My Mess

glasgowdan

Most replies seem to be focussed on the tiny things, and the food bills. DON'T cut your food bills for goodness sake! We all deserve to put good food in our bodies.

You won't save and get back on track until the credit card is paid off. How did you get into so much debt? I would get it paid off asap and never get one again if I were you.

NicChanna

GlasgowDan, an interesting point of view you've taken there, however it should be obvious to all that good food needn't be expensive.

Also it may be the case that some of this food budget is going on things like snacks, crisps etc which are the sorts of things health professionals advise that we cut down on/out altogether.

And regarding your "the replies are only focussing on the little things" comment, the little things soon add up.

Any suggestions about a "big thing" that the OP could feasibly cut out of the budget would be welcomed I imagine, as I'm sure a lot of others would want to follow suit.

MillerTime

I would look at your credit card debt first, maybe even transferring what you owe on that and on the car to a loan or something lower interest? that is what I would do first. We don't go out either, and spend about £70 a week on food and drink... ( family of 3)

LandyAndy

You have a car that costs the best part of £800 a year to insure yet you use no more than one tank of fuel a month and the car costs nothing in repairs, not even servicing or MoT?

Perhaps you could get rid of it (selling it might generate some cash) and use taxis/public transport?

glasgowdan

I would be realistic in the position of the original poster and sort the credit cards out first. That is all they should focus on. The other things will make life miserable if they try to cut them back.

Don't know if the income is from one or two people? If you knuckle down big time you'll sort out the debt issues and never look back!

Tixy

glasgowdan wrote: »

I would be realistic in the position of the original poster and sort the credit cards out first. That is all they should focus on. The other things will make life miserable if they try to cut them back.

Don't know if the income is from one or two people? If you knuckle down big time you'll sort out the debt issues and never look back!

Yes but the budget shows they are overspending by £550 a month - so they need to do something or they won't be able to afford the card repayments at all, let alone try to pay more towards them.

Jue - it would really help if you could post the balances and APRs on your credit cards, loans, overdrafts etc. If £900 in the minimum payments on the cards, thats obviously a lot different to if you only actually owe say £2k on the cards.

eyeopener2

glasgowdan wrote: »

You won't save and get back on track until the credit card is paid off. How did you get into so much debt? I would get it paid off asap and never get one again if I were you.

Now why didn't I think of that, so obvious!

Dan.......you can only pay back the cards if you cut spending. We (generally) get into to debt because we overspend. Pretty straightforward really.

Tixy is, as usual, correct. Get those CC balances in the SOA and lets see where you are.

E2