Please help me - Don't know where else to go?

RAS

Wel done. Amazing how thing can start to turn round when you know how to do it.

ANY_CHANCE

Well done Pixie 983

Things are looking positive for you,
just think by cutting down on all the luxury spends you can reduce your debt without it becoming a huge crises

Good luck

PS Hope you get your money back from first plus, we are just sending a letter to FOS to get our money back

Verbatim

Well done Pixie,

I'm looking forward toi seeing how you get on. Looks like you're already feeling more in control and determined. You'll soon see a difference as your debts start to tumble.

TurnaroundSue

Hi Pixie and welcome on board!:j

I echo what everyone else says on here about your SOA, but was wondering whether it would be a good idea to also put your SOA for your joint account up - maybe if that could be reduced at all, then you might be able to save some of the £800 you put into that every month, giving you further monies to throw at your debt.

The other thing I would say is, and I'm not 100% sure about this, but I was told that when reading the Alan Carr book about giving up smoking, you dont actually STOP smoking until AFTER you have finished the book (maybe someone can clarify this?), but if that is the case and I would have thought the same would be for the course, so the monies you were hoping to save from stopping smoking to pay for the course, but not be available until after the course has finished, as you still need to carry on smoking whilst you are doing the course - I most probably have confused you (and everyone else, inc myself ), but hope you get the gist of it!!!!

Good luck on your road to being debt free - you are certainly going in the right direction.

In_Search_Of_Me

Just found this and wanted to say well done for tackling the debts. As others say you can save anawful lost of money by cutting back & being more ruthless. That doesent mean you dont have fun - you just have different fun! To pay the debt off you do need to make life changes & youre already starting! Re Alan Carr I would seriously consider the book - you can then use your tesco vouchers for mags & other yummy things that are wants rather than needs! That way its win win! Plus if you go to the GP you can get lozenges, patches etc on the NHS. In terms of going loopy..yup certainly do in the first few "I would kill anyone for a fag" days but it gets better, promise (she says typing with n'rette lozenge in mouth Havent smoked for nearly 2 months!!). If in doubt do the motivator on your ciggies & see how much you waste! Shocking & that for me was the deciding factor!
As others have said you can cut down on things like mobile (youre paying ALOT) there! Find out about PPI and reclaiming it. Not sure if you have a partner that you live with in view of shared bills? If so does he/she know about the debts & being supportive?
Hang in there & remember it takes time....some days you will do better than others and the bad days just get back on the wagon, look at WHY you spent, learn from it, dust yourself off & start again...Plus remember youre not alone - lots of us in the same boat!

Forgetmenot68

Hi Pixie

I'm new here also, so great pearls of wisdom I'll leave for the other fantastic people on this forum to offer you, but I just wanted to offer my support to you too in the first day of your recovery from debting hell! Sounds like you've had some good ideas, and well done on the giving up smoking. I gave up a 40 a day habit thanks to Allen Carr's book a few years ago and have never looked back - it really is good.

Forgetmennot68 xx

Pixie983

TurnaroundSue wrote: »

Hi Pixie and welcome on board!:j

I echo what everyone else says on here about your SOA, but was wondering whether it would be a good idea to also put your SOA for your joint account up - maybe if that could be reduced at all, then you might be able to save some of the £800 you put into that every month, giving you further monies to throw at your debt.

The other thing I would say is, and I'm not 100% sure about this, but I was told that when reading the Alan Carr book about giving up smoking, you dont actually STOP smoking until AFTER you have finished the book (maybe someone can clarify this?), but if that is the case and I would have thought the same would be for the course, so the monies you were hoping to save from stopping smoking to pay for the course, but not be available until after the course has finished, as you still need to carry on smoking whilst you are doing the course - I most probably have confused you (and everyone else, inc myself ), but hope you get the gist of it!!!!

Good luck on your road to being debt free - you are certainly going in the right direction.

Thanks for this - I do kind of get the gist of what you are saying! Yes you are right about the book - you give up AFTER - same with the group session. I did try reading the book last year but got bored/impatient. That's why I want to do the group session. The course/session only lasts 5 hours on ONE day so it's not like I need to keep spending money on cigarettes for 2 weeks while I'm doing it. Half a day and it's all over! £80 spent but £120 saved over the rest of the month! Yes I wil post an SOA for the Joint account shortly - I do live with my partner so joint account is shared for all household/food bills etc. And, no I would rather not tell them about all this yet. I want to make a start on sorting it out first.

Also In Search of Me - thanks for your message, as I said above I tried the book! The tesco vouchers have already been converted into Allen Carr clinic vouchers (worth 4x original amount) as I did this months ago and they've been sitting in my wardrobe ever since! So I may aswell use them as they are good for nothing else now! :rolleyes:

Pixie983

Hi all - here's my joint account SOA

Monthly Incomings........................£1600 (800 from me, 800 from OH)

Mortgage........................................£925
Gas/Electricity.................................£68
Water............................................£35
Sky (tv/broadband/phone).................£49
Council Tax.....................................£110
TV Licence......................................£12
Home Insurance...............................£32.50
Life Insurance.................................£19.50
Appliance cover...............................£18

TOTAL............................................£1269

This leaves us with £331 a month which is always spent - we never have any money left over. I'm guessing this must all be on Food/toiletries though I didn't include this in the SOA above as it's not a certain amount I know I spend every week or month (here's where I'm guessing I'm making the mistake). I just kind of go shopping for food etc when it's needed instead of making a list and doing 1 big shop per week or even every two weeks? Have I got it right here or is there something else I should be doing?

Thanks

dfw844

Hi Pixie,

You're doing really well so far, welcome aboard!

Good luck on quitting smoking, that is going to make such a difference to you.

When I first joined I spent that kind of money (£100 plus) on beauty treatments, face creams etc each month. Now I draw out £50 a week and make it last for everything - going out, food shopping, lunches, clothes, everything!

It's like Oberon says, once you get into it saving money really does become good fun. Searching for bargains, finding the very cheapest way to buy something (and then getting cashback on it as well) There should be a warning on this site about addictive personalities not getting involved - I check my spreadsheets, internet bank etc every single day!

Pixie983

dfw844 wrote: »

It's like Oberon says, once you get into it saving money really does become good fun. Searching for bargains, finding the very cheapest way to buy something (and then getting cashback on it as well) There should be a warning on this site about addictive personalities not getting involved - I check my spreadsheets, internet bank etc every single day!

Thanks dfw844 - You are right about a warning - I am so addicted to this place already and It's only been a week. I'm constantly thinking about how NOT to spend money instead of how I can spend more money that I haven't actually got! I definitely need to get onto the food shopping thing as £300 a month on food/toiletries seems ridiculous for 2 people!!! I'm wondering if shopping online might help as I am one to get carried away in the supermarket and then throw half of it away at the end of the week