Mental Health Nurse in need of a cure for spending!!

HeadAboveWater

Hello and well done so far!!!

Hope you don't mind but I'm going to subscribe to your diary!!

And as you've been warned, I'm gonna 'pick' on a couple things in your SOA

Mobile phone............................ 37
Can this be reduced? Assume you're on contract. Nearly at end and switch to PAYG?

Satellite/Cable TV...................... 62.5
Ouch! Is this necessary?!

Groceries etc. ......................... 300
Ouch ouch OUCH!! We spend £100 less than that on 5 people! Try a bit of meal planning, packed lunches, and take a shopping list (and stick to it!!) Also, reduced sections in Tescos or Asda are usually brilliant!!

Haircuts................................ 0
You've already answered this bit!

Entertainment........................... 200
...and this! But again, OUCH!! lol Try to cut back and think on alternatives to what you normally do

Good luck and keep us posted

Igamogam

rachyroo1985 wrote: »

We really would need to save at least £1000 for every month I want to be off after the first 12 weeks. Hope that makes sense!?:o

Think so:think: Will you have child care costs? And why cant you make overpayments to your 2009 loan? Sorry too many questions

Snowball - rule of thumb is always to concentrate on the debts with the highest charges. Shifting 0% CC deal to a new one but dont do it too many times or apply for too many cards in one go (i.e) you may get another 0% deal but with a lower credit limit so need a second 0% deal to cover the whole debt IYSWIM) as credit searches effect your credit rating score.............. sometimes if you shift your debt the original card comes back to you with another 0% deal so sometimes ( only sometimes) its worth hanging on to a CC rather than close it - BC and NW and PO all do this

Igamogam

HeadAboveWater wrote: »

Groceries etc. ......................... 300
Ouch ouch OUCH!! We spend £100 less than that on 5 people! Try a bit of meal planning, packed lunches, and take a shopping list (and stick to it!!) Also, reduced sections in Tescos or Asda are usually brilliant!!

Told you:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: There are some super fabby bugeteers out there!!!!! Totally agree with the meal planning HAW

rachyroo1985

Hi there, Thanks for your post

HeadAboveWater wrote: »

Hello and well done so far!!!

Hope you don't mind but I'm going to subscribe to your diary!!
That's great. the more the merrier!!

And as you've been warned, I'm gonna 'pick' on a couple things in your SOA

Mobile phone............................ 37
Can this be reduced? Assume you're on contract. Nearly at end and switch to PAYG?
I'm on a 24 month contract which ends in April next year.

Satellite/Cable TV...................... 62.5
Ouch! Is this necessary?!
One of my bugbears. I work long shifts so am hardly ever in to watch TV. I do "sleep ins" at work 3 nights a week too which means my partner is home alone. He argues that sports and film packages are his friend whilst I'm out and that if he went to the pub etc it would cost us more each month. I'm still chipping away but at the moment its here to stay!

Groceries etc. ......................... 300
Ouch ouch OUCH!! We spend £100 less than that on 5 people! Try a bit of meal planning, packed lunches, and take a shopping list (and stick to it!!) Also, reduced sections in Tescos or Asda are usually brilliant!!
This is an area I want to concentrate on. I take food to work and i can cook there too. Me and a friend who work the same shifts at least once a week have started to take it in turns to bring in a meal to cook so this is saving a bit as they are all cheapish to prepare. My partner takes packed lunches too. A lot of this figure is on things like wine/beer and unneccessary treats which I am going to reduce. I cook a lot and have also started to give us a litlle bit smaller portion so I have one portion to freeze for another time. I am a big reduced aisle fan and scour regularly. I think I am doing some of the right things but just not planning/ being savvy enough. For example, ending up with things that don't 'go' together.

Haircuts................................ 0
You've already answered this bit!

Entertainment........................... 200
...and this! But again, OUCH!! lol Try to cut back and think on alternatives to what you normally do
This definitely needs looking at. It was quite difficult to estimate as we often have months where we spend less than half of that. We like going out for meals and going to concerts but don't really go out to pubs and clubs that much. We also like going away for the weekend too. I have started using groupon and also suggesting people going to each others house for meals etc instead of going out. As I often have days off in the week, lunches out are quite common too. I should have been out for lunch with a friend today and out shopping on Thursday, but my friend came to me for a cheap meal today which she will do at hers next week and i have just cancelled shopping so feel a little better!:o

Good luck and keep us posted
Thanks for your advice. It's little tips that get you thinking about how to make changes.

rachyroo1985

Hope this answers your questions:

Igamogam wrote: »

Think so:think: Will you have child care costs? And why cant you make overpayments to your 2009 loan? Sorry too many questions
I am quite lucky in the fact that I work full time hours over 3 days so only need 3 days childcare. Both sets of parents would help out. Also I look after a friend/colleague's child one day a week on the understanding that she will do the same when the time comes.
Apparently "new legislation means that over payments can only be made on loans after 2010". I contacted Santander to ask about over payments and this is what they told me?! The other loan is covered as it was only started last year.

Snowball - rule of thumb is always to concentrate on the debts with the highest charges. Shifting 0% CC deal to a new one but dont do it too many times or apply for too many cards in one go (i.e) you may get another 0% deal but with a lower credit limit so need a second 0% deal to cover the whole debt IYSWIM) as credit searches effect your credit rating score.............. sometimes if you shift your debt the original card comes back to you with another 0% deal so sometimes ( only sometimes) its worth hanging on to a CC rather than close it - BC and NW and PO all do this
Will hang on and concentrate on getting rid of OD for xmas then look into deals.

Igamogam

I wouldn't trust a word S*nt*nd*r tells me..................wonder if it only applies to loans cos we have a mortgage with them that we make overpayments too - TBH they dont like it and constantly ask us to extend the life of the mortgage :eek:

Igamogam

Also meant to add have a look at some of the money saving challenges on here - I can see you have heard of NSDs well PADs are great and very addictive an it is amazing how quickly those debts come down. Take a look here:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4045923

rachyroo1985

Hmmmmmm I will look into the no over payments thing next time I am in town.

Thanks for the challenges link. Will have a mosey over there now.
:T:T:T

rachyroo1985

Hooray just made my first PAD!!!

Thanks for introducing me.

I am determined to make a dent in the debts.

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

Igamogam

rachyroo1985 wrote: »

Hooray just made my first PAD!!!

Thanks for introducing me.

I am determined to make a dent in the debts.

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j
Everybody has different methods but it seems to work. My current method is to choose a CC for the month and PAD everyday onto it - the amount is determined by the balance of my current account at the time of doing it so if current account is £109.86 then I pay 9.86. If balance is 100.86 then I pay 86p - really adds up and is not noticeable.

Good luck