Any Advise would be appreciated

Mrs_A.

Hi all, i have been lurking around here for several months but have finally decided to sort out my finances.
ok so far this is what i have done
began spending diary on week 3 now
cancelled all direct debits to things i can live without except £41.00 per month to gym as they wont let me said im contracted till april 06.
everyone in the family is now taking a packed lunch me, husband son 1 17yrs, son 2 16yrs and son 3 15 yrs.
began menu planning currently on week 3
opened a graduate bank account with a free £2000 overdarft.
down graded my current account that cost me £12 per month to a bog standard current account.
i currently commute 56 miles per day to work so have slowed down a bit to try and save petrol.
bought a slow cooker, having fun experimenting with recipes on index thread
likewise a breadmaker and dont buy bread or rolls anymore.
keeping a record of this months shopping receipts to see where i can cut back currently on week 3.
gave up smoking cigarettes moved down to rolling my own as can get cheap tobacco.
changed electricity supplier.
i havent done a budget yet i thought i would do the month spending diary and see what it looks like from there

ok from my free overdraft i clearied by credit card balance of £779.76 and terminated the account, had applied for a balance transfer at beginning of this month and not heard anything presuming i got declined.
moved the rest of free overdraft into savings account until i know what else to do with it.
here is a rough soa.
car loan £3195.73. (dunno apr).
bank loan £9258.24 Recently refinanced this from 60 months to 30.
finance company for suite £988.00 0%apr tilll dec 06 then 29.9%apr which i definately wont want to pay.
any advise
thanks
Mrs A.

Kevicho

It sounds like you have been taking the advice off these boards, well done

We will need the list of spending vs income though to go through even more possible cutbacks or better ways to spend

Also a full list of debts (with aprs) and ill work something out on me spreadsheet for ya

Good luck and keep it up

bank_of_slate

Hi Mrs A!
Welcome to MSE, you have arrived at an excellent place, stuffed full of people who are (or have been) in the same situation and some worse!!!!
It sounds like you have already made huge changes in your family's spending which is fantastic!
Many people find it helps to post a full SOA as we are experts at spotting further areas where you can save.
It can be scary to write it all out but you won't be judged on here.
We just all want to help and support as we are all in this together.
Keep posting!
...Linda xx

GreenFingers_2

Hello Mrs A,
Yes…setting up a Budget spreadsheet is a very good, wonderful way of planning your expected expenditure. Initially this will provide the larger picture of monies going out.

Also set up one for Actual Expenditure and record your spending to the penny. Record everything, no matter how small an amount. You will find this latter spreadsheet over the coming weeks and months will help your refine your budget forecasts for the current year as well as advise you on how money can be saved.

I myself would suggest destroying your Credit Cards – they are the work of the Devil – hee hee.

Mrs_A.

ok here we go
income me £1200
hubby £860
child benefit and wft credits £172.
outgoings

mortgage/rent 0 (tied house)
council tax 0 (tied house)
electricity £25-30 per month
oil £40. per month (always phone around when tank get empty for cheapest).
home phone £20. per month
internet £20. per month
mobiles £15-20 per month all PAYG
my life insurance £6.45
hubby life insurance/pension £33.
food shopping about £450 but hoping to cut to at least half of that
pet food 1 fussy old cat £15.
drink for home (hubby) £40.
smoking for us both £80.
car insurances £40.
car tax £30.
petrol £150.
gym £41.
union fees definately cannot cancel these £10.43
clothes £10.
dentist £10.
optician £10.
did have sky but binned it and bought freeview
tv license £11.


im not adding that up just yet too scared!!!!!!!!!!
all debts

Car loan £3195.73 at £148.13 per month for 48 months (18.4% apr) WOW just noticed that. began payments august 2004.

