Still finding I am robbing Peter to pay Paul- help please

gilly41

Hi
I had my lightbulb moment back in December and have made a huge effort and changed gas/electric, car insurance,house insurance etc etc BUT despite being paid on the 25th we are nearly skint again!!
I have DDs and SOs set up for the 26th/27th and I have been trying to pay everything else(council tax, water rates, catalogue etc) at the PO as soon as the monies goes in our account.Also we do a big shop as soon as we get paid.
I am going to work out exactly what we have coming in and going out each month. I was wondering if I post on here later this week will someone be able to take a look and tell me where I am going wrong?
Also does anyone else pay their TV licence quarterly? We do but i have realised they charge £5 extra for this :mad: and yet they say that if you pay monthly you do not get a charge- doesnt this sound crazy?
Thanks everyone
xx

JAMIEDODGER

hi gilly. if you post your incomings and out goings on here we will def be able to see if there are ways you can cut back. i pay my TV licence once a year but i think most people pay it DD monthly. i think its crazy to charge for quarterly payment!

duncans-mum_2

Hi Gilly.

Change you TV licence to monthly DD straight away. You don't get charged for paying it and it is much easier i think to break things down and pay for things on a monthly basis instead of having an extra amount every quarter.

bitza81

I am in a similar situation to your self and feel very 'stuck in a rut' but hopefully i can suggest a few things for you!

I pay my tv licence monthly and its about £10.49 a month.

It might be worth checking you are receiving all the benefits you are entltled to... eg. working families tax credit/ council tax benefit etc.
The citizens advice bureau have a good program to do this and they can do the check for free!

As you haven't listed your outgoings I don't know if this will help but it might be worth having a look to see if you can shuffle your debts... i.e. move them to the cheapest interest rate.

Also council tax is worked out on a ten month basis... if you contact them you can arrange to have your payments spread over the full twelve months.

With regards to make a little more money I'm gonna try having a sort out and either having a car boot or theres always ebay!

Hope this helps... good luck

Helen x

Bokken_2

bitza81 wrote:

Also council tax is worked out on a ten month basis... if you contact them you can arrange to have your payments spread over the full twelve months.

This is okay,but if you leave the payments over 10 months in the following February and March you get a payment break as no Council Tax is due.
This is very useful as a pick me up or money to help pay off xmas or as in my case it goes towards the Boy's birthday.
Whatevers easiest for you

gilly41

Hi
Thanks everyone. I have made a start doing income and expenditure(using the table in Martins book!) but it will take me a couple of days to get everything sorted out.
I will ring the TV Licence tomorrow and get that sorted. I would rather pay monthly- I just assumed there was a higher charge than the £5 per year for the quarterly direct debit(til I looked today).

I dont think we will be entitled to any benefits as there are only the two of us now(kids both live away) and combined take home pay is approx £1850.

Thanks to everyone- i will be back on again tomorrow
xx

lottie26_2

I'm sorry your having problems stick with it, it will come right in the end,if you put your SOA on here i'msure you will get lots of help.
If your not sure where you moneys going I have started keeping all my recipts and stapling them into my diary on the date on which i bought this has hepled me loads this month, I keep an eye on them each week .
I looked at them last night and there is things on there that I only just remember buying so it doe's work.xx

headchef

Hi gilly. Will be interested to see your ins and outgoings as your income i the same as ours! We are a couple with 1 dog and partner's 2 chilcdren (16 and 10) who visit every other weekend and hols.

southernscouser

You can find a guide for a SOA here if its any help?

The best way to see where your money is going is to keep a spending diary! Note down every single penny you spend and what you spend it on!

You'll be amazed how much those chocolate bars, or drinks add up to each month! :doh: :rolleyes: