Light bulb moment......I need help though!

bargainbetty

Poppy93 wrote: »

I do have a question for people, I earn more money than some of my friends and because they know I do they believe I have more disposable income, you all know this is wrong. I have mentioned several times since my light bulb moment that I am saving and cutting back however I went to the pub the other day for a quick catch up :beer:. (I felt gulity for going but this is still a marked improvement on my past socialising so I am not going to be too hard on myself, cold turkey is hard!!) I ended up paying for the round of drinks however when it came to me finishing my drink he decided it was time to go. I felt pretty annoyed :mad: that I ended up paying and he had a free night out. If I'd known it was only one drink I would have just paid for my own. I don't really want to tell everyone that I am scrimping but I want to be a little more forceful when it comes to paying for stuff. Any tips??

Yes, next time he suggests a drink, let him get the first round, and then leave.

Don't be afraid to tell people that you are being a bit sensible about things. You don't have to say you are clearing debts, just being thrifty so you can start looking towards a future (deposit, holiday, etc). Tell them you want to find other ways to have fun, because expensive cocktails etc are so last year.

You could even tell them that you are doing an internet challenge about working out how much you spend on socialising in a month, so would they mind awfully getting a separate bill, rather than splitting it? Just so you can keep track etc.

I have the same thing. Quite a few of my friends earn a lot less, and I always make sure I stand my round with them, sometimes even an extra one when things are OK. However, I think of my savings as 'spent' money. When my disposable income is gone, it's gone. I'm then 'skint'.

They will get used to it, and probably appreciate a more toned-down approach to spending more than you think.

You're doing so well!

Poppy93

Thanks Bargainbetty

Those reasons are great, I think I will just say that I am saving for a deposit as that is long term and no one will question.

I have also today reaslised that as of January I will recieve £68 more a month in my wage and I will also have a reduction in my council tax as of the 2014 council tax year as there was an issue with my council taxt banding and it will all be settled by then. It will hopefully be reduced from £118 to around £90 which is great.

Not sure what else I can do to reduce bills apart from cut back on food shopping and going out. Think I need to look at ways of making money now.
xx

HOK3Y

Poppy93 wrote: »

I have also today reaslised that as of January I will recieve £68 more a month in my wage and I will also have a reduction in my council tax as of the 2014 council tax year as there was an issue with my council taxt banding and it will all be settled by then. It will hopefully be reduced from £118 to around £90 which is great.

That's brilliant! Congrats! Will they refund your overpayments for previous years also?

Poppy93

HOK3Y wrote: »

That's brilliant! Congrats! Will they refund your overpayments for previous years also?

No as it's a new build they theres no previous years. I'm still pleased with the reduction in April though.

I did my Christmas shopping at the weekend with the cash I had saved. I really cut back on who I buy for and how much I spend. I have almost finished it and still have money left over to pay off my card. I am quite happy with myself for what I have managed to achieve to date.

Payday at the end of the week so I am excited to get paid and really start with the cutting back. It has been suggested I try a cheaper supermaket so I will write a list of what I need this week and shop around. I managed free meals all weekend and no going out. I went to a friends for tea and a few drinks which only cost me a bottle of wine :-)

x

hummingbird

Hi Poppy,

I've just found your thread this evening and have read it through with great interest -you've done so well! Huge congrats for getting so far in such a short time!!:beer:
I can relate to a lot of what you've written, particularly having friends who thought I had a lot of money!

One thing I noticed though that is flashing a warning light to me is your Virgin credit card with the large balance at 0% ending in December. I say this because I once had a balance of 10,500 at 0% on Virgin - this had built up after my divorce and I was a bit complacent about it because they kept offering me new 0% deals and the minimum payment was very small in relation to the balance. Then one time I had nowhere to move the debt after the 0% ended and my minimum payment shot up to a horrendous amount! And the 0% offers were not repeated. This caused me all sorts of problems as goes without saying!!

Hummingbird x

Poppy93

hummingbird wrote: »

Hi Poppy,

I've just found your thread this evening and have read it through with great interest -you've done so well! Huge congrats for getting so far in such a short time!!:beer:
I can relate to a lot of what you've written, particularly having friends who thought I had a lot of money!

One thing I noticed though that is flashing a warning light to me is your Virgin credit card with the large balance at 0% ending in December. I say this because I once had a balance of 10,500 at 0% on Virgin - this had built up after my divorce and I was a bit complacent about it because they kept offering me new 0% deals and the minimum payment was very small in relation to the balance. Then one time I had nowhere to move the debt after the 0% ended and my minimum payment shot up to a horrendous amount! And the 0% offers were not repeated. This caused me all sorts of problems as goes without saying!!

Hummingbird x

I have that fear at the moment. I have another card which keeps offering me 0%. My plan is to move the part of the debt that runs out in December and the other part left on my virgin card is 0% till next September. I don't know what else I can do. My debt to my mum is about paid off so even if the minimum payment jumps up I still have that extra each month. In January I will also have a further £68 to go towards it too.

Any advice? X

hummingbird

That's great if you have the ability to move it to another 0% and the rest is ok until next Sept - it gives you time to sort it, and you've got such a good start right now that I'm sure you will. As long as you're aware of the potential problem you can avoid it. It just sort of crept up on me somehow, I had plenty of opportunity to reduce the balance but had let it stay there. Then by the time I realised there was a problem it was too late and I got really trapped!

Looking forward to following your progress.:T

shazzer22

Hey Poppy, not stopped by for a while, looks like you're making great progress! How many more student loan payments have you got left? I've just switched mine over to direct decit too, so 10 more left for me! :-)

hummingbird

Hi Poppy, hope you're ok hun x Keep posting!:money:

Sazzie23

hummingbird wrote: »

That's great if you have the ability to move it to another 0% and the rest is ok until next Sept - it gives you time to sort it, and you've got such a good start right now that I'm sure you will. As long as you're aware of the potential problem you can avoid it. It just sort of crept up on me somehow, I had plenty of opportunity to reduce the balance but had let it stay there. Then by the time I realised there was a problem it was too late and I got really trapped!

Looking forward to following your progress.:T

Hi Hummingbird & Poppy

Yes this is part of what really got me in the end, I couldn't switch as the credit crunch meant the provider I was planning to switch to withdrew the offer, and as I was maxed out on cards, the other providers upped the interest within 6 months from 19% to 29%. With a reduced income for a number of reasons I had to give in - am now in DMP:( - but recovering. So in essence, reduce your CC if you can, make sure you switch in good time to get the deal. Try some of the challenges if you want to cut expenses

shazzer22 wrote: »

Hey Poppy, not stopped by for a while, looks like you're making great progress! How many more student loan payments have you got left? I've just switched mine over to direct decit too, so 10 more left for me! :-)

Its very good advice to switch to DD for student loan as soon as you can, you get much more control over payments.