Ok Im Ready - Where Do I Start

ANDY597 · 16 December 2006 at 1:34PM

Ok, Im ready, ive had that lighbulb moment and read through some of the posts here on the board. But, I need that little extra helping hand as to where to start. Im already a credit card tart and the loan that I stupidly have is already on a low rate, so where do I go from here.

My wife pays for food, electric, gas, phone etc and so that doesnt come into my equation as we keep things pretty seperate. That might sound silly to some, but thats what we do.

I car share with another person, so i only need to take my car the 20 miles to work once every two weeks which keeps the petrol and maitenence cost down. I need to buy food at my work but thats about it.

£1237 - Amount I get paid every month

£473.82 - mortgage, 22 years left with 65,000 remaining - nationwide (not willing to change as have just negotiated another fixed term)

£8.60 life insurance
£12.37 - my central heating cover
£25.61 - car insurance per month - golf gti mk2 -
£26.74 - wifes car insurance - mk3 golf driver
£21.00 - sky tv
£6.59 - pet insurance
£80.00 - amount given towards council tax
£30.00 - fast internet connection, see ebay note below
£70.00 - payment to credit card, see ebay note below
£80.00 - monthly petrol costs
£80.00 - food costs at work, coffee, vending, hot lunches
Mot's & Tax - wife pays for these, but my dads a mechanic, so no repair bills to speak off just parts + car is old and owes me nothing.
No parking fees
Home repairs - parts only, diy freak !
Clothes - on hold just now, essentials only.
Dentisty & Prescriptions - monthly budget currently zero but i need to find a dentist soon as they have struck me off their list for missing an appointment.

My big negatives
5,461.02 OS on credit card with alliance and Leicester (mbna) but just in the process of switching to rbs with 0% for nine months.
£10,000 limit - not cut up

£236 - amount of loan I pay per month, matures June 09 - £9600 os - alliance n leicester 5.7% - special intro rate years ago.

positives
other stuff, earn about £100 a month on ebay
great credit history
never missed a payment in my life, no bank charges etc
im 31 - and ready to screw the nut
got rid of my overdraft

OK - SO WHATS NEXT AND WHATS THE POUND CLUB THAT I KEEP SEEING ON PEOPLES POSTS.

lynzpower · 16 December 2006 at 1:42PM

Hi there

Right first off the £2 club is people simply saving every £2 coin they get. Simple really, but lots of people find it very effective way to save. Find an old jar and your away!

Ok, well from your SOA above it looks good, you have 373 left over per month? Do you have tihs?

You mention 2 cars there, nothing for petrol ?MOTS? Parking? Repairs? Tax?

Nothing in your budget there for clothes, food, presents, dentistry/optical or prescriptions or home repairs?

you also havent said what the min payment is for your credit card

I suggest you have a good butchers at martins budget planner at the top of the page, and do another more fuller SOA/budget. only once youve done this can you work out where you are overspending.

Have you cut your cards up?

You could always cancel Sky? Not essential and a easy saving of 21 pcm

Good luck
Lynz
x

bonnie_2 · 16 December 2006 at 2:30PM

£80 on food for work is a lot can you not take pack ups and a flask.

Mrs_Sparkle · 16 December 2006 at 2:49PM

Welcome! Well done for making the first move. Your second move should be to cut up your credit card (in fact you've just reminded me that I haven't yet cut up my new MBNA card so I'll join you in the cutting if you like). You also need to stop spending £80 a month on food at work- vending machines are expensive and you'd be better off bringing in your own food.

beanielou · 16 December 2006 at 8:00PM

Hi & welcome to MSE
You do need to try to cut down your food at work costs.
As Mrs sparkle has said cut up credit card so you cant add to the debt.

taxi73 · 16 December 2006 at 8:55PM

Hi and welcome to MSE...I can only see a couple of things taking a pack up and flask will not cost £80 p/m and you can put this towards debt ...I also see that you pay for both car insurances..could you phone these companies up as some companies offer a discount if you have more than one car insured with them..it may be worth looking into this..

angchris · 17 December 2006 at 5:01AM

i agree with all the other suggestions above but one thing that struck me was the £12.37 for your central heating cover which amounts to nearly £150 a year. personally i would save up the £12.37 a month in a seperate account ready for if the heating does break down. 9 times out of 10 if the boiler does break down its the universal thermocouple which is about £5 or £6 or a pump which is £50 ish. paying someone else for keeping an eye on your heating really is money for old rope. you could put your money to better use and earn some interest on it and have money put by to fix it as and when:D before you know it after a few years you will have a nice tidy lump in the account :j i`d also do the same for the pet insurance unless of course you have a really poorly pooch/mog use the same account for both and put £20 a month away, its money you have been spending monthly anyway so shouldnt hurt too much! this amounts to £240 a year which is not to be sniffed at

ANDY597 · 17 December 2006 at 1:25PM

Wow

thanks for all the responses. CARD CUT UP...... I already have the car insurance with the same company and im going to cancel the pet insurance. I am going to look at the food at work situation and join the 2 pound club.

