Is Change possible? (When you're in a hole, STOP DIGGING!)

katsu

Well done for cancelling which and the cooker insurance. That washing machine is next

Maybe think about having a look round the house for things you can sell. Whether it's trading in at a shop like CEx or using Facebook (free unlike Ebay but a smaller audience) you can make a few pounds and free up some space.

Other good options for little bits:

There's an app called Receipt Hog and one called Shoppix. You can use both. You photograph your shopping receipts and earn points that you can turn into vouchers or credit for paypal (which you can put back into your bank). Not a big money spinner but can all help.

Another app is Shoppix (a referral code gets you a jar of nutella for free and a £3 reward to the person who refers you). They give you money back for specific food items from supermarkets when you photograph your receipt. Eg I got a free bottle of coconut milk last week. They reimburse the money within a few days so it's very quick. Sometimes the full price is reimbursed, sometimes it's just partial reimbursement but you can see it all in the app when you are looking so no surprises.

Surveys can make some vouchers for presents. I'm doing swagbucks but there are others mentioned on these boards.

Take a look at the "small things" thread in DFW which is a new thread each week and has lots of good ideas on it for saving money.

I'm so pleased my suggestions helped and wish you the very best in tackling your debts. I'm now nearly 10 years DF thanks to Martin and this site, and I promise my life is so much better. Recently made redundant I'm back on Ebay listing etc and have savings so we aren't worried about paying our bills.

Good luck.

theoretica

Looks like a good start. Just like with any project gathering information is a great way to start - once you know where your money is going you can make decisions about what changes you want to make.


Insurances and subscriptions are great places to start as you are finding - can you cut costs without much effect on your lifestyle? Also worth checking if your utilities are on the best deal.

Lendrid

jaydeejay wrote: »

The important thing is making a start, and that you have done in spades from someone following along even though I haven't posted before. I just wanted to give you some words of encouragement as there will be lots of people rooting for you who you are not aware of. As they say a problem shared... and all that! Each small win adds up over time. Perhaps an idea might be making a note of things not bought or given in to, money saved by different spending or alternatives taken as its so easy to forget these or get disheartened.

J x

It's been a weird couple of days (financially speaking). After the birthday party on Saturday, we decided to nip to our local Homebase to grab some wood for a niggly job we wanted to complete on Sunday whilst my parents have DD. Anyhow, when we arrived there were signs up ALL OVER about it having a huge closing down sale. My rational, sensible mind just melted right out of my ears!!!!

Luckily, our daughter was asleep in the car someone had to stay with her, or I'd have been in there like a shot. Stu (partner) came back with some absolute BARGAIN 2x4 bits of wood for a grand sum of £1.04 and didn't buy a single other thing. All I wanted to do was go and have a little nosey! I felt so utterly compelled, and then really really grumpy all the way home that I hadn't been in. It almost felt like I'd been stupid for not going in to just check the "bargains".

So I guess we saved between £50 and £75 with me just not going through those doors. Do I write that somewhere? It's not a tangible amount but I know myself well enough to know I'd have spent like crazy. I just wonder if J is right with this suggestion about noting down somewhere when we DON'T spend like we would usually. I'm really not happy about this realisation that I'm such an emotional spender!:mad:

Lendrid

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 2


Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 0
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1897.17
Benefits
PIP ............................................£379.82
ESA............................................£467.78
Child Benefit.............................. £82.80
Hobson and Netflix share...........£25
Other income............................ gigs variable
Total monthly income.................2859.47

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage.................................£425.08
Secured loan repayments........£69.55 (loan attached to mortgage 6662.10 to pay 3.3A%APR) .................................................£494.63 altogether
Council tax...............................£99
Electricity and Gas ..................£101
Water rates..............................£19.40
Mobile phone 1........................£10
Mobile phone 2........................£10
Internet Services......................£25.45
Groceries etc. ......................... NO IDEA
Clothing....................................NO IDEA
Petrol/diesel..............................NO IDEA
Road tax 1................................£17.50
Road tax 2................................£12.77
Car Insurance 1 .......................£24 (paid for the year until December)
Car Insurance 2........................£71.46 Renewal due 2 months
Car maintenance (inc. MOT)....£40
Other child related expenses....NO IDEA
Physio.......................................£40
Medical (prescriptions).............£4.50 prescriptions
Pet insurance...........................£13.44 (Hobson excess 99)
Pet Insurance...........................£9.84 (Ravi excess £99)
Buildings and contents ins........£43.65
Life assurance .........................£41.48
Other ins. Washing machine ....£7.81
Memberships............................£5.00
Memberships............................£2.39
Huel..........................................£77.40
Ebon Renal food.......................£25

