New and need advice to be debtfree

pink_muppet

Please be nice to me!, I'm new and after a number of years running up ridiculous debts with my hubby, we're now at the stage where we have got to stop

we're in the process of moving house which will reduce our mortgage by £300 a month but we probably won't be moving until March

fortunately, we have been able to keep up repayments on everything we owe (although recently a couple have been late!) and have not ended up with any arrears/defaults etc

the next 12 months or so will be tough but after that we have 2 loans that will be paid which will mean we will also be another £600 a month better off

I just need advice on how to get through the next few months really

Also we're too reliant on credit cards and have ended up using them willynilly and on impulse instead of for emergencies like we used to

I seem to have lost a complete grip on reality of how much it actually costs for general living expenses month to month, spend a fortune on food shopping, some advice here would be helpful

we do have a little saved, would it be better to pay off a loan with this or keep it for emergencies?

southern_chick

Hi someone will be along soon with loads of great advice. go over to the "old style board" for loads of help with cutting down your food bill, i think i used to spend about £350 a month on food (for me and 7 year old DD), now with their help i spend less than £100 and still eat well.

welcome and good luck

SC XX

pink_muppet

thanks SC which is the old style board?

angelavdavis

Its in the main forums here

I would recommend you list out all your income and outgoings (statement of affairs) and then keep a spending diary between you and OH to monitor what youa re spending on in order to identify other areas for saving. If you are struggling for suggestions on reducing outgoings, post your SOA here for the good folk here to offer you advice.

Shop around using shopping comparison tools such as uswitch to keep bills down. Join quidco, pigsback and other click-through sites to gain points that can be converted into cash or vouchers to use in high street shops

See if you have anything around the house that you can sell to raise income to pay towards debts. It will help you clear out before moving house too.

skint_spice

Hi, if you have a look at this http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=107280 it will help you get started. Some of the info you will be able to work out from bank statements but for the rest you might need to keep a spending diary for a month or so.

Good luck, you'll get there and it looks like if you get the spending under control you'll be able to sort things out once you move. x

Skint_Catt

Its' called money saving Old Style and its about halfway down on the main forum board menu. Its fab - but addictive!

barron_hard_up

Hi Pink Muppet,
The is only my way of doing things regarding your debt, others may have a better suggestion. As I do not know how much cash you have, I myself would keep a float of cash for emergencies and, depending how much cash there was, pay some off.

Another of my pet things are mobile phones, I think they are luxuries and not needs, if you have them, get shut of them unless they are paid for and pay as you go.

If you have Sky, cancel it.

You mentioned that you won't be able to keep up with everything you owe, so prioratise your debts and then contact the other creditors right away and inform them that for a few months you will have some difficulties, and ask what help they can offer you in accepting minimum payments as a temporary arrangement.

Good luck!

pink_muppet

My mobile is paid for by work, I'm mad with my husband as his 18month mobile contract recently came to an end and I wanted him to go on pay as you go to save us £30 a month but he went out and got a new phone on a new contract for 18 months so we can't get out of that now

We can just about keep up with everything until we move and then we'll be ok, I don't want to ask creditors to go on a payment plan yet as this will affect our credit rating which while we're sorting out a mortgage I really can't do with being affected anymore!

But I want this to be a long term plan to get out of the debt trap for good, we both earn good wages and I am sick of throwing it down the toilet every month, I am ashamed of ourselves and the kind of example we are setting our young children and I want this to change

I feel that I shoulder everything, my husband works and is a great dad and doesn't spend money on going out or smokes or anything but I have to deal with the finances all the time and feel completely stressed while he goes out and gets a new phone!

I need to do this statement of affairs thing, get everything down on paper and get a proper budget together

millionaire_in_training

hi there. You have managed a great first step to becoming more money savvy by coming on here. You are right and you really need to do the SOA so that it can be looked at by fresh eyes. I was in the same kind of position as you a few months ago and was about off my head worrying about it as I could only see things getting worse and not better but OMG the difference in my life now. Dont get me wrong I am still skint but at least the books balance and I can afford to live and at some point in the future I will be debt free. The main difference though is my attitude to money and 'things'. I dont need 'things' anymore. I get what I need along with a few luxuries but my big advice is dont give up and keep joining in on here. Good luck x

pink_muppet

thanks millionaire, I'm a little scared at posting all my SOA tho in case I get slated for being stupid and getting myself into this position, I don't think I could cope with that right now, I know I've been completely stupid and irresponsible with money, now I need to know how to tackle it once and for all so we can all start enjoying life again and I'm not shouting at the kids so much!

millionaire_in_training

No-one will slate you or call you stupid. We are all in the same position and have all asked for advice at some point. If you want fresh eyes and dont want it on the boards you can send it by personal message to me and I will look at it for you BUT much better to put it out in the open for lots af advice. What do you have to lose it's anonymous on here and thats why we love it. Be brave