Im going to give all those suggestions a shot apart from one.

The central heating cover gives me an annual service + all parts and labour costs in the event of a breakdown. My system is about 10 years old now and this year has had a considerable number of major parts replaced under its cover.

A regularly serviced central heating boiler can cut your fuel bills by 30%. If You dont service your car you use more fuel and a boilers just the same.

I have an oil central heating system as I live out in the sticks and the fuel that it goes through in the years that i havent serviced is a considerable change.

I pressed the thanks to everyone button.

I have started my spend diary today as yesterday was pay day too.

angchris · 17 December 2006 at 1:42PM

well done you!!:T it takes a bit of time/effort to get into the swing of things but it also makes you feel fab to know you are doing something proactive about things rather than let it drag you down. keep up the good work

Kevicho · 17 December 2006 at 2:17PM

ANDY597 wrote:

£1237 - Amount I get paid every month <is there any chance of some overtime etc?>

£473.82 - mortgage, 22 years left with 65,000 remaining - nationwide (not willing to change as have just negotiated another fixed term)

£8.60 life insurance <this needed at the mo?>
£12.37 - my central heating cover
£25.61 - car insurance per month - golf gti mk2 -
£26.74 - wifes car insurance - mk3 golf driver
£21.00 - sky tv <cancel this as a waste of money and time!>
£6.59 - pet insurance <this needed>?
£80.00 - amount given towards council tax
£30.00 - fast internet connection, see ebay note below<who is this with? can you ring up asking for a discount, as you can get connections much cheaper, a broadband connection will more than be adequate for ebay>
£70.00 - payment to credit card, see ebay note below
£80.00 - monthly petrol costs
£80.00 - food costs at work, coffee, vending, hot lunches <take food/drinks from home, youll cut this cost dramatically, and be eating healthier>
Mot's & Tax - wife pays for these, but my dads a mechanic, so no repair bills to speak off just parts + car is old and owes me nothing.
No parking fees
Home repairs - parts only, diy freak !
Clothes - on hold just now, essentials only.
Dentisty & Prescriptions - monthly budget currently zero but i need to find a dentist soon as they have struck me off their list for missing an appointment.

My big negatives
5,461.02 OS on credit card with alliance and Leicester (mbna) but just in the process of switching to rbs with 0% for nine months.
£10,000 limit - not cut up

£236 - amount of loan I pay per month, matures June 09 - £9600 os - alliance n leicester 5.7% - special intro rate years ago.

positives
other stuff, earn about £100 a month on ebay
great credit history
never missed a payment in my life, no bank charges etc
im 31 - and ready to screw the nut
got rid of my overdraft

OK - SO WHATS NEXT AND WHATS THE POUND CLUB THAT I KEEP SEEING ON PEOPLES POSTS.

Good going on the switch to 0%, other things you could look at/some pointers :

Does the missus know about the debt? Could she help you out or is she in a similar position?
Could you switch energy/utility suppliers? a) This may save the missus some money, b) sign up with quidco or similar for cashback offers

Do you have things you could sell, an initial cash boost is incredibly helpful in the starting stages.

For the 9 months you have 0% interest with RBS pay the minimum amounts and put the rest of your available cash into a high savings isa, that way you will be making a little money back, and eventually you will save up enough to pay it all off.

anyways income is

1237 (I will leave out ebay, as this isnt 100% guaranteed, but any money you make, that you dont reinvest into ebay, should go to debt repayment or savings)

Outgoings are

814.73 (thats without cutbacks which could save around 117.93 a month and also credit card for ebay, which i left out before, you should account for ebay seperately)

leaving 412 for debt repayment (or around 520 if you use ALL the cutbacks)

Cutbacks
Life insurance 8.60
Wifes car insurance (you said you kept finances seperate, if so why do you pay this?) 26.74
Sky - cancelled 21 quid
Pet insurance 6.59
Internet - you could get a decent package these days for 15 quid, so 15 quid savings
Work Food, given you a luxurious 40 pound budget, this should save 40 or more

Monthly repayments are

loan - 236
You didnt say what the minimum is on the CC, and also will you get the full amount on ther RBS or split the debt between two cards?

Seperate

ebay
100 in (or is this 100 in profit after cc payment?)
70 out

So this makes you 30 quid

Why do just ebay for extra money? There are many ways of making money, cancelling the sky will free up time to look into these

Hope this helps

Ok Im Ready - Where Do I Start

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