It's time to kick some... booty: SOA Included!

Bunnyinthelights

I agree with what Horace says, it strikes me that you have a lot of 'sweets' and ready made sauce etc. *not saying you shouldnt have sweets! honest* Just look at brank changing or making something yourself...

I tend to shop mainly at ALDI now because a) I spend too much with Tesco getting the the things I dont need and b) you get more for your money there in regards to quantity.

You will be debt free in no time if you keep on as you are, im impressed

Oneday77

All points above are perfect advice. The only thing I can add is get rid of the A&L ASAP £80 a month for a balance of £650. Clear it in 2 months with your surplus, move to the barclaycard next and then throw as much as you can at the MBNA.
This does 2 things gets rid of 2 debts in 4 months, great for motivation and frees up £95 extra a month to clear other debts.

niccatw

Hey Jetstream!

Welcome along!

Loads of great advice given already!

Couple of things to add... have a wee look at your bank statements over the last 6 months to a year. It's a great eye-opener for checking out if you really are spending the amounts you think you are! I grossly underestimated my grocery spends! And the amount of £10s, £20s, £30s taken out of the cashline were quite scary! Especially since I didn't know what I'd been spending them on! A spending diary is fab for this!

If you're not sure where your surplus is going, I'd definitely recommend a spending diary. Especially if visiting Boston is important to you and your wife, as it'll help you guage where your money is going, how much you can throw at your debts and how much (if any) you can realistically save fro a trip away.

I find it important to keep some "treats" in my budget, so, for example I spend way more at the hair-dressers than is MSE! But it's my pamper time and it keeps me on the straight and narrow when I feel I am giving up lots and forgetting to have fun. You and your wife need to think about what's important to you and what you're to compromise on in order to keep focus. I get the feeling that, by factoring in a trip to Boston, you both might find it easier to keep focus.

With regards to groceries, my plan is to use mysupermarket.com to see where is cheapest and get my shopping online through a cash back site. This is to keep me out of the supermarkets and buying stuff I don't need - and to make sure I keep to my meal plan a bit better!

I would have said pay the barclaycard off asap, but if you have charges on MBNA and are behind on those payments, perhaps get that back on track first. Definitiely have a look at the snowball calculator to play about with payment amounts etc http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx

And, if you are needing a bit of inspiration ad motivation, have a look at some of the DFW diaries.

Good luck

JetStream

Thanks guys! Definitely going to start a spending diary from April 1st.

Because my monthly income is staggered (every two weeks-ish) it's difficult sometimes to get on top of it all. RE phones, I'm locked in till Christmas, wife is coming up to end of contract, but she's only on £25 a month, so can reduce slightly there.

Agree on the making sauces/cakes side of things; with re: Boston, we've talked about it and are being realistic: going to spend £300 on a pair of flights to Spain and stay at Uncle's apt for free for a week, and save £200 a month so that come the NY we can pay for Boston for next Summer. Not ideal, but realistic and we get a holiday this year!

Currently have £200 to last till next pay on April 4th... (That's just my income - wife gets paid next Friday!) I'm being good and only going out on one of the three options I have till then and staying at a friend's rather than hotel!!

JetStream

Right...

Last food shop was...... £59! Admittedly hardly any food bought (toiletries, cleaning products covered approx half), but in sticking rigidly to the 'menu' we've started to just use the food we have.

As still two weeks till next pay, I'm prioritising everything, so have filled up the car for now, and will hopefully last till April 1st.

Hopefully!

niccatw

yay, sounds like a great start! With a couple of fantastic holiday treat on the horizon to hel keep you focused! Well done!

TotallyBroke

With regard to shopping, buy your toiletries and cleaning products either in £1 shops or Wilkinson it can be so much cheaper.
Also I suggest you ditch all the treats with regards to cakes etc. You have 18 packets of crisps there and untold cakes and deserts plus sweets. Yet you only have chicken breast and mince so you'd only have dinners for 5 days max.

Is the Tesco fairly close to you, I found that instead of doing a weekly shop I would go in daily and look in the reduced to clear section. Meat can so cheap it is unbelievable I picked up 2 chickens for £3 one day because sell by date was that day. I cooked one up and froze what I didn't use and froze the other one. Steak is another meat that is usually found in the reduced to clear.
Also try buying wraps and pitta breads instead of loaves, they can make an alternative to a lunchtime and again sometimes can be cheaper.

mad_bad_spender

JetStream wrote: »

Because my monthly income is staggered (every two weeks-ish) it's difficult sometimes to get on top of it all. RE phones, I'm locked in till Christmas, wife is coming up to end of contract, but she's only on £25 a month, so can reduce slightly there.

Hi there

regarding the phones, i thought the same as my contract does not end until end of august, however i phoned them last week and asked to reduce my call plan and was told "tied in to contract blah blah blah, cant change till august" however i advised them that if they would not let me reduce call plan i would cancel DD and they were welcome to cancel contract and bill me for remaining term and i would pay them £1 a month same as all my other creditors and all of a sudden they were able to help!

They reduced monthly amount by half for the remaining term, minutes reduced also but got to keep unlimited texts so sorted.

worth a try.

JetStream

Totally Broke: The cakes/crisps typically last the two of us just under 3 weeks - usually the shopping bill was £20 less than the £110 above! Thanks for recommending Wilkinson's - will stop there this weekend for a looksie!

Mad Bad Spender: My wife's contract is ending imminently, so we'll see what we can do with that; mine as said is in December, but unlikely to work too much (iPhone contract - I did use a QuidCo deal for it, getting the phone for free, and reducing the contract by £10 after 6 months!) - will try though!

Thanks again to everyone!

JS

vandanfc

Why are you paying buildings insurance on a rented property ? It is up to the landlord to insure the building!