Am I Heading in Right Direction??

LookingAhead

OK I've been posting for a while now but never put my own SOA on here.
So I guess I had better! :eek:

I can't see where I can make too many cut backs (though open to suggestion of course!) but I would like people's opinions on how to tackle the remaining credit card debts...am I doing the right things?

I am trying to save every penny now to cut the overdrafts down as these are actually charging interest - the CC's don't start till September.

Oh - my loan....I can't overpay each month and I can't overpay mortgage either.

I must make it clear that these debts are mainly mine and not my partners - I do not ask him to pay towards anything I have built up through spending stupidly in the past on me however anything that comes up now which affects both of us is split down the middle. He does not earn a great deal and I am trying to keep him debt free! (One of us needs to be!)


Anyway here goes:


Incomings

Salary 1125
Partner Contribution 540
Total 1665

I sometimes make some money on EBAY/Amazon but it's really hit & miss and
I don't feel I want to count it - mainly because I am running out of things
to sell now! Anything I do make I just pay straight into my bank account.


Outgoings

Mortgage (tied in till 2007) £487.65
Council Tax £80 for 10 months
Critical Illness cover for partner & I £43.25
Gas £20 (just in process of switching)
Electric £19.50 (just in process of switching)
Water (on a meter) £29 (it was £38!! We cut back...and I'm still trying to do more!)
TV Licence £10.99
Cancer Research £2
World Vision £18 (I can't stop sponsoring my little boy!)
Life Insurance for me £6.37 (I took this out rather than insurance when I got loan)
Loan repayment £283.82 (Sainsburys Loan 6.7%)
BT Phone Line Rental £10
PlusNet Broadband £14.49
Talk Talk £2 approximately for phone calls
Car Insurance £14.07
British Gas Central Heating Insurance £13 (very old rads in house)
Window Cleaner £6
Grocery Budget £200 (I am trying to cut this back to around £160 & it
includes washing powder etc)
Monthly Bus Ticket £26.40 (partner takes car to work = he pays petrol)
£100 to Amazon cc
£100 to Barclaycard cc
£5 on PAYG mobile


I don't really have an "allowance" for going out, clothes, beauty stuff etc
as I just get clothes as and when I need them and look for the best I can get for as little as possible! I don't go out much. But I guess I would have to spend £150 a month on things that I need or if I do go out, getting shoes repaired, EBAY posting if it comes up, a monthly treat like a manicure, birthdays, hair taming products/colouring @ salon etc.


Total £1612.54


I save nothing per month and my pension hasn't had a contribution for ages.
(I am 35 next month.)


Now here are the debts....

Sainsburys Loan has 45 more payments
Amazon Credit Card is 0% till end of September and has £1350 balance
Barclaycard Credit Card is 0% till end of September and has £1959.29 balance
Sainsburys Visa has balance of £48.57 (I intend to pay this off after this payday)
First Direct "Bank" account overdraft limit of £1000 = currently it's about £625
First Direct "Cheque" account overdraft limit of £500
(this used to be my "spending" account) = currently it's £375.81.
£200 will be paid on on 31.3.06 to bring this down to £175.81. I plan to pay in
the balance on April's payday to clear the overdraft as the interest rate is higher on this
account than the bank account and then I may close the account.


So....any advice? Anything at all on how to shave off pennies would be appreciated. I am now spending a bit more time browsing OS board too.

I just need to get a feel for if I am on the right track or if I am missing something really bl**dy obvious...! Sometimes you need people to point out the obvious...

OK now I am suitably embarassed I will retire and await your comments. Thank you for reading my SOA.... :kisses3:

lynzpower

Not a lot I can suggest here, if youve been here a while the old gym/sky stuff isnt gonna happen lol altohugh, can I say do you really need to pay your window cleaner? Freeing up 6.00.

tyllwyd

There isn't an awful lot to cut back there - I can't see buildings/contents insurance?

If you can't stop the £18, you could cut the £2 to cancer research (you could write it down as an iou to yourself and pay them the equivalent lump sum on your debt free day!) And the window cleaner, poor chap, he could go. The critical illness cover is more of a difficult one - I prefer to save the money because then there is no quibble about whether or not they will pay out, but that obviously is something you and your husband have to make a decision on. And the same with the central heating insurance - could you maybe start saving that amount in a separate account and aim to replace the system in a few years time?

When my husband and I were in the position where we had separate finances, we used to both put our monthly share of the estimated annual bills in a joint savings account. The bills could then come out of there instead out of one person's account, and gradually it built up enough money so that there was enough money to cover the bills that come less often, like electricity. That helped us budget, because then we knew that the money in our own accounts was what we could spend/repay debts. Do you think something like that might help you keep track of what you are doing?

