Not your average skint student! Help please =)

RhiRhiMajic

Hello I'm a first-year university student living in Surrey, so it's nice and expensive! I don't go out boozing
very often at all, most of my expenditure is on eating food out because my shared halls kitchen either has
appliances which don't work properly (e.g. it's easier to pop down the chippie than wait HALF AN HOUR for pasta to
cook on the rubbish hob). I will be moving into a flat of my own in June so aswell as debts I need to save for the deposit and a bit extra to help with the rent over the summer when my loan will have to stretch further. I'm also going on holiday in June so my boyfriend and I are putting £7.50 each a week away in a jar to save for spends. I'm paying off the holiday £22.50 a week for another 9 weeks.

Onto the confessions!

Incoming Cash

• £322 p/m from my job in a shop (though it's sometimes a bit more due to one or two days overtime or bonuses...but never under £322)
• £160.63 p/m from what's left over of my student maintenance loan after paying rent.
• £100 approx p/m from my parents

=£582.63 p/m on average

Outgoing Cash
Grocery Shopping- £25 p/w average
Mobile phone- £7.50 p/w
T.V License- £2.91 p/w
Clothes/fun spending- £12.50 p/w
'Splurge' shops (e.g. buying biccies when only needing bread)- £15 p/w
Travel - £15 p/w
Cinema trips- £7.50 p/w
Lunch at work- 15 p/w
Eating out- 20 p/w
Laundry- £5 p/w
Holiday payments- £22.50 p/w until April 2nd

=147.91 p/w until April 2nd
=125.41 p/w thereafter

Debts
Credit Card- Egg Money, Current balance £342.01 at 16.9% APR, limit £500
Credit Card- Paypal, Current balance £1329.33 at 12.9% APR (however this balance is from lots of transfers at 0% so
I'm not currently paying interest), limit £1500
Overdraft- I'm £977.52 into my 0% (student!) overdraft, limit is £1250

Savings
Holiday Spends- £7.50 p/w until April 2nd then £10.00 p/w until May 31st - Current £30, target £177.50
Flat Deposit/Summer Rent- £40 p/w after Feb 13th until June 26th - Current £0, target £750

Horace

Make a shopping list when you go shopping so you don't splurge on biccies.

Buy some quick cook pasta - it takes 3 mins.

Sell stuff on ebay that you no longer use or wear - no need to buy clothes each month.

Look on the freebies board for details of free cinema trips, do surveys in exchange for points which can then be exchanged for vouchers. Sign up to receive Martin's weekly email - look at eating out vouchers, shopping vouchers etc. This helps you to have some luxuries.

HTH

Naarwich

Can you still transfer at 0% onto your paypal card? I was wondering whether you could shift the Egg debt to reduce the interest payable. You could also use your 0% overdraft to help? Good luck!

RhiRhiMajic

Thanks guys- I really should start cashback websites and the like. I used to do Piggy Points for my free cinema tickets, I should start again!

Naarwich- I wish I could, but I don't have enough credit left on the Paypal card to do so. I'd preferably like to clear the Paypal card so I can just chop it up and stop the temptation to just spend on my Egg card and shove it all onto my Paypal card. I'm also really far into my overdraft- basically I have no actual money of my own, all incomings just go into my bank account with the overdraft but I don't earn enough to take me out of my overdraft, if that makes sense?

RAS

RhiRhiMajic wrote: »

, most of my expenditure is on eating food out because my shared halls kitchen either has appliances which don't work properly (e.g. it's easier to pop down the chippie than wait HALF AN HOUR for pasta to
cook on the rubbish hob).

I do not see the cost of this in your SOA?


