How do i join you all? I need to feel like i'm moving forwards!

KellyGT

Wow Thanks for the replies and welcomes

Well my partner and I have been sat down all evening looking at what comes out our banks etc. Its so scary when you start to include the things you wouldnt normally include (haircuts, birthdays, car tax etc)

The only problem i'm coming across is that i dont know what rate one of my cards is on/going to be on (its just come off 0% this month) so i will give them a call in the morning.

And i just want to double check our house insurance figures but cant at moment as the paperwork is in sons bedroom and he's fast asleep.

So tomorrow you shall have my SOA!! So gutted that the outgoings are slowly starting to creep up to the incomings figure!

Please check back tomorrow and i shall have it all here for you

Many many thanks

Kelly

LeeSouthEast

I noticed it's when you keep adding up and see your 'outgoings' overtaking your 'incomings', that the sense of dread then really kicks in. Fortunately, it's often easy to reverse this by making some changes that you don't even notice!

Good luck finding your remaining bits and bobs

Susie54_2

Hello Kelly and welcome:j. I'm new too and the support over the weekend has been fantastic:T. Good luck with your journey hun
Susie x

Tixy

KellyGT wrote: »

The only problem i'm coming across is that i dont know what rate one of my cards is on/going to be on (its just come off 0% this month) so i will give them a call in the morning.

When you speak to them whatever rate they say I should immediatley ask if they can give you a better deal. If you can get them to drop even a % or 2 it all helps. You could also hint that you will move it elsewhere (whether you are likely to be able to do so or not). The very fact you are calling will indicate that you are a pro-active person and therefore more likely to move.;)

KellyGT

Right all I have my SOA eeeeeeek with a side helping of an essay!

TV……………………………….......£12.00
H S A ……………………………….. £5.00
United Utilities …………………........£28.00
BT ………………………………......£14.00
Loan ………………………………...£104.00
Gas & Elec ………………………......£93.00
Scottish Widows ……………..........…..£9.00
Lottery………………………………..£8.00
Mobiles……………………………….£70.00
Overdraft Interest LLoyds......................£26.00
Council Tax………… ……………......£90.00
Petrol ………. ……………………..£100.00
Mortgage & Insurances ….. ...............£600.00
Shopping bill…………………….......£380.00
School dinners…….. …………...........£40.00
Overdraft Interest Barclays....................£25.00
Blackhorse Loan …………........…….£106.00
MBNA Loan…………………………£130.00
Sofa………………………………......£36.00
Haircuts……………………………….£20.00
Car Tax……........................................£25.00
Car insurance……...............................
Birthdays……………………………. £15.00
British Gas……………………………£20.00


Total = £1956

Plus credit cards





Income

My work ………..£400.00
Other.....................£410.00
Partner....………..£1428 (basic)


Total Basic Income = £ 2238










Debt

Lloyds Visa Credit Card-- £540 (18%)

Blackhorse Loan -- £3400 left (27.9%) overpayments ok

MBNA Loan ---- £ 3340

Sofa Loan---- £36 (0% lifetime)

Lloyds loan --- £2900 (19.9%) overpayments ok

Amazon Credit Card--- £5050 (7%lifetime)

Virgin Credit Card

---

£2000 (0% til June)

Overdraft Lloyds = £2000

Overdraft Barclays = £3200

Total = £24,230





Right first of i have lots of changes planned in process for my income. For example, i have been looking through things such as our house insurance and life insurance/critical illness cover for partner on mortgage etc and i think i can knock ours down from £37 pcm to £25 which i'm going to look into and for the life/critical cover i think we have found a similair policy which can take us from £34pcm to £15!!
Also i have just switched onto a cheaper tariff for gas & elec and my new bill is estimating based on last years useage to drop from existing £93pcm to £60pcm.
The food bill is an absolute maximum is varies last week we spent £100 but then this week no doubt it will be around £55ish. I havent included these changes on the above SOA so i guess im taking abit of comfort from the fact they are the maximum figures.
I will look forward to putting aside any cash which is allocated in the SOA but wasnt used. IE i budget for £100 fuel per month if i only use £80 then 20quid extra to paying off debt right? and that goes for everything in that list.

Im gutted i've just had to add the british gas £20pcm to the list. Just this evening joined with them. Boiler packed in last week and so far ive wasted £250 trying to fix the problem with numerous (useless) people and im just giving in before i waste any more money and joining their plan. Its been harsh to say the least with this cold weather and a 6yr old and a 3month old baby.

Car insurance i havent allocated for as at the moment its paid off at the moment until Feb. But also in April i need when i return to work after maternity leave i need to put my lil car back on the road which means insuring it again. Which is approx £350 for the year. So i'm abit stuck on what im suppose to do with the scenario?? So i will have to look into what cheapest car insurance i can find for the family car which is up in Feb and i then in April i need to put my car back on road so i can get to work.

Debt wise..........

I know it makes sense pay highest off first etc bla bla but i really wanna just get rid of that lloyds visa with the 540 balance on it so its gone dusted cut up! With it being the lowest amount! its more a psychological thing i think!

