We are having a bad month, as other half has gone self employed. Still waiting to hear from HMRC that he is registered for CIS. He cant get paid for the work he has done so far until we have his registration number.
Generally we do budget well on a monthly basis. All of our bills are paid by direct debit, this includes car and house insurances.
Every month when I get paid, I do a massive online Tesco or Asda shop so that all we then need to do is buy bread, milk and veg weekly. Fortunately Lidl's has opened near to where we leave so we often shop there for some items.
I also check our bank a/c online daily to make sure nothing untoward is happening!
Missy - I hope it comes through soon for you, I also check my account online daily, just to be sure! I think its a good habit to have.
We have good & bad months it just depends what happens! This month hubby had to go to emergency dentist - 47 pounds to find, then 2 unexpected prescriptions to find from our normal 1 each a month! And I have forgotten its half term for the boys end of next week, no budget for entertaining or treats! Think we will have to bake cakes & biscuits & go bug relatives for the week!
Final IVA payment made in April 2013, never ever thought we could do it or get through it but we did! X
An IVA.co.uk Mentor is someone sharing from their experiences of dealing with debt
As a relative newby I think I have settled pretty quickly into a routine. I check the total direct debits due to come out the bank and leave the money in my bank to cover them with a little extra. Then I take the rest out and split it into petrol, weekly, food etc and then each week take the allowance out for each. If I am out and about it means I will not be tempted to spend on my card as I know there is no spare cash there and I can say clearly the cash in my purse and if I spend any of it I won't be able to eat!! This normally halts me in my tracks!!
We've managed reasonably well so far, some months are a little tighter than others.
It helps that hubby's benefits are paid into the post office so we withdraw the cash and that is us for the week for shopping and petrol. Anything extra goes into my terramundi jar (I'm dying to smash it to see how much is in there!)
The money in the bank is pretty much for DD's and I check a couple of times a week to make sure they've all gone out.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
I've 4 days until payday but luckily don't need any money this month as we have shopping and fuel in the car. Some months as Jan says are so much tighter than others but I tick each month off as a month closer to debt freedom. x
IVA final payment left the bank on the 26th January 2013...looking forward to a debt free future.
Ive gone off getting a monthly shop in-cos with my little un and his mates it would barely last a week!!!!
Like to go to asda on a Monday-get the weekly shop in,mostly off the bottom shelves(smartie price).
My lad has a hot meal and pudding in school so only really wants a snack for tea,always with a friend in tow!!!(have limited him to one a night now-my house was turning into a home for waifs and strays)
Child benefit pays for school dinners on a Monday-child tax credit pays for b**ger all-10.40 a week!!!!
Started going through my wardrobes a while ago for fashionable things to wear-have always been a hoarder so when the 80s fashion came back-mine were original.Truth is I dont really need to buy any more clothes-ever!!!!-got size 12 through to 18 so all bases covered!!!!
and enough shoes to fill a small department store. I go window shopping then come home and have a root through my clothes-love sewing so always altering my stuff to suit the current trends.
My lad is growing like crazy-hes nearly 9 and luckily the kids round our way are more into seeing who can get the muckiest than designer labels-so asda basic clothes for him,will see how long that lasts when he discovers girls and nike. -oh,and the bank splits our bills in to one account and our spends are put on the card-so dont have to worry about anything being paid.
Prescriptions cost 10.40 a month(over 10 months) so saving a fortune there.
Never go to the ice cream van anymore-that was a real battle with the little un cos you cant buy mr softy in tubs and keep it that soft.
I won-so theres a tenner a week saved.
as for getting away from it all- we throw a tent in the car and off up the lakes(half hour away)cheap as chips.
all the little everyday things you can save on add up to a heck of a lot, anything spare goes in a savings account for christmas and birthdays.
Last edited by andrea1968 on Mon May 23, 2011 8:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
full and final accepted January 2015
iva agreed; August 2010
iva would have completed; August 2017
extra year thank's to NRAM
I have limited hubby to £50 per week shopping, he mostly does the shopping as he is home all day while I work. It's working really well, although this week we both did it, we went to Asda on Saturday and we only spend £17, the rest is going away, got to start to build a new continguency up as spent it all holidaying [:D][:D].
We also buy the smart price stuff at Asda, most things are OK although I find there pasta sauce a bit watery so I enhance it with a tin of chopped tomatoes amd some tomatoe puree.
I think the biggest lesson to learn was to only buy the things we NEED not the things we WANT. we were buying loads of stuff because it was on special offer or a BOGOF deal when we didn't need.
Last edited by Pandy on Tue May 24, 2011 7:26 am, edited 1 time in total.
If life is what you make it, I must have been in a strange mood when I made mine
I must admit that if the stuff I usually have is on a BOGOF or special offer I will buy it and put it away even if I don't need it that particular week.
We buy Smart Price tomatoes and kidney beans but that's about it. I don't like their SP Beans, always buy Branston. Other than that it's normally own brand stuff. We do tend to stick to our list though.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
It's so interesting to read everyone's ideas. I've always stuck to a list when shopping anyway, only cos I plan meals so shouldn't have a problem with this, phew!
Great tips everyone though, I'll be using some of these!
"It is never too late to be what you might have been"
Fiona
We usually just replace what has been used the week before so the cupboards and freezer are fully stocked. Hubby bulk cooks things like chilli, spag bol and curry so there's always some of that.
He's never meal planned - it's whatever he fancies cooking on the day and I'm usually happy to go along with it!
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
hi, i'm with pod moo, we only withdraw from the bank at set times,we try to leave a bit in to cover a emergency ie extra petrol if i go into hospital. food& fuel £ gets split up.
like Andrea i find "extra" mouths to feed a drain sometimes. if our son's home from uni he'll bring his girlfriend, at the moment he hasn't got a job so no contributions from him towards food,i do find that difficult. we manage much better when there's just the 2 of us.
mrsknight,our 2 loved picnics & a ball or cheap fishing net at the park. we have Recycle points from our council,the point can be exchanged for things like a free adult swim at the local pool,it's quite cheap for the kids,just a idea. our 2 loved baking too x
Nothing stays the same...everything changes..hang on in there!
I check our account online every day and have a spreadsheet to tick it off against, I set a weekly shopping budget and try to stick to it by mealplanning, looking at what we already have in the freezer/cupboards and then making a list and trying to stick to it, I say trying because I'm still tempted by offers, but have definitely reined in the spending!
I'm not too fussy about brands, although like Kallis, I have to have Branston Beans, they were on offer in Lidl recently £1 for a 4 pack so sent hubby to stock up, he bought 48 cans!!!! so we have plenty for now lol!
I do bake a lot, I bake my own bread, cakes, biccies etc and we don't really eat any processed or convenience food, I cook extra when I cook a meal so I can set some aside as meals for when I'm at work rather than spending whilst I'm there. I'll also buy small bottles of pepsit from farmfoods that are 3 for £1, at my workplace, the cafe downstairs charges £1 each for the same bottles and that is with staff discount!
I am quite savvy now with spending and can really cutback if I have to. I do like my bottles of white zinfandel though, but I buy these from Lidl which are £3.79 a bottle, in the main supermarkets they are usually at least £5 a bottle.