Incoming Cash

• £322 p/m from my job in a shop (though it's sometimes a bit more due to one or two days overtime or bonuses...but never under £322)
• £100 approx p/m from what's left over of my student maintenance loan after paying rent.
• £100 approx p/m from my parents

=£522 p/m on average or £121.40 per week

Outgoing Cash
Grocery Shopping- £25 p/w average
Mobile phone- £7.50 p/w - reduce this
T.V License- £2.91 p/w
Clothes/fun spending- £12.50 p/w cut this out - thats £625 per year.
'Splurge' shops (e.g. buying biccies when only needing bread)- £15 p/w and this
Travel - £15 p/w
Cinema trips- £7.50 p/w - get freebies - look at the freebies section on here
Lunch at work- 15 p/w take packups
Laundry- £5 p/w
Holiday payments- £22.50 p/w until April 2nd

=127.91 p/w until April 2nd
=105.41 p/w thereafter

Debts
Credit Card- Egg Money, Current balance £342.01 at 16.9% APR, limit £500
Credit Card- Paypal, Current balance £1329.33 at 12.9% APR (however this balance is from lots of transfers at 0% so
I'm not currently paying interest), limit £1500
Overdraft- I'm £977.52 into my 0% (student!) overdraft, limit is £1250


What are the minimum payments on these?
Savings
Holiday Spends- £7.50 p/w until April 2nd then £10.00 p/w until May 31st - Current £30, target £177.50
Flat Deposit/Summer Rent- £40 p/w after Feb 13th until June 26th - Current £0, target £750

At the moment your income does not cover your expenditure and you basic credit card repayments.

if you are going to keep your debt stable, then you will have to cut other things out.

Regarding the kitchen, join www,freecycle.org and see if you can get a sanwich maker, portable ring or mini-coooker that you can plug in to one of the sockets.

RhiRhiMajic

RAS wrote: »

At the moment your income does not cover your expenditure and you basic credit card repayments.

if you are going to keep your debt stable, then you will have to cut other things out.

Regarding the kitchen, join www,freecycle.org and see if you can get a sanwich maker, portable ring or mini-coooker that you can plug in to one of the sockets.

Thanks so much, you're right. My boyfriend and I have made a pact to stop the splurge/fun spends and to eat in a LOT more. I've also just done my weekly shop and bought bits like lunchbox biscuits, crisps, rolls etc to take to work/uni which I worked out costs a HELL of a lot less than eating out all the time. I've edited the OP to include my eating out costs, I forgot to include the first time round.

Two questions- you said to reduce my mobile phone bill, but I'm on contract and have to wait til Feb 17th to change, but I can't seem to find a new deal that suits me. I need a new phone cos mine is on it's last legs, I use max 500 texts a month and call home quite a lot, so minutes wouldn't be an issue if I could get a deal with free landline/Orange calls.

Also, how do I find out my minimum repayments? I thought it changed evry month depending on your balance, I wasn't aware there was a set rate?

RAS

When you get your credit card bill, it lists the minimum amount you can pay on the bill.

Desperate_Housewife_2-2

Hi there and well done for sorting out your finances!

I just wanted to chip in about the pasta making, if you boil a kettle of water then put in a big pan with the pasta, return to boil and then turn off, this will cook your pasta just as quick (and save energy)

RAS

newdaddy wrote: »

dont pay with the minimum amount, it can make your bill amount bigger in the next month. :rolleyes:

This is for the purposes of working out the budget only. So we can work out what to pay off that egg card each month. That is the most expensive debt so first to hit.

DoWhatULove-LoveWhatUDo

Sign up for mystery shopping and then you can have lots of free meals for two in town so long as you fill in a questionaire afterwards. They pay you a fiver to do that part.

http://www.retaileyes.co.uk/uk/home/register_becomeshopper.php

Pasta cooks well by residual heat. Boil a kettle then leave it to cook for about half an hour then drain. (if you've fried an onion and some bacon then grated some cheese then chuck it all together and you have a cheap and very non labour-intensive meal. I have a bath whilst mine cooks.

See Film First for cheap movies:

http://www.seefilmfirst.com/webuser.register.action?destination=4

You really need to find yourself a much better phone deal and then use the time honoured student tradition of getting people like your parents to call you back. Wouldn't you rather choose food and fun rather than phone service to spend your money on?

Promise yourself that every penny you earn over and over the basic £322 will be thrown at your credit cards, starting with the Egg card.

If you get a grip now your finances will be able to survive the occasional naughty splurge in the future.

PasturesNew

If you can pick up a £2-3 flask and some 10-20p noodles, boil the kettle, put the noodles in the flask, fill the flask with water, wait awhile (need to test and see, but I'd leave it half an hour) and you can eat the noodles.

Also, great as a packed lunch. I've done this and they're still edible 6 hours later.

For the record, you are left with more, after rent, than I live on - and I run a car too.