Tackling the effects of 2009

Stephy13

He has advertised but the area we live in is full of contractors out of work (he's an electrician). He already does odd jobs for people, decorating gardening etc.

He cant take too much money out of the business as he is currently investing in offering a different service to others in the area. So most of the money he is earning is going to pay for his course in renewable energy which we hope will prove fruitfull as the goverment are offering grants for the installation of PV panels etc. Also some weeks he is flat out others he has nothing so we take a small regular wage as a opposed to loads one month and none the next, sounds backwards but its the only way we can make the business work.

sarahs999

Hi Stephy,

Hate to point it out but there's a lot missing on your SOA - have you tried filling in one of the more detailed forms? Haircuts, entertainment, birthdays and christmas etc. No mobile phones? Also I think you could get cheaper phone/broadband quite easily.

Tixy

Stephy13 wrote: »

Oh I found what SOA is:embarasse

Here it is

My monthly income £1072.70
OH income £600.00 (may change he is self employed currently)
Total £1672.70

Outgoings
Mortgage £688.89 (4.1% standard variable)
Council Tax £112
OH Van finance £204.00 (17.5% APR) 18months left
TV Licence £11.28
Phone/Broadband (BT) £48
Car Insurance £25.48
Petrol £10 ( I walk to work a lot)
Food £175.00
Gas & Electric £65 (British Gas)
Life Insurance £25.00
Home Insurance £16.92
Water £28.45
£1435.02

Debts
Halifax Joint £1864.89 (Credit Limit £5250) 15%
Halifax Mine £1550.80 Credit Limit £2000) Just come off 0% to 17.5%!!!
Tesco Credit Card £0 (Credit Limit £2000) 16% (I think?!)


I hope thats right!!

Any advise on how I can reduce this would be most grateful

Hi Stephy

Just seen your SoA post from yesterday - Is there just you and OH at home?

As soon as you are able to do try switching your phone/internet you should be able to make a saving there - you could also try phoning BT and asking if they do a cheaper package you could switch to (might be worth a try:))

Do you have a vehicle in addition to OHs van? is the car insurance just for yours or for both? is all his petrol in the business? What about road tax and maintenance (MOT, tyres, servicing etc) for your car? In fact if you only use £10 petrol a month do you really need the car - it might be better to sell and just use taxis on the odd occasion you need the car.

Have you checked if you are on the cheapest tariff with the cheapest supplier for gas & elec - internet tariffs are usually the cheapest.

Is you water measured or unmetered? if not on a meter have you investigated whether you would save money?

Have you checked life insurance and all insurances are the cheapest available?

Have you checked your council tax is in the correct CT band (it only takes 5mins to check)..

You are showing an amount of £237 for debt repayments (although could be less as you have not accounted for all vehicle expenses or allowed anything for haircuts, entertainment, clothing, medical, dentist etc - some of which you will need occasionally).

How does this amount compare to your monthly minimum repayments>

It does sound like you are going to struggle until your OHs business picks up, fingers crossed for you both that it does. If it doesn't then do think about whether he would be better off even in low paid work.

In the meantime do you have any items you could sell to raise some cash? would it be practical to get a lodger to contribute to bills? could you do any overtime at work?

Good luck with everything.

Stephy13

Hi Tixy and sarahs999

Just me OH and the dog living together. Which reminds me I didnt include his food per month or worming/flea treatments. The dog not OH :rotfl:

Good idea with BT and the gas and electric. I'll go on uswitch tonight.

Water is unmetered. I never new you could change to metered! Thank you
I dont have a mobile, ( i know what your thinking, but I cant stand the things) my uncle is a hairdresser so I get free haircuts and as in previous post I dont got out at all.

Birthdays and christmas. I make cards and handmade gifts normally foodie stuff this gets bought with money from the spare change jar or within the weekly shopping budget. Plus I only buy for close family. OH van insurance tax fuel etc is claimed from his business but I didnt include mine. My car is currently for sale but to interest in it yet. I think I could find a few things to sell on ebay.

We only have a small two bed house and the second bedroom is a cupboard really and its OH office for his business. So no lodger unfortunatley. Its tax band B so i dont think it could get any lower.

Thanks Tixy for you help though given me some great ideas.

Sarahs999 ill redo my SOA as i didnt realise how much its missing.

Thank You Both

Tixy

A couple of other things (you may have already considered them)

Did OH have any PPI on any debts when he was made redundant? if so did he make a claim and if the refused to pay out did you look into whether the PPI may have been missold.

Ditto with you - any PPI with your debts? could it have been missold?

Any credit card charges incurred by either of you that you could reclaim?

Since getting your mortgage have you ever switched to a new provider - if so have you looked into whether you were over charged mortgage exit fees (you are probably too young/not had mortgage long enough for this to be relevant) but just thought I'd mention it in case.

You can change to a water meter. Usually they say you are likely to save if you have more bedrooms than people - however I have found for just me I spend around £11 per month (average usage -I'm not particularly economical) so you might only spend say £20, which would be a small saving.

Meters are free. If it turns out it costs you more to be on a meter then you can switch back for free within the first 12months.

Yay to the free haircuts!!

Stephy13

We didnt take out any insurance on our credit cards. Not sure wheter there is anything on OH van finance though?!

We have only had one mortgage provider.

Free haircuts :j

Will definatley change water to metered though

Stephy13

Right I thought i'd update, kinda keeping this as a bit of a diary now/ thinking aloud!!

My Halifax card ran out of its 0% on Monday soooooo... I was wondering if i wrote to them or rang them whether they could offer me a better rate or threaten to leave? Has anyone done this with any success?

Also OH finance has a settlement figure of £3300 ish at the moment at 17.9% APR yet we have £3402.00 avaliable balance on the one credit card with a 15%APR. Would it be wise to pay off the finance using the card then the £204 a month which was paying for the finance can pay the credit card?

Does that make sense.

Also have my car up for sale at the moment have had some interest so fingers crossed that would pay off one card completely and free up some cash each month.

Stephy x

Tixy

Is your tesco card empty?

Usually you get the best promo deals etc by BT to an empty card, once a card has been empty a month or 2 then phone up and ask what if any deals they have on offer (and also what the APR will be afterwards). You could even try haggling with them, ask for promo deals and life of balance deals as well.

With regards to the halifax card it never hurts to call up and ask but they probably won't be as helpful as an empty card.

Fingers crossed with the car.

Stephy13

Hi Tixy

Yeah my tesco card is empty. Has a 2k limit too. Good idea i'll ring them when I get home. Plus i'll get points that way aswell!! Good thinking.

Hope you ok. Thanks for the advise, everyone on here is so friendly it s lovely.

x

strictwithmoney

Stephy13 wrote: »

Also OH finance has a settlement figure of £3300 ish at the moment at 17.9% APR yet we have £3402.00 avaliable balance on the one credit card with a 15%APR. Would it be wise to pay off the finance using the card then the £204 a month which was paying for the finance can pay the credit card?

Does that make sense.

Stephy x

Taking cash out from a credit card is a big NO, NO. The APR will be high. Check the small print in your credit card statement about interest charge on cash advance.