need advice with budget thanks

tawnyowls

lecky i changed last year to npower then they rocketed the payments up i think im tied with them for a while. Check it - you might be able to get out of it; don't assume anything
cant car share no one else nearby me im very rural And no public transport either, probably? Best thing to do then is make every journey count - if you're going anywhere see if you can go to the supermarket/bank/post office in the same trip rather than separate ones
oil prices have shot up recently cant get it any cheaper i always phone round before ordering a tankful Anything you can do to save on heating? Have you got loft/cavity wall insulation? If not, might be entitled to grants. A couple of hundred spent on loft insulation could save you a lot. Also turn thermostat down a couple of degrees and make family wear jumpers. Would be worth having thermostats on upstairs radiators and keeping these fairly low, then use electric blankets and warmer duvets to keep bed warm.

suite is 0% till december then 25.5% not paid any yet (better make that a proirity) Definitely - start saving for that now, and perhaps take out a 0% interest card so you can pay for it with that and have a few extra months' leeway
kids to chores by way of rent and board as they are students with no income and very part time jobs Could they ebay some of their stuff and help you out?

southernscouser

Hi Mrs A!

I know this might sound like a daft question but, what are your intentions for posting your SOA? That isn't meant to sound rude (sorry if it does )! All I meant was, do you find you are always short at the end of the month, or are you looking to pay off your debts in the quickest time possible or are you just looking to make further cutbacks or something?

MinnieSpender

Mrs_A. wrote:

never thought of the union for insurance will look into this
will ask everyone else about the sky thing
thanks
mrs a

I'm with Amicus and they definitely do deals. Well worth looking at IMO. They also have various other offers, for example, holidays, legal advice etc. Check out your union's website for more details and good luck.

Prudent

I am sure you will be ok when you track spending as you have more surplus per month than myself, teen daughter and two cats live on including all bills.

Can I say from experience that any economies cannot be extended to the cats. I spend as little as possible on our own food -allowing for healthy eating- but my cats will not touch anything non branded. Infact for a while they were eating only Hills cat food. It cost me £35 per month and I had to drastically cut back on petrol etc to buy it! After protest they have moved to Iams which has been on Bogof.

Mrs_A.

southernscouser wrote:

Hi Mrs A!

I know this might sound like a daft question but, what are your intentions for posting your SOA? That isn't meant to sound rude (sorry if it does )! All I meant was, do you find you are always short at the end of the month, or are you looking to pay off your debts in the quickest time possible or are you just looking to make further cutbacks or something?

no worries SS all of the above to be honest i never have any cash left,
looking to pay off the debts
and make as many cutbacks as i can
my aim after paying debts is to try and save for a deposit on a property as mr a retires in 15 yrs and we will have no where to live (house presently goes with job)
regards
mrs a

Mrs_A.

tawnyowls wrote:

lecky i changed last year to npower then they rocketed the payments up i think im tied with them for a while. Check it - you might be able to get out of it; don't assume anything
cant car share no one else nearby me im very rural And no public transport either, probably? Best thing to do then is make every journey count - if you're going anywhere see if you can go to the supermarket/bank/post office in the same trip rather than separate ones
oil prices have shot up recently cant get it any cheaper i always phone round before ordering a tankful Anything you can do to save on heating? Have you got loft/cavity wall insulation? If not, might be entitled to grants. A couple of hundred spent on loft insulation could save you a lot. Also turn thermostat down a couple of degrees and make family wear jumpers. Would be worth having thermostats on upstairs radiators and keeping these fairly low, then use electric blankets and warmer duvets to keep bed warm.

suite is 0% till december then 25.5% not paid any yet (better make that a proirity) Definitely - start saving for that now, and perhaps take out a 0% interest card so you can pay for it with that and have a few extra months' leeway
kids to chores by way of rent and board as they are students with no income and very part time jobs Could they ebay some of their stuff and help you out?

thanks tawnyowls never thought of some of these
will think about getting a 0% cc.
will definately make every journey count in the car now (never even considered it before doh)
we are very well insulated but will do the thermostat thing etc in colder weather heating not on just now.
the boys have allowed me to ebay and amazon just about everything of value apart from some of their prized cd's and ps 2 games.

moo842

i know you have said you are not entitled to benefits but have you tried to claim tax credits? your income isn't that high so i would assume you should get something, i thought you could earn up to £50,000 a year although it may be higher?

Mrs_A.

thanks moo i forgot about my tax credits get £10.66 per week on these
regards
Mrs A

njtkc

just reading through your details, when our children were young we had to budget very carefully as we were on a very low income, every penny was accounted for down to the last £4 thats probably £40 a week now. we drew our money in cash and it was all alocated to each debt, household bill, xmas and birthday presents everyone had a present price and when I saw something for them during the year sales and offers I would buy it. we even had a budget for shopping buying only food for good healthy meals, no sweets snacks or fizzy drinks. Our children were 9 9 13, we sat then down and explained that daddy's business was going to be sold at a loss and we would only be living on my wages, off course they found it hard not to have luxuries for a while until we were sorted. They are 27 27 33 now with their own families to support, but what remains with them is money is NOT EVERLASTING and you can only spend what you have. I think if you explain to your boys then they may be willing to do an extra hour or so at work and give it to you. our son did a paper round at thirteen and gave us half of his wages as a loan and when we were sorted we paid him back. sorry it's so long but I thought some of this may help. We didn't scrimp or scrooge just kept to the budget.

30year later we now own a small apt in Spain and are mortgage free all I'm sure with strick bugeting and I continue to do it. So we're semi retired at 50

njtkc

Just thought I ask how it's going?? have you managed to use any useful information.