I want to stop drowning

debtaghh · 12 August 2017 at 2:00PM

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

You won't pay more to pay tv licence monthly but I think you have to pay double for first 6 months so you are paying 6 months ahead. If you have just paid it for the year put £12.12 aside each month from now so the £145 is there next August to pay it out. Same goes for insurance. It is a work in progress but after a year or two of doing this it is such a relief to know the money is waiting there to pay out for these larger annual bills. A lot of people, myself included use savings pots for all these things just to stop the robbing Peter to pay Paul mentality. It makes you feel more in control which will help with your anxiety. I would suggest a pot for annual bills, a pot for gifts/Christmas, one for holidays, one for car and an emergency fund which initially can be used for essential house repairs/ white good replacements etc. How you save into it depends on your income so if regular amount each month put a certain amount in each or if irregular income do a different amount each month but keep an eye on when all the bills come out.

Thanks, that's what I'm aiming to do. I want to save money for car, Xmas, holidays , contents insurance and tv licence. I can't afford to at the min but am hoping to be able to very soon.

wishingthemortgaheaway · 12 August 2017 at 11:52PM

I started paying annual bills in one go about 8 years ago.

I started with our car insurance, I managed to pay it all in one go due to a bond maturing. I then put aside what it would have cost me if I was still paying monthly (so that included the added interest they charged) this was February, by September, when the house insurance was due I had enough money in the 'car pot' to pay that outright. So I did and increased the standing order to the bills account to be car plus house monthly payments. By the time the car insurance came round again, there was more money in the account than I needed so paid the car insurance outright and when the water bill came through I could pay that in 1 go too.
After about 4/5 years I even had enough money put aside in the bills account to pay the council tax in one go. You need to be disciplined to do it.
Since changing to YNAB I find each bill with an amount of money each month. When the bill is paid there's is usually a little something left in the pot because I've oversaved, that surplus goes to the mortgage or I treat myself.

I hope you find a way through your worries.

Wish

debtaghh · 13 August 2017 at 6:26AM

wishingthemortgaheaway wrote: »

I started paying annual bills in one go about 8 years ago.

I started with our car insurance, I managed to pay it all in one go due to a bond maturing. I then put aside what it would have cost me if I was still paying monthly (so that included the added interest they charged) this was February, by September, when the house insurance was due I had enough money in the 'car pot' to pay that outright. So I did and increased the standing order to the bills account to be car plus house monthly payments. By the time the car insurance came round again, there was more money in the account than I needed so paid the car insurance outright and when the water bill came through I could pay that in 1 go too.
After about 4/5 years I even had enough money put aside in the bills account to pay the council tax in one go. You need to be disciplined to do it.
Since changing to YNAB I find each bill with an amount of money each month. When the bill is paid there's is usually a little something left in the pot because I've oversaved, that surplus goes to the mortgage or I treat myself.

I hope you find a way through your worries.

Wish

Thanks. That sounds great, paying so many bills annually. I think it will take a while for us to reach that point but that will eventually be my aim.

debtaghh · 13 August 2017 at 7:14AM

Hi,

So far I haven't touched the £250 I allocated for this holiday as we have used the money we were gifted and money left over from trip one. I'm hoping to not have to touch it until tomorrow.

I can't seem to ever load the official soa as my laptop never lets me and my phone doesn't either. So here is my own version, I've included what I should be saving for but haven't yet:

Rent £1200
Council tax £165
Gas and electricity £92
Water £41 ( I think this will go up as now going on a meter)
Mobiles £75 ( 3 mobiles all in contract)
Sky tv £12.49 ( in contact until next year)
Bt ( phone line and Internet £23.99 ( did a deal to get £150 back. Need phone line for house alarm)
House alarm £25
Tumble dryer insurance £12.50 ( I took this out as couldn't afford the one off payment to repair it but will not renew it, ends in Jan)
Pre payment prescriptions £20.50 ( me and my husband both go through several prescriptions a month so this is cheapest option)
School donation £2
Food shopping £350 ( family of 5 but trying to cut down)
Fuel £120
Entertainment £100 ( includes any hair cuts needed)
Son swimming £60
Dd tutor £110 ( sch recommended this and will end next year)
Holiday £100
Xmas/bdays £100 ( I know this is too high and the holiday)
Car £50
Emergency fund £50
Tv licence/ contents insurance £20
Clothes/shoes £30 ( including new sch uniform/bag)
Car insurance. £37
Mum £100
Dad £125
Dad cc £50 ( 0% until 2020)
Mbna £120
Barclaycard. £80
Tesco. £30
Nuba. £53
Halifax. £64
Barclaycard. £30
Barclaycard. £125
Tesco. £40

