Beyond help???

Hiddenidenity

My comments in red still stand..

You cant afford £50pm on gifts.
Your grocery budget can still be cut. Switch brands, meal plan, shop less.
Stop drinking coffee out/getting meals on the go. Take lunch from home.

Speak to one of the debt charities about sorting the debt. But you need to set a realistic budget that isn't above your incomings and stick to it

Grumpelstiltskin

Cassox wrote: »

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.

You have not said why you spend £50 monthly on clothes and £30 monthly on haircuts or explained what the £100 'pocket money' is.

My guess is you are spending much more on your pets and you are using these items to hide it. I may be wrong but I feel you are not telling us exactly where your money is going.

Cassox

Thank you for your reply. I know I have a lot of changes to make in both money and mind. My clothes bill went up because I lost a lot of weight so charity shops are a good idea. My food bill Is more difficult. It is not just for food but all toiletries, household items etc. It also includes my pet food. 2 of my pets have illnesses which require a specific diet which I have to purchase from the vet so is not cheap. I wouldn't welcome my food ideas for myself. I admit to living on a lot of convenience foods as when I get home after 8 the last thing I want to do is cook. I have become lazy I suppose. I redid my SOA. I know I should be able to manage quite well and meet the minimum payments of my debts bit obviously My spending does not match what I plan out on the SOA. I never manage to put aside the money for presents etc and I still use the credit card. I know some weeks I spend way in excess of £60+ on food because I shop daily and it is always so easy to throw a few extra bits in the basket.
I suffer badly with bouts of depression and that's where most of my debt has come from. I buy to make myself feel better but it is a false high which results in a vicious cycle of more spending.
I do want to start living within my means and being happy with what I've got but with my state of mind at the moment it feels like I am sinking into a black hole.

Cassox

Hi. The clothes bill was because I have recently lost a lot of weight but I know this needs to be cut dramatically. The hair I admit was part of making myself feel better. I have it cut and coloured ever 8 weeks so I know this is another area that has to be looked at.
My problem is I really don't know what is realistic to allow myself in a budget as I have just been spending regardless.

Grumpelstiltskin

The food you buy from the vet, have you looked to see if it available online? If it is you may find it is cheaper.

You must meal plan not just throw the first thing you se into your basket.

If you do plan ahead you don't need to spend time cooking every night..

Have you looked at this board?

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=33

There is a cooking for one thread on there.

Cassox

Hi and thank you.


I am single with pets so no entitlements to any benefits.

I have many areas to address. My difficulty is setting a realistic budget that I can stick to. It's like having a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other.

When my gym membership runs out I will cancel it.

There are so many things I need to change. I just feel a bit overwhelmed at the moment. I suppose it has to be all or nothing approach.

As I can meet my minimum payments I cannot negotiate any reduction. I asked a couple of organisations to help me set a budget but they said they are only there to help people who cannot or are having trouble repaying their debts nit for general guidance which is fair enough.

Cassox

Thanks I will have a look at he cooking thread.

The pet food is prescriptive so I don't know if I would be able to buy it independently but I will as the vet.

EssexHebridean

Some thoughts then -

- The special diets for the pets - have you looked to see if it can be bought online which may be cheaper than buying from the vets? *edit* OK you've already been advised about this - it might also be worth asking on a relevant pet owners forum whether people have found any alternatives to the pricey prescriptive stuff.
- Your hair - stretch out the cut/colour to 12 weeks not 8 to reduce the cost a fair bit.
- The credit card - you need to stop using it, is the simple truth. All the time you still have it to fall back on your situation will only get worse as with that safety cushion there you have no incentive to HAVE to stick with your budget.
- Clothes - have you restocked your wardrobe after your weight loss now? I know that one is tricky but you need to set and stick to a budget for replacements,and perhaps at the moment buy cheaper stuff that will "do for now".

OK - you say that you don't know what you *should* be spending in some areas - but people are coming forward and pointing out where expenditure appears high to us.

I'd suggest something along these lines for the time being until you get your budget under control and working.
- clothes - £25 per month if you're still restocking, but only on stuff that you NEED, not on wants. If you've got the restock sorted then drop that to a budgeted £5 per month for vital stuff only - knickers and socks!
Hair - reducing the frequency you go to have it done will bring that monthly figure down anyway - 12 weekly will give you £20 a month. Ideally you'd reduce more - can you colour at home and just have the cut?

Take the pet food out of the general grocery budget - and stop with the convenience food - it;s not good for your body OR your pocket. Why not sit down and make a list of the sorts of meals you like to eat, and then do a meal plan around those? If you struggle to structure it then why not allocate a type of meal to each night of the week - so Monday might be pasta night, tuesday soup & bread, wednesday salad, thursday omelette, friday"with rice" - saturday could be an easy food day when you do a microwave meal for lunch and sandwiches for tea, sunday you might do a roast or similar and then cheese and crackers for your evening meal? Factoring in easy options helps when there is a lack of enthusiasm to cook for yourself. Keep an eye on Aldi & Lidl's "Super 6" and "pick of the week" deals and use those for fruit and veg where you can - so if mushrooms are on special you might use those for a pasta meal and your omelette filling, for example. once you have your meal plan then write a shopping list for the ingredients you don;t already have in - and shop to that list. Shop as few times a week as you can get away with to reduce the temptation to pick up extras.

You can do this - if you really want to. If you;re determined enough then the thought of being debt free with your finances under control will win.

Cassox

Hi.

Yes there are many areas I need to address. I need help setting a realistic budget I can stick to. Things like should I give myself a personal allowance? If so what is reasonable.

The gym membership can go when my contract is up. My bills are the lowest I can get them so there is no room there at the moment for improvement. Things like my broadband/ tv/telephone package will be looked at end of contract but it is already discounted.

My pets do take up a quite a lot of money but they are old and were rescued form a horrible situation years ago so I cannot rehome them and to be honest they are the only things that keep me going.

I understand now that my SOA i have completed is what should be happening rather than what is happening so he's my food bill and pet expenditure is probably a lot higher than I am actually accounting for.

Debtslayer

Cassox wrote: »

Thanks I will have a look at he cooking thread.

The pet food is prescriptive so I don't know if I would be able to buy it independently but I will as the vet.

Have you googled if to see if it is available cheaper online?
Even if it's prescriptive then you can get prescription from your vet to enable you to buy it online. Our vet even does a price match