Murtle

Why are you paying £100 each to Amazon and barclaycard? is that the minimum? If not, try snowballing to pay of the debts in the quickest order.

£200 feeds and washes how many? I'm assuming 2?! Apologies if I've just shrunk your family..... not intentional. As you are looking at the OS boards you'll see the options

for store cupboard eating for a month and the £12 per week feed a family thread.

Really good for eeking out the pennies.

£150 allocated for treats in a month?! That is a lot, especially if you want to cut down your debts and need extra cash to do that. Make a note of all the treats you are buying and see if you can remove the need. ie a manicure? save the money and do it yourself with a friend over....cheap night/afternoon, tea/coffee or wine and treat each others hands!

Good luck

x

what are the minimum payments required on your debts??

disco_diva_3

Looks To Me Like Your Heading In The Right Direction, :t

LookingAhead

Thanks for the replies so far peeps.

Tyllwyd: I paid for the buildings & contents insurance last Summer on credit card (this was pre lightbulb/discovery of MSE board times!) but this year I will see how much it will cost to do it monthly or will just pay half & half with OH if it is cheaper to do it in one go.

Lynzpower: Yes I have asked myself that question re: window cleaner before how about this for a list of reasons! I swear they are all true! LOL!
1. We're both scared of heights
2. We don't own a ladder to do top floor and I don't know where I would store one that big if we had one!
3. I hate spiders!! If I saw one whilst on a ladder whilst being petrified of the height in the first place, I would probably either die of fright or by throwing myself off the ladder to get away from the eight legged freak! LOL!

Sometimes OH pays the £6 to window cleaner so I get away with it so I'm going to see how it goes....but yes I do toy with the idea.

Murtle: Both my Amazon & Barclaycard are 0% so I wasn't sure what to do about them...I just wanted to get them both down as much as possible before the interest rate kicks in, in October, in case I am not accepted at another card as I have "tarted" quite a few times. But I take the point about snowballing. I guess I should be aiming to clear one of them completely...? This is where I fall down - not being sure what to do about these two debts.


Sorry - I probably didn't explain the £150 a month very well. I definitely don't spend £150 a month on girlie treats such as manicures (I wish!!)...that money covers anything & everything that doesn't fall under "groceries" and household bills. So if for example I do decide to spend £15 on myself once a month on something frivolous like a manicure, it would come out of that £150. I have to get everything else as well like postage if I sell anything, if it is anyone's birthday, if I decide I really must escape my four walls and go out one Saturday night...if my shoes need repairing or I run out of shampoo & conditioner....when I am sick of the grey hair at my roots & I need to get a colour...things like that.

I try to buy anything that could be described as non essential ("frivolous"!) as & when I need it....gone are the days when I could go into town and spend £150 on whatever I fancied.....

I was guessing at about £150 but I have also started a spend diary so I know where my money is going. It's such an eye opener already after just a couple of weeks!

There are two of us in the house...the £200 covers food, cleaning goods, loo roll, stuff for packed lunches (we take lunch in both of us every day without fail) but again I think you are right, it is quite a lot for two and I am trying to cut back - I take your point that there is some work to be done here and I will continue to look at OS board. Thank you...

My minimum payments are 2.5% of credit card balances each month by the way.

Disco Diva: Thanks! :-)

CLAPTON

EDIT NOTE: this crossed in the post with your reply so just answer the questions about the debts if you would



can you post all the debts showing all the facts
so for CC show:

current balance, minimum monthly payment, APR (if a 0% APR then say when it ends and what the APR will be then);

for the overdrafts
current balance, APR

for loans:
how much to pay off the loan if known, current payments, munber of months left to pay.

Do you have any PPI on any of the CC or loan?

I dont understand the 'spare' 150 ...can that be broken down a bit.

The basic principle of paying the debts off, all things being equal, is to pay the minimum on all debts except that with the highest APR until it is paid off; then move onto the next highest APR etc obviously if some of the APR have short term low rates then their final rates need to be considered.

LookingAhead

Hi Clapton.

Barclaycard balance is £1859.29
It's 0% till end of September (so October's payment would incur interest)
The APR will be 15.9%
Minimum payment last month should have been £41
I paid £100

Amazon Card balance is £1350
It's 0% till end of September too - as above - and the APR thereafter is 12.9%
Minimum payment will be 2.5% (I haven't had my first statement yet as it is a freshly "tarted" balance!) but I work it out to be £33.75. I was planning to pay off £100.

