My first post - really just wanna say THANKYOU!!

sillylornie

This is my first post - please forgive me if its a bit long.

I've been a lurker since January '06.

First of all - I would like to say a huge thankyou to all who post on here - your comments and advice to others have been really inspirational for me. And, of course, thankyou to Martin for writing his book and setting up this website.

What follows is my current SOA
Mortgage 300
Council Tax 68
Telewest (phone and BBand) 30
Mobile (stuck in contract til sept) 15
Car insurance 19.69
Home insurance 17.59
Mortgage Protection 7.40
Electricity 30
Loan 248.12

c/card minimum payment 30
Petrol 120
Food 10

Total outgoings 895.80

Incomings
Wage 800 - 950 (depending on overtime)
Working tax credit 26
Dad (currently paying my car ins) 30

Total 856 - 1006

Since my Lightbulb moment in January I have
Cancelled - Sky 21
Tv lic 11 (tv's under the stairs)
Mag subscription 12
Catalogue account so have no temptation
Changed - car insurance saving 30 as dad paying
home insurance saving 8
mortgage protection saving 33
mobile saving 10

reduced shopping bill to 10 - not easy but not forever!!!

Have used all savings to reduce c/card from £3000 to £1300. Did apply for a 0% interest one but got declined. Transferred balance to 7.9% until paid off.

So, as you can see, I appear to be doing ok(ish) (I think) but again it is with many thanks to all posters on here.

Sorry its a bit long.

Thanks again Lornie xx

MoaningMyrtle

Sorry, I can't help with your SOA, the experts will be along soon, but welcome anyway to the best forum ever!! :j

jesster_2

well done lornie! You're doing well. When you say your food budget is £10, that's per week, not per month, right?

sillylornie

hi again,
thanks for the welcome.

The £10 for food is monthly/4 weekly. I'm currently living on Tesco Value porridge and soup....... well when i say soup its more like veg mash... lots of lentils and potatoes, lol

A bit boring and monotonous but i feel healthier than i have in years!

shahidemran

Keep it up mate

jesster_2

couple of quick things Lornie: have you shopped around for cheaper home insurance? Mine's about that much and it's a fairly big house right in the middle of a flood plain (dur!), so reckon you might be able to get a cheaper one?

And how did you get to reduce your mortgage protection by £33?

jesster_2

wow - that's the lowest food budget I think i've ever seen!

Definitely worth investing in a daily multivitamin and mineral to see you through in case you're lacking things like Iron and essential fatty acids. They don't cost much, and obviously you're not going to keep up the strict food budget for too long, but I'd say to see you through it's a couple of quid well spent.

sillylornie

Hi Jesster,

I shopped around a little for my home insurance but will look further into it, see if i can get it cheaper. thanx.

I had mortgage protection and income protection together. I did away with the income protection (probably not the brightest idea). It was based on when i was earning a lot more than i am now. Once i am totally back on the even keel i'll probably look into it again.

Lornie xx

all_hours

Lornie,
Could you cut down on petrol by just £10 a month to spend on food instead? You've obviously got a lot of will power and determination, but I'd worry that you're not getting enough variety in your diet.

Do you use your car for work?

MrsTinks

Whilst I agree with everyone here that you are doing brilliantly! I also think you might need to get just a little variety in your diet I'm no dietician but there seems to be NO fat in your diet at the moment which isn't good... Not long term at least I would say allow a little more for your food budget and make sure you are getting at least some fresh fruit and if you can then fresh veg too. If you can have a meat meal once a week that will help a little too I'm not talking a £15 cut of steak here but maybe value mince and do a chilli con carne? Freeze the left overs for next week

Yes getting out of debt is important but your health should not suffer due to malnutrition

sillylornie

I would love to be able to cut down on petrol. I need my car to get to work.. i work 22 miles from home and work odd hours. Had toyed with the idea of getting rid of car and using public transport but at the time i was finishing work at 10pm and then would have had to get a bus, then train, then 20 minute walk in not the nicest of areas. Family wasnt too keen on me doing that (hence my dad paying my car insurance).

My hours are changing soon, 4am starts 4 days per week (gets me more pennies tho!). So need the car for those. My sister stays near where I work, so i may see if i can stay with her one night per week (save a bit on petrol) and she might feed me something more exciting :rotfl:

This diet is not going to be forever, as my c/card balance lowers i'll invest in a better variety of food :j Thankyou for your concerns though.