Newbie SOA.

the_cat

nickydoo wrote: »

Hello.


I haven't included an amount for entertainment as in reality we just spend what is left over each month after paying everything.

Mobile phone............................ 70
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 38
Clothing................................ 20
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 150
Haircuts................................ 15
Entertainment........................... 240
Course.................................. 127.5

Ok so from your figures you are spending £660.50 every month on discrectionary items. This is WAY too high! I appreciate that some of this will be necessary but you have to make some choices.
You may feel Sky is saving you money, but you don't NEED to watch sport for your survival, you simply want to. A 2 year old doesn't know what a present is, never mind have a clue about it's monetary value.
I'm sure that your family would be horrified to know you are getting deeper and deeper into debt to buy them presents, which as you have nothing saved for presents is what will happen in a few short months
So you need to sit down and work out together with your wife which are priorities to you as a family and set a budget you can both live with. Then you need to stick to it

Get that contents insurance sorted out - DO IT TONIGHT. You cannot afford to lose everything if the worst were to happen. You owe it to your family to make sure this is sorted

Good luck
Cat

talana

I haven't included an amount for entertainment as in reality we just spend what is left over each month after paying everything.

Get out of this habit. Budget a fixed sum each month for entertainment, taking advantage of any cheap deals and offers that are going. There's plenty of tips somewhere on this site.
You can then set aside some cash for accelerating the debt repayments.

I also agree with the others about presents. For a couple of years just stick to presents for the kids. I'm sure the rest of the family will understand that you're trying to knock your finances into shape. If you can budget £30 a month as RAS suggests that would be great.

Here's the difference it could make.
If you continue with the status quo, the snowball calculator says you'll be debt-free in 52 months from now.
However, if you cut the present budget to £30 and budget say £150 of your surplus to entertainment, you'll have another £216 per month to throw at the debts. Then your debt-free date comes down to 38 months from now. That's the difference it could make, reaching the target over a year sooner!

And then there's other savings you could make that'll improve things again. :T

nickydoo

Thank you Cat. I like the way you call them "discretionary" items.

I have to pay for my course until July 10 when I qualify. This will give me a pay rise which will be backdated to the start of my course. My employer just wants me to pass it before they pay for it.

I promise I will get my wife to have a look at our presents budget. I haven't ever been involved with this before.

Kantankrus_Mare

Hope you dont think Im being too nosey......but what does your benefits of £991.29 consist of?

Seems a lot but of course I may not know all the facts.

talana

RBS............................500.......5........ .19.24

Whatever you decide to do, you MUST pay more than the £5 monthly minimum off the RBS card. You may not realise it, but £5 per month don't cover the interest so the debt is actually increasing all the time.

Good luck whatever you decide.

Fire_Fox

I think you are in a really positive position as you have plenty of room to move! My advice is to calculate survival essentials - by that I mean rent, food, electricity, insurance etc. - then add on what you need to pay back to your debts to get debt free in a timescale acceptable to you (use the snowball calculator).

Whatever is left split between all the discretionary items on your SoA - TV, phones, Christmas, entertainment - as you see fit. No ifs and no buts, once you have run out of budget then you have to do without.

A final thought: you are spending £100 a month on two mobiles AND a landline or £1200 a year just on phones! I have renegotiated my mobile contract to £12 a month with Orange, this includes unlimited calls to landlines. My parents simply ring or text me and I call back immediately. Do you really need three phones for two people?

nickydoo

Included in that is my wife's disability allowance, sickness benefit, child benefit and tax credits.

My wife is actually quite poorly. The benefit office know she works part time and she has a letter from them to say it is okay. She would have to tell them though if she gets more earnings etc but she hasn't so far and isn't likely to. Some of this benefit is not means tested anyway I think? The job centre sorted it out for us.

nickydoo

Talana - it is actually an overdraft with RBS on an old account my wife has. Shockingly we just pay in the minimum to cover the interest payment each month. I know.....!

Firefox - 1200 a year on phones - that's awful when you look at it like that. the 30 for landline does include our broadband aswell though. But as we are under contract until Jan i suppose it will have to wait until then.

nickydoo

Oh I guess I should add - my wife is poorly but she is stable at the moment! I think it is her being so ill in the last few years that has made us think about our money more seriously.

the_cat

nickydoo wrote: »

But as we are under contract until Jan i suppose it will have to wait until then.

Don't wait! You have nothing to lose by phoning them and trying to renegotiate. Many, many people on here have had huge success in dropping packages before their contract is up by phoning and saying they are unable to afford it