I want to stop drowning

debtaghh

I know people think I should do a dmp but I just don't feel it will really help us that much monthly. I really am determined to get out of this situation.

I've been really thinking about how much I hate our financial situation and I end up dreading any event that I book as I always think where that money could go. I really need to start a spending diary as I have no clue what I'm spending. I think my average food shop is about £100 which is far too much. One week it's £65 but the following week it's £130+. I think it's so high as I've been stockpiling for Brexit. This week as I haven't stock piled it came to £65.

My DH Tesco cc deal has a part that expires in March , the balance of the deal ending is £1700. I'm determined to clear as much of this as possible . My dh has approx an extra £140 coming in Feb and March and we have no council tax those months. We pay £216 so that already there is £712 between the over time and no council tax plus we pay £150 a month any way. This will leave a shortfall of £700 but my salary varies and can be higher some months. I will also cut my food budget.

Have a nice day everyone.

enthusiasticsaver

Why don't you download a spending app tracker on your phone to see what you are actually spending on food.

Why are you stockpiling? Whilst I don't agree with Brexit I don't think there is any point in stockpiling food as in the interim period nothing will really change after Friday. It is just distorting your budget.

debtaghh

I didn't even think of a spending app on my phone so have just downloaded one, thanks.

I have anxiety so panic that we will have a shortage of food , which I know sounds silly. It's in-fact caused me issues as things are going out of date from when I originally started stockpiling.

enthusiasticsaver

debtaghh wrote: »

I didn't even think of a spending app on my phone so have just downloaded one, thanks.

I have anxiety so panic that we will have a shortage of food , which I know sounds silly. It's in-fact caused me issues as things are going out of date from when I originally started stockpiling.

So in fact this is counter productive if food is going out of date and you end up having to ditch it. Really there is no need to panic. In the long run there may be food price increases (no one knows for sure) but for the immediate future there will be no change. Do you have any techniques to manage your anxiety?

debtaghh

I thankfully haven't thrown any away but I've had to rush to eat it so it's still a waste.

I had cbt so I try and use the techniques that I learnt there.

enthusiasticsaver

Glad you have had some CBT as lots of people say that is helpful if you suffer with anxiety.

Try not to read the hysterical hype around Brexit predicting doom. As I said this was not my preferred choice (I am a remainer) but no one knows the long term repercussions but certainly in the short term there should be no massive immediate effect. Supermarkets will still have their supply lines open in the interim period although of course some greedy unscrupulous ones may put prices up to profit from the mass hysteria. We may just have to be more selective about what we buy. Stockpiling won't help though and is causing you problems now. I would not have room to stockpile in my cupboards and as you say you run the risk of it going out of date.

Silver_Queen

I agree with enthusiasticsaver. I'm a staunch remainer and have my moments of hysteria too, but the deal that we have is pretty reasonable. I don't think you have any need to stockpile food, especially with a tight grocery budget.

badmemory

I think one of the things we need to be aware of though is that paperwork at the moment appears to be minimum, whereas afterwards it most probably will not be. This could lead to a, well lets export it to one of the 27 where we may get a little less for it but will save on having to prepare all that paperwork.


There is also the interesting question of NI milk. Cows in NI produce milk, milk sent to Southern Ireland for treatment, 36% tariff, milk returned to NI for onward distribution, another 36% tariff. That translates to over 80% increase in costs. Fortunately the Southern Ireland co who do the treating are if this happens going to build a treatment place in NI, wouldn't it be nice if some UK based cos had the same intention.

debtaghh

Morning,

Wanting some advice : I work in a job that is minimum wage, quite boring at times and has no prospects but the people are lovely and there is a lot of flexibility with time off etc . It's not a path I really wanted but love the ease of it. Should I stay here for convenience or try and look for something else? Im nervous due to my anxiety x

[Deleted User]

That's a difficult one. Does it work around the kids?

When mine were little, I had a job that I tolerated as the kids were small but the staff were lovely. Once they were older, I looked to move on.