I want to stop drowning

debtaghh

chevalier wrote: »

Hi there
Have you thought about volunteering to get you out of the house during term time but not having to spend?
If you can't balance your budget without using the cards have you thought about going on a dmp? Have a look at the paylan website, or Stepchange (just don't go with a fee paying one as they are a rip off).
good luck with going forward
chev

I have a toddler so am unable to volunteer as I would have to pay childcare.

We don't use the credit cards regularly but think me over paying has caused the shortfall. We are unable to do an Iva or dmp as we privately rent. In the area we live in there is a major shortage of houses and we would be up against several ppl so can't have bad credit causing us problems. At the min we always make our min payment so our credit should be ok. I am hoping things will improve but it's going to take a while and is going to be a learning curve.

clearmydebts

debtaghh wrote: »

I have a toddler so am unable to volunteer as I would have to pay childcare.

We don't use the credit cards regularly but think me over paying has caused the shortfall. We are unable to do an Iva or dmp as we privately rent. In the area we live in there is a major shortage of houses and we would be up against several ppl so can't have bad credit causing us problems. At the min we always make our min payment so our credit should be ok. I am hoping things will improve but it's going to take a while and is going to be a learning curve.

I've also made the mistake of enthusiastically overpaying and then leaving myself short. It's hard not to want to pay everything off the debt but this month I'v put money into an emergency pot because I find it too hard to get to the end of the month and feel constantly anxious about not having enough money in my account

debtaghh

clearmydebts wrote: »

I've also made the mistake of enthusiastically overpaying and then leaving myself short. It's hard not to want to pay everything off the debt but this month I'v put money into an emergency pot because I find it too hard to get to the end of the month and feel constantly anxious about not having enough money in my account

Thanks. I think that's exactly why I panicked. I just need to accept that we can only afford the minimums.

clearmydebts

debtaghh wrote: »

Thanks. I think that's exactly why I panicked. I just need to accept that we can only afford the minimums.

And I need to accept that we need an emergency fund! We are getting there at least

debtaghh

Morning,

I've made a few sales so made another £25 payment towards the barclaycard. I've managed to use all food shopping cash already and have two more shops to do. But in all fairness I wasn't being realistic with how little to spemd on a family of five and have still spent a lot less than last month. Any ideas of what the average spend for a family of 5 is? It covers breakfast, lunch , dinner , snacks and toiletries ( 2 adults, 1 teenager, 2 children).

Lucylocks

We're family of 2 adults 2 teens and 1 dog. My weekly shop varies from 55 to 80 per week. The high spend includes bits like olive oil etc. I budget 70 per week. I also have budget for 20 per month on cleaning bits; dishwasher tablets, toothpaste etc. Grocery budget includes lunches for me and kids (OH sorts himself out). We eat a lot of fresh food and nothing processed hence higher spend. I don't buy any alcohol either.

Am trying to cut down on the amount of meat we eat as this impacts significantly on the spend.

What's your current budget?

debtaghh

Lucylocks wrote: »

We're family of 2 adults 2 teens and 1 dog. My weekly shop varies from 55 to 80 per week. The high spend includes bits like olive oil etc. I budget 70 per week. I also have budget for 20 per month on cleaning bits; dishwasher tablets, toothpaste etc. Grocery budget includes lunches for me and kids (OH sorts himself out). We eat a lot of fresh food and nothing processed hence higher spend. I don't buy any alcohol either.

Am trying to cut down on the amount of meat we eat as this impacts significantly on the spend.

What's your current budget?

I was trying to do it for £50 but it's just not realistic. We are not major meat eaters but think £80 is more realistic .

reality_check

Try a month of only paying minimum payments, stick to budgets and anything left over put towards your EF? I really need an emergency fund, but it is all too tempting just to throw every last penny towards debt, but then need to use again as leave yourself short. It's sometimes a never ending cycle! Keep going xxx

debtaghh

reality_check wrote: »

Try a month of only paying minimum payments, stick to budgets and anything left over put towards your EF? I really need an emergency fund, but it is all too tempting just to throw every last penny towards debt, but then need to use again as leave yourself short. It's sometimes a never ending cycle! Keep going xxx

Thanks, I think I will just pay the minimum x

debtaghh

Hi,

I spent £2 on lunch out and was quite pleased with myself. I'm on a day trip tomorrow but have lunch ready. I still feel like I'm just spending at the minute. I hung washing out yesterday and today so that's good.

I have been offered a 0% for £1k until next October and am wondering whether I should take it up? I would use some to pay the cc I'll be paying interest on, some on new stock to try and start my business back up and some in savings. I know it's not the greatest of ideas but I don't know what else to do. Hopefully more money will start coming in so we can pay more off, meaning less minimums which will then mean our affordability would be better but it's just trying to get to that point!