First time post

Magicguitarman_2

That's kinda the answer I wanted. I suspect I'd neglect a spreadsheet, but at the same time it's good to keep up with this easily over a long period of time.

david_hellier

Magicguitarman wrote: »

That's kinda the answer I wanted. I suspect I'd neglect a spreadsheet, but at the same time it's good to keep up with this easily over a long period of time.

I have an excel spreadsheet with a budget one one tab and a spending diary on the other. PM me with an email address if you want a copy.

josephine82

Hi Magicguitarman

Just a note on eating gluten free on a budget- I am gluten and lactose free and I manage to eat well on £125 a month. I buy some gluten free pasta and noodles and bread which are a bit pricey, but if you mix up those meals with other options like rice and potatoes for your staple carbs you can usually do quite well.

You should register online with all of the gluten free companies- they all will send you a pack of products to try.

If you are a diagnosed coeliac can you get products on prescription? I am not an actual coealiac just gluten intolerant but I remember seeing that you could get loads of GF stuff on prescription. Not sure what you pay in terms of prescription charges though.

Hope that helps x

Magicguitarman_2

Thanks Josephine, I'm getting better at this already. I used to rely on pasta rather a lot!

Free2011

Good start. This is what I'll be doing this week. Getting all my paperwork together and seeing what my actual financial situation is. Well done you.

Magicguitarman_2

The good news is I think I've survived the month, money wise. The bad news is the bike is taking ages to fix.

Any ideas of how to cut down my interest payments with a poor-ish credit score? Don't think I'd get a new card, and the application process would hurt the rating.

Tixy

Are both your current credit cards still open? what is the limit on the £800 18.7% card?

If its not at its limit you could slow stooze money from the more expensive card to this one. That is use the cheap card to buy your petrol/groceries and then use the money from your bank that would have bought these to pay off the expensive card. That would help a bit.

Another option is that you could try ringing the card companies and seeing if they would drop the interest at all. They occasionally will agree to this. The possible downside is that if they don't they might even decide to rate jack you at some point - if this happens you'd need to opt out of the increase but then couldn't spend on the card anymore.

I don't suppose you've had any other cards in the past that are still showing as open on your credit file - i.e ones you paid off but didn't formally close? If you did then you could ask these card providers for a promo BT deal.

Magicguitarman_2

The limit is £1000, is there a way to use what I have on there, I don't know if using the card to buy is a good idea. But I'll take guidance on that! I have tried the rate thing, nothing shifted and I have no old cards.

Thanks for your help!

Magicguitarman_2

I am currently working on the getting a credit score. Then I should know if there's any point in trying to get a card to shift my debts to. Or if I'm stuck with this interest for the foreseeable future.

Tixy

Magicguitarman wrote: »

The limit is £1000, is there a way to use what I have on there, I don't know if using the card to buy is a good idea. But I'll take guidance on that! I have tried the rate thing, nothing shifted and I have no old cards.

Thanks for your help!

Hi - sorry hadn't seen this.

If you have £200 spare on your cheaper card you could buy say your petrol for one month on this card instead of your debit card. You then would need to ensure you paid the same unused amount from your bank account to the more expensive credit card.
I would say only consider doing this is you are certain you can be disciplined enough to pay off the second card and not just spend the extra money.

I would say the saving although not huge is worth having. Its like doing a balance transfer from a high rate to a middle rate but without incurring balance transfer fees.