She's finally seen the light!

Millie321

Hello there

I have at times used these boards and found them very helpful. But the serious switch had never been properly switched on - but the good news is it has now! And i'm here to stay.

My partner and i have four children aged 1, 2, 5 and 9 years, and 4k debt to match! Over the years our debt has been higher than that, but at the beginning of last year we finally got debt free. We rely on two incomes, and as you can see theres been a fair bit of maternity leave on my part and its at these times we struggle, hence the current debt of 4k which includes Christmas, birthdays and food bills.
We have cut up Credit cards now and from the beginning of this month i'm working on a very tight budget to ensure we do not dip into our overdraft at all, and hopefully save some to add to the £60 we pay on the cc. It is 0% thank goodness for another 12 mths.

For the first time, i'm actually really enjoying living frugally and taking it all on positively (in the past i'd get fed up and go spending to make me feel better.)

Looking forward to support and advice on here.

Good to meet you all!!

Millie xx

Millie321

Ok i've just done the budget planner here and its not good. We're over spending by £1000 a month! I was generous in my spends calculated but the truth is we're not spending it because we can't at the moment. So clothes, hairdressers, dentists etc are not really being spent at the moment even though i included them in the budget as my ideal.

Our credit card bill is £3882.44 on 0% interest.

Savings i've made today.

£5 saved, spent under food budget. hooray!
£60 tax rebate from 2007, received cheque in post today.
and just remembered that council tax doesn't get paid feb and march so £300 savings there too! THis is all great news, and has helped me remain motivated.

I'm now on a mission to get bills cheaper, would appreciate your comments on whether these are high or not, we're a family of 6 in a 3 bed semi detached home, london.

Buildings and contents insurance - £44.
Gas and electric - £117 - (although nearly every year they overcalculate so we spend summer paying a lot less £76 this year, then they wack it back up for winter months.)
Combined bill for broadband, landline and digital tv approx £55
Food bill (incl. pet food, cleaning products, and nappies) £400 month ( i'm working on this becoming less the better i get at frugal living!).

Thanks all x