Getting myself out of this mess!

wingingit99

First day of the school holidays, and it's the first time in years that I've not been sat for hours trying to move money around and worrying about how I will pay the bills  

I'm genuinely happy that I have a plan, and by choosing a DMP I've no choice but to stick to it. It's been so easy to get credit over the years, that I've relied on always being able to use my card for things I can't afford. I'm not blaming the banks etc for giving it out, I get that they are a business. I just wish I'd truly understood how difficult it would be to get out of it, that £3000 student overdraft and credit card when I was 18 started me off on a dangerous path which has lasted nearly 20 years!

My first missed payments are starting to show on my credit file which I'm pleased about. I'm still waiting to see how all of the price rises, tax, NI payments etc actually impact me so that I can work out how much money will be left for debt repayments. 

Brie said:

Well done on your progress.  Don't forget that you are not spending more than you earn if the level of debt is not increasing.  Somehow you have been able to tread water but you, quite rightly, know that you want to do better than that, if not just for yourself but to set a great example for your child as well.  

fyi - I've been looking into Olio and thought you might find it helpful if there's a group near you.  Free food essentially, as i understand, it which would otherwise be dumped in a bin somewhere.  So perfectly good for you and contributed from stores, manufacturers and individuals.  Apparently you access it via an app.  Community fridges are also gaining in popularity - not sure how you find out about those but there may be something on NextDoor or similar groups.

Also don't overlook the kindness of strangers.   Again NextDoor often has requests for things that others might respond to.  I had both a toaster and a hoover I no longer needed and individuals had posted asking if anyone had something suitable.  I was about to take these 2 to the charity shop and this was just as easy for me.  So a new to you TV might be a possibility.  After all - if you don't ask, you don't get!!

Thanks Brie, I don't want my daughter growing up with me stressed about money. I've set her up with a HyperJar account today (no fees at all!). Her card should come next week to put pocket money on. I'm determined to teach her the value of money and how it can take a while to save up for things you want. I managed to get a new TV from a relative for free, so that's been amazing! I looked at Olio, but it's not that active in my area. I found TooGoodToGo, which has quite a few bits on. The Greggs magic bag was really good value, but there are only so many pastries and donuts I should be eating! Maybe we need to limit it to a treat once a month!

I do have a spreadsheet, but I'm a bit rubbish at keeping it updated. Next month I'm going to try and split my grocery money up into weekly amounts, as I've done it again and spent most of it in the first couple of weeks. So now having to be very frugal to stay in budget!

NeverendingDMP

Good luck with the grocery budget, hard to keep on track with it, especially in school holidays.  Hyperjar sounds good too. I find it really ally annoying how old a child needs to be to open a bank account that they can be part of looking after nd everything I've looked at like this harges a couple of pounds a month. Which is not ideal with 3 of them. I'm defo gonna pinch your idea and get a hyperjar account for the little people at our house.