Please Help me get debt free

finnerty

Hello.... I'm a single mum receiving income support, I have amassed around £4000 pound on credit cards and overdrafts since I had my child 3 years ago, I have tried to reduce debts with balance transfers and at the moment have around £2000 on low interest life of balance cards ...i still have £2000 in high interest debt and i can't see a way of getting rid of it...infact it is still creeping up slowly <slaps wrist> :mad: ...I have been refused a loan to consolidate the debt and i can't think of any other way to reduce this money.... Any advice would be very much appreciated .... Many thanks

g4kvi

1. Do a budget. Account for everything This is scarrey at first but trust me it works.Martins is good or look at National Debt line (lots of good info).
2. Admitt your debt. ie don't buy things when out with friends. People will understand.
3. Write to your creditors. Letters on National debt line web site.
4. DON'T PANIC!!!!!!!

margaretclare

Hi

Well, you've answered some of it yourself! Smoking...this can't be a cheap hobby nowadays, and what is the point of it? You're paying good money to kill yourself or at best, to cause you health problems that can ruin your quality of life. I won't even say what I think about smoking around a small child....

One thing that many people find helpful is to keep a spending diary. This is a small cheap notebook which you carry around with you and you note down everything that you spend in a day, and that means EVERYTHING.

Your housing costs come first - rent/mortgage, council tax, utilities, food. I assume you get housing benefit, council tax benefit and child benefit, as well as income support? So you've just got utilities and food at the top of your budget list.

It can take some time to work out a budget properly and often it takes several goes before you get it right.

I don't know exactly how much smoking costs these days, but I think the last time I looked, cigarettes were £4 for 20. If you smoke 20 a day, which I'm told is average, that's £28 a week. For someone living on benefits, that a lotta money.

Aunty Margaret

mountainofdebt

to quit smoking but try it you may surprise yourself.


Get a see through container.....a cleaned out jam jar or some similar will do!...and instead of buying cigarettes put the equivalent amount of money in the jam jar. (You have to be honest here.)

When your monthly statement arrives, in addition to the usual payment, pay in the money you've saved.

When the next statement comes in, compare the interest charged on that statement to the previous month's.

If you do this then you can lick the debt, no problem

What is it about giving up that scares you?

chris1sc

Hi finnerty,
I don't want to sound like i'm pushing anything but i am in debt too, for an awful lot more than i had coming in at one point, but i found a brilliant way of making some extra money in my spare time and anyone can do it. if you want to know more i have a voicemail number and website address that anyone can have, if they feel they need some extra cash.

mountainofdebt

What about a compromise.

Why not spend half of what your currently spending on cigarettes and see how you go?

deemy2004

You could go hunting for a new richer partner

margaretclare

finnerty wrote:

I'm just having a rough time at the moment mainly caused by my daughters dad It just doesn't feel like the right time to give up with the extra stress and all that....also the weight gain side of it is a little worrying ;-)

Oh what an excuse! I lived through decades of this kind of thing with my first husband (who died through smoking-related heart disease and strokes). There was *always* some stressful event or other on the horizon - if it wasn't problems with his elderly mother it was problems with the teenage daughters...if it wasn't that it was something else. Believe me, I've heard all the excuses and then some. Stress is one of the things that goes with being alive!!

You'd be far less stressed if you had more money to deal with your debts, you'd have more money if you didn't smoke. Weight gain is not inevitable, especially as your lungs would be working better and you'd be able to take some healthy exercise. Even a walk in the park breathing fresh air would be better for you (and cheaper!) You could play games with your child without getting out of breath...

Aunty Margaret

finnerty

You don't know anything about me and are not in a position to assume.... I came on the board to find help with debts and not to be attacked by the anti smoking brigade

for those who helped many thanks

Djmitch21

I agree entirely finnerty!

You came on here to get help with your debt and not to be patronised to. Others have suggested that stopping smoking will free up money for you and you have taken that on board. There is no need for everyone to suddenly start taking the moral high ground on this subject. This isn't the place for it.

(from a non-smoker)

finnerty

Djmitch21 wrote:

I agree entirely finnerty!

You came on here to get help with your debt and not to be patronised to. Others have suggested that stopping smoking will free up money for you and you have taken that on board. There is no need for everyone to suddenly start taking the moral high ground on this subject. This isn't the place for it.

(from a non-smoker)

Thank you... I don't deserve to be in debt just because i smoke and my debt is not related to the smoking and i agree giving up will free up some extra cash but i don't think it will be enough to clear my debt