Our SOA - any suggestions?

Jacks_xxx · 16 August 2007 at 3:44AM

MONTHLY OUTGOINGS

MORTGAGE £746.19
GAS & ELECTRIC £110.00
WATER £16.13
HOUSE INSURANCE £17.13
COUNCIL TAX £116.00
PAYMENT PROTECTION £14.06
TV LICENCE £11.37
PHONE £11.50+ a little bit for calls (Varies)
HUBBY’S LIFE INSURANCE £33.04
INTERNET £23.00
SKY £15 (recently reduced from £37)
DAUGHTER'S MOBILE £14.99
CAR TAX £15 (£180 / 12)
CAR INSURANCE £25.06 (Best we could get.)
PARKING TICKETS £30+ We have residents parking but if there's no spaces you end up parked on the yellows and we get at least one ticket a month.
PETROL £200 (Hubby lives in Hampshire and works in Hertfordshire.)

NATWEST 0% CC PAYING £175 ON A BALANCE OF £3000
MINT 5.9% CC PAYING £150 ON A BALANCE OF £4000 (Need another 0% card.)
SECURED LOAN £237.29 (8 years to go)
UNSECURED LOAN £280.68 (4 years to go)

FOOD £500 (Would appreciate a stern talking to in this area as there are only four of us and our eldest is hardly ever here to eat anyway!)

BIRTHDAYS / CHRISTMAS £100 stashed away each month

MONTHLY INCOME

TAKE HOME PAY £2644.14
CHILD BENEFIT £72.40
TAX CREDITS £40.81

I hope I haven't missed too many things out. It's a bit of a shock getting it all down on paper - and in public too!

This time last year we owed £90,000 - so we're getting there - and I'm SO glad to have found this place because I know we're going to do even better from now on. :T

Love Jacks xxx

x_raphael_xx · 16 August 2007 at 5:03AM

Hi ya, well done for posting, I know it's hard, but it's the beginning of a DF life!!

Others will be along later, and with better advice than me!

Just a couple of things, you've already realised you need to cut down on your food bills, check out the OS threads, especially the monthly grocery challenge http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=513573 you'll be surprised how much you can cut back.

Jacks_xxx wrote: »

BIRTHDAYS / CHRISTMAS £100 stashed away each month

£100 x 12 = £1200! That's alot of money to spend at Christmas and for birthdays! How much have you got saved at the moment?
Could you pay off extra on the MINT credit card, and still keep a little back for presents? Remember there's still 4 months to go!

Again, well done for posting and hope it all goes smoothly!

tealady · 16 August 2007 at 6:16AM

Firstly Hi and welcome to one for the most useful websites onthe planet.
Use cashback sites such as quidco and greasypalm when buying ANYTHING. Use pigsback clicks will give you points which you can exchange for vouchers (if you can sign up all the adults in the family then the points will mount up quicker). MSE old style is great for all sorts of ideas (I'm still using up all my cleaning materials otherwise I will be another member of the Stardrops club). Check you are getting the best deals for gas and electricity. See if theres a local college for cheap haircuts/maicures etc. Thats all I can think of for now, good luck.

wisbech_lad · 16 August 2007 at 8:09AM

Food is high - about 4.10 a day per person! Normally, eating more healthily and tastily (home made soups, Irish stew etc, lots of fresh bread and vegetables) will be both cheaper, healthier and tasty! Sell it to the family not as "saving money" but "eating better" - because it is true.

Can you "reserve" a parking space anyhow?

How big is the mortgage outstanding, and how many more years to pay off?

Any chance to switch the car to a more fuel efficient model - maybe a diesel?

Crown · 16 August 2007 at 8:22AM

The Life Insurance looks pretty high. have you checked to see if you can get a better deal through the comparison sites? Also take a look at Martins article for lniks and advice on this.

I am astonished that you get and pay a £30 parking ticket a month! Thats £360 a year and that would go a long way to clearing some of the debt.

Have you spoke to the council about this and asked them if they have any plans? Also does a neighbour or someone you know have a garage that you could use? Even if you was to rent somewhere it could be cheaper than getting a ticket.

Prudent · 16 August 2007 at 8:23AM

Food is huge : I spend £90 a month for two and we often have visitors.
Try the old style borad for somke great cost cutting suggestions. Check out the stardrops thread.

Gas/elc also seem high - how big is the house?

Could you cancel the payment protection?

Get a 'pressie' box and put bargain pressies in as you find them. Write a list keep it in the pressie box. Then you will know who you still have to buy for.
I buy 36 Christmas pressies - last year they averaged £2.66, but had a true retail value of an average of £43 each. I get a lot of mine by entering comeptitions, using teh grabbit board etc.

chevalier · 16 August 2007 at 9:56AM

You are right that is a lot of food, I feed 2 adults 2 young children and 2 cats for literally half that! I would suggest that you not reduce this all in one month, but set a target of taking £50 of this month (or this next 4 weeks), and then the same the next month etc.

Also see how much you have in your cupboards/freezer and try to run these down for a week ie just buying veggies, bread and milk to go with what is in already.
best of luck
chev

redsquirrel80 · 16 August 2007 at 10:03AM

I found it really helps to write 'priced' shopping lists for food etc - either keep your old receipts and use these to make a master list of your usual items, or use online shopping to give you the prices (whether you eventually buy online or not - I don't, but a lot of people find this helps them resist the temptation of picking up other things in the supermarket). I also take cash - the amount of my shopping list plus a few pounds extra in case of price changes or something else I remember I need. If you haven't got it with you, you can't spend it!

Jacks_xxx · 16 August 2007 at 2:15PM

Thanks my lovelies!

Ok...So I'll dig out Hubby's Life Insurance paperwork tonight and see what we're paying for - and if we can get it cheaper.

I'm saving this months receipts so that I can see what we spend and next month I'm joining the September Grocery Challenge. It looks like planning is the key!

The parking ticket thing is ridiculous I agree. but the area we live in was all built 100 years ago when nobody had cars so there's no garages or drives, and we all fight over the street parking. I write in protest to the local council every time we get one but since they're the ones who send the traffic wardens around specially at 7:45 on a Sunday morning to catch people I don't think they care! We did leave the car in the municipal car park in town for a few nights once, but on the third morning Hubby found it on bricks when he got there, with a broken window and no stereo - which was even more expensive to sort out than a parking ticket.

The mortgage oustanding is about £91,000. Hubby says its £91,375 but I have NO idea how he just worked that out - with about 18 years to go.

Everything else I'm still processing in my overloaded brain.

Thanks ever so much for taking the time...

Love Jacks xxx

smudgemanc26 · 16 August 2007 at 2:27PM

I agree with the OP regarding the food and the life insurance. I have just recently changed insurance through quidco and got it at a fraction of the price and earnt money back too!

On the food front try and reduce this and not buy those expensive luxury items that seem to appear in your trolley and im now a big fan of not buying cleaning products and toiletries from the supermarket (unless they are on offer) and going to a cheaper place such as wilkinsons or one of the pound shops its amazing the difference in prices especially for cleaning products and air freshners/refills which i am a sucker for!

Our SOA - any suggestions?

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