Help needed please!

enthusiasticsaver

Entertainment is definitely very high so I am sure there is scope for that to come down and the cable tv could go. You should be putting something in the emergency fund column as you own a house. Groceries and the mobile phone costs could also be brought down.

Consolidating will not work and will make matters worse as you have the debt on 0%. The main thing you should do though is to stop using the cards altogether as I am guessing the debt has increased due to you carrying on spending on them even though you are only paying minimum payments. Has all the credit card debt come from living beyond your means or did you use the money for something specific?

missp1982

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

Entertainment is definitely very high so I am sure there is scope for that to come down and the cable tv could go. You should be putting something in the emergency fund column as you own a house. Groceries and the mobile phone costs could also be brought down.

Consolidating will not work and will make matters worse as you have the debt on 0%. The main thing you should do though is to stop using the cards altogether as I am guessing the debt has increased due to you carrying on spending on them even though you are only paying minimum payments. Has all the credit card debt come from living beyond your means or did you use the money for something specific?

I havent spent on the 0% cards and am not doing so at the minute, so purely paying off but obviously would like to increase the amounts to get it down quicker. It was a mixture, I moved house so used it for purchasing some furniture, then I suppose some was living beyond my means and paying for a lot of things for my ex (through choice, and which I thoroughly regret!).


I cannot reduce my mobile bill as I have just got a new 12 month contract, it has reduced by £20 to what it was before. I will look at groceries and make better use of what I already have in the cupboards as definitely in a trap of buying things I already have.


The entertainment seems to be the big one, I need to focus on not just saying yes to everything without thinking about whether I can afford it!

EssexHebridean

make your default on invitations "I'll need to check my diary so I'll get back to you on that" - it buys you time and lets you make a reasoned decision.

horseygirl2014

Think everyone's covered anything i would say

Entertainment - ouch! but you've included cash withdrawls, eating out ect. well done for being brave a doing a really honest SOA
well done for already reducing this entertainment bill!
If you always pop to the cash point to get cash, a fiver here, 10 there - why not withdraw a weeks worth of money - that you've budgeted for - and put it in your purse and then put a sticky note of your card reminding you not to withdraw for the week!. it might help break the habit of always reaching for the card, and will also give you a better visual idea of how much - or little- you have left for the week. Any spare at the end of the week, put towards a debt or something specific. Don't think, I've got it left i can spend it. - At the end of every week, I empty all my change out of my purse and put it in a pot. at the end of the month i cash it all. Its amazing how much adds up - and i always make sure i put it to something specific (normally a winter feed bill for Pony)