a spending diary, i started on the 1st (i use a google spreadsheet so I can access it wherever I can have internet access) and have been quite suprised by my spending, i never realised I spent so much on food and socialising. Now I can start to budget realistically and ensure my incoming matches my outgoings.

I pay a very low rent, which I am grateful for as it is allowing me to pay off my debts - I could not cope with a morgage right now! good luck

jet77

Well, you're in the right place and there are many people here worse off than you. Don't sound so stressed there really are people who can help who visit here regularly.

I don't know if you've seen on here about when people have their lightbulb moment (or LB moment) - most people who will reply to your post totally understand the feeling you've got right now of total 'OMG everythings a disaster and I'm never going to get out of this hole' - I had mine in May.

Anyway, I know expert I can just tell you what helped me and is still helping me:

1. This link http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid1089226742,17582,
2. Doing a weekly budget and a weekly menu plan (i.e. Mon - 3 pounds train fare, packed lunch @ work, beans/toast - Total spend = 3 pounds)
3. Posting how much I'm spending on the daily 'how much have you/will you spend today' thread on here everyday (I couldn't stick to keeping a diary on my own and this helps me - if I don't want to declare to the world what I'm spending my money on, I just write the amount I've spent and whether it's good or bad)
4. Packed lunches, packed lunches, budget, budget
5. Is your mobile on a contract? I think this link could help to reduce the cost: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid1122310650,23242,
6. We all fall off the wagon sometimes. It's very common to have your lightbulb moment, feel gutted and scared and then slowly get a feeling that everything's in control but then a couple of weeks down the line slide a bit so BEWARE!!!!
7. Visit this site religiously and read peoples signatures.
8. Get an extra job in a pub but don't get into going out clubbing after work. Make sure you're nice to the customers and some people out there do still tip.

Don't worry everything will be fine even though I bet you don't believe me right now.

Best of Luck,

jpet xx