£69k debt free wannabe

Jensfrugalyear

Thanks all for the replies.
We do meal plan but we end up doing additional shops for bread and milk. Sometimes fruit as well as that goes quickly. The additional stuff brought is usually bread and milk, but from coop so usually about a fiver for that. The extras can be anything from alcohol to sweets, crisps, cakes whatever we see that we fancy. Told hubby about how much extra we had spent and he has agreed to cut back and only go in for
things we actually need (the bread and milk).

Few developments in the last week too.... my son said he hated school lunch and usually ends up having just mash and beans a few days so we have purchased a thermos flask for him to be packed lunches but with warm pasta so thats 12.50 less on school lunches, but shopping may cost a couple of quid more. Also my mobile had a disney plus subscription which noone uses so cancelled that too.
Joined the payment a day thread too and finding small amounts to use towards debt

WinterWarrior

I think we get so used to having things available, it’s hard to get out of that mindset. When I was little I remember the family shop would have 4 bananas, we would ask to have one and the stock answer was ‘have you had yours already?’...you couldn’t eat anyone else’s, it was one each. Now if we run out we’d get some more. Maybe fruit isn’t the right example, but waiting for the next shop made them special. 

Jensfrugalyear

@Jadewest94 how did you get the interest stopped on your credit cards? Alot of the payments on these go to interest so would the great if I could cut that out

BlueJ94

Jensfrugalyear said:

@Jadewest94 how did you get the interest stopped on your credit cards? Alot of the payments on these go to interest so would the great if I could cut that out

Hey, I rang them and explained I was in debt etc and asked if I could set up a payment plan with them. They agreed and also agreed to stop interest etc as long as I paid without fail every month. Most of my CCs are set up for £30 a month. Some will review it after 6 months. I had the same issue as you, I would pay say £30 and then get charged £20 interest so ended up paying £10. So I just rang and explained. Hopefully they'll agree to a payment plan with you. Good luck!

Side note though, you won't be able to use your CC again and they'll close your account after you've finished paying it all. 

Debt_Me_Out_Of_Here

You could try and avoid those top up shops altogether. How about buying all the bread you need for the week and throwing a couple of loaves in the freezer? We freeze bread all the time to avoid running out later in the week. You could have some frozen fruit in for when the fresh stuff runs out - I love frozen berries in my muesli - I just buy a big bag of wonky berries, it's so much cheaper than fresh berries! And for milk, you could have a couple of cartons of UHT milk in for later in the week? Or you can actually freeze fresh milk as well! We use soya milk so it's all UHT anyway. I usually buy like 16 cartons at once and that lasts us the whole month. 

Debt_Me_Out_Of_Here

Also, it's great that your husband is on board, that really helps. 

TheAble

Debt_Me_Out_Of_Here said:

You could try and avoid those top up shops altogether. How about buying all the bread you need for the week and throwing a couple of loaves in the freezer? We freeze bread all the time to avoid running out later in the week. You could have some frozen fruit in for when the fresh stuff runs out - I love frozen berries in my muesli - I just buy a big bag of wonky berries, it's so much cheaper than fresh berries! And for milk, you could have a couple of cartons of UHT milk in for later in the week? Or you can actually freeze fresh milk as well! We use soya milk so it's all UHT anyway. I usually buy like 16 cartons at once and that lasts us the whole month. 

Excellent suggestions

LittleMissDetermined

Debt_Me_Out_Of_Here said:

Also, it's great that your husband is on board, that really helps. 

Couldn't agree more, this is half the battle I find!

draiggoch

Good luck with the plan, we were  in a similar sort of position a few years ago and have paid off about 30% by now and hope to be debt free within 2-3 years.
I've found that having a supermarket delivery every week has really helped reduce our monthly shopping bill. It includes the basics and meals for the week. It does have a £4 delivery charge but it has put me in the habit of planning ahead more for what we need. We do have a takeaway once a week from the chippy as a treat but it is something to look forward to rather than having them more than once a week (guilty of this previously).
Regarding the snacks when popping in for top up shops, I was VERY guilty of that and found that not having to go in is healthier for my waist line as well.

Debt_Me_Out_Of_Here

These pay to play games rope you in don't they. I got really into Pokémon Go a few years ago and got into a habit of spending money on it. Then one day when we were at the beach, it was really sunny and I couldn't really see what was on my phone and I accidentally bought the largest bundle of bloody Pokéballs that they had for like £90. That taught me a lesson and I haven't spent anything on games like that since! I do buy a decent PS4/5 game every now and then though, but always as planned purchases. They can be £60 but I get over 100 hours of entertainment out of some of them, so all good in my book.