My Lightbulb

hypno06

Just a quick post to say please don't feel stupid about your situation. If you do, we will all have to and then we will just be "the stoopid board" rather than the DFW board!

The hardest part has been done, you are facing things full on and you will get there.

Remember that there are loads of people on here who have gotten themselves one way or another into this situation and who are happy to help in whatever way they can.

louisesfreedom

Thanks charl8888. I think you're right about the insurance. I've been with the same provider for about five years (strangely enough, via Lloyds TSB, who will very probably want rid of me anyway once all of this kicks in!). I think I could get a much better deal elsewhere. Current policy ends in May, so I need to get something better organised within the next couple of months.

Tustastic

Hi Louise, well done for posting. I'm no expert but as your outgoings appear to well exceed your income, looks like time to contact an organisation like CCS or Payplan for advice.
I sympathise hugely about the smoking - they used to be my fragrant friends. But I have given up more than once at times of stress - it somehow felt as though I was simplifying my life.
You can get free broadband from Orange if your monthly mobile payment is, I think, over £30 per month. Most radical action would be to get a PAYG mobile and use your bf's internet connection - or free at your local library!
HTH:)

natters_2

It seems really frightening at first - but eventually you come to terms with the situation and start cutting back - this place has been a complete godsend for me and without it I think I would have cracked under the stress!

Maybe not the ideal option - but for the smoking how about switching to rollups - I did and spend about £50 a month (still too much and I would love to give up - but a big drop from £165)

We owe just over £62,000 and have started our own DMP - the creditors don't stop the interest for quite a while and they will drive you bonkers with phone calls - but it does get easier

louisesfreedom

Thanks emmamcr & others. Just added a few comments of my own to explain a couple of things that I'm considering/planning (ought to have done this at the start, but was in such a rush to get the thing posted!).

Rent - £550.00 - This is too much for me, I think, and the house I'm in is really too big for me. I reckon that moving into a flat (or even a smaller house) is going to save me £150 at the very least. I did ponder on sharing (either renting out one of my rooms, or moving into a room in another house), but I need my own space for a lot of reasons, and don't want to end up suffering from stress/depression etc.


Council Tax - £65.00 - this is with the single person's discount.

Gas - £38.00 - could possibly get something cheaper, but I'm not allowed to change without the landlord's agreement. As I'm hoping to be moving soon, I'm not sure whether that will be a possibility.
Electric - £30.00 - same as gas
Water Rates - £55.00 I'm almost sure that a meter would be cheaper, but again would need the landlord's permission and it's probably a bit late now as I'd really like to move.

TV License - £11
Orange Mobile - £75.00 - contract is 'till about June. Need to get my negotiating skills well-honed before then!

BT Phone - £28.00
BT Internet - £26.98 I think that bt do a deal on combined phone/internet. Need to look into that, and into other possible suppliers.

Contents Insurance - £24.18 think I can get this cheaper

Food & Housekeeping - £160.00 This is me cutting back! I'm used to spending somewhere around £80 per week, living on ready-meals and buying lunch every day. £160 is my 'first guess' at living more carefully, taking packed lunches etc. Already did that last week and ate better than ever!

Prescriptions - £6.40

Clothing - £40.00
Hair, Make-Up, Dry-Cleaning - £40.00 I agree that there's loads of room for cutting back on these areas, and I should be able to get the £80 for both right down. Don't mind the thought of shopping in charity shops, colouring my own hair etc.

Travel - £27.00
Smoking - £165.00 I'd love to give up - for health and improved smell (!), and for saving money. Roll-ups could be a serious possibility in the short term.
Lottery - £10.00 This needs to go - need to cancel direct debit subscription. It'll be just my luck for my numbers to come up the following week!
Pocket Money - £45.00

I_was_a_fool

Welcome!

Quick thought. You should register with quidco, the cashback site. You can get £125 cashback for switching your contents insurance to Barclays & get a better deal too. Loads of other cash back deals also. Ebay sales will not be counted as income, you should save these up for an emergency fund/xmas/etc

Sharon

charl8888

You sound as if you are definitely on the right track already in that you know where you can save money and (importantly) have already started changing your habits, e.g. packed lunches.

Its a good idea to carrying on Ebay selling - its what I try to do now instead of going shopping (quite therapeutic!)

Re: the hair. Could you get your hairdresser to dye it to your natural colour in one go, and then you keep on dying it the same colour from home until its grown out?

By the way, out of interest, was there any one thing in particular that led to your sort of quiet lightbulb moment?

louisesfreedom

I_was_a_fool wrote:

Welcome!

Quick thought. You should register with quidco, the cashback site. You can get £125 cashback for switching your contents insurance to Barclays & get a better deal too. Loads of other cash back deals also. Ebay sales will not be counted as income, you should save these up for an emergency fund/xmas/etc

Sharon

Thanks for that. I've joined quidco - didn't even know it existed! My first thought was that I'm supposed to not spend money (!!!), but I can see that it will be useful for essentials that I need & can earn a bit back on. Will definitely look there when I'm doing my insurance shop-around. Great news on ebay too! thanks

louisesfreedom

charl8888 wrote:

You sound as if you are definitely on the right track already in that you know where you can save money and (importantly) have already started changing your habits, e.g. packed lunches.

* Taking a virtual bow! *

charl8888 wrote:

Its a good idea to carrying on Ebay selling - its what I try to do now instead of going shopping (quite therapeutic!)

Re: the hair. Could you get your hairdresser to dye it to your natural colour in one go, and then you keep on dying it the same colour from home until its grown out?

By the way, out of interest, was there any one thing in particular that led to your sort of quiet lightbulb moment?

I do get quite into ebay - it takes bloomin' ages to list everything and deal with it all, but well worth it when I've got some free time. I'm thinking of it as something I can spend my spare time on once the debt stuff is in the swing and I've got all the immediate priorities on this sorted out.

I'm not sure about the hair thing. I have a feeling that the hairdresser will say she can't do it all at once (they usually have some method of keeping repeat custom!), but I'm going to have a chat with her. Will also ask a couple of girls at work who might know about such things (the last thing I want at this stage is green hair!).

I think my 'lightbulb' came as a sort of combination of lots of things - having a new partner who lives very carefully on little money, having got to a stage where I was seeing that I literally had nothing left after direct debits (too long spending money on credit cards and not looking at what I was doing), and just generally being more aware of what I was wasting on stupid buys. That's the simple version, I suppose. I just know I feel a million times better than I did a month ago, and I've hardly even started!!!

angchris

hiya:D welcome to mse :T and well done for realising you have a problem with the ol pennies. it struck me that your mobile bill is high, my other half and i bought a cheapo motorola phone for me for xmas (was only £35 bargain) and now both of us are using the orange network there is a thing called magic numbers with which you can phone 2 nominated numbers for 15p an hour i have my other half and my son as my designated numbers and its saving me a fortune as hubby works away from home so we can phone each other every evening for 55 mins or so for 15p then hang up and phone again if need be:j
also i have dyed my hair since i was about 13 which is 20 odd years now have never had a problem with home dyes just get a decent brand im a kind of mousey brown and go a copper blonde and it always turns out great, id say give it a go but if your not sure try going to your local college where they do beauty and hairdressing courses and you will be able to get a fab cut/blowdry and legs waxed etc for a fraction of the cost of salons, it might take a little bit longer as they are still training but they are always supervised by a qualified hairdresser.
also check to see if you are paying ppi (payment protection insurance) on your loans as this mounts up to quite a hefty amount, see if you can cancel the ppi if you are.