Help - I can't cope any more.

BlushingRose

eyeopener2 wrote: »

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.

As I mentioned above, we don't really use that £20 for that. We get the Radio Times and a monthly each.

eyeopener2 wrote: »

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.

I mentioned this to Mr BR (it's his) and he said it was through the bank...more than that I'm not sure atm. His dependent is only me atm.

eyeopener2 wrote: »

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.

There is really no alternative. We have only one ISP and Telephony company we can use so we're tied to their prices. We're looking into a 'bundle' which with reduce the cost to about £40 a month.

eyeopener2 wrote: »

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.

This is what we've done, we feel.
As I mentioned above, no pub, no meals out, rarely a takeaway...

Mikazaru

BlushingRose wrote: »

As I mentioned above, we don't really use that £20 for that. We get the Radio Times and a monthly each.

But the Radio Times is about £6 a month, plus a monthly each that would cover the cost of the TV licence or almost cover the cost of the mortgage increase. If you stopped those you wouldn't have the worry about covering the cost of that.

Is mobile broadband not an option? Couple that with PAYG/SO mobiles and it would be considerably cheaper than your current package.

BlushingRose

Mikazaru wrote: »

But the Radio Times is about £6 a month, plus a monthly each that would cover the cost of the TV licence or almost cover the cost of the mortgage increase. If you stopped those you wouldn't have the worry about covering the cost of that.

Our one treat though...

Mikazaru wrote: »

Is mobile broadband not an option? Couple that with PAYG/SO mobiles and it would be considerably cheaper than your current package.

I have no real idea how it works - my current handset doesn't even have an online option...

Barbeduk

Can you get your magazines with clubcard vouchers? I don't bother anymore as I spend all my time on here! £6 on radio times I'm afraid I don't get at all (but am sooo tight I squeak!) can't you just look at the tv guide on the telly? Is it just habit to have the magazine there? Also, if you get a weekend paper it'll come with a guide.

Sorry, I really don't mean this to sound critical as I'm sure some of my spending would cause raised eyebrows! We just all have different priorities!! (ok, I admit to a bar a day chocolate habit ).

BlushingRose

Mr BR has now had a word with the CCCS and they've adjusted the budget a little, taking into account the changes in mortgage and stuff.
One other thing that we hadn't realised until looking through everything again, was that My BR's salary has gone *down* by £20 a month, and has done so since April! Clearly we're still not very good at this 'looking after our money' lark. But it might explain why the last few months have been more difficult as £20 is a lot of money to lose.

BlushingRose

Barbeduk wrote: »

Can you get your magazines with clubcard vouchers? I don't bother anymore as I spend all my time on here! £6 on radio times I'm afraid I don't get at all (but am sooo tight I squeak!) can't you just look at the tv guide on the telly? Is it just habit to have the magazine there? Also, if you get a weekend paper it'll come with a guide.

Sorry, I really don't mean this to sound critical as I'm sure some of my spending would cause raised eyebrows! We just all have different priorities!! (ok, I admit to a bar a day chocolate habit ).

To get clubcard vouchers you have to spend money at Tesco - we don't shop at Tesco as it's expensive...
It's a nice mag to have though *plus* it has the listings.
We don't get papers at all.

Mikazaru

BlushingRose wrote: »

Our one treat though...



I have no real idea how it works - my current handset doesn't even have an online option...

You can get mobile broadband dongles for use on your normal PC/laptop

Shovel_Lad

BlushingRose wrote: »

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.

If you publish your spending diary here I am sure people will be able to help you work out where it's going wrong.

Bettingmad

Did you ever chase up any PPI you had on any cards, loans etc. I remember you saying that you thought that Mr BR had sometimes taken out the insurance?

Any avenues on the employment front for you? Are you able to undertake further training, volunteering etc to help you find employment?

dlb

Hi Blushing Rose..just wanted to say things do get better, we have been on a DMP with Payplan for 7 years and 4 months, it took us approx 6 months to get the amount we paid right and to work for us, at first we forgot to add certain expenditures, then we realised we had not allowed enough in the budget for food, we just kept changing the budget until everything was right and working for us.Payplan were fine with this.

It was not easy in the first year it takes a while to get your head around everything, but things do get easier with time and i started to enjoy budgeting and cutting corners it became an obsession trying to see how little we could manage on each month.

Never be afraid to contact your DMP company, they are there to help, i must have rang mine 20 times a week in the first few months with questions and querys.

I have also claimed my bank charges back whilst in the dmp and am currently claiming ppi back too..if you have these it really is worth claiming them...whats the worst that could happen? they say no.

Never feel alone, or worried or embarassed...you should be proud that you are dealing with you debts..so hold your head high ..Good Luck x