Major light bulb moment!

debtaghh

Please look at post 22 ( my new statement of affairs)

Thanks

Tixy

Hi & Welcome to DFW - and well done for finally posting.

Building & contents is usually really expensive if bought from the mortgage provider - you could look around for an independant quote on the comparison sites (if you change any insurance / utility always look to see if cashback is available on Quidco or other site)

Although mobilea aren't up for renewal for a while you could still ask if you could move down a tariff - some providers are quite good at doing this early, if not try again when you are less than 6m from renewal.

Food shopping - this is not really high but you could reduce a bit, maybe aim for cutting down by £20 per month and see how low you can get it. Look at the oldstyle board for ideas on cheap & heathly meals. Also try not to do too many top-up shops as these always cost more than you intend - meal planning is a good idea.

You have sky with internet - can you move your landline to them aswell for less than £15 per month you currently pay?

I'd suggest you check out the up your income board for ideas where you can earn a bit extra or can earn vouchers which can be used for kids presents etc. You could do online surveys/reviews etc.

For baby equipment (if you haven;t got it yet) and baby clothes join your local freecycle - really good stuff can be got on there.

Also lots of freebies relate to baby products so look & see whats about, often when you get a free product they also include money off vouchers as well.

Congrats on the pregnancy and hope OH gets lots of overtime. Good luck

SueP19

Hi debtaghh

I'm not sure which SOA you use but it would be helpful if you could use the www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

I know you have not included things like clothes, hair, school etc as these things add up. When I did mine a couple of weeks ago, I looked back and gave a rough idea of what I had spent in the year and divided by 12. If you include what they had been then it gives you a total picture. To not include these items is a false economy, because those are the things that come along and take precious pennies. Be very honest with it, thats the second step to sorting it out, however hard. The first step is to post on here, so well done.
As a new person you can't post links so at the bottom of the SOA just take out the website and click the MSE button and follow the instructions
Virtual hugs

debtaghh

Hi

Thanks for the quick replies. My contents insurance is only £9 and buildings insurance comes with maintenece for flat. I have tried calling my mobile provider to lower my tariff and they said I can't until I am up for renewal. My sky deal can't change for another 9 months.

Thanks for idea of cutting food shopping as it all adds up so will try hard to do this.

I use deal vouchers to go out and my friend cuts my hair for free. Everything else unfortunatly goes on the crdit cards. We do try really hard not to buy clothes etc unless we really have to. I have borrowed all my sisters old maternity clothes and haven't bought too much for baby as am very fortunate to get lots of presents so hopefully won't need too much.

Really appreciate all your advice though.

Thanks

Nargleblast

Hello and welcome. Sounds like you are already trying to cut back, but I am sure there are further savings to be made. If you start keeping strict accounts of where each penny goes, even the day to day trivial stuff, you may see further savings possible. A warning though - you may find that despite your best efforts you still are in deep trouble. If that happens, go back to the debt counselling agencies for help. You may end up going in for an IVA because you have no other option - in that case, your credit rating will be already shot to pieces so an IVA is not going to harm it further. Although things like debt management plans, IVAs and bankruptcy sound horrendous, there are a lot of people contributing to this site who have been through any or all of these and have come out the other side so don't beat yourself up about it. You have to do what you have to do to provide for yourselves and your children, and to pay back your debts.
Right now, I would suggest you do a full SOA with your other half and work out where to go next in terms of moneysaving. You will get there one day, might be a bit of a bumpy ride en route, but we are all here to help where we can.

debtaghh

Got rid of my contents insurance through mortgage. Got a really good deal paid £43 contents insurance a year and got (getting) £38 cashback!

Managed to also find out and get a 6 month maternity break on my mortgage which means that money is going towards my CC which apr is going to be 35%apr.

Have had loads of car and boiler problems so have spent another £600 in a month (on the cc).

Have made about £120 on ebay lately.

Would really appreciate any other ideas of cutting back and making more money.

moo2moo

Your quartely TV licence is costing you an extra £1.25 every 3 months, not a lot but still a fiver a year. Its free to pay monthly but they do stitch you up for larger payments for the first 6 months.

Making money on the internet is slow and time consuming but plentiful. Most survey companies want pregnant mums and babies in nappies to do product tests. The better paying ones include Global Test Market, Lightspeed and P!necone Research. There are also lots to avoid which waste your time for very little return including Toluna and Ciao! Other ways include free bingo - tedious but the opportunity to make anything from a big fat zero up to a few hundred pounds - deadly dull though. Free daily scratchcards bring in a minimum of 70p per company per week which isn't a lot but over a year adds up to at least £36 per company per person so you and your OH could potentially manage £144 a year for a couple of minutes a day.

Your gas and electricity looks to be too low for someone with a baby over winter. I'd suggest you allow for a hefty increase in this.

debtaghh

Just cancelled my tv licence yesterday and going to pay annually as don't want any extra monthly commitments. Just changed gas and electricity and am on a fixed until sep 10 paying £57pm. Can they increase this even though I am on a fix?

gargrave50

Hi, you need to do a full SOA using this link

That way you can lay everything out and we can take a look to help with potential savings. I would take a look at some of the advice you have been offered above, and get back onto your mobile company. Let them know that you are in financial difficulty and don't want to get into a default situation with them because eventually you are going to be unable to pay your bill. Say you understand you are in a contract but under the circumstances you need to lower your tarriff for the remainder of the contract otherwise you will be unable to pay them. They should listen.:)

gargrave50

Make sure you have a jar to put a couple of pounds away each week to pay for the TV license. Its a massive fine if you miss the date and your license expires.

Also do you mean a fixed tarriff or fixed spend? I'm not familiar with the latter.

debtaghh

Thanks for advice, going to call mobile company now and house phone, I pay £15 landline inclu VAT-is that a lot?

Not sure excatly what gas and electricity is but they said will pay £57 pm until next sep.