First post - just wondering if there's anything else I can do?

straws

Hi everyone

I've been browsing through the forums for a couple of months now and the advice on here has been invaluable. I'm not what I would consider massively in debt, but I do have a personal loan of approx £8,900 to pay off. This is due to refinancing my graduate loan a couple of months ago (I'm now 31!) because I'd been forced to borrow on a credit card when I was made redundant 18months ago and then didn't have a job for a few months. I couldn't claim benefits at the time as my OH earns too much money and although he was very good at paying all the rent/bills etc things were still a bit of a struggle.
Anyway, I'm now quite good with money (I think!). I've done the budget planner and I'm spending within my means, but I don't know whether to be really concerned with paying off the loan asap. I can easily afford the repayments, but it's over quite a long term (I'll have to check how long), as I saw this as the best way of managing it at the time, but now I'm not sure - you never know what might happen in the future. I don't know if I'll face penalties for overpayment??

My soa is:

Income - £1072
Share of rent - £300
Share of Council tax - £53
loan repayment - £99.60
Car insurance - £17
mobile - never more than £10
Gas/elec/water/car repairs etc - £100 into a separate account
Household - £80
ISA - £50
Savings - £50 into a separate account (pays for the occasional haircut/things we need for the house/emergencies)
Everything else - £300 (approx £70 per week) For tobacco (I know, I know!), petrol, going out, pet food etc)
This leaves me in credit to the tune of approx £12 per month!

Does anyone have any suggestions please? Do you think I should be worried about the loan? Can you think of any ways to cut back further? (I'm a big fan of the old style forum already, especially all the shopping and cooking tips)

Thanks for reading this.

climbgirl

First of all, you need to check out if you can overpay the loan and how the interest is calculated. If it's front loaded interest (where they work out how much interest you'll pay when you take out the loan and add it on from the very start) it generally means you can't over pay it and there's not a lot you can do but make the payments!

If you can overpay the loan, you'll want to clear it as quickly as you can - the longer you take to pay, the more interest you're going to pay in the long run.

Find out the terms of your loan and we'll be better placed to advise on it!

Penny-Pincher!!

Hi

Well done for posting your SOA!

Household £80...can I assume this is for food etc? If so, then I think this could be shaved slightly! Go over to the Oldstyle board-everyone there is friendly and lovely. I find preparing a meal plan each week is great as I only buy what we need-there is OH, DD & I and we spend roughly £25-£30pw on groceries etc.

I would shop around for cheaper insurances etc. Does your loan have PPI on it?

PP
xx

straws

Thanks for your replies. I will have a look at the terms of the loan later on. I really didn't think about anything like that when I took it out - stupid eh?! It doesn't have PPI on it though, as I know that's a waste of money!
Yes, the household budget is for food and cleaning stuff - that's only my half of it though - so £160 pm! Is that really high? We only go to the supermarket for tinned and dried goods and I spend £20 per week at the local farm shop and butchers. Problem is OH eats like a horse, so when I make a large casserole with the hope of being able to eat it for lunch or dinner the next day, he'll decide he's hungry again at 11pm!!! We also don't have a freezer because I used to think I'd be tempted to buy rubbish to put in it, but I suppose it might be worthwhile now for leftovers?

CLAPTON

you really need to break down your spending in more detail
e.g. gas/elec/water/car repairs? how much for each?
can the elct/gas be reduced by using less and/or changing supplier ...without the detail its imposible to say.
300 for everything else, how much for going out..can't tell whether its reasonable or not?
only once you really know where the money actually goes can you prioritise and decide what to cut back on.
in particular you should gather all your car related costs, tax,insurance,mot, repairs, servicing, petrol and ask whether you really need it etc. cars are dreadful sinks for money

i would suggest you and OH keep a spending diary, where you write everything you spend down and really begin to understand what your finances are.

straws

I save £100 pm for gas/elec/water/car etc as I find it the easiest way of setting aside enough money - I probably don't need to save quite that much, but then last month I had to have a new exhaust so I was glad I'd been over-budgeting. I know that our water bill is over £400 a year and gas and elec are probably the same (I'll look at switching these), but I'll have to check. That means my share is just over £50 per month for household bills, so I'm setting aside nearly £600 a year for the car (tax, mot, servicing, repairs), which seems OK to me. I do really need it unfortunately - work/trips to see parents/holidays
The £300 is basically for me to live on. I don't think it's that much, although we do go out quite often. I supppose I could cut back on going to the pub and clearing the loan would be an incentive to do so, but we live in a really friendly community based around the local pub, so we would isolate ourselves somewhat. Also OH doesn't need to cut back on spending and although we split all the bills etc, he always pays more when we go out. I just like to contribute. The

Peony

Get a freezer, the you can cook several portions but freeze them in bags/trays - he'll never bother to get them out and heat them up at 11 pm!

straws

Good point Peony!!! He might start opening the cans and packets in the cupboards though!