New Member :o)

oscar52

Looks like your safe then SS

paybacktime2008

£70 a month is nothing!!!! Sure thats not a week? Ideas where the £600 might be going......coffees at work, lunches at work, beer after work, magazines, cds,etc etc. i kept a spending diary for a fortnight and i tell you it was scary!!!!! (My weakness was garden centres...easy to forget that £40 saturday afternoon once a month when its done on the plastic)

Now I take a set amount of cash out on a Friday. Cards left at home. When the cash is gone it's gone!

As I say...crack where that money is going and you will be well on your way to debt free.

CLAPTON

you need to find out what you really spend..

best to start a spending diary.. i.e. write down everything you both spend

now food and grocies ... think 2-300 per month

entertainment ... you say 20 per month.. that £4.40 a week for two people .. not even a takeaway

presents/xmas ... 10 per month... are you really sure?

what about work relateed costs... no coffees, lunches
and never a haircut?

no car tax ...?
are you sure about electricity/gas seems very low... are they based on the last 12 months bills?

and no emergency funds.. never a applicance breakdown, car cost etc..

Nic25

I'm thinking I might have underestimated the £70 a month - hard to tell, as week tend to shop 3/4 times a week and dont do one 'big shop'. I guess that's where some of my surplus is going!

We both take packed lunches to work, so that just comes out of the groceries money - we're maybe £1 a day for a coffee or juice lol - guess it all adds up!

Entertainment, we don't tend to spend much on - maybe a take away a week, or out one night - probably more than I've stated though...

My mum's a hairdresser, so haircuts are one thing we don't have to pay for!

I put £10 in the presents bit as I guess I have to put something - we dont have many birthdays to buy for (although the ones we have are mostly January/Febuary - ouch!) and I don't put anything by for Xmas - that's where the December wage disappears to lol!

Car tax was paid in a lump sum when we first bought the car 3 months ago - didn't know whether I should include in the SOA or not, as we don't technically pay to it each month...

We don't have an emergency fund - I guess that's what we use the overdraft for! By this, do you mean we should have a seperate account we should be paying money into each month just in case?

Thanks for all your help!

Clariman

Hi nic25

Just a minor point. You have used the wrong format button on the SOA Calculator for posting on here. You need to choose the format for MSE button rather than the format for Motley Fool button. It doesn't affect any of the numbers or calculations, so no need to re-post. However, if you post an update, you can use the MSE format button and it should all be laid out neatly in columns.

Clariman

determinedtodothis

:hello: Hello !

I've been a lurker to and went public last week

Good luck x

looktothefuture

Lurking is good but being a fully fledged member is even better! I love this website and the forums!

Silverbird

Hi Nicola and welcome.

Upon reading your latest posts, I would definitely recommend you keep a 'spending diary' for a month to get a much better idea of where you are spending your money and how much of it you are spending on things.

As soon as you discover where a large portion of your money is going, you will be able to concentrate on reducing it.

Just get a notepad and from today write every single last penny that you spend and what it was on, including direct debits and stuff coming out of your bank etc. Keep it updated every day and you should soon get a much better idea of where you stand and where to concentrate. If you post a new SOA in a months' time on here then I feel sure we'll all be able to point you in the right direction. Even a weeks' spending diary can be an eye-opener. Just make sure you spend the same as you do normally or the results will be inaccurate.

Good luck!