Please Help me get debt free

pink_fairy_7

This is a good place to start the Challenges Index.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=56719,

Pink Fairy x

mels123

Another area to cut down on is your home phone. Are you on BT or Cable? If you switch to just line rental only (approx £10.50 per month) you can then direct your calls through 1899 (best for Cable) or 18866. All landline calls are either 2p or 3p for the entire call.

We are with Telewest and we were paying the line rental and £6.50 per month for free evening and weekend calls, and charged as normal for daytime calls. Since switching, my phone calls are less than £2.00 a month!

Here are the links to both sites, might be worth considering:

http://www.call18866.co.uk/

http://www.call1899.co.uk/

HTH :j

LearningToSave.

mels123 wrote:

Another area to cut down on is your home phone. Are you on BT or Cable? If you switch to just line rental only (approx £10.50 per month) you can then direct your calls through 1899 (best for Cable) or 18866. All landline calls are either 2p or 3p for the entire call.

We are with Telewest and we were paying the line rental and £6.50 per month for free evening and weekend calls, and charged as normal for daytime calls. Since switching, my phone calls are less than £2.00 a month!

Here are the links to both sites, might be worth considering:

http://www.call18866.co.uk/

http://www.call1899.co.uk/

HTH :j

hi,
read your post with interest.....why is 1899 better for cable??
im registered with 18866 and 1899 but have always used 18866 as that is the one that is mainly talked about.....since using it my phonebill has dropped considerably but i would love to cut it further if you could help??

ceegee

Without a doubt I would say drop the driving lessons at £17 per week. How do you expect to be able to buy and run a car when you have passed your test? Cars are horrendously expensive things, they drain your finances terribly. Not only the expected things like insurance (which will be high for you as a "beginner"), tax, MoT, fuel, tyres and exhausts, but also unexpected car problems which inevitably turn up. From where I am sitting I cannot see you being able to afford to buy or run a car at least until you have cleared your current debt.

I speak from vast experience of hard financial and practical times. I will not lecture you, but you have to understand that something has to give at the moment. If it isn't to be the fags, then it will have to be the driving lessons....expecting to be able to have both is way too much! Remember especially the expense of buying and running a car.

With best wishes to you

ceegee

feefee_3

hi im in a lot of debt too and i still spending money on cigs but hoping to quit soon when i read you where talking driving lessons i thought why but since reading the last post i understand why now the only thing i can think of is why dont you get a freind to teach you and take occasional lessons, the best of luck anyhow i know how you feel x

TheBottomLine_2

A few years ago I started rolling my own cigarettes rather than buying them in packs. I reckon you could get your smoking budget down to under £5 per week if you're smoking around 10 a day.

Try your local tobacco shop who will probably have a 'shop blend' for around £6-7 per 50g. This will last you about two weeks. I buy papers and filters from the local market in bulk, this saves a lot too. You can get 25 packs of papers (50 papers in each) for about £2 but you'll need to do a bit of leg-work.

The other way to get cheap 'baccy is to ask your family and friends when they go on holiday abroad to bring you some back. In Greece recently my parents got me 10 packs of tobacco for just over £30 and that will last me nearly six months at around 10 per day!

I know it's hard to give up smoking because I've tried and failed many times. I hope my post helps you and good luck with shifting the debt.

TheBottomLine_2

If you give it a go, then good for you. :T

You're idea of only buying cigs when you go out is the same thing I used to do when I first switched to roll-ups. Now, I just roll a few at home before I go out and keep them in a tin. I know that some people are embarassed to smoke roll-ups as they make you look like a pauper, but in a dimly lit pub or club nobody will notice.

Then you can take the next step and save even more money, just so long as you don't mind looking like a tightwad. If, like me, you never smoke a cigarette right down to the filter then you're wasting tobacco. I started putting two filters in my roll-ups but still get a good smoke to satisfy my nicotine craving - filters are much cheaper than 'baccy. I worked it out, it's like getting a free day's worth of cigarettes per week!

The way I saved money on smoking without actually quitting was to change my way of thinking. Many smokers consider cigarettes a necessity when in fact they are a luxury, and once I started thinking that way it was easy. We smokers should remember that we only smoke to satisfy a craving, so look for the cheapest way to satisfy that craving.

I think I've said as much as I can about that so I'll shut me gob. Hopefully, there will be a few more £££ in your pocket.

