Advice on how to get by until April.

xyz123

Just one suggestion (purely to get you through to april), see if you can arrange alternative payment for TV licensing. the way it works is that when you get licence using monthly payment, first 6 months are at £24 a month and then £12 a month for remaining.

you can switch to quarterly billing (with £1.25 extra per quarter) but they may just push payments into next year (not sure but there is a chance). Second option is (and i am not sure if its possible) to see if TV licensing payment can be delayed by 3 months or so (considering that you are effectively paying 6 months in advance..)

All the best..

opinions4u

74jax wrote: »

so really I'm astounded that opinions4u went to all that trouble.

It was no trouble at all. I quite enjoyed adding to the list every hour or so as another mad idea entered my head.

(The staff uniform one is certainly worth pursuing by the way).

If you're on the newer staff mortgage deal that tracks BofE, rather than the old capped rate deal, taking a mortgage payment holiday now and repaying the missed payment at some point before the year is up would be a very cheap way to borrow for the short term if you are able to.

If you wouldn't be in a position to repay it within that time, then unless you are really stretched I wouldn't recommend it though.

One other thing to do is to advise your tax office now that you no longer work for HBOS and, as such, there is no tax liability on the conceessionary mortgage scheme. It will probably make little difference to your tax code for 2009/10, but will be useful for 2010/11. If you don't tell them, it could be April next year before they start adjusting things in your favour.

(It might be worth checking out the Debt-free Wannabe part of the forum too - some excellent penny pinching ideas there!).

tara747

Just remembered this, one of my favourite threads:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=826963&highlight=sneaky+ways+save+pennies

That'll keep you reading till April anyway! :rotfl:

huw01

Council Tax Benefit. Seriously consider applying for this. Many people who qualify simply never apply for it. Contact your local council asap as it can only be retrosepctivly applied back for a limited period.

Many people think oh it's February or March - I don't pay council tax for these two months. Wrong. It's a twelve month tax collected in ten monthly instalments - you've already paid for February and March as part of your previous instalments paid through the year.

If you're only working 18 or so hours and have limited savings then you should qualify for it. If you've paid up for the year until the end of March and you qualify then you can get a cheque refund from your council for any overpayment.

Please don't overlook this one, too many people do exactly that. The only thing you'll be wasting is some ink on the application form. What's the worse that could happen.

partlydave

74jax wrote: »

Thanks tara747, my outgoings are:
Mortgage 382.24
Mortgage Insurance 20.87
TV Licence 12.12
Northumbrian Water 40.55
NFU mutual car ins 25.15
BT 58.00
1st quote ins (contents&buildings) 29.90
Vodafone mobile 35.00
Council Tax 118.00
Npower (duel fuel) 95.00
Pet ins 22.00 - I have to pay this as had to make a claim and they paid out almost 3k and so I have to keep up the rest fo the year's payments or pay the year in full.
Vision Express 12.00

I do also have an extra income this month of around £40 as on leaving halifax any free shares we'd been given were sold, so they will be coming to me shortly.

As for ebay, my daughter was wanting to do a car boot sale when they start again in a few weeks, so I might look on Ebay instead and see which would be the better. Thanks for that.

as youre the only adult in the house are you claiming single person discount on your council tax of 25% off?

timnicebutdim_2

huw01 wrote: »

Many people think oh it's February or March - I don't pay council tax for these two months. Wrong. It's a twelve month tax collected in ten monthly instalments - you've already paid for February and March as part of your previous instalments paid through the year.

Quite right, you pay what's due overall but in terms of short term cashflow you won't have to pay in February or March. In the OP's situation this is clearly beneficial as it's already all been paid, they need money, and it's an item budgeted for that doesn't need to be.

OP - another thing that sprang to mind is your tax? Are you on the right tax code with your new job (i.e. not BR code)? Especially with redundancy & starting a new job mid year I could imagine theres a possibility of paying too much tax....

74jax

Well I have reached the halfway point for me (I get paid today and again 23 March) without going overdrawn. How I managed it I don't know. Well actually I do and it is damn hard!!!!

According to my first post I should have had £90.00 for the things that just crop up, my hoover packed in, so I purchased a new one for £40 (is quite a good 1800 one on sale so snapped it up - wouldn't normall spend that much), spent around £20 on half term stuff and am left with £30, so the budget pretty much worked.

I got my vodafone down to £15 for 600 minutes to landline or any mobile and unlimited text (just have to watch thoses picture messages don't creep up m bill), applied for Council Tax Benefit and I overpaid by £85.00, which 'I think' just gets taken off my next year's bill so it's not money in hand (so to speak). Vodafone won't take affect until March payment.

Food was pretty much the same, I only budget £30 a week anyway so used to that.

I've got the Sun Holidays passes to pay for this month - arrived yesterday, so that's to come out of March's money.

Just over a month to go and then maybe I might treat my daughter to Heinz beans not smart price :j

tara747

Lovely to hear from you again, that's great about the phone bill and I am impressed with how you have handled the unexpected expenditure.

Glad things are going ok, keep us posted!!!

74jax

I'm almost there, but it's so hard now. I finished last month in credit, so I know I should be able to do the same this month, but maintaining the lifestyle is the hard part - setting it up was easy.
Existing on a £30 a week food bill was easy at first but now is just arrggghhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!
My daughter needed new school trainers and lost her PE top!! I bought a new one from a place in town for £3, the right colour but not with the school logo so wrote to the school explaining the situation and that was ok.
I go the Sun Hols through and had the extras to pay for, phoned up the park and they've extended my payment period so that's ok too.
No council tax/water this month so I need to factor that in to my figures, it's nice to have the break ;-)
My daughter and I have signed up to parent/child Spanish classes with her school on an evening for 10weeks so that will be nice (and free too).
I'm sure it will all be fine, and writing this had calmed me a little too ;-)

xyz123

Hi, i am sure its difficult for you but just be patient, its only three weeks till april now....i know its much easier said that done but just ride it out...