Total outgoings. £3643.18

Dh basic £2430 ( does get overtime but not guaranteed but some months can be £300 extra) basic due to increase next month by £30
Child benefit £197
Other. £310
My income £250 ( not guaranteed but averaging income from previous years)

Total income. £3187

Monthly shortfall. - £426( this is why I end up not saving for the things above)

Mbna £11037(4.9% life of balance)
Barclaycard £10750(6.9% life of balance)
Tesco £1380 (0% until June 2019)
Nuba £5300 (0% until June 2018)
Halifax £6400 (0% until June 2018)
Barclaycard £5521 (0% until July 2018)
Barclaycard £3111 (6.9% life of balance)
Tesco £2500 (0% until April 2018)

There it is:eek: but looking at the positives I have £3200 in savings for Xmas, holidays etc so can get away with not saving for them for a while which is a £250 saving. My husband may get overtime and my income may increase. I want to get rid of my barclaycard asap as I pay a very high minimum due to it being old terms and conditions. The idea is to manage and get my minimums lower to be able to then save and pay more debt in time. I'm trying to do more surveys and will log my food expenses on here. Tutoring will also end next May. Council tax is over 10 months and so is the prepayment prescription.

Think that is everything, if anyone can see anything that I have missed , please let me know.

Sorry for such a long post!

wishingthemortgaheaway · 13 August 2017 at 7:39AM

There are people far better at spotting these things than I but why have school told you to get a tutor for your child?

and, as I don't know the answer to this I'm going to outline as many thoughts as I have, please don't be offended. (I'm assuming this is an English state school)

Is it for a specific learning difficulty? If yes, it should be being managed through the school's special educational needs coordinator on an individual education plan.

Has she made little or no progress over previous years? If yes, the school should be planning short, time limited interventions to close the gap.

Is it because she is doing something the school don't offer? If yes, then you probably need to continue otherwise what you have spent is wasted and that's not right.

Could you not spend the time with her each week working on things school have provided to close the gap? I have provided numerous home learning packs over the years (I'm primary though) spending 15 minutes a night on something would work out more 'useful' than an hour's tuition a week.

I know you want to do your best for your dd but, I hope I wouldn't pay for tutoring for my child, at least until I'd explored every opportunity that the school should be providing.

I hope you get it all sorted, keep strong.

Wish.

debtaghh · 13 August 2017 at 7:52AM

wishingthemortgaheaway wrote: »

There are people far better at spotting these things than I but why have school told you to get a tutor for your child?

and, as I don't know the answer to this I'm going to outline as many thoughts as I have, please don't be offended. (I'm assuming this is an English state school)

Is it for a specific learning difficulty? If yes, it should be being managed through the school's special educational needs coordinator on an individual education plan.

Has she made little or no progress over previous years? If yes, the school should be planning short, time limited interventions to close the gap.

Is it because she is doing something the school don't offer? If yes, then you probably need to continue otherwise what you have spent is wasted and that's not right.

Could you not spend the time with her each week working on things school have provided to close the gap? I have provided numerous home learning packs over the years (I'm primary though) spending 15 minutes a night on something would work out more 'useful' than an hour's tuition a week.

I know you want to do your best for your dd but, I hope I wouldn't pay for tutoring for my child, at least until I'd explored every opportunity that the school should be providing.

I hope you get it all sorted, keep strong.

Wish.

Thanks for your reply. They said she will be more likely to get a higher grade. They didn't make me but as they said she could benefit from it, I did it. I couldn't help her as she is a rebellious teenager and gets on really well with her tutor.

pennywisepoundstupid · 13 August 2017 at 8:35AM

Morning.

I'm totally with you regarding the tutor, my daughter has one and it costs me £26 a week and I don't begrudge it at all, she really struggles with her confidence in Maths and panics about it as a subject. Myself or DH would try and explain something to her and she would just become stroppy and storm off saying I can't do it and she really disliked her Maths teacher last year, DD has being going 12 months and ikes her tutor and seems to be able to break things down and explain things to her in a way she understands, she has gone from being predicted a 4 to a 7, it's been worth every penny and wouldn't hesitate with sending my son if he had an issue. Can't put a price in their education especially in this day and age when its so tough.

enthusiasticsaver · 13 August 2017 at 8:46AM

I think I would aim to get rid of the shortfall first.

