Im sinking - financially and mentally

wannabee_in_credit

That's a brilliant start - well done!
Be warned - saving money can become quite addictive.

tallyhoh

Re: Christmas

1) check through everything you own that looks new & can be recycled for prezzies & put them in a box under the bed.

2) save all your small change & exchange them for savings stamps at Mr Ts, mossas or adsa. You get a free £1 for every £49 you save. better interest than the bank.

3) sign up for online surveys, many pay with gift cards for high st stores. Save them for Christmas.

4) if (big if) you shop at stores who offer loyalty points again save them for Christmas.

5) Consider home made gifts such as jars of preserves. I had a jar of red onion marmalade last year, yummy. The old style money saving board does a Christmas thread.

6) get yourself invited out for lunch.

7) Check out new stuff on ebay for prezzies. How old is your son? try 2nd hand prezzies for him.

8) Collect all your unwanted DVDs, small electrical items etc & take them to one of the high st pawn shops that are everywhere now. You can sell them, its not a lot but does save ebay fees, postage, time & its cash in hand.

9) Check out sales etc throughout the year, especially after Christmas for non perishable goods & stash them under the bed.

10) join a religious sect that does nor celebrate Christmas

sharp82

Good work on the saving. Bet you're starting to feel better about it all already!

phoenix_dragon

Well done! I second wannabe_in_credit's comment, money saving can become extremely addictive.

glasgowsaver2011

MsKex wrote: »

Family

Pet food. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00 (1 cat, inc in food shop)
School trips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
School meals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Pocket money. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Nappies/Baby extras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Laundry/Dry cleaning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Children's travel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.00 (not pay yet but next month he turns 5 so will have to pay bus fare to school)
Baby-sitting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Childcare/Playgroups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Pet insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Travel insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Son's Swimming. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.00
Son's Football. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.00
Son's School Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.00
Son's Kids Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143.80 (goes to a breakfast/after school/holiday club)

Entertainment



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Surely the kids bus fare could be held off for a few months...

yes Mr Driver, he is at school. but he is not 5 until January

John1993_2

glasgowsaver2011 wrote: »

Surely the kids bus fare could be held off for a few months...

yes Mr Driver, he is at school. but he is not 5 until January

Good idea. And why not supplement their lunches by shoplifting the ingredients? After all, every little helps, and what's a teensy little crime when a few pounds are at stake?

How about they "lose" some vauables, and put in an insurance claim?

The possibilities are endless once you don't feel any need to be honest or act within the law.

LannieDuck

Great job so far I see you've done some ebaying of mobile phones - do you have any 'junk' rooms or boxes or an attic anywhere in the house that could do with a declutter? It's relatively easy to make a couple of hundred pounds just getting rid of things you don't use anymore. Baby stuff goes very well, if you have any you're unlikely to reuse?

Also, wrt to the loan/gift your Dad gave you, if I were you I'd hand write your Dad a thank you card saying how much you appreciate his help, and that you're very grateful. Since he's resisted all attempts to repay the loan, you'll instead put it aside to cover the children's birthdays and christmas presents this year

If you like, you could also promise to repay it once you're back on your feet. But since your Dad looks unlikely to charge interest, I would accept the help and instead pay down the interest-charging debts.

Missmarple

I agree with LannieDuck about everything. That's what dads do for their little girls and boys and to him you will always be just that.
Let us know when you have had the conversation about the presents as it is a difficult one to do. Even text if you have to it will give people time to think.
It is time to start to ask for help and I think your ex needs to play a much bigger role. Sounds like you are here there and everywhere but still look after your son, it's time to tie him down or ask for money for the childcare you have to pay out because he is not doing his bit. What about family on his side (other grandparents, aunts, uncles etc).

Put your credit card in a big block of ice in your freezer, if you really really need something you will have to wait for it to defrost. If its not necessary the urge will have passed and sanity will be regained :eek:

I still couldn't do the boiler scheme. How many times have you had them out in the last 5 years ?

Liliyanna

Just a note on the phone bill, I have an iPhone with O2 and was paying £33 a month like you. The phone is out of contract so I popped into the store and had a chat with them. They can offer all sorts of deals, I took the £10 basic tariff which is 100 minutes and unlimited texts with a £6 bolt on of 500mb of Internet usage. I surf quite a lot from my phone (fb etc) but have never hit the limit. There is also a great O2 app you can download which is very user friendly and tells you at a glance what your usage is currently at so you don't exceed you limit. As I said I have the basic package but there are loads of other choices :0)

Good luck x

fyggy

MsKex wrote: »

O2 -was £33/have signed up for a new contract for £24 = £9 saved
SKY - was £58 - thank you for all of your suggestions on this and freeview. I did what Sharp suggested and the man I was speaking to offered me my landline/unlimited broadband and basic SKY package (inc the childrens cartoons) for £31 per month = £27 saved
Council tax - was £71/have asked for a 12 month payment plan instead of ten so has reduced to £53 per month = £18 saved
Bank charge - was £6.50/cancelled entirely = £6.50 saved
Home Serve - was £27/told them I was leaving and they offered me a discount and is reduced to £16.57 for all emergency cover inc boiler = £11.43 saved.

Wow! That's some good going in the money saving! Well done! :T:T
Re the boiler cover, I have Home Emergency Cover which is £71 pa through the AA (covered by my AA CC points i accure over the year;)). They do boiler cover too (I dont have gas) but I doubt it'd be cheaper than that deal you've haggled- but just thought I'd mention it so you know of another company for renewal