Ding- there goes the bulb!!

MissShoes

Deleted- very old diary

getting-sorted-sarah

Money saving tips are all around you! Post an SOA and you should get advice on where you can trim your outgoings.
Good luck!

consumerpower

Welcome, and well done you.

Personally I found admitting to myself I had a problem of continously over spending and being in denial, and then telling my husband has been the hardest thing to do. Far harder than being broke, turning down social invitations etc.

I also found the support on here fantasitc, I don't think it would have happened for me, if I hadnt come in here every day, even just to read posts etc.

Congrats!

MissKJ

welcome. You are in the right place. The sooner you plan your budget the better. Don't be tempted to make it worse up till payday! you can start your sums now can't you? It is like eating a cream cake the day before you go on a diet! It doesn't help.

angelflower_2

ive found its not the first few months the hardest but the few months after that so start now and keep coming on here

Wildchild_2

Hi there

You don't need to wait till pay day to get started. Start now! You still need to buy food and you can make sure you cut costs there. You can also make sure you don't spend on unnecessary things. You can even try and sell some things to get extra money in. The sooner you start the sooner you will be debt free.

Good luck and let us know how you get on

tealady

Where are your debts? Need to list them as well as APRs. Start a spending diary to see where it all goes. Check on a cashback website to see if you are getting the best deals on car ins etc.

Lemon_Tree

just like everyone else i'll ask why wait? you can spend this time making your plans, playing with your budget (endless fun for us dfw's) and finding out as much information as possible about your bills, debts, credit rating etc.
Good luck and welcome, you're in the right place

dancingfairy

So that makes the minimum repayments on your debts: 915.90 this month which is more than you've got left.
Can you get your mobile down any - barter with your contract provicers? also see if you can spend a bit less on the food- see if Old Style can help there?
Car insurance - can you shop around when it's due?
Council tax- ask if you can pay over 12 months as then each monthly payment will be slightly less.
Can you take a part time job - evenings/sat work to help as you could do with a bit of extra cash to get you back on the straight and narrow?
Any savings sitting around which you could use to pay off some debts and get sorted?
Ebay/car boot sales?
Can you live without the car for a bit? walk places or use the bus? get lifts? this would free up some money which would really help.
Also the spending diary is a great idea. Good Luck.

Hope some of these ideas are useful to you.

poorandindenial

Hi MissShoes

Well done on putting all your details up,now you know where everything is it might feel awful at first but you are in a much better position to sort things out.

The rates on your cards are very high, don't overpay on your car loan, throw money at these starting with the biggest first.

Check out the snowball calculator (there is a link in Immoral_Angel's very helpful dictionary post at the top of the page) this will show you the impact of what you owe and how long it could take you to pay of if you pay the minimum each month.

It might also be worth having a chat with one of the debt counselling charities, they can help you work out what you should be doing first (the details you pulled together for your SOA will help with this) and maybe able to negotiate with the sources of your credit to set you up with a DMP (Debt Management Plan).

Finally, please cut up some of your cards, I know from my own experiences that if they aren't in little tiny pieces the temptation can just be too much (all of my debts were the result of credit cards and consolidation)

Good luck getting your debts back under control, well done for the NSDs and the spending diary will definitely make you question what you are spending. All the best, do keep coming back here, it is keeping me going, I had my LBM a month ago and feel more positive about my debts than I ever have before.

lunar

Hi Missshoes, i just wanted to pop in and say welcome to the site, you will get loads of support on here if you just keep on posting. if it was me i would get the accounts that are over the limit paid first as you will prob be incuring charges on them, increasing your debt. I found the first couple of weeks the hardest getting everything organised.

I also have had trouble getting 0% credit. I did manage to get one card and i have taken flexible loans for the rest as its the only way i can do it for now. I wouldnt recomend for you to look at loans, if you are only at the beginning of your debt free journy you need to know you can be disaplined with money and make sure your totals are going down before you think of applying for more credit.

Good luck, all this will seem loads easier in a few weeks when you have got used to it and know where all your money is.

Lunar