£62,000 in unsecured debt!

mpusssm

Bayblue wrote: »

Just wanted to say well done for making all of those savings. It's funny isn't it, that we sometimes end up paying far less for the same goods and services by making a few phones calls or shopping around somewhere else? It's great, and as you said, often you don't even notice the change except in your wallet or bank account. I've only just managed to persuade my mum to change her house insurance, she's been with the same company for years, she and she was astounded to find that she saved £130! Now she's just annoyed that she didn't do it sooner!

Well done and good luck with your debtbusting.

Thanks Bayblue,

I think it just takes determination - this time two weeks ago I was nearly ready to give up and had it not been for all the excellent advice on here I probably would have done. It will still take a long time to pay of my debts (about 7 years) but at least they feel managable now...

I worked out we still have about £150 per month surplus so can still enjoy a few treats for the family every so often.

I forgot to add in my last post that I could have decreased by car insurance from £59 per month to £46 but would have lost 8 months no claims discount. I worked it out it it better to wait until Sept to renew policy with 3 years no claims and that monthly premium will drop to £36 per month which will mean another £23 per month! every little counts, right?

Sabs

mpusssm

Tustastic wrote: »

:j Hi Sabs, you've already had great advice and support to help you make good progress in a very short while. In case you hadn't noticed it, you have taken up a second job - DebtBusting - and it's already saving you money!:D
A highly recommended site, which I found about through MSE, is www.quidco.com - its a cashback site and the high cashback is for financial products, so always check there when renewing insurances etc.
You can also get completely free calls almost worldwide if the calls are made between two landlines with pcs that are both registered with Jajah. Jajah is mentioned in the article about telephones on the main MSE site.
Good luck and keep posting.:)

Thanks for the post Tustastic - I guess this is my second job

WorkingHardDFW

Hi mpusssm and welcome.

I've just read your post and it seems you've come such a long way already - well done.

As you can see from my sig we have a similar amount of debt (scary :eek: ) but we've got a good income thankfully. Debt is relative though and at the start of our journey, and still at times, it was overwhelminng.

We've come such a long way already and I could almost say we are enjoying our journey out of debt and learning such a lot on the way. My tips:

• budget for everything - it was not budgeting and still spending the money that got us into debt inthe first place
• keep a spending diary - I think you've mentioned this one already - its incredible what it shows up. Adjust your budget regularly taking input for your spending diary
• Use these boards - they help motivate me, I get useful tips, ideas and just plan good old fashioned support.
• Review every aspect of your SOA to see what can be cut, reduced, eleminated etc etc

Its not been easy and we've still a long long way to go but each month we are a step closer our DF date which helps motivate.

You can do it........Good luck:cool: :cool:

mpusssm

WorkingHardDFW wrote: »

Its not been easy and we've still a long long way to go but each month we are a step closer our DF date which helps motivate.

You can do it........Good luck:cool: :cool:

As you have rightly stated its all about keeping motivated. Its so easy to go out for a posh dinner with the family and spend over £100 then you start to feel bad again... It is about keeping on top of the debt and making gradual progress.

Sabs

mpusssm

hi all - I hope everyone is well and still motivated to pay off their debts... Everything is still going well here. Contacted my mobile provider yesterday and somehow managed to get my standard monthly bill down to £18 instead of £25. They even increased my monthly minutes to 225 up from 150 and gave me an extra 50 text a month... not bad really!!

good luck all ... sabs

hypno06

So, how much altogether have you managed to save each month?

pookienoodle

Hi mpussmm,
I noticed you say you have a baby in nappies
have you tried tesco baby essential nappies(their mid priced own brand)
we have found them to be better than pampers and as good as huggies.
you can save quite a bit.
its strange because their more expensive own brand are not as good.

bank_of_slate

Hi mpussm,
A huge welcome!
I can see that you're a full money saving expert convert already!
it won't be long before you're negotiating on everything and you've done SO much already!
That's it, you're one of us now, you'll never look back.
...Linda xx

mpusssm

hypno06 wrote: »

So, how much altogether have you managed to save each month?

Hi all and a happy debt saving bank holiday to everyone...

With reference to your question Hypno06 here are my savings thus far:

1) CableTV - I was paying £99 per month and I am now paying £50 per month for nearly an identical package. Just cut out the sports channels that I only really wantched once a month... (£49 per month saving)

2) Mobile(s) - Renegiotated and changed to cheaper tariffs without signing any new contracts. They even increased my free minutes and text entitlement!... (£40 per month saving)

3) Landline - We used to spend so much money speaking to Tunisia from the landline. We have now really cut down and use the cheap access numbers to make calls. I believe it will cost a maximum of £20 per month now... (£20 minimum per month saving)

4) Building and Contents Insurance - Policy with Directline. I was paying £33 per month. I called them up and asked if they could match their online quote of £18. To my surprise they agreed and even refunded the over payments for the last 3 months taking the monthly bill down to about £15 per month... (£18 per month saving)

5) Groceries - We were spending £400 per month in Tesco. Have now changed to Aldi and have got the bill down to £280 per month. It was suprising that some of the cheaper products from Aldi tasted BETTER than the premium products from Tesco!!! ... (£120 per month saving)

6) Petrol - I used to see my parents every weekend (spending £40 per month on petrol) and I only go over every 2 weeks now... (£20 saving per month)

TOTAL SAVINGS SO FAR: = £267 per month... (and we haven't really noticed the difference)

I also refinanced my outstanding loan with Northern Rock (£9 k left) by borrowing £8k from Lloydstsb. We used our £1,000 savings to make up the difference. Of course the payments have increased (was £140, now £380 per month) but will have cleared the debt in 2 years instead of 8 years. £5,000 saving in interest!!!! So essentially the savings we have made have been put straight back into paying off the debts.

Thank you for all your posts. Without this forum and all of your excellent advice none of this would have been possible. THANK YOU.

Sabs

hypno06

£267 a month is a fab fab saving - and as you say, you don't really even notice the difference, except for the fact that your food tastes BETTER!!!!!

Well done, keep posting, and you will get there!