Presents...................................NO IDEA
Haircuts....................................NO IDEA
Entertainment (spotify).............£9.99
Entertainment (gym)................£22.40
TV (Netflix)...............................£11.99
TV (Amazon)............................£7.99
Holiday.....................................£65.49 (for family holiday next year)
Emergency fund.......................£0
Total monthly expenses...........£1674.60


Assets
Cash............................................. 0
House value (Gross).....................125000
Shares and bonds........................0
Car(s).......................................... 3000
Other assets................................ 0
Total Assets.................................. 128000

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
MBNA Credit Card £2200 (min payment £24 we've been paying £50) APR 0% until ???
Barclaycard £11750 (£270 min payment but we pay £300) APR 0% until Sept 2020
Tesco Loan £9516 (£107 monthly)
Halifax Credit Card 1 £56.19
Halifax Credit Card 2 £360 APR 0% until ???

Total unsecured debts........ £23 183
Ma and Da owed £15550 ( - what we've already paid)

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income......................................£2859.47
Expenses (including secured debts) ..............£1741.50 (not inc. groceries, clothing, presents, haircut)
Available for debt repayments........................Still gathering info
Monthly Unsecured debt repayments.............481.92
Amount left after debt repayments.................Still gathering info

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)...........£128000
Total Secured debt............................£87451.54
Total Unsecured debt........................£39382.19
Net Assets........................................£1,166.27

Lendrid

Another 2 hours of us sat here crunching numbers and the SOA is a little more filled out. Does this get easier the more frequently you're looking at your finances?!

We're now adding up how much we'll have to put aside every month to get the cars serviced and MOT'd. Absolutely bonkers. I feel like I'm in the twilight zone!

Lendrid

Good news at last! We've just worked out that we've actually paid my parents back 2100 over the last 3.5 years. (We've been paying them back £50 per month) This means that we've covered £700 personal loan to them, £600 lent for new flooring, and £800 of £1000 I borrowed towards a car.

If we continue to pay them back the £50 per month, we'll be clear of that section of debt for Christmas. Very tempting!!!

It would leave us with owing them £1250 (different car) and £12000 deposit for our home.

jwil

It does get easier once you've worked everything out, it's then a case of just tracking what you've spent, and updating as required when bills change.

katsu

I appreciate how you feel about missing the bargains. I'm very similar. The thing is, you didn't really need whatever they were selling cheap.

I've given loads of stuff to the charity shops and because we do gift aid I know that in the last few years it is well over £500. Might be £800 even over 5 years. Just think what that stuff cost me new?

I've been selling online recently and again made a few hundred quid. I know I spent over £1k more than I have sold things for. So really, how much of a bargain are the bargains we buy?

jwil

I agree about the bargains. My DH does this.

A bargain isn't a bargain if you don't need it or use it. You haven't saved money, you've wasted whatever you spent on it.

Lendrid

We sold our DD's never used sandpit tray which felt really good, so that's £20 extra! And the piggy bank we put pound coins and two pound coins in had 85 pounds in it rather than the £20ish we'd guessed. I think we're going to keep it in there as an emergency fund for the pets who aren't insured. (2 of them were too old to insure when we'd finally decided to do the sensible thing).

I'm definitely not loving this feeling of every waking moment thinking about money, and hoping that calms down as this all begins to feel more normal. What's becoming really clear is that we don't organise ourselves well enough food wise. We've been so used to eating out or on the go. Even with this new mindset I'm finding it so hard to quit these habits.

Positives:
It's feeling ok to write down all the spending
Washing machine is being fixed today then we can cancel that insurance
We've started transferring £40 a month into a separate account so we are covering the car MOTs, services and new tyres.
We're both listening to audiobooks about financial savviness.
Our little girl is on board with why we're not going to be spending like we were.

Thank you for the supportive comments, it's making this process much more manageable knowing that other people have gone through similar and come out the other side!