Please Advise

jacquelinenicholas

yes i agree the smoking has to stop i would give my right leg if i could, currently trying patches from the chemist to try to stop. internt is with ntl.
car - 10.83 per month is car tax and
insurance - 23.33 per month car insurance.
car m.o.t. due wedensday
living is too high i agree -
yep we dont have much left, need to do something. need to work something out

Mrs_Sparkle

Don't worry Jacqueline. Put some time aside to read the Old Style board for tips on cheaper eating, cleaning and general household maintenance. It's a lot of reading but it's well worth it- you can easily cut your food bill down by £100 which will put you in a much better position. My husband is going to get used to lentils, chopped tomatoes and soya mince I think...

Annie_Fanny

Hey Jacqueline

You say you are getting patches from the chemist...are you paying full whack for these? It may be work trying your GPs for smoking cessation help. It may work out cheaper and they may be able to give you push in the right direction!? Work checking out.

Annie

Annie_Fanny

Mrs_Sparkle wrote:

My husband is going to get used to lentils, chopped tomatoes and soya mince I think...

Oh my! The above dish sounds like heaven to me - but then I am vegetarian! Fry up some onions add veggies of your choice, carrots, mushrooms etc, add the hydrated soya mince & lentils, throw in some herbs, veggie stock, tinned tomatoes and tomato paste and then cook! Away you go!

SLURP! Lentils are so good

lynzpower

A few things from me.

1. Big welcome!!

2. You need to keep a spending diary, what goes where. Every penny you spend should be written down to see where its all going.

3. Any chance of any extra income, a saturday or evening job? If your kids are teenagers, maybe you dont need tog be around so much in the evening. Sell everything you can that isnt something you NEED, books, cds, clothes, use ebay. amazon, green metropolis, car boot sales.

4. Also you look as if you are both on fairly low incomes, so have you checked you are not entitled to benefits, my thoughts being working families tax credit, or council tax benefit? Dont you get any family allowance/ child benefit/ etc??? look at https://www.entitiledto.co.uk

5. Your gas and electric are REALLY high there. I wonder, are you on a key meter? Check out https://www.energysavingtrust.co.uk or https://www.saveenergy.co.uk to find out about how you can cut your costs on your bills. turjn your thermostat down a tad, and have everything off standby

your home phone is 40 per month, is that with NTL as well? So you just have internet & phone and is costing you 58 per month. there are other NTL users who get phone/internet/telly for 30 a month. Phone them up and ask them, can you have this. If not, then time to dump NTL, and go for something cheaper. tesco do a value broadband for less than 14 a month. Primus 2 ( do a google search) is a free evening & weekend call carrier, and its free. Any switching of suppliers try adn do via Quidco, ( do a search) and you can make some extra money back.

Hope this helps
Lynz
x

Mrs_Sparkle

Annie_Fanny wrote:

Oh my! The above dish sounds like heaven to me - but then I am vegetarian! Fry up some onions add veggies of your choice, carrots, mushrooms etc, add the hydrated soya mince & lentils, throw in some herbs, veggie stock, tinned tomatoes and tomato paste and then cook! Away you go!

SLURP! Lentils are so good

That sounds lovely Annie! Hubby and I are both meat eaters but I have managed to persuade him that veggie dishes can be just as yummy. I think what you've suggeted served with fresh, home-made crusty bread would be fabulously cheap and tasty:D

CLAPTON

reworking your SoA seems to show

income 1658 per month
spending 1254
surplus 404 before debt payments
cost of debt 396

total debt 6475


although this should just about be ok there are probably things missing

as already suggested a spending diary will help identify where all the money goes each month especially the '250 living' which needs breaking down.
also you need to consider all the annual or one off spends that so easily get forgotten until they need to be paid. divide these by 12 and add them you you monthly SoA so you see a better picture...so for example you need to include cost of MOT, some servicing, repairs RAC/AA?....how much do you spend on xmax, birthdays etc (must be include too) do you go on holiday? some emergency money (washing m/c breakdown etc)

from the figures you give ..presumably the LLoyds loans do not have every long to run.....how many payments are there left to pay on them? once these are paid off you should be in a much better position.

on the SoA
main areas that can be reduced , well smoking but you know that, the 250 on living needs to be understood and reduced, interent and phone total to £58 which is very high...is this all with NTL or what?

check the APR on the Argos card, its bound to be rediculous and should be paid off asap and card cut up and never used again.

post the settlement figures for the loans when you get them.

LJD1_2

Hiya
I'd definitly agree with Lynzpower's suggestion of a spending diary. I've started mine this month and it makes you think twice every time you go to spend something. Also, I've started to worry about telling people on here what my daily spend is so i've cut down coz of that too. Good luck!