How can I save?

mummy2mygirls

Great news on the 0% deal! Hope you get a good amount which can help having it on 0% for a while

AliceBanned

Thanks both. I hope it's £1k at least. I was pleasantly surprised; it's the Gold card which is fine for me - just one year interest free. Means I will have three credit cards though. :eek:My balance has not gone down any further on Halifax cc and I can't pay much on it this month. Just did my xmas shopping on it, unavoidable I'm afraid.

I also spoke to Santander complaints dept today and closed the account they opened for me. It was £100 cashback and 0 per cent o/d £400 but not really enough overdraft to make it worth while. at first they refused to close it and started moving my direct debits on Tues, and this really got my back up and made me want to cancel. I need to bank with an organisation that doesn't bully or harrass and unfortunately someone there did and I was so upset, will stay with Halifax for now. Shame though as it would have saved me quite a bit.

MFWannabe

When you applied for the Barclaycard did you request a balance transfer? If yes, how much did you ask for? You should have got enough of a credit limit to cover the amount you've asked to transfer. You normally get an e-mail from them which will advise of your credit limit

AliceBanned

FREEZ wrote: »

When you applied for the Barclaycard did you request a balance transfer? If yes, how much did you ask for? You should have got enough of a credit limit to cover the amount you've asked to transfer. You normally get an e-mail from them which will advise of your credit limit

Hi, yes, I think I asked for the maximum available on that card, but can't remember what that is now. I don't think it was the full amount on my Halifax card - maybe £1350.

AliceBanned

Just found out that Sainsbury's Recycle are sending me £47 for my old mobile phone! :j. Didn't think it was worth anything lol.

Hope you are all having a good Christmas break and best wishes for the New Year!:)

AliceBanned

Got my Barclaycard Gold today.:). 0% for 12 months so I'm going to pay something off each month. In the meantime have transferred £1350 from my Halifax cc. I am really almost ready to cut up the Halifax card but just a bit nervous as I am using up most of my overdraft each month at the moment. Will have to keep hold of it for a week or two but should be able to get rid of it.:D. there is still a balance on it but I'll probably repay that more quickly than the others.The snowball calculator strangely tells me to snowball the Barclaycard even though it is 0%.. My overdraft is costing me more than all of them so guess I will work on that and not be tempted to keep paying down the credit cards so much that I need to use them again as I just go round in circles!

thevinternet

Hiya Alice!

Happy New Year! Just wondered how Jan is going for you so far?

AliceBanned

Hi

Very well thanks! I'm staying in all week as I did go out more than usual over the break. Was a much needed break from work and it doesn't feel too bad being back! Also on the money front things are still continuing to improve slowly.:)

How are you?

MoneyWorry

Hi Alice

I am enjoying and interested very much in your thread. I too am single so can identify completely with trying to balance costs with providing a social life for oneself. I'm in the North so although my costs are a lot lower so is my salary. At the moment I'm struggling with needing a new kitchen and struggling to save enough into private pension without becoming a complete hermit eating baked beans every day for a months on end!!!!!.

thevinternet

AliceBanned wrote: »

Hi

Very well thanks! I'm staying in all week as I did go out more than usual over the break. Was a much needed break from work and it doesn't feel too bad being back! Also on the money front things are still continuing to improve slowly.:)

How are you?

Hiya! Sorry for the delay in replying, I am subscribed to your thread, but I don't think it updated properly for some reason? :huh:

Anyhoo, I'm ok thanks - it's a bit of a tough month financially, but getting by. Today I did a big food shop; spent £50 but managed to get a lot for my money, if that makes sense.

Interestingly, I had a good Christmas, save for a bit of a row with my dad about that very topic. I was trying to explain how C*ubcard points work. I got as far as 'So say I buy £50 of groceries for me and my OH one week' before he went mad at me, saying that was far too much money to be spending on food!!

Now before I go any further, let me just explain:

1. My Dad is elderly, and doesn't do his own food shopping
2. He hasn't been in a supermarket himself for about 15 years
3. He eats like a little bird, i.e. a biscuit for breakfast, a sandwich made with a bit of ham for lunch, a cornetto (!) for dinner...no snacks except maybe a banana and copious cups of tea. There are many many reasons why he eats this way, which I won't go into now, except to say that we have tried MANY times over the years to try and get more food into him, with little success!

So you can imagine that I didn't take it lying down!! Bless him, he's completely clueless, he'll give you a tenner for a week's food
Mind you, I'm not saying we couldn't still tighten up, but we have certainly improved on food bills since the old days, when me and the OH used to shop at Waitrose and spend £100 per week (including a takeaway), oh the shame!!

Do you spend a lot on food per week Alice? I know I used to when I was living on my own. We found that packed lunches and buying supermarket own brands were the things that cut our food bill drastically.

Also, was Christmas ok for you? It can be a tricky time of year, especially if you are on a budget and your mates aren't. x