board of just surviving !! help !!

babie_gurl

Hi everyone
thanks for looking at my diary !!!
i am probably horrifieing you all i know !!
i love making money but i seam to love the spending too !!
I WOULD LOVE TO SORT MYSELF OUT SO I CAN ENJOY MY CASH !!!!
i seam to spend out of bordom !! yet i never realy get to do the things i would like to because of the silly spending i turned thirty this year and i think its about time to enjoy life but i also wanna be debt free !!!
my worst spend is food i get bord at work so i go out and eat!! im board at home so i go out and eat !! although i must say a waste alot due to i never know what you can freeze or keep so i chuck it !!
any how i know your all fab at this so give me anything you think might help !!
ohh just to let ya know im single and have no kids so all this is spent on just me !!
Income from Employment (after tax). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,550.00
Income from Self Employment (before tax). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
State Pension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Private Pension / Annuity Payout. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Benefits (Inc. Child Benefit/Tax Credits & Income Support). . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Income From Savings & Investments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Gifts From Family / Friends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
ebay. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.33
Monthly Expense Details
In Your Home
Mobile Phone(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.00
TV Licence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.12
Internet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44.78
Home Phone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Cleaning Products/Cleaner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.00
Garden Maintenance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Household Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.00
Gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.00
Council Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61.00
Overdraft Cost. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.00
Bank Account Fee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Home Insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.28
Mortgage/Rent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216.49
Plumbing/Boiler Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Mortgage Life Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Mortgage Payment Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Life Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Food and Household Shopping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200.00
Drinks for Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
heating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.00
heating token . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.00
Motoring & Public Transport
Petrol/Diesel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60.00
Parking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.00
Car Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.04
Car Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29.63
Car Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00
Rail/Bus/Taxi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Breakdown Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Debt Repayments
Credit Card Repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171.65
Hire Purchase Repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Personal Loan Repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132.00
Car Loan Repayments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Savings & Investments
Pension Payments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Buying Shares . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Investments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Mini Cash ISAs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Lump Sum Saving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Regular Saving. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Family
Pet Food. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
School Trips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
School Meals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Pocket Money. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Nappies/Baby Extras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Laundry/Dry Cleaning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Children's Travel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Baby Sitting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Childcare/Play Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Pet Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Travel Insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Entertainment
Satellite/Digital TV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Family Days Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Cinema/Theatre Trips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.50
Books/Music/Films/Computers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Big Days Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Shopping for Fun. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90.00
Pet Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Hobbies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
IT/Computing (eg Anti-virus etc). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
DVD Rental. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Drinking Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50.00
Eating Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.00
mobile insurence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.00
laptop in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.00
Clothes, Health & Beauty
Complimentary Therapies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Optical Bills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Haircuts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18.33
Dentistry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Beauty Treatments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50.00
Healthcare Cashplans. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Dental Insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Private Medical Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Fitness/Sports/Gym. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Work Clothes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.33
New Children's Clothes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
New Clothes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Education & Courses
University Tuition Fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
School Fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Your Courses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Big One Offs
Funeral Expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Wedding Expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Sofa/Kitchen/TV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Birthdays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.00
Winter Holiday. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Summer Holiday. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Christmas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50.00
Odds & Sods
Newspapers & Magazines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Tax & NI Provisions (self-employed only). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Regular Charity Donations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Meals at work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187.50
Smokes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Coffees/Sandwiches/Snacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.67

Total monthly income. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,558.33

Total monthly expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,624

savingwannabe

Get rid of meals at work. Take sandwiches you will save £187.50 immediately. Why do we work ridiculous hours and then pay work a huge proportion of our income? (i have been doing this for a month and saved a similar amount of money!)

Can you reduce spending on the internet provider? get a PAYG mobile?

