seriously need help!

hypno06

hi and welcome aboard the good ship DFW!!

I am no good at the whole SOA thing and budgeting is a big failure of mine......but I am good at making money from all the stuff you can find on MSE - so get working your way around the boards......freebies - good for presents, and treats.......the competitions thread - any winnings can be kept for presents or ebayed for cash.....get ebaying, get signed up to cashback sites, get mystery shopping (from the "up your income" board) etc etc etc etc.....the possibilities are endless!

Join in the "make £10 a day challenge" on this board - it runs every month - and if you make £10 a day, that is £300 a month, or £3600 a year.....now don't tell me that sort of money wouldn't make a difference!!

Numpty_Monkey

:hello: Hi kk

The mobiles seem high, guess they are on contact, are they nearly up, mybe able to negotiate a better deal or change to payg

I noticed there is nothing for tv liscense
Sky/phone/internet is £60 a month what about sky multideal ithink there still going at 3 for £30
What about freeveiw or freesat,

Glad your partner is with you:T
why don't you both keep a spending diary:eek: you'll be amazed where the odd 50p, £1 a day goes

keep posting :A

kazwookie

Toll bridge £40, can you buy a season ticket for this.?

BTW which toll bridge is it? Dart?

Ames

Hi, you don't seem to have anything for car tax or maintenance.

Deep_In_Debt

You don't seem to have anything for water rates either. Are these included in your rent?

I've started doing my weekly shop in Lidl and saving lots. Do you have a one or an Aldi or Netto close by?

kk*_2

Hi, oops.. this is where i get into money troubles! tv licence is around £12 a month. water rates are included in our rent.

we have decided that we can cancel the pc insurance aswell so that will help.

tax and mot is something we lay out for when it is due, i guess its a good idea to put money aside each month?

yes its the dartford bridge, this is £2 a day (£1 each way) but thankfully in the next cpl months this is going down to 20p each way for local residents so that will be another saving!

we spoke to sky r:e the joint broadband package but apparently its not available in our area??!!

thankyou so much for help and suggestions, it already feels like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders, just by sharing it with people.

weve decided not to have a holiday this year and today i have written to the bank (2nd letter) regarding bank charges that i would like to get back, I worked them out and ive had about £2000 charges in the last 5 years! lets wait and see!

sorry for not being clearer... the bank charges were incurred this month because we went over an overdraft limit, i get paid next friday so things should be ok.. i also find out my payrise next week so things are looking brighter, we did 2 big bootsales this month too and cleared th bank charges on my account, so im just under my overdraft limit..albeit only by 80p! its really lifted my spirits!!

Im going to keep posting as i think it all makes more sense when i can see it in black and white!

x

cantcope

HI KK. Welcome to the boards and well done for posting..

The new charges for the toll come in in August i think. Theres a £10 yearly fee and then you get 50 crossings for 20p so you'll still need to put some money away each month for when they run out... very quickly if you cross for work. Would a dart tag work out cheaper? They are reducing the price on that for locals too i think.

I would definitely scrap the sky if you can and get freeview..

I'd also definitely sign up to all the cashback sites as suggested above.

Also, can you have a chat with the inlaws explaining your situation and see if you can take a payment break? If you get your bank charges back then maybe you can give them the remainder you owe out of that.

Keep up with the letters to the bank. I got my charges back within 50 days even though they said they were willing to go to court (offer of all charges turned up the day after they said that).

Can you really afford to cancel your pc insurance? I know its an extra £9 a month but could you live without your pc if it broke?

I'd cut back on mobiles, sky, and groceries to start with.

great that your partner is on board as this will make it so much easier in the long run.

Good luck to you both

kk*_2

morning, thanks for the info on the bridge cantcope, its very useful.
today im looking into the pc insurance issue, im going to check if its covered in my house insurance, but as its mainly for partners work, im guessing it would be good to keep.

A normal week would see us popping to tesco to stock up on stuff for the weekend and the rest of next week but thats not happening!!
I went through the cupboards and was actually surprised at the amount we have left, weve got easily enough for dinners and lunches until next friday (payday) and we are going to try and get our monthly shop down to £80, this is nearly half what we normally spend!

other jobs for today....

compare car insurance and house insurance and ring 02 to see if i can change my tarriff..

Also.... we are trying to have no spend days from now until next friday!! in reality it should be easily done as we have food in, petrol in the car and i already have a monthly ticket... we'll see though!

After a good night sleep, im feeling extremely motivated! :j

i hope it continues!!

i'll keep everyone updated

x

kk*_2

As for the inlaws.... well, we need to pay them first really, a payment break is out of the question, they have young children and need the money for their holiday, this month i should get some overtime and we can hopefully pay them £470 x

beer_tins

TOLL (BRIDGE) £40 - A Dart tag is the way to go, it will also be reduced for locals as others have said. Check https://www.dart-tag.co.uk

TRAIN FARE £165 - Can you get a season ticket loan from your employer? I get one for my anual Z1-3 travelcard and it effectively gives me the last 2 months a year free

SKY £30 - consider freeview, there are lots of channels on it.

BT AND BROADBAND £30 - You can get combined phone and broadband deals from Tiscali, TalkTalk etc. for under £20 a month without changing your number.

MOBILES X2 £60 - Can you change your package? Give them a call. This seems high.

APPLE MAC INS £9 - Get your Mac covered on your home insurance. It may increase your premium, but will be less than 2 seperate policies.

ELECTRIC £45 - Do you turn off stuff you're not using? Do you have energy saving bulbs? They are expensive, but pay for themselves after about 6 months. Insulation also pays for itself in a short period of time. This is not too bad though as you have no gas by the looks of things.

GROCERIES £150 - You can cut this if you need to. Do meal plans and don't impulse buy. Check the old style board.

BANK CHARGES £100 hope to get down after this month - Can you tell us more about these? We may have suggestions on lowering or doing away with these.