I want to stop drowning

enthusiasticsaver

I think it is certainly worth considering moving to a cheaper area. I am pretty sure your financial problems must be linked to the very high rent you pay. One plus about moving to a cheaper area is that when the debt is sorted you may stand a chance of buying a house at some point in the future. In an expensive area unless you get work it would be extremely difficult.

Your baby won't care which area you live in and your DD is 16 and will presumably be contemplating college so that is new for everyone. Depends how far away it is but can she catch a bus to visit friends? Your DS probably is the one so will be most affected but kids adapt quickly. I guess you just have to weigh up the extra commuting costs and presumably longer hours for your DH against the benefit of not paying such a high rent.

Sorry about the shoes. Kids shoes are ridiculously expensive. I think until your move is sorted minimums on the credit cards is the way to go. The debt will still be going down as most on 0%.

debtaghh

We are thinking of moving about an hour and a half away.

debtaghh

Morning,

Yesterday ended up being quite an expensive day ....£70 spent between shoes and a bit of food and toiletries.

I worked out that I will need in £5k in savings for the house deposit, can hire, potential new furniture ( we currently have fitted wardrobes ) , Xmas presents, car, tv licence, summer spending etc. My dad did agree to lending us the deposit if we needed it as he knows he'll get it back quickly so that's good to know. A lot will depend on sales, dh overtime and how good we are with money over the next few months.

My savings are actually £2150 not £2500 as I had included money we are due in but will wait and see and for now say I have £2150 but I'm due approx £110 next week from my adhoc job which can go straight in there. I have items ending tonight that currently have sales worth over £100 which can also go straight in there but I have lots of watchers so am hoping it will bring in more than the £100.

Have a lovely frugal day.

debtaghh

Morning,

As I hoped sales did go over the £100 mark and infact went over the £200 mark! Once everyone has paid and been posted , I will transfer it all straight into savings so am hoping I will have more than £2500 by next pay day.

I forgot that I will also need to pay admin fee for the move so will need £5450! Dh did one hours overtime last night which is about an extra £20... all adds up.

Have a frugal day everyone.

enthusiasticsaver

You are doing well on sales. Goodness £5450 is a lot for the move. Do you normally have to pay a deposit and one months rent up front then?

debtaghh

Yes we will have to pay 6 week's deposit plus one months rent in advance plus admin fees. Those savings needed does also include tv licence, car issues, Xmas presents but is a lot of money.

debtaghh

Hi,

I have to own up... the past few weeks I haven't been logging my expenses and just spending like there is no tomorrow ( within reason). I've just sat down and looked at my accounts and logged it all. If I don't log it I become too relaxed and not realise how much I'm spending on food, entertainment etc.

This month so far I've spent £297 on food but still need a shop.

My entertainment will be awful as will include while we were away..... just worked it out £377 but does include food while we were away and some future day trips.

debtaghh

Morning,

I have my frugal hat firmly back on. I was due to go out last night but I didn't for numerous reasons , one being it would have cost me at least a £10.

I need to go food shopping today, I have allocated £160 to last until 20th March for food so need to be careful. I would love to stick to this as if not it will be using money I could be saving.

I transferred £250 into the savings yesterday so it now stands at £2400, I just hope I get paid correctly this week.

Have a good frugal day.

debtaghh

Quick update that I went food shopping and spent £73 but have stocked up on lots of items.

debtaghh

Morning,

I listed numerous items last night, I thought a clear out will be good financially and for the move. Any sale money I get now until the 20th should be able to go direct into the savings as long as I'm disciplined!

My income drops dramatically over the summer months so on top of normal savings it will be nice to have a buffer plus I can't forget the shortfall each month I will start to have next month ( I have to check exactly how much that will be).