You can't afford holidays but you knew that but taking them is making your situation worse. Upping your income will certainly help either by working more hours or taking on a job but I am guessing that childcare may then be an issue. I would not be paying for a tutor either and work with your daughter or get her to spend more private time studying and would halve the presents budget and ditch tumble dryer insurance. If she needs a tutor to get a higher grade at GCSE then she will undoubtedly need one for A levels which are much harder. If she is belligerent it may be her attitude rather than ability which is hindering her progress and no tutor can change that. Are the school saying she won't pass without tutoring because that is unacceptable and the school abstaining from their responsibilities. What does she say? She knows you have financial difficulties presumably?

You can get a cheap tumble dryer if yours broke for around £100. I rarely use mine as it uses too much electricity. If the entertainment covers haircuts too I would leave that. Why do you pay £25 per month for the alarm?. I would cancel that. Your rent is high but I don't know where you live and moving is expensive. The mobiles bill is definitely too high. Go sim only asap. The sky can go but it looks like you have got that half price so not too bad.

The positives are that you have £3200 in savings which is a good cushion and some could be used to pay off some of the debt. If you are willing to relinquish the things which you really can't afford at least for a few years you could stop the debt rising and see the figure start to come down instead. If you also upped your income that would help. Your shortfall would be eliminated if you got rid of the things I have suggested and change council tax to over 12 months.

debtaghh · 13 August 2017 at 8:59AM

pennywisepoundstupid wrote: »

Morning.

I'm totally with you regarding the tutor, my daughter has one and it costs me £26 a week and I don't begrudge it at all, she really struggles with her confidence in Maths and panics about it as a subject. Myself or DH would try and explain something to her and she would just become stroppy and storm off saying I can't do it and she really disliked her Maths teacher last year, DD has being going 12 months and ikes her tutor and seems to be able to break things down and explain things to her in a way she understands, she has gone from being predicted a 4 to a 7, it's been worth every penny and wouldn't hesitate with sending my son if he had an issue. Can't put a price in their education especially in this day and age when its so tough.

Thank you x

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

I think I would aim to get rid of the shortfall first.

You can't afford holidays but you knew that but taking them is making your situation worse. Upping your income will certainly help either by working more hours or taking on a job but I am guessing that childcare may then be an issue. I would not be paying for a tutor either and work with your daughter or get her to spend more private time studying and would halve the presents budget and ditch tumble dryer insurance. If she needs a tutor to get a higher grade at GCSE then she will undoubtedly need one for A levels which are much harder. If she is belligerent it may be her attitude rather than ability which is hindering her progress and no tutor can change that. Are the school saying she won't pass without tutoring because that is unacceptable and the school abstaining from their responsibilities. What does she say? She knows you have financial difficulties presumably?

You can get a cheap tumble dryer if yours broke for around £100. I rarely use mine as it uses too much electricity. If the entertainment covers haircuts too I would leave that. Why do you pay £25 per month for the alarm?. I would cancel that. Your rent is high but I don't know where you live and moving is expensive. The mobiles bill is definitely too high. Go sim only asap. The sky can go but it looks like you have got that half price so not too bad.

The positives are that you have £3200 in savings which is a good cushion and some could be used to pay off some of the debt. If you are willing to relinquish the things which you really can't afford at least for a few years you could stop the debt rising and see the figure start to come down instead. If you also upped your income that would help. Your shortfall would be eliminated if you got rid of the things I have suggested and change council tax to over 12 months.

Thanks for your reply. Our daughter has no idea about our debt. I'll have a think and chat with my husband about the tutor.
I'm in a 12 month contract for the tumble dryer insurance but think it should end in Jan and I will not be renewing it. I will def change to sim only and I've just checked and mine can change to sim only next month which should reduce the total mobile bills by approx £15. The rent is the cheapest in our area and worry it may increase if we are made to move. The entertainment budget covers everything from school trips to hair cuts etc. The alarm is because it is linked that if it goes off we get a call etc but I think the co tract is due to end in oct and £300 is a lot. The present budget is an ongoing battle I have with myself, I just don't know what to do. I end up buying for so many ppl and it just adds up. I even tried saying no presents and ppl have made comments.

enthusiasticsaver · 13 August 2017 at 9:04AM

I would put any additional income towards the Tesco card as that is more achievable to clear than the Barclaycard and the deal expires next April. Cutting down on balance transfers (unless it is a long deal) will stop the fees which are probably actually increasing the debt as you are only paying minimums. Having a high minimum is good because it means at least the debt is being cleared quicker.

I think it is achievable for you to get out of this financial hole. Ironically a mortgage may be cheaper than the high rent you pay but without knowing what house prices are like in your area it is difficult to say. The debt has to be gone for that so you are looking at around 9-10 years unless you up payments presumably by increasing income.

I want to stop drowning

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