New member and desperate for help

Lumanous

Halifax BoS are part of Lloyds Banking Group yep

Lloyds has an acquisition in progress for MBNA so, as far as I am aware, it's not 100% confirmed yet. Currently under investigation so more info should be available later in May (someone else may have a better update than me, latest I'd heard/seen). But this will be why it's not really known widely yet. I don't think they will own it 100% but will be associated/own partly if it does indeed go through in future

Hope this helps, they sure don't make it easy do they!?

I agree with KID on TSB though - ex-Lloyds

p.s. sorry not meant to be swamping your thread!

vaper

I don't mind, the more the merrier. I need any help that's available. It's always good to learn.
Thank you

MrsS2003

Hello,
I moved to Nationwide when I set up my DMP. I highly recommend them.

Good luck: I finished my DMP on 21st of April so I can tell you that you are absolutely doing the right thing.

Lumanous

Woohoo good news on the accepted account - I missed that bit!

patman99

TSB are not linked to any of your cards so you are ok with them.

The reason Stepchange recommend that you have a bank account with someone you don't have any debt with, is that the creditor could raid your account to clear the debts you owe.

I ended up opening an account at NatWest. Since then, I have opened accounts with TSB and Metro Bank. These are used for my emergency fund (see my £1000 EF challenge thread) and my 3-6 month salary fund (Dreamer Helen set up this challenge).

None of my accounts has any overdraft facilities, so no risk of running up extra debt.

You will find that once you take the step of setting up a dmp, it will feel like a big weight has been lifted from your shoulders.

Magnolia

Oi Vaper! Get your bum over here for a kicking! Don't say I never give you anything :rotfl:

From your user name I thought you were already vaping - now is a great time for you to swap from stinkies to full time vaping. £50 will get you a decent vaping kit and juice. In just one week you will have saved £200 - thats £800 per month - soon builds up

I started out duel fueling with small targets like making a pack of stinkies last 2 days - once I mastered that it was to make a pack last 3 days - you get what I mean?

One Saturday I got up with one ciggy in my packet. I had that at 6.30am - snuck another little challenge in - how long can I last before I open another packet of ciggies. I can tell you - over 2 years!

I can hand on heart say that I have not had a stinkie since 6.30am on 7/2/2015.

Not going to say it was all that easy but with the help of a decent vape it was made doable for a dyed in the wool 40 a day smoker! :cool:

Head over to Planet of the Vapes for a read and support - its where I started. Some of the juices are expensive but I use onequidliquid - found it has been great for me.

ANDY597

Hey there Vaper


Just back to your SOA for a moment. As others have said the grocery seems to be the instant saver.


A good strategy is to mooch around the reduced isle in your local supermarket and start batch cooking and freezing. Its also good to try and learn when the reduced stuff gets reduced if you want to take it a step further.


Batch cooking for example, if you can get a big tray of chicken thighs which are relatively cheap anyway and some veg cook up a big batch of chicken casserole and portion it into some tupperware to freeze.


You might end up eating a little repetatively through the month but I can honestly say this was an absolute key to me surviving. My best month was £46 for the whole month although that was really pushing it.


Bolognese, sausage casseroles, chicken thigh casseroles or with sauces etc etc, there is lots of recipes that batch and freeze well and I think we have an old skool cooking thread somewhere.


Likewise you can also do this with filled rolls for work if your carefull with the fillings, standards like meat and cheese do well, but salad etc doesnt survive well. Rolls and bread are always reduced. I used to allow myself a budget of £1 at work each day which got me filled rolls I had frozen and a can of soup.


Smoking - easier said than done especially if you see it as a bit of a crutch, as the last poster mentioned maybe try vaping or rolling your own to cut down some immediate costs if your not ready to quit yet.


Youve taken a massive first step, and its small steps that keep you moving. Hope all goes well.

kb_soma

Hey Vaper! Welcome - there's some really sound advice here.

Taking out a DMP was the best thing I could have done when I was struggling with debt. Welcome to your journey.

Pop over to the DMP support thread to say hi - it's full of DMPers, old and new https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5623951

vaper

Magnolia wrote: »

Oi Vaper! Get your bum over here for a kicking! Don't say I never give you anything :rotfl:

From your user name I thought you were already vaping - now is a great time for you to swap from stinkies to full time vaping. £50 will get you a decent vaping kit and juice. In just one week you will have saved £200 - thats £800 per month - soon builds up

I started out duel fueling with small targets like making a pack of stinkies last 2 days - once I mastered that it was to make a pack last 3 days - you get what I mean?

One Saturday I got up with one ciggy in my packet. I had that at 6.30am - snuck another little challenge in - how long can I last before I open another packet of ciggies. I can tell you - over 2 years!

I can hand on heart say that I have not had a stinkie since 6.30am on 7/2/2015.

Not going to say it was all that easy but with the help of a decent vape it was made doable for a dyed in the wool 40 a day smoker! :cool:

Head over to Planet of the Vapes for a read and support - its where I started. Some of the juices are expensive but I use onequidliquid - found it has been great for me.

Haha Thanks for that.
My username was one I had to come up with as all the others had already been taken, I have been trying to vape, a friend at work let me try it and I wasn't sure about it, then I got a mouth full of ulcers after using it so am currently trying to find a different juice that suits me well.
As for stopping smoking, I did it before for 20 years then started again when the money worries kicked in :embarasse I know I'm an idiot. I WILL DO IT eventually.

esmy

vaper wrote: »

I have been trying to vape, a friend at work let me try it and I wasn't sure about it, then I got a mouth full of ulcers after using it so am currently trying to find a different juice that suits me well.
.

re the mouth ulcers - I also had this when I started vaping, The GP told me that this was the result of stopping smoking, rather than starting vaping, and that they would go eventually. They did and never returned. I've been stopped over 3 years. Good Luck