Beyond help???

Cassox

About £16700

Cassox

I also forgot to add I'm my 4 weekly prescription of £8.60.

I do not have any fall back fund

patman99

So, no other family members then?, Or are you not prepared to answer the question?.

Food, switch to Aldi or Lidl. Or, if you have a garden, grow your own. Gardening can be good excercise as well, so no need for a gym. Most areas have a gardening club or horticultural society that you can join.

You should also talk to Stepchange with regards to your debt?. They will be able to advise you on the best way to take control of your debt.

zippygeorgeandben

It does seem like the OP doesn't want to answer the questions put to them from members. If they truly want to sort their finances out, they have to be open, frank and honest. Not to us, but to themselves.

Kitty777

Hi!

The biggest thing that stands out to me is the clothes and the food money.

To begin with, cutting back on food and the meals you are used to can be a pain..but now I see it as a challenge to actually spend as little as possible on food for the nicest meals! You can be surprised what you can do. I also get a huge kick out of getting yellow stickered/reduced food too. Could you maybe look into that? It is just about cutting back to get yourself to a better place...but you will find that once that has happened in however long it takes..you will not want to go back to spending £200+ a month on food if you don't have too!

As for clothes, I probably spend £5 a month on clothes. I buy mine mostly from the charity shop or ask for them for birthday/christmas from my Dad. You can get some amazing bargins...a lot of the ones I have bought still have their tags on for £2, down from like £30! You just need to look

Edit: Also £100 for pocket money. That is quite a lot! You don't mention children but sometimes swallowing your pride and saying that you cannot afford it right now is the best thing for the long run. Things were horrifically tough for me as a child and what my poor Mum used to do instead was every Saturday she would leave a bag of pick and mix sweets out for me instead of money..probably cost £1-2 at max. Is something like that as a treat you can do? Maybe I am getting old now though!

It may feel a little overwhelming right now, but grab a cup of tea and read through the replies on here and then be honest..you have nothing to lose and the people on here can advise.

x

EssexHebridean

I may be wrong but I'm reading between the lines a bit here. I think OP lives on their own with the pets - and is quite horribly embarrassed about the situation they find themselves in. I'm not sure that they are actually being evasive - perhaps a touch defensive, but bearing in mind how often on here people do tend to "have a go" about people spending a lot of money on pets when they struggling financially, perhaps that isn't totally surprising?

If my assumptions above are correct then that suggests that the £100 "pocket money" might be an entertainment budget by another name.

OP I think there are certainly savings to be made but I do wonder if you need to be a wee bit more realistic about your current spending levels. £30 a month on haircuts and £50 a month on clothes adds up to nearly £1000 per year - and that's not really a sustainable figure for someone who by their own admission says that things are too tight to manage for much longer - they're not, in fact, you just need to revisit where your money is going, as a starting point.

Have a look back over the budget you've posted - I think you may have accounted pet insurance twice for a start, and you may find it easier to complete the "usual" form of SOA (You'll find the link to it in the "sticky" post at the top of the board here. It just sets everything out in a slightly clearer way and is also very easy to "format for MSE" and past into here. Think about what you're putting into each category as well - for example if you're budgeting £50 for present,s but admit that you always end up not actually saving this, then that identifies that there are holes that need plugging - having that line on the SOA also means that the whole thing isn't accurate.

HopefulHumphrey

Hi
This is my first ever response to a post, but I had to as I am in a similar situation to you.

Firstly, check you are getting all the additional help you are entitled to. You do not mention a partner, so are you getting the right tax credits, child benefit and do you get child support?
Check and double check as you may be missing out.

Do a PPI check. Dont use a company, just write to your banks and check. You never know.

Speak to your creditors. I laid out my financial situation to all the people I owed money to and requested a repayment that I could cope with. They ALL (except for my HP provider as its a different type of agreement) agreed on a temporary basis. I also used some template letters from a debt charity website.It really lifts a weight off.

In terms of your gym membership. I get how important any sort of social outlet is. If you are willing to consider giving it up, have a look into ParkRun, which is free and offers a social vibe and look for classes that are done in community centers as they are often much cheaper and still offer the social interaction.

If your debt is such that you are now taking medication you should really consider talking to someone about it, be that a friend, family member, counselor or somebody from a debt charity.

As for buying lunches and coffee out. I allow myself a treat on Pay Day! I buy myself a coffee and muffin for breakfast and a nice lunch and I allow myself a takeaway coffee if I have to travel to a meeting. Just because times are hard, does not mean you cant treat yourself on the rare occasion.

Oh, lastly, check out your local college or hairdresser for free haircuts by apprentices / trainees. Most offer it once a week and they aren't let loose until they can genuinely do a good job. If they really mess it up, a tutor will usually fix it.

I hope I have been able to offer some help. It really can get better and facing it head on is the first step. Good Luck!

System

"Pocket Money" maybe OP's money that they keep in their pocket for bits and pieces. My mate refers to his as "Mad Money". Spends it on a CD or DVD or anything he fancies during the month - OP is this what you mean?

Mind you, it's more like £30 in his case. £100 is quite a lot when you want to address debts.

Cassox

Hi

There is only me and my pets.

Cassox

Hi

I have answered ever question put to me plus revised and given a more detailed SOA so where am I being evasive? Yes I am stupid for getting myself in debt and came on this forum for advice not put downs. I know a lot of my entriies are going to be questioned and any advice on what people spend etc themselves will be more than welcome.