Bank Loan £9258.24 at £385.76 per month for 30 monthsfixed annual apr of 8.24% began payments august 2005.

finance for 3 piece suite £988.00 0%apr till dec 06 then 29.9%apr

graduate account overdraft of £2000 have paid off credit card and stuck the rest in savings temporarily free overdraft for 2 years.

please be gentle with me
thanks
Mrs A

fairylights_2

Your outgoings (before debt repayment) seem to be pretty low, actually - yes, there are things you could cut - especially your grocery bill which does seem VERY high (we spend £200 for 2+2) in our house! You're blessed with no mortgage or rent to pay, which means your current available for debt repayment should be about £1k per month. Which should be plenty for denting those debts.

If you really want to make savings, then possibly (and apologies for curtness, but my little angel is "calling" from her cot ...)

Your electric and oil is good, your phone is good but not great - try 1899/justdial saver for better deals? Rhe internet seems steep though - have you shopped around or are you held to a contract? Virgin do broadband for £14.99 - I think tesco do it cheaper. Try not to use the mobiles, they're just money-eaters. Stop smoking (so you can enjoy your debt free life when you get paid it off). Run,walk, cycle rather than paying for a gym - or join your local health centre gym at least, it will be cheaper! That might find you another £120 odd to put to your debts.

Ring your car loan people and ask them what they want to pay in full now - then give yourself the target of saving that cash to pay off the loan as it's so steep. Can you overpay? If so, then maybe your savings would be better doing that rather than sitting and waiting. Aim to have £1k sitting in the bank for the day you have to pay off your suite - so you don't pay interest on it at all No point paying off until then though. Then find out if you can overpay the bank loan and get cracking on that - if not, do a Ms London and put it all into savings then pay off in one fell swoop when you've saved up enough. With your spare cash per month, you could be clear in about eighteen months, given some graft. Then you'd have £1k spare each month for yourselves, for savings ... not bad, if you can do it!

Most of all - good luck!

Kevicho

You have 1165 pounds after all your normal expenses, try cutting down on food and fags and you could make a whole heap of savings there

Your debt stands at £15441.97

Anyways can you with this money?

put:

up the car loan to £200 a month? That way it would be paid in july 2007

Up the bank loan to £400 a month, That would be paid by feb 2008

put £200 a month towards the 3 piece suite, this would be paid by june 2006

put £200 a month towards the graduate account, which would be sorted by Nov 2006

Also in july and then in december jou will have an extra £200 spare, which could go towards upping payments for the bank loan, which costing you by far the most in interest

As for the other 160 quid, you could split that between saving for an emergency or the occasional treat

Mrs_A.

ok thanks to all for the advice so far, theres a lot for me to think about.
the credit card is now cut up!!!!!
will spend some time today looking into getting cheaper phone and internet
the mobile will only be switched on if i need to use it (if car breaks down or some other emergency, no more texting for me) will write a good old snail mail letter to my friends instead.
the gym company say i cant get out of the membership until april 06.?????
will ring up the car loan people and see what the settlement figure is as i know they wont let my overpay every month( so planning to save up and pay it off when i get a figure from them. llikewise the bank.
thanks to you all,
kindest regards
Mrs A

fairylights_2

Sounds like real progress mrs A! Even if you can't cancelthe gym until April, make sure you write them now asking to cancel the first date possible - that way they won't take any more payments than they really have to do.

The best thing you can do, by the sounds of things, is start saving all your spare money. As soon as you have enough to pay something off, then pay it off. Make sure come December you have £1k ready for the suite payment (you don't want to get stung by their interest rate), and don't pay it off until then - you may as well be making money off it, rather than them! As your overdraft is zero too, then make sure you have marked up in your diary when that needs paying back by. You have £1200 (ish) sitting in savings from that overdraft, so just keep adding to that. Sounds like you could be clear of that loan within a couple of months - and it really is your priority as it has the highest current interest rate. Then focus all your energy on saving enough to pay off the bank loan. That way, you'll have enough in the bank ready for December, and can keep on going. You could potentially - if you manage to save £1k per month, be clear really quickly.

Good luck, and well done for making such a great start!

Mrs_A.

thank you fairy lights yeah i have £1200 in savings and i will allocate more from my wages etc every month when i have actually sat down and written out my budget.
thank you everyone for your suggestions and advice
kindest regards
Mrs A.