# Living Below Your Means Dealing with Debt



## super103 (21 Jan 2005)

Good Morning

As of Jan 2005 I had to make a few radical changes to dealing with finances and spending. 

Phone Insurance
Cancelled my phone insurance, at the end of the day the most important part of my phone is my phone numbers and I cant insure them. Plus if your phone is stolen you only receive a certain percentage of the total cost. Total savings per year 78.

Hair cuts
Recently took a trip into town to buy myself a razor to cut my own hair. This cost me 25. I would usually get my hair cut at least once a month at around 20. Total savings per year 240-25 = 215. At the risk of looking like I’m fresh out of prison for the first few haircuts. I think It will be worth it. 

Lunches
Have you ever actually thought about the money you spend buying lunches. I would normally spend between 5-10 a day on my lunch. On the other hand I could spend around 12 euro in the supermarket. Which would provided me with a homemade lunch for 5 days. Total savings per week based on spending 6 a day on lunch minus 12 = 18. Per month 18 * 4 = 72. Total savings per year 72 = 864

Smoking
This was a tough one, as I did smoke a lot, and chained smoked when I was having a few drinks. I bought a well known book, on how to permanently give up smoking. Although it took me nearly two months to read it I’ve eventually given up. Book cost me 15. Total savings per year 1800 - 15= 1785

Mortgage Protection.
Although I no longer have a mortgage to worry about, this can also be a massive saving. It should’nt cost you a penny to get an up to date mortgage protection (life assurance) quote from a broker. But it could save you around 6,000 over the term of the mortgage. Worth checking out!

Credit Cards
Credit cards were my worst nightmare, At one stage I had 4 going at the same time. Not quiet as bad as what I’ve read from some of the members in here. But It was still worrying for me. I eventually consolidated them into one debt. One year later I had a loan taken out to pay of the credit card debt. Plus I had also been using the credit cards again. It just made matters worse. Now I never use the plastic, I pay for everything with cash, if I don’t have cash. I save! 



Nights Out.
I would normally spend over a 100 on a night out. I used to go out nearly 4 or 5 times a month. I’ve cut this back to going out 2 nights a month. The savings have been phenomenal. At min If this continues I will have saved at least 2400 per year.


If I stick to my guns I will have saved 5,324.00 the first year. Not bad for making a few sacrifices. Not sure what I’m planning on doing with this money. Might invest it in a few Pacific Basin High Risk Penny Tech Stocks and retire by the age of 35 or I could be practical and use it to pay off my out standing debts at a quicker rate.


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## CCOVICH (22 Jan 2005)

I reckon you'll need to give yourself a bit longer to see if you can stay off the fags and keep to a reduced booze intake, but good for you.  I made most of these changes myself in recent years, but have found many other ways to waste my money!  Report back in Jan '05 with an update and any further suggestions!


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## cushtie (24 Jan 2005)

I did pretty much the same thing about 12 months ago (Mainly thanks to advice found on AAM).

There always seemed to be bills lying around the place unpaid, late etc so in the end Myself and Mrs Cushtie sat down and did out a household budget. 

Now every week a set amount gets put away for Bills, Petrol, and Food for the week, Another set amount gets transferred to CU using a Standing order for things like Car Insurance etc that come around once a year and any emergencies.

It may sound boring to some but we are flying it now, no more arguements about bills etc. we know how much we have to live on for the week and tough luck if we spend it all at the weekend.


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## super103 (24 Jan 2005)

I'm glad things are working out. I'm still sticking to my guns. There's an interesting program on every week. "Show me the Money" Presented by Eddie Hobbs. Worth checking out.


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## super103 (28 Jan 2005)

An interesting website, on practical cost savings across the board.

www.shoppingbill.com/


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## sueellen (29 Jan 2005)

Tied into cushtie's good advice above the budget info here  might be helpful.


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## mmclo (31 Jan 2005)

*Nights Out.
I would normally spend over a 100 on a night out. I used to go out nearly 4 or 5 times a month. I’ve cut this back to going out 2 nights a month. The savings have been phenomenal. At min If this continues I will have saved at least 2400 per year.

Have a few kids!! That'll keep you in*


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## POBHD28 (31 Jan 2005)

> Have a few kids!!



The guy is trying to _save_ money!


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## funky girl (7 Jul 2006)

the kids keep you in alright but you just end up spending on convenience foods and items to compensate for the exhaustion!!


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