Help - I can't cope any more.

DS4215

If you have any near you, then Farm Foods, Heron Foods, Jack Fulton, etc are all great places to get cheap frozen food. Also, time your supermarket trips for 6:30 - 7:30 in the evening or around 2-3 on Sunday and get the mark-downs. For your cleaning products and toiletries, etc its worth trying Poundland.

With some hard work you could probably get that part of your SOA down to ~£200 and that will give you some slack to work with...

BlushingRose

merlot123 wrote: »

Hi Blushing,

A couple of things jump out at me (I know you are on a DMP) but somethings seem really high. Your internet and phone (I know you are with K Communications (I remember posting on your original thread), they will a home and away extra package for £48.99 including line rental so why is yours £57 per month?

We're currently paying separately, we have two DD one for phone and one for BB. However, we're in the process of setting up a home &away package for £39.99 which will be plus any remaining call changes (although we've looked at it and it seems to cover what we do)

merlot123 wrote: »

The Life insurance is far far too high, you need to look into this.

I shall mention it to Mr BR

merlot123 wrote: »

What happens to the entertainment, clothing, prescription, dental, car servicing money etc?

On a month to month basis, it all gets put into 'sundries' and anything that's not groceries or petrol gets paid out of that, so parking, prescriptions (I've just had to get a pre-pay cert this month), dentist (Mr BR had to put off his filling until after next pay-day as we didn't have the £48 or whatever it is). We've not been putting things into individual pots for each thing, we've been lumping it together and paying out of the 'sundries' pot. It's also where extra petrol needs might come from. Unfortunately it's not been used for holidays in the sun or flashy cars (although Lord knows, we could do with either!)

merlot123 wrote: »

It can be difficult when you are first on a DMP to manage your budget, but the money is being spent on something, I know you had an exhaust to pay for but with the extra above like the entertainment,clothing,dental, car servicing money etc for a month would probably have covered that.

Could you up your income by taking a wee job, or are you in receipt of benefits etc.

That's the point though, all the money in sundries *didn't* cover it.

Have been looking for work but had no luck so far, and no, I'm not getting any benefits.

merlot123 wrote: »

I'm not judging you, I am honestly trying to help you realise there is light at the end of the tunnel, you may have had a difficult few months on the DMP, but budget well and you may have a little extra to help you put something away for Christmas. Being on a DMP isn't easy, you certainly aren't going to have the life you did before, but you are not getting further into debt (unlike millions of others, who haven't yet realised they can't have it all).

merlot123

I don't really understand how it's all going wrong. We don't eat out or go to the pub, we rarely even get a takeaway.
I keep a spending diary for groceries, petrol and 'sundries' and yet we're getting to the middle of our pay month and running out of money.

BlushingRose

DS4215 wrote: »

If you have any near you, then Farm Foods, Heron Foods, Jack Fulton, etc are all great places to get cheap frozen food. Also, time your supermarket trips for 6:30 - 7:30 in the evening or around 2-3 on Sunday and get the mark-downs. For your cleaning products and toiletries, etc its worth trying Poundland.

With some hard work you could probably get that part of your SOA down to ~£200 and that will give you some slack to work with...

I'm on board with the cheap frozen food idea but we've not got a massive freezer. We get frozen peas, sweetcorn, sausages, mince and pork chops. We also freeze our bread, and that pretty much takes up all the freezer space we have.

The_Dragon

Have you got shelf storage for dried pulses? Chick peas etc? they make a great base for a cheap curry

BlushingRose

The_Dragon wrote: »

Have you got shelf storage for dried pulses? Chick peas etc? they make a great base for a cheap curry

Yes, we have kitchen storage but I can't stand curry/beans...

The_Dragon

BlushingRose wrote: »

Yes, we have kitchen storage but I can't stand curry/beans...

Ah! hmm what about dried mushrooms etc? have you got a Chinese/Oriental supermarket near you? They can be good for cheaper items that are preserved/dried and fresh as well

NeverAgain_2

Life insurance, pets and fifty six quids worth of phone and broadband are nice-to-haves which you cannot afford.

Bin the first two, and if you have mobiles, consider getting rid of the landline and broadband and replacing it with a PAYG dongle.

BlushingRose

NeverAgain wrote: »

Life insurance, pets and fifty six quids worth of phone and broadband are nice-to-haves which you cannot afford.

Bin the first two, and if you have mobiles, consider getting rid of the landline and broadband and replacing it with a PAYG dongle.

Not binning the cats, don't be silly.

We have mobiles, PAYG ones and they're both a million years old.

eyeopener2

Hi BR,

A couple of things that I may offer from my personal journey - newspapers and magazines..............I was spending probably more than you do and they all went, everything. Newspapers can all be read on-line (as I do everyday) and you will be surprised how much thsoe "odd" magazines actually cost, probably more than £20.

Life insurance. What is this and how much is the cover? Are you covered through work? Have you any dependants? If not, do you need it? Maybe ask the question on here for some advice. £80 is a lot when your struggling.

Is there really no alternative to your supplier for phone and Broadband? Are there any other packages available at all? I know you have probably looked into this but yet again, ask the question on the Boards here. See what ideas are generated.

Maybe a simplistic approach, but its served me well so far. I stripped everything out and then just added back in what I really needed. Easy to say, not so easy to do I grant you.

BlushingRose

The_Dragon wrote: »

Ah! hmm what about dried mushrooms etc? have you got a Chinese/Oriental supermarket near you? They can be good for cheaper items that are preserved/dried and fresh as well

Oooh, not sure, will have to look.