Bank Account overdraft is currently £623.51 OD
APR is 10.48% pa on agreed overdrafts (luckily I haven't ever gone over the agreed OD limit)

Cheque Account overdraft is currently £375.81 (it will be £175.81 next week)
and the APR is a horrible 18.37% pa on agreed overdrafts.

(I think I can see I need to pay that overdraft off quick smart!!)

No I don't have any PPI...

Thanks in advance.

Ali-OK

Hi Looking Ahead

About that window cleaner - I dumped mine earlier this week! Same issues as you though - don't like heights, however, I'm going to clean the upstairs from inside. Can you do that?

(If you've got double glazing should be able to get your arm through the hinged side when its open).

Food shopping - I think you can save quite a bit here by meal planning, using the market for fruit/veg and butchers for meat, vouchers and BOGOFs. I've cut my weekly spend from £60 to £15 and we still eat good, plentiful meals. There's some great meal planning ideas on the boards, as well as bulk cooking to freeze, etc. Might give you some ideas.

Your water seems high, even after the reduction! Could you save a bit on the loo flushing by putting half a brick/expandable bag thing in there? Could you share romantic baths, or shorten your showers? Are you using mini load or economy on the washing machine?

Hope that gives you some more ideas.

Murtle

You need to snowball to get rid of your debts in the best way.

Here is a link to one such calculator

http://www.geocities.com/schizeckinosy/Snowball.html

You should be able to add in to it when your 0% comes off and what the new APR will be. It will show you the correct order to pay off debts to become debt free quickest. Play around with it, you can see how your debt free day will change when/if you have the additional £6 per month etc?! only kidding, I don't think I've cleaned the outsides of my windows since I moved in - I'll get the OH to do it when he's back!!!


If you add the £150 to the £200 that's £350 you are looking at a month for groceries and cleaning and beauty products. That is alot!! Poundshops are good for shampoo and conditioner if you don't mind changing brand, it's good for you hair anyway!! Grey hair shows wisdom, so I tell others when they question mine!! However, again a sachet of home dye - a couple of pounds or from the poundshop £1. It will be interesting for you to know where it's going.

Coffees, magazines, newspapers all things you don't need if they appear in your £150!!!

If you are feeling down about having no money, plan things that you can do when you have the money, ie your dream holiday. Make sure it takes lots of planning! Think of things you can do for no money or very little money.

Candle lit dinners for two, friends over, you provide the roof, they provide the wine?

Pressies, plan in advance. Note down all the pressies you need to buy for the year! Now start looking, keep your eyes open for things you see reduced, or BOGOF that you can store for pressies. I have a pressie cupboard. I buy things I know I can create pressies out of!! For mothers day, I have made a gardening pamper pot. Lots of thought has gone into it, as I've had the idea for some time and I look out for the items I want to put in it regularly. That way, you don't suddenly come to the day and think uh-oh and go and blow £20 on "anything". It also means that I have a few items incase I get caught out! On pressies budget in some money monthly for this, so you don't suddenly find yourself with 6 birthdays and no money, include Christmas in this too it happens every year and takes lots of us by surprise time and again!!

I think that's enough of an essay for now. But you are going well, I would say I have concerns over the £150, as if you took £50 out of that towards paying debt off it would make a huge difference and make the painful part quicker to get over.

x x x

LookingAhead

Thanks Ali-OK & Murtle for your further advice

I think Ali-Ok you are right about cutting back the food. We do make a menu at the weekend for the week ahead and buy accordingly so I have that sorted however I do think I need to steer the 'menu' towards more frugal meals but still healthy of course like home made soups with lots of veg (we're both veggie thank goodness) and casseroles and the like. It's not possible to get to a market though during the week although I could try during the weekend. However it's not free parking where I live :rolleyes: BUT I should at least try once and see how I get on eh?

I need to keep my eyes open for more vouchers for money off though - I haven't got a trained eye! :rotfl: I definitely will continue to check out the OS boards for further ideas & advice. In fact it's now one of my internet "favourites" so I won't forget

Murtle - thank you I will certainly check out the snowball site, cheers for posting that link in. :T

I loved the idea of writing down all the birthdays and starting to look for apprpriate gifts in advance, I hadn't thought of doing that, so that's great. Thanks!

I can see areas to focus on now - so thanks guys & gals.

I will be targetting my cheque account overdraft first, carry on doing all I can to get my Bank account OD next to nothing ASAP and the Barclaycard CC will be targetted over the Amazon card as the APR is higher...but hopefully I will be able to 'tart' again towards the end of the year.

THANK YOU one & all.