I give up

notanewuser

It looks pretty good to be honest. Not much you can trim that I can see.

Re things like car insurance and car tax, you pay a hefty charge for paying monthly. If your credit is okay (no idea what impact a DRO has) could you get a 0% purchases credit card and then pay that off over the 12 months? You could save as much as 10%.

Puzzcat

Hi,


I just wanted to post one of these.. :j... Your first post was so sad and look at you now.. keep .


Puzz. x

tlc678910

Hi Sacha, I'm glad you are feeling more positive. If I remember from your previous post you moved for a job and through no fault of your own that job wasn't what you hoped.
Anyhow I was just wondering if you are happy in your move (finances aside?) I'm sure your finances will improve when your husband gets a local job with less petrol costs etc but it just occurred to me that if you do regret your move your husband still having his old job could be a bridge back.
I think your child moved schools but if they were happy in their old school a move back may not be traumatic for them.
I just wanted to ask you not to stick with your move through pride if you think that is the best thing for you and your family.
Good luck with everything

greensalad

sacha28 wrote: »

We use childcare vouchers

As for contents insurance, I know how important it is but just haven't been in a position to even think about it

It's really not that expensive. I'm sure you can squeeze £10 p/m out of your grocery budget for it.

As others have said, if you can get a 0% credit card then you can use this to pay upfront bills and save yourself money. E.g line rental can often be bought in bulk for 12 months and you can usually pay around the £10 mark.

Phone, I know you have 6 months left but consider calling them to discuss a change in tariff. You can usually drop down to the tariff below.

When it comes to cancel, end your contract and get a sim-only contract. Buy your phone secondhand. I'm a gadget freak so I have a £7 p/m contract and buy my phone one generation behind the current from CEX. If you can do this using a credit card with 0% interest you will nearly always save money and still have a good phone (if you need one).

E.g latest iPhone on contract = £45 p/m

Same minutes/calls/data for £10 p/m. Not-latest iPhone = £250.

Over 12 months that's £20.85 + £10 p/m.

Voila, you've got the same plan, a newish phone and you've saved yourself about £14 a month.

You can do the same sort of thing but with a cheap and cheerful phone and save yourself loads.

sacha28

notanewuser wrote: »

It looks pretty good to be honest. Not much you can trim that I can see.

Re things like car insurance and car tax, you pay a hefty charge for paying monthly. If your credit is okay (no idea what impact a DRO has) could you get a 0% purchases credit card and then pay that off over the 12 months? You could save as much as 10%.

A DRO is viewed pretty much the same way as bankruptcy so I don't think a cc would be possible.

When we renewed OH's car insurance we should've just paid upfront, his quote was less than £300 and we had the money but it didn't even cross our minds as we've always paid monthly

Tixy

In your position I would possibly consider looking if you can get accepted for a subprime credit card.

This will be useful to you anyway to start rebuilding up a credit history but also in the short term you could use it to cover any small essentials seeing as you now know that your finances would be much better off within a couple of months.

With a subprime card the key is to pay off in full each month, even if you then spend on it next month, until you can pay it off altogether.
E.g if you can get one and put say £30-£50 of groceries on this month instead of from your current account then you could afford the prescription and any other similar costs and cover any of the shortfall your first SoA shows.

I don't know if you would get one so soon after a DRO - but worth a shot - http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/bad-credit-credit-cards

edit not sure now if your DRO was Jan 13 or Jan 14?

sacha28

tlc678910 wrote: »

Hi Sacha, I'm glad you are feeling more positive. If I remember from your previous post you moved for a job and through no fault of your own that job wasn't what you hoped.
Anyhow I was just wondering if you are happy in your move (finances aside?) I'm sure your finances will improve when your husband gets a local job with less petrol costs etc but it just occurred to me that if you do regret your move your husband still having his old job could be a bridge back.
I think your child moved schools but if they were happy in their old school a move back may not be traumatic for them.
I just wanted to ask you not to stick with your move through pride if you think that is the best thing for you and your family.
Good luck with everything

If I'm honest, I don't regret it. I love the dept I work in, the people are fantastic and I've settled in really well. The issue with my job isn't where I work, it's the fact that I am contracted for a learning post, however, the person who set up my role never actually sorted the course. She has since been removed from her post (this actually happened just before I started) and it didn't come to light until my 1st day of induction (that was a horrible conversation to have on your 1st day believe me). So, at the moment, the progression I moved for isn't happening (I'm trying to explain this in a way that won't out me, my username is hardly inconspicuous!). The trust are in breach of contract, this has been recognised by them, and I am currently awaiting the outcome of the grievance hearing (hopefully they will just sort the course and then everyone's happy!!)

This is the only thing that has over-shadowed the move, it has been the most immense stress/pressure, the finances are a huge blip but we have overcome this situation before and we can do it again. I wouldn't move back, not because I'd be embarrassed, because I began to loathe where we lived before and we wanted to give our son the best possible chance in life. Where we are now is where we always dreamed of moving to, there has just been some crappy circumstances that have bittered the sweetness.

sacha28

Tixy wrote: »

edit not sure now if your DRO was Jan 13 or Jan 14?

We were 'discharged' from the DRO (we each took one) in Jan this year

notanewuser

sacha28 wrote: »

We were 'discharged' from the DRO (we each took one) in Jan this year

We're in January now............. Do you mean in the last few days?!

sacha28

The eligibility thingy can't find me apparently. I'm on the electoral role, had a letter confirming it in October so no idea what the problem is there. It found my OH at the same address so even more confused now (don't panic, I would NEVER, EVER apply for credit in my OH's name, I had many things taken out in my name by my ex and only found out about it after I left which is how I came about taking out the DRO!!) so now doubly confused!