New Member

stevesless

Hi All,

I've been surfing these boards for a while, knowing that i should do something about the mess we are in. Well i've finally built up the courage to work out all our family debts, and to be honest all i could do was cry; then realisation set in and the determination to do something about this was needed now.

Looking back we spent money without thinking about it, we started to make some headway back in July 2005 when my wife was preganant with our second child, and things seemed to be going well. This all changed in the December of this year when our Son died not long after he was born. After this point nothing seemed to matter any more and we both lost the plot spending got out of control. Two years later, things still havent improved for us, we suffered our second Miscarriage in 6 months on 24th June, and that was the last straw. I felt i needed to change everything in our life, and that meant dealing with this massive debt problem. We have a beautiful 3 year old daughter and thats who matters and i want her to have a good life and learn what money means.

So heres the plan:

1. Sell my car and get a company car and pay off the finance that should save around £90 per month
2. Start refereeing again, i should be able to get an extra £50 per week
3. My wife is a beautician and as well as working p/time, will be working from home. We've had to spend £300 to get her set up, but she has already got few bookings, so in time this should pay for itself and increase our income for debt re-payment.
4. Ebay everything that hasnt been used in the last 6-8 months
5. Joined Quidco
6. Cancelled all the payment protection insurance i was paying this has saved me £275 per month
7. Expecting a bonus this year that was going to use on a holiday, but me and OH have agreed that a week at her Uncles in Ireland will do instead of a fortnight in Spain only ferry to pay for! This is a big sacrifice for us, but we need our lives back!
8. Changed power supplier
9. Debating weather to get a p/t bar job for weekends, but need to get the life/work balance right. Need to chat with OH about this one.
10. Got some bank charges that o could reclaim.


Any more tips from the great community on this board would be appreciative.

Well i've taken the first step by admitting and realising my debt, now we've just got to crack on, the only people who can get us out of this mess is the ones who got us into it....me and OH but were ready for the challenge:j

Thanks for you're time

Stevesless

James240

hiya mate :hello:

If you post a SOA showing all your incomings and outgoings then we may be able to see where u can make further savings (and all APR's as well if u have that information to hand )

Looks like you have got your head screwed on already and are making some inroads into the debt, keep up the good work :beer:

James

alwaysonthego_2

welcome steve post your soa like the above poster suggested

Kaz2904

You've had a difficult time of it recently and my heart goes out to you. We will do all we can to help and support you through the time you have ahead. The first step is taken and you are now on a new path.
Good luck for your future and please post an SOA.

stevesless

Thanks for the advice, where can i get an SOA template? What do i need to include?

Ta

SS

headoutthesand

Hi there and welcome aboard.

Have a read through the other posts on here. there are a few challenges that you might be interested in joining where you can save £2 coins, 20p's spare change, olympic challenge etc.

Although they are called challenges, they are actually support for one another to save a little as we go along.

You'll have to add your SOA for everyone to have a look at and maybe between us, we'll be able to give you some advice on where to tighten the purse strings a bit.

With regards to your holiday to Ireland. Can you not get a cheap flight (depends on where you are going) and hire a car. Check out the options incase it is cheaper than highering a car. Or can the uncle not lend you his if he will be at work etc while you are there?

Well done on joining Quidco. Try pigsback too. To me they take longer to collect points but between now and xmas you might get some vouchers back.

Sign up for all the store loyalty cards. Tesco are doing 5p of a litre of fuel if you spend £50 at the till. you also get money off vouchers every so often depending on your points. Get the boots one too. 4 points for every £1. Sign up for the baby clubs and get money off vouchers.

Ebay everything you have or do a car boot. For me car boot worked better but it depends on what you are selling.

If you post your SOA we'll have a better idea of your way of living

LJD1_2

Really sorry to hear you've had such a bad time. The only thing that leaps out at me is make sure you won't be stung for tax with a company car as my husband was and it put us further in debt.

I hope your wife's beautician work from home kicks off. If you want to PM me regarding any set up ideas / getting clients etc please feel free as I do similar work and have done so from home for ten years now. Good luck to you both.

Prudent

Welcome. Be kind to yourselves over the debt - you have had a lot of trauma to deal with. You seem committed to paying it off - you soa will help people advise you. Remember this dark time in your life again will pass and you will again play with your daughter on a Spanish beach. There are a huge amount of tips on these boards that will enable you to live for less.

stevesless

Right, i need to get this SOA done, i'll have a crack at it tomorrow and post again. Thanks for the encouragement and support so far

SS

Butterfly

Well done for being brave and facing your debt. Everyone here is in the same boat and sympathises with you and supports you. It takes lots of time, effort, patience and persistence to get your head around your finances and to get control of them, rather than them controlling you, but it definitely can be done. Unfortunately we were never taught about finances and how to manage money. All those years at school heh, what were they really for? We now have to teach ourselves and then pass on our knowledge to our children. There is so much to learn and big transformations can be made. This website really is the best there is and we are very lucky to have Martin and his team put it together for us. You can really do this and live the life you really want to live. All the best of luck on your journey. Butterfly x

southwester_2

Welcome aboard Steve, you have made a huge step by facing up to your problems

Well done