Desperate Newbie

thefool

immoral_angeluk wrote: »

Ok looking at your SOA from what I've worked out you're overspending by around £76 every month. How are you funding this? You need to cut back things that can be to get rid of this overspend before anything.

I had a little savings that were used up trying to stay afloat, I even put groceries on a CC recently - that was when i had my lightbulb moment and decided that I needed sorting out !

jo1972

Just wanted to hi and welcome

I'm new too and haven't got round to digging all my figures out for my SOA yet but been kickstarted now by reading John's thread 'Lightbulb Moment', take some time to read it, it's 9 pages but well worth the read cos you'll get serious inspiration!!!

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=242938

Good luck and look forward to reading peoples advice and see how you manage to sort your finances out.

Jo.x

OberonSH

Ebaying is quite easy, and you would never believe some of the [STRIKE]sh*te[/STRIKE] less mainstream stuff I've managed to sell. Have a good sort out. Either that or car boot sale. Cleaner house, bit less debt.

Start your spending diary - write down every penny you spend - papers, choc bars, lunches and you'll see where money is leaking out. Rein in on the food budget, papers and etertainment/clothes and you'll at least stop the overspend. Then you can work out how best to tackle yor debt.

Have you checked out the snowball calculator? You type in your debts, it spits out not only a debt fre date, but also suggests which debts to pay off first, then it 'snowballs' your money to the ext debt to pay it off quicker etc. It's really handy. You'll find it at https://www.whatsthecost.com

sparklymessygirl

Hi there,

(I hate to call you by your username! I think you should reinvent yourself positively :j )

I wonder whether you could ring your highest interest rate credit cards and negotiate a lower rate of interest? You need to be in a positive and strong frame of mind and come across very reasonably and ask to speak to someone who has the authority to change your interest rates - you've got nothing to lose!

Sparkly

mrsspendalot

Is the £400 rent the whole cost or half? Do you live with your girlfriend or do you just rent a flat from her? Just wondering as if you live alone you should get a 25% reduction in your council tax as a single occupant. Do you already get this if you live alone?

Everything else other than food seems pretty good actually. You could definitely at least half your food bill. I spend less than that for a family of 5 including nappies.

Bessyminx

Hiya

This is a good place to come as everyone seems to be really helpful and friendly.

I too am in debt and I didn't tell my family but in February things got to me and I ended up depressed, I had a good chat to my family and they have been great. My mum ended up paying for my credit cards outright and told her I could pay her back each month less the interest.

It's nothing to be ashamed of as we all go into debt somewhere in life. The good thing is that you are aware of it and are trying to do something about it.

What I have done myself is go through my things and sorted loads out to do car boot sales. I have raised quite a bit of money doing these and it's great to get out and meet different people.

I also sell bigger items on https://www.gumtree.co.uk. This is a good website, you can sell anything on there and it's free to advertise.

Try not to let your debt stress you out though. This is the way I look at mine, I got myself in it, I'll make damn sure I get out of it. I feel a lot positive these days and knowing you have peoples support on this website is great.

Good luck with it and let me know how your getting on.

Minx;)

thefool

mrsspendalot wrote: »

Is the £400 rent the whole cost or half? Do you live with your girlfriend or do you just rent a flat from her? Just wondering as if you live alone you should get a 25% reduction in your council tax as a single occupant. Do you already get this if you live alone?

Everything else other than food seems pretty good actually. You could definitely at least half your food bill. I spend less than that for a family of 5 including nappies.

The £400 represents my costs. I've been looking at the snowball calculators as recommended by another poster and this gives me a better picture of my situation - I need to make an effort to set a tight budget and stick to it. I do tend to eat a lot - at 6' 5" and 17st I tend to like my grub. I do all the cooking so working to weekly menus is another place for me to start looking to cut costs.

thanks to everyone who has responded to my post - hopefully it's the start of something good

TheBaldwins

Hello... you've definetly come to the right place. Everyone on here is very knowledgeable and helpful so there's no need to feel alone with this.

I think once you have your money under control you'll feel like telling your girlfriend as you'll be even more proud than you should feel now that you're tackling it and winning.

Cutting back as people have advised above will bring you to a point where more money is coming in than going out and that's a good place to start as you're no longer spending what you don't have.

As my signature says, money saving is addictive... my husband loves my thrifty ways but I wasn't always like this so it is possible to change and really enjoy it too.

Good luck and keep us up to date!

dreams_R_free

Hi and welcome:beer:

You've certainly made a life-changing choice by coming on here and having the courage to post your SOA and ask for help. There are so many lovely people on here who will do all they can to help you. I wish you all the success in the world.

People have already given you some excellent advice. The only other thing I noticed in your SOA is £30 monthly for clothing/footwear. That amounts to £3600 a year:eek:. Is there a valid reason (such as work-wear) why you need to be buying new clothes when you could put that money towards paying off something ? If you are cutting down on your going-out etc you don't really need to be seen in new gear every time. Can't you just wear what you've already got?

pinkkaz

Impomdasp wrote: »

Hi and welcome:beer:
The only other thing I noticed in your SOA is £30 monthly for clothing/footwear. That amounts to £3600 a year:eek:.

£360, surely