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perfectly poor's SOA

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perfectlypoor
perfectlypoor Posts: 479 Forumite
in Debt-free wannabe
Been on since august so think its time to do my SOA.

wages £900
tax credits £240
child benefit £72.40

total income £1212.40 overdraft £2000 always up to the max.

rent £345
council tax £111
water £48 inc arrears
electric £80 inc arrears
gas £30
bt landline £50
lloyds loan £128
AOL £20
food £200(inc pet food) trying to reduce with Oct challenge
catalogues £70 average
petrol £50
total spent per month £1132

this leaves £80.40 per month I have started a spending diary to see where this goes each month
LBM-29/08/07
Good Enough Club member no 42
«1

Comments

  • wok_boy
    wok_boy Posts: 759 Forumite
    Do you really need the catalogues?
    BR 4/10/07
    ED 11/04/08

    BSC Member No 93
  • Dr_Hook
    Dr_Hook Posts: 509 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    wok_boy wrote: »
    Do you really need the catalogues?

    I think that's debt repayments.

    The thing that sticks out most to me is the BT landline & internet costs - £70 for both is HUGE! I'm sure there's an article on this site somewhere that says talktalk's currently the best, offering line rental, calls & broadband for around £20 (IIRC) - that's £50 saved straight away!

    Edit: link to Martin's home phone article here
    Proud to be dealing with my debts - DFW Nerd #491
  • angelavdavis
    angelavdavis Posts: 4,714 Forumite
    Mortgage-free Glee!
    Well done for posting your SOA,

    A couple of comments:

    Ditto the comment about BT/Broadband - shop around - you could easily pay less than half for this service. Dr Hook's link has more info.

    Spending diary - yes - do it - its a real eye opener and can help highlight other areas for saving.

    Catalogues - What is the total debt?

    Loan - how much is the total owed and how long does it run for? Do you know the interest rate and whether you are able to overpay the loan?

    Anything to ebay or sell second hand? You could then throw more money toward the catalogues and loan here too.

    It might be worth entering the amounts into the snowball calculator to see how paying more can alter the debt-free date - its a real incentive to throw any spare pennies toward the debt.

    One place where your "spare" cash might be going is the car: tax, insurance, mot, service.
    :D Thanks to MSE, I am mortgage free!:D
  • Dr_Hook
    Dr_Hook Posts: 509 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    angelavdavis wrote: »
    One place where your "spare" cash might be going is the car: tax, insurance, mot, service.
    No contents insurance listed either?
    Proud to be dealing with my debts - DFW Nerd #491
  • perfectlypoor
    perfectlypoor Posts: 479 Forumite
    hi bt is high due to arrears and we (well me mainly) use the phone too much,I was in a contract with them but thats now finished so I can think about changing, thing is we have been with aol so long now that I really don't want to change but I suppose needs must and all that... My total calalogue bill is around £900 and I forgot about our overdraft which is £2000 and always to the max. I am addicted to spending money on food shopping,clothes,things for OH,our son and our home and have often cancelled an upcoming direct debit,or missed a payment on something to give me money to spend on other things. Will find out the interest on my OV and loan as to be honest I have no idea.
    LBM-29/08/07
    Good Enough Club member no 42
  • shopaholictiedtheknot
    shopaholictiedtheknot Posts: 983 Forumite
    Hi there, do you both work? are these your wages and tax credits or your OH's and do you have any income or are you stay at home mum? I am terrible at frittering money away (as my name suggests!!)
  • Jazzyjeff_2
    Jazzyjeff_2 Posts: 267 Forumite
    If you go over to the broadband board I thought AOL were giving current members broadband for £9.99 a month (but only if you ring up and ask!)....
  • Dr_Hook
    Dr_Hook Posts: 509 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    perfectlypoor wrote: »
    I am addicted to spending money on food shopping,clothes,things for OH,our son and our home and have often cancelled an upcoming direct debit,or missed a payment on something to give me money to spend on other things.
    Can you change the date on your direct debits to go out just after payday? That way the money's not there if you get tempted. It must be costing £££s in missed/late payment fees.
    Proud to be dealing with my debts - DFW Nerd #491
  • perfectlypoor
    perfectlypoor Posts: 479 Forumite
    shopaholictiedtheknot wrote: »
    Hi there, do you both work? are these your wages and tax credits or your OH's and do you have any income or are you stay at home mum? I am terrible at frittering money away (as my name suggests!!)
    Hi I am a stay at home Mum so its OH wages only ATM I have no income of my own,our son is now at school but we have a 3yr old dog and a puppy and I don't drive so finding a school hours job that fits in with everything is hard and TBH I have worked before getting the puppy and the money I was earning was getting taken from our tax credits so we were not any better off.
    LBM-29/08/07
    Good Enough Club member no 42
  • perfectlypoor
    perfectlypoor Posts: 479 Forumite
    perfectlypoor wrote: »
    Been on since august so think its time to do my SOA.

    wages £900
    tax credits £240
    child benefit £72.40

    total income £1212.40 overdraft £2000 always up to the max.

    rent £345
    council tax £111
    water £48 inc arrears
    electric £80 inc arrears
    gas £30
    bt landline £50
    lloyds loan £128
    AOL £20
    food £200(inc pet food) trying to reduce with Oct challenge
    catalogues £70 average
    petrol £50
    total spent per month £1132

    this leaves £80.40 per month I have started a spending diary to see where this goes each month


    Things are getting worse We have missed payments and are in a worse state than when I posted.Overdraft still up to max so after being called into the bank and talking about getting a larger loan to clear huge overdraft cover our direct debits due to come out on Dec 1st and cover xmas but was quoted 20.5% interest but as my current loan has an interest of 10.9% this would be a silly move, guy in bank let me log into my online banking account and apply and I got quoted 15.5% but was told by bank they could not match that percent because they can't 'compete with themselves' and I was advised to go home and take out the larger loan online and in branch quotes are higher due to staff costs etc :confused: I can't see this helping my situation but not sure what else to do. Just done online thing with CCCS and will ring them first thing tomorrow. Just feeling overwhelmed with this at the moment.
    LBM-29/08/07
    Good Enough Club member no 42
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