Single mum on last £30 HELP PLEASE!!

Lazy_Runner

dizzyb wrote: »

ps- what about the talk talk offer? is that not better? xx

I don't know about the Talk Talk offer. Things I have heard/seen, suggest TT have had such high demand, that they aren't delivering. Victim of their own success and all that. Also I am not sure about the quality of their service. I am sure there are threads on this boards about lack of broadband/tel availability.

A colleague has been with Tiscali for 2 years without problems. He had the tel/broadband package and is in the process of upgrading to the tel/broadband/tv package.

duchy

£70 IS a lot on food do you shop once a week or do you do it in dribs and drabs-and do you menu plan ? I saved loads doing a once a week shop and thinking ahead. I don't have a car either so shop online which means I get to plan around the special offers. Always google for a Tesco code before too so the delivery charge is more than covered. By planning I can keep my bill under £60 even in a bad week-well under £50 in a good one. (Me and a 16 year old with hollow legs) I know this is considered fairly extravagent by many of the OS board and could be less !
Try switching cigerette brand too-something like Royals will save you a pound a week-which equates to £52 a year.
£30 for a night out is a lot of your budget-almost half your current food budget-can this be trimmed ?
Crisps and sweets are treats-you'll both enjoy them more (and be healthier) if you can look at them that way and maybe trim a couple of quid.
It sounds hard at first but once you get into it -it becomes second nature and a point of pride to get the best deal. If you think of it positively as improving your life rather than negatively as depriving yourself it's a LOT easier !

bexxie90

I switched to Tobacco and bought filter tips and one puch lasts me about 5 weeks I smoke 5 a day so the saving is incredible.

Is your Income Support right? It sounds incredible low £9 a week,I would get that checked.

Just want to send a Hug really you sound like you are grabbing the problem by its horns so well done
Bex

carlih1

dizzyb wrote: »

Ok, Statement of Accounts coming up...

This is all split into weekly........

MONEY IN per week:
£50 maintenance, £9.15 Income Support, £41.31 Child Tax Credit, £18.10 Child Benefit, (Housing benefit is paid monthly and is £286.76)

MONEY OUT:
£316.90 Rent per month Why doesn't your HB cover your entire rent? Maybe you should get this looked at?
£22.68 Water per month
£24.00 BT phone unlimited calls- per month
£20.48 AOL internet- per month Look for a better provider, i have had major problems with talk talk but others haven't!
£15 NPower direct debit- per month
£35.14 Tv licence Per quarter

Electric is bought in co-op on a card and i get about £5 a week.

Vodafone pay as you go costs me about £5 a week

I sometimes borrow my mums car and would say average a month i put in about £20 petrol depending how much i use it.

one night out a week £30 (*cringe*) Can you lower this? I am a single mum myself and i just don't drink, it was hard at first but saved me a packet!

One pack of cigarettes per week £5.50 (*cringe*) Blah blah blah i can't tell you to give up but maybe cut down that is what i have tried to do so i am not spending as much on the dreaded tobacco

Food, household products, bottles of wine and sweets & crisps averaging £70 a week (*CRINGE* seeing as though there is only me and my 5 year old!!) Moneysaving old style is great!! Have a look on there for all sorts of help, they will help you menu plan, use up what is in your cupboards so you don't have to spend as much!

Takeaways £10 a week? (*cringe*) Can you stop this for a while? £10 a week off of your overdraft will make a big dent in a little amounbt of time!

clothes £80 a month for both of us. £80 a month on clothes? Ok i used to be like this until i realised that i only wore 20% of what was in my wardrobe, sometimes we shop to make ourselves feel better but i have found personally that sorting my finances out and being able to pay off a debt is better than new stuff all the time. The new clothes will come eventually but £80 a month off of your debt on top of the £40 on your take aways is £120 if you pay that towards your overdraft your laughing!

Ok............... i think that's it. I did not enjoy that. Please don't tell me off! I am embarrassed.

Not trying to be harse about the above just realistic, i have had to do it myself and feel free to Message me if you need a shove in the right direction, i know i need them all the time. Be sure to go on the old style board though and ask for their help!!!

Make sure u get yourself a crisis loan and change your payments into a different account though as said before or HSBC will eat up your money!"

Carls xxx

Burlesque_Babe

I would definitely open up a new basic bank account. The Nat West one has a Solo card, you can pay your benefits in and you can set up direct debits etc. There is no overdraft facility but it is very easy and quick to open - you can do it online within a couple of minutes and there is no credit check.

