DMP entertainment budget

Pickle29

Hi
For info ..
My husband goes to a night school class and I have gym membership and we were told we couldn't have both in our entertainments budget so we were allowed £27 per month and we manage them both through cutting back in other areas such as food/ dry cleaning etc

I will be cancelling gym when my deal comes to an end as I would rather spend the money on something else!

Moogles76

I guess I'm talking more about having a little each week to see friends. A typical week might see me spend say £40 on a trip to the cinema, curry Saturday night and then brunch on Sunday (these being London prices...) I don't have family so these meetings are really important to my wellbeing.

@eyeopener2 - why do you think 10 months is too short to be on a DMP? What are the alternatives for someone like me who has tried and failed year after year to manage my debts on my own?

Kate_fixing_it

Do your friends know the situation? I'm sure they'd be willing to find cheaper ways to see you. My closest friends know. We've swapped trips to the pub for coffee or a night in, we take turns to cook and host and as I already said we have Netflix instead of the cinema. London is significantly more expensive than where I live but maybe you could plan to use the thousands of free things on your doorstep? Play at being tourists for a day (minimal spend if you have an oyster card), see if there are any free screenings of films or vouchers for meals and use loyalty cards. Once the weather picks up you can plan picnics in the parks too, that's something my family is really looking forward to.

I hope you find something that works well for you

Kate x

JustAboutThere

Moogles76 wrote: »

I guess I'm talking more about having a little each week to see friends. A typical week might see me spend say £40 on a trip to the cinema, curry Saturday night and then brunch on Sunday (these being London prices...) I don't have family so these meetings are really important to my wellbeing.

I live in London and my family are the other side of the world, so whilst I understand that these meet-ups are important, with a little bit of adjustment, you could still have them and not spend £40 a week.

Try the likes of Wong Kei on Wardour Street - huge bowls of food for around the £6 mark and all the free tea you can drink. Set meals that start at £8.50 each (from memory) and have four dishes and unlimited rice. If you walk away from that meal still hungry, then I'd be astounded. OK, so its cash only and they won't fawn over you and ask five times "is everything alright". But I've been using them for years and its a great place to meet up with friends, eat and have a good night out without breaking the bank.

Or Beatroot on Berwick Street - a lovely little vegetarian cafe. I'm not veggie, but I think the food is very tasty. http://beatroot.org.uk/intro.html

Chances are, its drinks that are pushing up the cost. Try alternating one drink followed by a glass of tap water.

As for brunch, when it gets better weather (here's hoping), make a picnic and go to one of the many parks with your friends.

For movies, have you tried the Prince Charles Cinema just off Leicester Square? Lots of eclectic choices and lovely big, comfy seats. http://www.princecharlescinema.com

If you want a day out, keep an eye on both www.citycruises.com and www.thamesclippers.com - they're the two main companies that run boats on the Thames. I had an all day 'Rover' ticket from City Cruises the other day for £5. (There was apparently an offer in conjunction with the Evening Standard for the same type of ticket - for £1).

Good luck.

eyeopener2

Moogles76 wrote: »

I guess I'm talking more about having a little each week to see friends. A typical week might see me spend say £40 on a trip to the cinema, curry Saturday night and then brunch on Sunday (these being London prices...) I don't have family so these meetings are really important to my wellbeing.

@eyeopener2 - why do you think 10 months is too short to be on a DMP? What are the alternatives for someone like me who has tried and failed year after year to manage my debts on my own?

It's just that you have wrecked your credit record and maybe a bit of careful nurturing (especially as your paying way over the minimums) and you could be debt free in the same time frame without the credit file problems.

Of course I don't know your history or anything but it did seem a bit odd to me to sacrifice 6 years of credit problems for 10 months of DMP.

You have obviously looked into it and it wasn't meant to be a slight or having go, just interested really.

E2

Monkeyballs

Hi,

Another way of looking at this...

Even on a short term DMP some creditors may not stop interest entirely so if you are a little more generous with your budget then anything you don't use can be used to make small additional payments to them to make sure that your debts are repaid at the same time

MB

Moogles76

Thanks for the tips. I don't drink, don't smoke, don't buy newspapers or magazines, don't have a gym membership etc... There must be people on DMPs who declare a moderate amount of expense on these sorts of things? Not looking to justify anything or judge others, just genuinely curious.