PS. I hope you don't think I'm lecturing you in some way, just trying to help.

Squiffy

finnerty wrote:

unless u have passed each section under his instruction because it goes against his pass record if he allows u and u fail (EVERY THING COMES DOWN TO POLITICS IN THE END) i have to take at least 15 more lessons with him before i can take my test with his blessing i will wittle that down if possible :-)

What?

I've never heard anything so ridiculous.

Of course he is an expert and probably can assess your chances of passing better than you can yourself. But at the same time he is hardly an impartial judge here, bearing in mind that every extra lesson he forces you to take is more income for him.

You might think he is cheap at £17, but it might be cheaper in the long run to go with someone else who charges slightly more per lesson.

Tabbykatt

Hi Finnerty
I am someone in very much the same position as you but without the debt. I am a single Mum of two (aged 4 and 3), living off benefits. I dont have the privaledge of living in a council house as in the area I live in there are none therefore I have to pay £136 of the £530 I receive straight to my landlord to top up my housing benefit. What ever is left I spend wisly on food and bills and use my PC to budget precisly where my money goes. Living on what the Government say is a reasonable income is certainly not easy, and my ex husband is certainly no help either, but I still manage to put aside £20 each month into an ISA to save up for Christmas and any other little emergency that comes along!
So I have every sympathy with you esp when trying to pay off your debt at the same time!
But...
I can see some flaws within your budget that can certainly help you!

1) -Children I know are not cheap, but they are also as expensive as you want them to be esp as yours is only 3 and not into the expensive named trainers yet! Just searching out for cheap nappies works wonders. Lidl do fantastic packs of 50 odd (they should fit a 3y old) for £6! Esp as your little one is only wearing them at night. Also your daughter should receive free nursery places for 5 x 2.5 hr sessions a week, if you dont get this then ask your nursery and if they dont do the funding then find one that does! You also have an invaluable sourse for free/cheap birthday/xmas pressies as most relatives would much prefer a misshaped hand made pot from a 3yr old than an expensive present from a shop!
2) -Your cleaning fetish... have you never seen the daytime TV programmes that make use of vinegar? I know it does not contain all the lovely artificial smellies but it really does work and at a fraction of the price.
3) Your driving! I have to say that your instructor is talking b*****ks! If you know the fundamentals of driving eg- reversing round a corner, highway code etc. then all you need is the confidence that just driving a car gives. I failed my test twice then I realised that I didnt need to fork out a fortune, driving an hour a week does NOT give you the confidence. I volunterred my services to anyone who would sit next to me while I drove. I used to take all my family/friends shopping and even did the school run. It was fun and after a couple of months I applied myself for my test and took it in a friends car.. I passed straight away! Just remember to get some magnetic L plates and ensure you are insured!
4) Sorry to mention it, but your smoking does add to your debts and to be honest adds to your stress. I gave up when I first became pregnant and it was the best thing I ever did, not only for the monetary reasons but for the personal well-being. It is hard and anyone who tells you it isnt it lying, but believe me, it is so worth it!
5) Phone bills. You are paying an awful lot for your phone and I see you also have the internet. I make sure all my friends/family use the Instant Messenger programmes so if I fancy a chat I go online and it does not cost me a extra penny. Even if you dont like typing, a cheap web-cam with mic is only £20, that will be re-couped within the first month of your phone bills.
6) Lastly, be honest with your bank etc. They are usually really good when they see that you are finding it very hard to repay debts. My brother is dreadful with cash and he got himself into a real state, his bank froze the interest so that what he was paying off each month actaully counted towards the debt rather than just clearing interest, therefore the debt deminished! At the end of the day, banks want you to be able to recover so they can get more cash off you in years to come!

It really wont be easy, and there are no quick fixes but living on a basic income does not mean that you have to live on the breadline or that you will never recover, it just means you have to think harder about your decisions!

Good luck
Tabitha
x

margaretclare

Tabbykatt wrote:

It really wont be easy, and there are no quick fixes but living on a basic income does not mean that you have to live on the breadline or that you will never recover, it just means you have to think harder about your decisions!

What a wonderful post, Tabitha, and what good basic sensible advice for anyone in a situation like yours and the OPs. Your positive attitude is surely what helps.

Best of luck to you

Aunty Margaret