The overdrafts? I always thought i'd deal with those last?! but i guess someones guna tell me thats daft coz we are basically paying for them every month and not getting out of it. I just think i would feel better getting rid of the cards and loans first before attempting to work on our bank accounts. But im willing to listen to any sensible advice.

As you can see two of our loans we are good to overpay on them to knock them down quicker.

Also any extra income that comes our way will be sensible with too. IE partner is an electrician so any odd jobs ppl want and he gets paid for is extra help to clearing our mess!

I'll await your input

Jacks_xxx

Hello again my lovely, :wave:

I'm glad you're getting that ball rolling.

Just a couple of quickies before I get stuck in...
No internet? Or is that United Utilities? And - The Mortgage & Insurances bit - does it cover car insurance, life insurance, health insurance, unemployment insurance...? It might be clearer to separate them out if you can so that we can assess potential wiggle room.

In the meantime, have you had a play with The Snowball yet? It's awesome! (interest rate order is best)

http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx

Love Jacks xxx

firesidemaid

have you discovered the cashback sites eg. quidco?

you can get cashback for many things such as switching utilities, central heating cover, many insurance policies and just about everything really.

what is united utilities for? and how many/what life, critical illness policies do you have ie. make sure you don't have double cover.

the mobiles are high, when are the contracts up? you can still try ringing them and asking them to reduce your tarrifs.

have you included water rates?

cancel the lottery or save the money up until you have £100 and then buy some premium bonds - at least you will get the money back (and have 100 chances per month/25 per week)!

KellyGT

Jacks_xxx wrote: »

Hello again my lovely, :wave:

I'm glad you're getting that ball rolling.

Just a couple of quickies before I get stuck in...
No internet? Or is that United Utilities? And - The Mortgage & Insurances bit - does it cover car insurance, life insurance, health insurance, unemployment insurance...? It might be clearer to separate them out if you can so that we can assess potential wiggle room.

In the meantime, have you had a play with The Snowball yet? It's awesome! (interest rate order is best)

http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx

Love Jacks xxx

Yeh i had a go at the snowball yesterday but ive now registered and will do it again so i can save it all and have a good look over. Plus now i have a more accurate list of outgoings.

Right to answer your Q's....

Yeh i pay 7 quid a month for my internet silly me i havent put it on there as it comes out our joint account where our tax credits get paid into but i have deducted it from the income of the tax credits if you know what i mean so it is accounted for just havent written it on that list properly!

The mortgage and insurance bit is basically our mortgage plus buildings and contents insurance and my partners life insurance & critical illness cover. Which like i mention in one of those many paragraphs above i am hopefully going to be able to reduce

Car insurance is the only thing i havent accounted for and is what im worried about. I have my current car insurance paid until its up for renewal in Feb. But in April i also have to put my other car back on the road basically i need an extra £350 for the car insurance to put it back on road ready for when i return to work! Plus the current cars insurance in Feb!

So my dilemma is ......... do i just make the minimum payments on my debt at moment and put the spare cash away for insurances? and then in a few months time i can do a new SOA which includes car insurance allowance per month too? plus hopefully be minus alot on some of those outgoings!

KellyGT

firesidemaid wrote: »

have you discovered the cashback sites eg. quidco?

you can get cashback for many things such as switching utilities, central heating cover, many insurance policies and just about everything really.

what is united utilities for? and how many/what life, critical illness policies do you have ie. make sure you don't have double cover.

the mobiles are high, when are the contracts up? you can still try ringing them and asking them to reduce your tarrifs.

have you included water rates?

cancel the lottery or save the money up until you have £100 and then buy some premium bonds - at least you will get the money back (and have 100 chances per month/25 per week)!

Hiya

No i havent heard of those sites i shall give them a nosey thankyou!

United Utilities is my water rates. I have a life insurance policy for myself which is the £9.00 a month. My partner has the decreasing life insurance/critical illness cover for himself which we got with out mortgage which just covers him which is a whopping £34 pcm.

Yeh the mobiles are high! Silly me renewed my contract on one of them a month or two ago so i commited to £35 pcm. Although ive been told if im not using my mins etc (which i won be) in 6months time they can put me on a lower tariff. The other mobile contract is up in March and i will deffo be looking for a better deal with that one.

What are the premium bonds you mention?
Believe it or not my lottery outgoings use be £22 pcm I just got into the circle of using two regular lines and then was too scared to not do them incase my numbers came up! Eeeek. But then i picked new numbers one line and just never check the results unless i have an email notification (play via online)

Thankyou for your reply

Casperthefriendlyghost

Hi KellyGT

Welcome, the financial wizards on here will soon have it all whipped into shape for you. Congratulations on your LBM and best wishes for a wonderful and empowering journey. Check out the grocery challenge on the DFW board for some great tips and help on maximising your grocery spends too! There are loads of challenges to join and motivational threads too.

Cheers
Casper
x x