Tixy

Hi and welcome

Okay as a starting point well done for posting up your budget. This in itself suggest you do want things to change. I notice straight away that you are spending more than you earn. So you need to change that straight away. You need to be committed to changing your past bad spending habits.

babie_gurl wrote: »

Hi everyone
thanks for looking at my diary !!!
i am probably horrifieing you all i know !!
i love making money but i seam to love the spending too !!
I WOULD LOVE TO SORT MYSELF OUT SO I CAN ENJOY MY CASH !!!!
i seam to spend out of bordom !! yet i never realy get to do the things i would like to because of the silly spending i turned thirty this year and i think its about time to enjoy life but i also wanna be debt free !!!
my worst spend is food i get bord at work so i go out and eat!! im board at home so i go out and eat !! although i must say a waste alot due to i never know what you can freeze or keep so i chuck it !! learn to write out a meal plan for all meals you want to eat for the next week. Then when you go shopping only buy the food on that list. Throwing food away is a terrible waste of both money and resources. If you are ever unsure what you can freeze then you can always come on here and ask on the oldstyle board - they are full of tips.
any how i know your all fab at this so give me anything you think might help !!
ohh just to let ya know im single and have no kids so all this is spent on just me !!
Income from Employment (after tax). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,550.00
Income from Self Employment (before tax). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
ebay. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.33
Monthly Expense Details
In Your Home
Mobile Phone(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.00
TV Licence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.12
Internet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44.78 looks very high, is this mobile internet or a landline? you can get a landline & internet for around £20 per month.
Home Phone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Cleaning Products/Cleaner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.00
Garden Maintenance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Household Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.00
Gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.00 high - is this on a meter or unmeasured, consider getting a meter fitted
Council Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61.00 do you get the 25% single occupier discount?
Overdraft Cost. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.00
Bank Account Fee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Home Insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.28
Mortgage/Rent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216.49 is this mortgage or rent?
Plumbing/Boiler Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Mortgage Life Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Mortgage Payment Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Life Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Food and Household Shopping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200.00 way way too high, should be able to easily cut to £100.
Drinks for Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
heating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.00
heating token . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.00
Motoring & Public Transport
Petrol/Diesel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60.00
Parking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.00
Car Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.04
Car Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29.63
Car Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00
Rail/Bus/Taxi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Breakdown Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Debt Repayments
Credit Card Repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171.65 is this the minimum amount? how much do you owe in total? how many cards do you have, what are the APRs?
Hire Purchase Repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Personal Loan Repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132.00 how much do you owe? how many payments left? what is the APR?
Car Loan Repayments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Savings & Investments
Family
Entertainment
Satellite/Digital TV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Family Days Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Cinema/Theatre Trips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.50
Books/Music/Films/Computers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Big Days Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Shopping for Fun. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90.00 what are you actually buying with this? actually I hate this category as you must be getting something for your money, what is it?
Pet Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Hobbies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
IT/Computing (eg Anti-virus etc). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
DVD Rental. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Drinking Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50.00
Eating Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.00
mobile insurence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.00
laptop in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.00
Clothes, Health & Beauty
Complimentary Therapies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Optical Bills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Haircuts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18.33
Dentistry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Beauty Treatments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50.00 what do you have done? can you space out treatments to cut the cost or do some of them yourself instead?
Work Clothes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.33
New Children's Clothes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
New Clothes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Big One Offs
Birthdays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.00 reduce down
Christmas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50.00 try to reduce this down
Odds & Sods
Newspapers & Magazines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Tax & NI Provisions (self-employed only). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Regular Charity Donations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Meals at work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187.50 yikes! on top of £200 at home, this is crazy. If you work on average 21 days per month this is £9 per day. Take packed lunches & drinks etc from home (from within the £100 budgeted for groceries), maybe treat yourself one a week to buying food whilst at work.
Smokes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Coffees/Sandwiches/Snacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.67

Total monthly income. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,558.33

Total monthly expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,624

You are right - you are spending a horrific amount on food. Seriously all in you should be able to easily manage on £100 per month, maybe set aside £20 for meals at work for the odd treat. These savings alone will mean you can increase your credit card repayments by £270.

