Scared to do anything now, would love advice...

floss2

Also, take a look on the Old Style board for tips for running a household & feeding a family cheaply

3LITTLEPIGS_2

hi & welcome!
we also have a dmp with cccs and they are brilliant! would still be stuck in a rut with no way out if it wasn't for this website-there is everything you could possibly imagine regarding saving money on everything!
Meal plans are brilliant as is online shopping as you don't get swayed by the other things you don't need. also there is always a money off or extra points for tesco-i am saving my points towards car hire for a hol next year-much more satisfying that putting it on a card!
good luck with everything

calleyw

how many are there of you. As you don't list Child benefit or tax credits.

As 240.00 food, toiletries, cleaning seems rather high if there are two of you. To clean you don't need that many different products either just bleach and multi-purpose cleaner.

Can you break it down any further as it makes it hard to see where the money goes.

Also this seems rather high as well 60.00 phone, mobiles and internet. Talk to your providers and see what deal they can do you.

Also keep a spending diary helps you to see where everything goes.

Easy for me to say but it is only money and they can't take what you don't have.

All the best.


Yours


Calley

GeorgeUK

Hi Empty pockets.

Well done for getting things organised and getting stuck in to the debt.
You definately don't have much room to manouver, but has anyone suggested trying a creditcard shuffle? Or is it too late for that?
I noticed on your SOA there was a little spare cash, so wondered if a few lean months to get some things transferred or a 0% deal set up an a new card could be done.
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cards/cut-credit-card-interest
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cards/balance-transfer-credit-cards
Some of the older hands will be able to advise whether this may or may not be an option, but thought i'd throw it out there.

good luck

frosty

Hi,how many animals are you feeding?
I have 2 basset hounds and a cat,we spend less than a fiver a month.
Do you know anyone with a Makro card,we stock up on bags of dried dog food (working dog no VAT)when they are on bogof.If our dogs get bored we mix in a small spoonful of cat meat to flavour it.Good luck.

EmptyPockets

Thanks again for all the replies. We tried ringing cccs lastnight, managed to get through - only to get cut off mid-conversation! Tried calling back until 8pm but were told there was a 'fault on the line', so will be trying again as soon as I've typed this reply.

Calleyw: There are only two of us - we really didn't think £240 was very high, we actually thought it was really good, so that's obviously something we need to change Will have to start keeping a spending diary every week to see where we can cut back on food, newspapers, etc...

£60.00 for phone, mobiles and internet breaks down to:
£20.50 internet with mcafee security (would be £17.99 without mcafee)
£5.00 roughly on PAYG mobile per week
£20.00 bt landline (paying extra to clear small arrears, should be cleared in a couple of months)

GeorgeUK: Too late for cc shuffling, appalling credit due to defaults, etc, would never get another cc, and the ones we do have are maxed. Thanks for taking the time to suggest, though!

Thanks again x

EmptyPockets

FROSTY!!!!!! I am VERY interested in how you feed your animals on less than a fiver a month!!

We are feeding 1 dog (German Shepherd), 2 cats, 3 rats & 1 budgie.

Never heard of a Makro card, don't know of anyone who has one either...

We actually spend more than the budgeted £25 a month on pets, but we take it out of the money we budget for our own food each week/month.

I hope you read this frosty, I'd be really grateful for any more input on feeding pets cheaply (and of course, advice from anyone else, too)

If needs be I can post exactly what we buy and how much, etc.

Thanks x

RAS

Emptypockets

if you post up what you buy now, Frosty can respond more quickly.

EmptyPockets

Pet Food Per Week:

dog food / tins x 14 £4.50
cat food / tins x 7 £2.40
cat litter x 1 £1.20been buying out of our food budget
budgie seed / millet £1.50 been buying out of our food budget
rat food £1.50 been buying out of our food budget
sawdust 50p been buying out of our food budget

total £11.60 :eek: I suddenly see why the spending diary is in order OMG!