Takes only a few days to get the paperwork and account number in the post. Then you can walk away from HSBC and make an arrangement to pay back the money you owe them without the fear of them swallowing any money you pay in.

TV license - I think it is very slightly cheaper to pay monthly. Only a tiny bit but it all helps (not to self - listen to what you preach and change your own TV license to monthly from quarterly!)

Cut down on the texts etc on your PAYG (it adds up to £20 per month). You are already paying for a telephone line which is probably cheaper to make calls from.

Old Style board will welcome you with open arms and you'll soon be knitting your dinner with twigs. :rotfl: Seriously though - you can throw any mixture of odds and ends in the cupboard and they will come up with meals. I once read a thread called 'eggs and potatoes' and there was a huge list of what to create with just eggs and potatoes!

Afraid the going out will have to go. Maybe once a month instead and invite friends around to your house for a night of boardgames instead. They bring the wine, you do the nibbles from some suggestions from the Old Style crew.

Tesco and Asda do great clothes (when you need, not want them )

I'm pretty sure there are threads for re-creating takeaway dishes for a fraction of the price on the Old Style board - homemade pizza is sooooo easy and cheap to make!

We'd never tell you off - we've all been there!!!

jo1967

Hope you are working through this! Good luck.

Your food bill does seem high for 2 - I do £60-70 for 3 (son 13) & am trying to trim this. I internet shop at tesco which I love, there is a running total plus I NEVER pay for delivery but always get a code of the Discounts forum. Also make a menu for the forthcoming week & only buy what you need (always staples in my cupboard though). I understand that as a single parent you need a night out but how about a bottle of wine & nibbles at friends with a DVD or girly night? I agree with previous posters cut out the takeaway for now - make pizza with your son or have a go at a chinese stir fry. Veggies from the market are alot cheaper.

Virgin do good £30.00 for internet, landline & mobile - sure there are other good deals too.

Watch the clothes spending as you will know kids grow fast so you son wont need loads. You should have a good sort through your wardrobe & sell what you no longer wear. Be tough - have core items in your wardrobe & mix & match classic & trendy. Primark would be good for up to the minute fashion at v cheap prices!

I hope I dont come over as judgemental just trying to help! Good luck! x

Gale_10

I just wanted to say welcome and also, if you want to save money, make a meal plan! Honestly I can promise you, you will save loads!

Also, try a cheaper supermarket.

I made these two changes and I managed to half - truthfully, half - my shopping bill. I would regularly spend £100 for the four(and the baby) of us at Morrison's, and now I have changed to Lidl, I spend roughly £50 a week. That includes nappies, and cleaning stuff. It didn't happen overnight; first I got the bill down to £80 then £70, that was buying some stuff at Tescos, and some at Lidl. The thing that chopped the bill down lower was meal planning. That is when you decide what you are going to eat each day. If you go over to the Moneysaving Old Style board, there is a thread on it. There are also lots of recipes and information over there, well worth a visit.

Anyway, I hope your situation is sorted soon, and welcome, its great to have you aboard!

Gale

cazjenki

You sound like me a few years back! Anyhow i stopped going out as much, quite hard when your mates are saying they will lend you some money to go out with. Another thing I have found quite good is getting some clothes off ebay, I used to be in Next every week looking for the latest clothes for my kids and then ended up with a catalogue which got me in more debt and don't even mention sports clothes and trainers for my sons. Just be careful, only buy what you need, its too easy to see something you like and just get it but always ask yourself 'Do I really need this?'.

carlih1

Forgot to mention also if you are buying £80 of clothes, you must have loads to ebay, you can make tonnes of mnoey from good quality kids clothes on there!! Just a thought!

Carls x

Doom_and_Gloom

I agree with alot of what other people have said. I only have to add that with the clothes although you might not like the idea as I know alot of people don't there is always charity shops. In my local oxfam I can get a good pair of trousers for as little as £1.99 and no joke the ones I bought had hardly been worn!!! Charity shops usually do very good childrens clothes and in my local Shelter where I volenteered for a while they had cheap, stylish children clothes with the original tags still on them!! This is not unheard of in alot of the charity shops with children aswell as adult clothing out there so I really would give this a try. It could save u £££ a year which could give you a helping hand with getting rid of those pesky people that take your money at the moment.