help needed badly!!

lobster_3

:eek: not at all sure if I am doing this right but what the heck! have serious problems and not sure what else to do, apart from putting my head in the oven(and that would probably cost money!!)

the situation is this:income £1668.22

mortgage £498.23
loan £250.49
council tax £91.00
elec/gas £83.00
water £58.50
home phone £40.00 inc broadband
mobile £40.00
insurance £35.49
tv licence £10.99
total £1107.70 !!!!


you would have spotted that this does not include food,fuel, clothes,hair cuts,or entertainment!!
I have got another job which I am yet to start on the weekends which may add to my income but seeing as I work 41.5 hours as it is I not sure how many more hours I could manage.
I live in my house with 3 teenagers,eldest just about to go to uni which means I have lost maintenance and tax credits for her.
I need to sort this out badly. any suggestions would be much appreciated. thanks in advance x:A

Mrs_Sparkle

Hi and welcome to the board!

Do you have debts to pay off? If so what are the payments?

You'll find plenty of tips on here for cutting down your food and entertainment bills, even with 3 teenagers! You're doing ok to have £500+ spare a month to pay off debts, food, entertainment etc- some people on here have a lot less than that.

You're in the right place anyway and I'm sure someone more knowledgable than me will be along in a minute to help you.

x x

In_Search_Of_Me

Hi lobster as other person said am unsure whether you have any debts? If not then you are 500+ up a month & thats a fine place to be!! Possibly we are misunderstanding? If you want general ways to save money n day to day the old board is a good place to look for fab tips. Unsure from the above where we can help unless you have debts that you forgot to mention?

crawley_girl

My initial thoughts:

Water payments seem a bit high
What is the insurance? Car? Life? Contents? Building? Pet? or combination? Could probably find cheaper somewhere...

Send the kids out to get a paper round/ part time job for spends so that you don't have too!!!

:heartpuls CG :heartpuls

jessicamb

Hi Lobster

Does the income that you posted factor in the lost income for your teenager going to uni (well done to him/her btw)?

It looks to me like your bills are not too bad. Have you been through Martins articles on this site to see if everything is as cheap as can be?

Are any of your children able to contribute to the household expenses? Are they doing all they can to help you even if they are not earning?

I would strongly suggest keeping a spending diary for a month where you write down everything that you spend. I think this will really help you see where your money is going. For the £500 or so that is left after paying all your bills I would say that you should be able to feed the family and so on with relative ease - maybe you need to be a savvier with the budgeting? The old style board is really useful for things like meal planning and low cost recipies.

moozie_2

Hello and welcome

Let's see...

lobster wrote:

the situation is this:income £1668.22

mortgage £498.23
loan £250.49 APR? Time left? Any other debts?
council tax £91.00
elec/gas £83.00 This is high. Have you shopped around? Are you in a very large house perhaps?
water £58.50 This is high too. Are you on a meter?
home phone £40.00 inc broadband I am pretty sure you can get this cheaper - maybe separate phone and broadband. Shop around.
mobile £40.00 This can be cut down.
insurance £35.49 What for?
tv licence £10.99
total £1107.70 !!!!
Do you have a car/commute to work?
Do you drink/smoke/buy presents? These have to be considered in addition to food/clothes/entertainment/pocket money.

You have £560.52 left per month without the additional job. Perhaps you could start a spending diary to see where that money is going to help you build a budget. The leaway you have is pretty good so maybe it's a case of managing better? I had that when I started and it hurt at first but works pretty well now.

Good luck!

lobster_3

good grief! I forgot about buying presents and the nightmare that is christmas! !!!!!!!!! I dont smoke but I most certainly could do with a drink!
6.4 was APR on loan and I have 9 years left! outstanding amount £16330.00 insurance is for mortgage of £74,000 ish, do you think there is any thing I can do about this? I have changed job recently and now get lunch provided and now only work 10 miles away but still take car.perhaps I should sell my car and drive my daughters instead?
I live in small house and I do believe that the fairies are stealing my electricity! where else can it be going??
I will do a debt diary cos it seems to work for everyone else. thanks for reminding me about presents!!

moozie_2

lobster wrote:

good grief! I forgot about buying presents and the nightmare that is christmas! !!!!!!!!! I dont smoke but I most certainly could do with a drink!
6.4 was APR on loan and I have 9 years left! outstanding amount £16330.00 insurance is for mortgage of £74,000 ish, do you think there is any thing I can do about this? I have changed job recently and now get lunch provided and now only work 10 miles away but still take car.perhaps I should sell my car and drive my daughters instead?
I live in small house and I do believe that the fairies are stealing my electricity! where else can it be going??
I will do a debt diary cos it seems to work for everyone else. thanks for reminding me about presents!!

Unless my maths is totally rubbish (wouldn't be a shock to me!), 9 years x 12 months x 250.49 a month = £27,052.92 which is somewhat different to £16,330. I am no good working out interest but at 6.4%, interest can't be £10,722.92 - can it?

If you leave in a small house then you must be able to save on electricity! I imagined a 4 bedroom mansion for that amount

For 10 miles trip, it doesn't seem to me like you need a car which adds to your monthly expenses of course. Worth considering public transport or daughters car which you are possibly paying for anyway....

Spending diary was my life saviour. I encourage you to try it wven if it is for only a month.

Well done, you are thinking along the DFW lines

lobster_3

yes, have 3000 oncredit card on 0%. but apart from that everything in loan.I know that I should be able to cope but it gonna take juggling and my friends are all much better off than me,still married and so double income,whereas mine just seems to get smaller and smaller! kids born within 3 years and so one leaves education each year for the next 2 years and I will have shrinking income as lose maintenance and tax credits!!

moozie_2

I accept that you may compare yourself to others and you may find yourself short but in reality, you are coping with one income and you are doing reasonably well. Focus on that £3,000 CC and while you are making all your savings, pay off it as much as possible before the interest kicks in.

I paid £2.22 off my CC that was left in my current account the day before payday last week. May seem small but 'every little counts' and it all adds up nicely

lobster_3

oh god! now I shall def not sleep!! will look at loan again and see wot can be done. need car as rural area and there is no bus!and I also need to travel sometimes for work.