Feels like im going under!

RAS

NiteEyez

You are doing amazingly. You may want to post a revised SOA at some point before you start negotiating the DMP. People can then advise where you can add a little slack and where you might be challenged. You may well have an acceptable response to the challenge, like the long commute, but if you can foresee them, you can build the explanation in when you talk to the creditors.

One tip from BIL who worked in a high-end job but doesn't like spending money unnecessarily: go mid-range for suits and get two pairs of trousers for each jacket as they wear out/look shiny quicker. He'd head off when there was a sale/discount get two identical jackets, 4 trousers and a week's worth of identical shirts. Add a slightly more up market suit every few years and he was set up for a year or more. Looking after ties carefully helps.

Also buy socks as multi-packs in the same colour. That limits the impact of the sock fairy and leaves you with a pair even if one develops a hole.

His clothing down-grades over time; office wear; smart casual, more casual (shirt over T-shirt), garden and then garage.

sweetpea26

I agree about the suits...my husband wears a suit every day too and he always buys of tkmaxx or end of sales. He get years out of each of them.

Also instead of dry cleaning too much...steam your suits..a hand steamer can be bought for the price of one dry cleaning bill. 

If it's possible take £5 per week or fortnight and start a savings envelope for clothing...by time your suit needs replacing the money is there to buy one. Also to help fund this envelope if you have anything like computer games or anything sellable. Get rid of everything you do not need. Great time of year to sell on ebay .. gumtree etc.

You are doing so well ..delighted hear that things starting to settle and a new routine is on its way.

Wishing you all the best .  You will look back on what you have posted  and feel be very proud of yourself.

EssexHebridean

The suits are something that you need to ensure that you budget and ringfence money for. I agree with those saying mid level too - there's nothing that screams "cheap" as badly as a cheap suit, and sadly people do still judge on such things. Ensure that shoes are "good" and are kept clean and tidy, as said above the trick of extra trousers for a single suit jacket is a great one. Remember to send the jacket to dry cleaning every so often when a pair of trousers go even if you've not worn it much as otherwise you risk a colour discrepancy over time. Look at sales for shirts - companies like T M Lewin frequently do "X for £X" type shirt offers but again you need the money set aside to cover a bulk purchase, Alternatively and if you can get away with cheap ones (some people can - MrEH can't as the cut never works for him), buy dirt cheap white shirts and be prepared to replace far more often - this trick works for women's tops as well - essentially generally speaking things in either black or white will either turn grey or fade over time and instantly stop looking as tidy - so for those basics often cheap and replace more often is better. For other colours a better make often holds the vibrancy of the colour better, so it can be worth spending a little more. 

It really is a joy seeing your progress here - well done! 

Singlespeeder

Fabulous going NE!
Christmas is a nightmare. In my former spendthrift bad old days ways we ( me & the Ex ) used to waste (relatively) VAST amounts on the kids and each other, like £500 each on the kids ... Playstation or PSP or whatever plus games etc... Apple watch for her ( it had to be the good one with it's own sim ) . Madness. Of course I had budgeted for all this, I mean it's not like Christmas isn't predictable is it ?! oh , hang on ..... no, we hadn't budgeted at all, it ALL went on credit cards, and I buried my head.

Now, the kids ( kids ! HA ! they're 23 & 24 ) get about £70 and that's it. And guess what ! IT IS planned for because I realised Christmas lands on the same day EVERY YEAR ! Who knew ! It simply comes out of the Annuals pot.

Even for the rest of the family, there's about 10 of us, we have agreed to do a "not so secret Santa" ...the 10 names go in a bag and are drawn randomly by my sisters and we have to buy 1 present each (though I always seem to get my difficult to buy for stepdad .... ) and we spend £30 ish 
We all get 1 present and it's absolutely fine.

Birthdays, kids get £50 ish, family members £30. We usually actually send cash, so if you actually just put that cash in an envelope and didn't spend it, you could literally give them their £30 back at zero cost to yourself ! 

I'm 55, I'm old enough to not get upset when I come downstairs on Christmas morning and there ISN'T a massive pile of junk presents on the sofa for me .... with its correspondingly massive hole in my finances.
Kids are more resilient than we think. They only get high expectations because that's a bar WE set for them. They're happy with a pile of anything and have less of grasp of value/cost than adults.

Keep up the great work.

RobM99

Reasonably enough, the dreaded Christmas word appears!

Just a general suggestion, how about starting a "regular saver" for a year? It'll pay out in - er - one year, handy for next Christmas!

EssexHebridean

RobM99 said:

Reasonably enough, the dreaded Christmas word appears!

Just a general suggestion, how about starting a "regular saver" for a year? It'll pay out in - er - one year, handy for next Christmas!

Principality have a rather good option for this - maximum input of £125 per month for 12 months, and a decent interest rate, assuming they haven't pulled it yet. It's literally called "Christmas savings bond" IIRC. 

RobM99

EssexHebridean said:

RobM99 said:

Reasonably enough, the dreaded Christmas word appears!

Just a general suggestion, how about starting a "regular saver" for a year? It'll pay out in - er - one year, handy for next Christmas!

Principality have a rather good option for this - maximum input of £125 per month for 12 months, and a decent interest rate, assuming they haven't pulled it yet. It's literally called "Christmas savings bond" IIRC. 

Perfect! We like this!

Makingabobor2

Personally for Christmas I think its about who you spend it with and not what you spend. My GK's now get about £20 each as there are 4 of them and we don't buy for anyone else now.  DH & I might give each other something we have found in a charity shop or a bar of chocolate or something silly like that. For his birthday next week, I have got him a lovely book for £1 in Age UK. and if we did decide one year to buy something big, then it would have to be something we really needed....personally I would like a new hoover this year, but don't think it will happen... .  But seriously, Christmas is one day and compared to the rest of your life, its a very small part of it. Get out the board games, buy a tub of chocolates and watch some Christmas films. And as for all that extra food....well don't even get me started on that.  But if you do want to save, there is a challenge on here to save for Christmas 2023, you can set your own target and makes you  more likely to stay committed to it, if you have to tell people how you are doing. In fact I think all the challenges on here are brilliant

kimwp

While you are still getting a handle on your budget and it is so tight, I wouldn't recommend any regular savings where you can't access the money. (I'd recommend them in a situation where there is a definite surplus)

I'm in favour of secret Santa, particularly where everyone writes a wish list (or chooses to be surprised!)- it's a nice way of receiving something that you might not have splurged on otherwise. I've actually gone a step further with my family and instead of presents, each come up with and lead a fun group activity on Christmas day. The kids could create a football challenge or similar.

The nice thing (and it is probably the only nice thing about it) being on a budget is that it really focuses you on what you get enjoyment from because you start to think in terms of what it's worth spending money on.

I found it a bit of a dry read, but my friend recommended this book as a good way of thinking about all the different areas of your life and which of them you want to concentrate money and/or effort
Your money or your life by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez

enthusiasticsaver

I think the £1 a day or £365 for Christmas is good.  I would caution against regular savers until the debt is gone as you probably won't have leeway in your budget.

Saving for emergencies and saving for annual or one off costs is essential however but that needs to be accessible. 

If you need to wear suits for work then that needs budgeting for and a DMP will allow for that.