Help - I'm a mess :(

flis21

glasgowsaver - I don't know, am scared to find out, but I suppose that's what I'll need to get some advice on. The idea is quite scary, but I have a feeling (and my Mum has already mentioned to me) that might be what they suggest when I get some professional advice.

flis21

glasgowsaver2011 wrote: »

I have never smoked so have no idea how hard it is to give it up, but you are smoking 1000 a year worth of cigs.

:eek:

That is really scary, will def try to cut down and hopefully eventually quit, but I'm just not in the right place to do it at this moment. I know my local children's centre has a quit smoking advisor, maybe I'll make an appointment.

dark^knight

There are a few things to work on without much effort. It's not impossible.

Be positive, and never give up. It will get easier as you start to tackle things and make headway.

Any issues, ask people on here. We've all been there, so we know what you are going through.

Good luck.

Smamfer

McKneff wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 0
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 170
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 1490
Other income............................ 150
Total monthly income.................... 1810
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 795
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 40 Are you on the best tariff
Gas..................................... 55 Same here
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 41.6 (can you get this down, i only pay £11 a month )

Telephone (land line)................... 22.5 i pay £25 a month for my landline and broadband shop around for better deals )
Mobile phone............................ 10
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 25.5 ( you CAN cancel this whenever you want, you can just ring them up and tell them you annot afford it and cancel it, only has to run for a month then )
Internet Services....................... 25 (see above)
Groceries etc. ......................... 300 For 1 adult and 2 kids, you could easily shave this to £200
Clothing................................ 50 (use ebay or freecycle, second hand kids clothes can be as good as new, buy in bundles wear them and re sell them on is what i used to do
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 40
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 40
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 30 if you are on tax credits you will get all this paid for surely??
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 14.43 ( use a cashback site and make sure you are not over insured, mine is £8 a month
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 21 (what other insurance? )
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30
Haircuts................................ 20 ( is this really per month for haircuts? try getting a cheaper mobile one?
Entertainment........................... 50 (cut this down, do free days out, sometimes you have to shave bits off to let it grow again

Holiday................................. 20
Emergency fund.......................... 20
Cigarettes.............................. 84 (i smoke so i know what its like but as others have said try hand rolling, £5 a week
Total monthly expenses.................. 1746.15
Hope this helps a little, its hard and none of us want to realise it but sometimes its necessary xx

Hope this helps a little, its hard and none of us want to realise it but sometimes its necessary xx

McKneff

glasgowsaver2011 wrote: »

I have never smoked so have no idea how hard it is to give it up, but you are smoking 1000 a year worth of cigs.

:eek:

We all know exactly how much it cost us, we are addicted so it is not relevant to us.

hp48910

Hello, welcome and well done for making the first step, it's always the hardest one.

I'm quite new to this and despite lurking for a good while, I only started my diary at New Year. However, I echo the suggestions made by the others so far and am sure there will be a lot more experienced people along shortly to give you advice and support, that's the beauty of this forum:)

One thing I will say if you are trying to lower your food bill is to try online shopping (if you don't already) The various supermarkets send regular offers and incentives which have saved me a considerable amount, used correctly. The main thing tho is that you can plan meals/ household needs and shop for that and it's much much easier to keep control of spending. The main bonus is that I hardly ever need to 'pop to the shops'. That's the killer cos you hardly ever just buy the items you went in for:eek:

I'm going to subscribe to your thread for support. Good luck with your journey:)

tibawo

Hi honey
firstly well done in the sense that you've realised you need to do something. A few years back i was in a huge mess and sound just like you single mum to two young kids and i wanted to sort myself out but buried my head further. I woke up one morning with loads of demands and phonecalls,no milk for cereal for the girls and 20p and knew i had to do something. Initally i got a DMP but this meant 25 years before being debt free, i was lucky and got an IVA. I'm having a hic cup at the moment but we are talking £200 compared to the £35000. I decided i could like without nights out so my girls could go to activities and we have sky but just kids/entertainment - you could argue we could cut this out too but at the moment we can just afford it.
My leccy bill has gone down a lot since i ditched the dryer, the girls still get comments on how fab their clothes are. All from ebay/charity shops and sales. Even xmas was done this way and i got them evrything on their list. I 'recycle' my money on ebay e.g. i sell an old cd player and use that money to get something i really need. It's all a case of slowly changing your outlook. It will not happen overnight and sorry to say you will have slip ups but you are not the only one. I'm still having the odd issue like i said but before i lost my job i was on 3 times what i am now and all it was doing was paying interest.
Keep your spirits up. And remember no giant leaps just baby steps.

glasgowsaver2011

McKneff wrote: »

We all know exactly how much it cost us, we are addicted so it is not relevant to us.

evidently not

flis21 wrote: »

That is really scary, will def try to cut down and hopefully eventually quit, but I'm just not in the right place to do it at this moment. I know my local children's centre has a quit smoking advisor, maybe I'll make an appointment.

I was just trying to help

mum2one

It sounds like you have had some really good advice on here, I have contacted cccs before and they were abslutely brilliant, maybe the reason it couldn't give you the answer on line was due to your income v expenditure, you can ring them and there arrange for someone to ring you back. I took there advice and managed to arrange a self managed dmp, but I know if that the situation was worse, I could go back to them.

Sometimes its hard when u have the lightbulb moment, but this may sound daft, but your get a lot of help and support from the people on the boards, and to me some of the people on here, have actually become friends in real life, others are virtual friends, but I know if I needed anything theres a big army of help.

For presents etc, have a look at the thrifty gifty threads, theres money manking ideas, suggestions on how to do presents cheaper, but still look as expensive.

Take care xx

flis21

I do get free prescriptions, but have to pay £30 a month for my contact lenses. I am on a water meter, but we have 2 water companies here and that is what I'm told to pay, don't think I can really cut the water. I could stop using the tumble dryer so much, but I do find it hard this time of year, it's amazing how much washing 2 kids seem to generate!

My other insurance is the extended insurances on my appliances, tumble dryer, washing machine and fridge. Have used the tumble dryer one 4 times, so I took out the extra on the wm and fridge. Not sure if I can cancel it now?

i'm reluctant to cut the sky, it's mostly for the kids, who love disney junior and nick jr channels. I will however cut down the money spent on days out and activities.

yes the hair cut amount is per month. i use a mobile hairdresser, my hair cut is £10 and the boys are £5 each, it's about every 6 weeks tho.

I have been trying to sell some bits on a local facebook selling page, which i like as no fees and don't have to post stuff like on ebay! I've sold a few bits and am going round the house gradually clearing out to make some money.

thank you so much all for your help, i do feel a little better (but not a lot yet)! I know this is going to be really hard and I'm scared about talking to someone on the phone about it tomorrow, but I need to, can't carry on like this!

x