just noticed how much i spend on car -HELP!

amy21_2

Hi! newbie here, and its really opened my eyes up to how much i actually spend and its not good. I recently got a newish car in jan,i'll give u a mini SOA pre-jan and now

with oldr car
insurance 110
petrol 70
car was prezzie so no monthly payments for HP etc
TOTAL 180 a month

with newish car
insurance 80
petrol 120 :mad:
HP agreement 180 (40months, 37 remaining)
TOTAL 380 a month :eek:

i do luv the new car but the amount extra am spending is killing me - am just beginning to save to get my own place and if i keep this up then i'm gonna get nowhere. I'm seriously contemplating getting rid of the car and getting bus pass £50 a month, or at least getting older smaller car again and payin just ins and petrol. As where I work at the mo finish 10pm and the buses are not to nice to be in at that time of night. My HP agreement is with GE Capital, just wondering can I end it and if so what are penalties. I have the agreement somewhere at home just not had the chance to look it out.

advice on ending HP or anything else with the car situation would be great, thanks

CLAPTON

cars must be one of the most frequent reasons that debts start to build up but thats another story..

anyway the following is a government website with a very good write up about HP debts...best of luck whatever you decide

http://www.direct.gov.uk/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/ManagingDebt/DebtsAndArrears/DebtsAndArrearsArticles/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=10013226&chk=1uPl5U

amy21_2

thank u for website!
I'm making all payments so far, and if i continue to stay at home then I know they will all be met but i really want to start saving I really should talk to my dad he'll have some good advice for me, he always does. :rolleyes:

Antony28

I get paid four weekly and because I know what my wage will be (although sometimes there will be overtime on it, I re-adjust my figures when I get my payline if this is the case ) I am able to plan exactly where my money is going. I use a excel spreadsheet to know exactly how much I am paying for my bills (Mortgage, Gas/Elec, water, sky, council tax etc) and have a number of sheets for the different pots of money that comes out of my wages (i.e. Presents/Christmas, Car, Holiday, House, Caravan, Emergency,). I also set aside money for my lottery, morning paper, daughter pocket money and food etc. I find using this method is very good for me because it allows me to see exactly where money is going and means that no other bills etc has got to come out of the money that I put a side for my own personally spends.

If anybody would like a copy of the spreadsheet then please PM and I’ll send you one.

Chortle_2

I'm surprised that your fuel bill has risen so much, as new cars tend to be more economical than older cars

Is there a reason its gone up so much? Perhaps you're just driving more now you've got a nicer car?

AFAIK, you can hand the car back with nothing further to pay once you've paid around 50% (depends on the credit agreement though) - but obviously, you're a long way from that, having only made 3 payments!

Alternatively, you can probably sell the car, as long as you use the sale proceeds to clear the finance. If it was a new car though, you'll probably find that its depreciated so much already that you won't get enough from the sale to clear the HP.

Good luck, I think you will struggle to be honest - car finance is a nightmare to get out of!

mboro

last year I bought a car with finance with GE MONEY but I have had to sell it through a local garage (couldnt afford it any more) I paid some off the money to GE MONEY and kept about £300 for myself (pay some more bills off) I am now paying of a monthly amount as agreed with GE MONEY.

I have another car that I own myself BUT I wanted to keep her as a show car hence buying the other car with finance. But it soooo backfired on me so now I still have the one car.

K9cuddles

You know what.. I've just realised doing my own SOA that car uses 7k of my salary(which is a VERY big chunk if you ask me!!). Once I've paid my debt I'm saving to move out.. but I've gotta keep the car.. to just trying to balance it all at the moment!!!

jenniferpa

There's another thing to consider if you don't have a car - you simply have less opportunity to spend money. Since my Mother gave up her car 15 years ago, she's saved an unbelievable £45K. True she's elderly, but on the other hand, she's a pensioner. It's not just the tax, the insurance, the petrol and the maintenance. It's also "If I buy this I have to carry it home - do I really want it?". Of course, if the internet had been as prevalent the savings might not have been so great.

Jennifer

Cantdance_2

I am at present in a similar situation - bought a lovely new Peugeot from the Peugeot garage last year but now am in the situation where I want to give it back and get a cheper car.

But I owe £5,500 on the car and the most the garage will give me back is £4,800. They've told me they'll be putting up for sale at £5,895 once I give it back to them, so I've put it up for sale privately at £5,395 to try and cut my losses but I've had it up in the local paper, at work and on Yahoo cars for a while and no interest.

So I think at the end of this week I'm going to take it back to the garage and pay the extra £700 on my 0% credit card and cut my losses...

I have a free car coming from my parents which is going to save about £200 a month which as far as I'm concerned is :money: !

James