What sort of food do you actually buy for home? do you cook or just tend to buy ready meals to heat up. Maybe if you learn to cook this will help you appreciate food more and take up more time to prevent the boredom that means you spend so much money.

Can you do a full list of your debts. list each debt, the total balance, the APR charged and the amount you pay each month. This will show the true picture which should help motivate you to change and help us give you advice.

Good luck with it all. Sorry if the comments are harsh but I think at 30 you need to take a grown up attitute to money and life and start planning ahead.

1stdayofmylife

I am relatively new to this as well, but in the same situtation as you. I have made some comments, hope they help.

QUOTE=babie gurl;discussion/2401867]Hi everyone
thanks for looking at my diary !!!
i am probably horrifieing you all i know !!
i love making money but i seam to love the spending too !!
I WOULD LOVE TO SORT MYSELF OUT SO I CAN ENJOY MY CASH !!!!
i seam to spend out of bordom !! yet i never realy get to do the things i would like to because of the silly spending i turned thirty this year and i think its about time to enjoy life but i also wanna be debt free !!!
my worst spend is food i get bord at work so i go out and eat!! im board at home so i go out and eat !! although i must say a waste alot due to i never know what you can freeze or keep so i chuck it !!
any how i know your all fab at this so give me anything you think might help !!
ohh just to let ya know im single and have no kids so all this is spent on just me !!
Income from Employment (after tax). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,550.00
Income from Self Employment (before tax). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
State Pension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Private Pension / Annuity Payout. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Benefits (Inc. Child Benefit/Tax Credits & Income Support). . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Income From Savings & Investments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Gifts From Family / Friends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
ebay. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.33
Monthly Expense Details
In Your Home
Mobile Phone(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.00
TV Licence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.12
Internet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44.78 This is very high what does it include, can you look at reducing?
Home Phone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Cleaning Products/Cleaner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.00
Garden Maintenance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Household Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.00 This is high per month, especially as it doesn't seem to include heating. Check comparison sites and use cashback site to switch.
Gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.00 Do you have a water meter? If not and you live alone look at getting one fitted.
Council Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61.00
Overdraft Cost. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.00
Bank Account Fee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Home Insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.28
Mortgage/Rent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216.49
Plumbing/Boiler Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Mortgage Life Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Mortgage Payment Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Life Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Food and Household Shopping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200.00 This is quite high for one person. I aim for 120 a month and this is much higher than many people on here. Have a look at OS board.
Drinks for Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
heating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.00
heating token . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.00
Motoring & Public Transport
Petrol/Diesel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60.00
Parking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.00
Car Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.04
Car Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29.63
Car Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00
Rail/Bus/Taxi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Breakdown Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Debt Repayments
Credit Card Repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171.65
Hire Purchase Repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Personal Loan Repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132.00
Car Loan Repayments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Savings & Investments
Pension Payments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Buying Shares . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Investments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Mini Cash ISAs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Lump Sum Saving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Regular Saving. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Family
Pet Food. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
School Trips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
School Meals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Pocket Money. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Nappies/Baby Extras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Laundry/Dry Cleaning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Children's Travel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Baby Sitting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Childcare/Play Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Pet Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Travel Insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Entertainment
Satellite/Digital TV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Family Days Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Cinema/Theatre Trips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.50
Books/Music/Films/Computers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Big Days Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Shopping for Fun. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90.00
Pet Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Hobbies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
IT/Computing (eg Anti-virus etc). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
DVD Rental. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Drinking Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50.00 This is a lot especially considering food bill can you reduce, drink soft drinks etc.
Eating Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.00 Look for 2-4-1 vouchers, reduce frequency.
mobile insurence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.00 Is this worthwhile?
laptop in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.00 as above
Clothes, Health & Beauty
Complimentary Therapies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Optical Bills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Haircuts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18.33
Dentistry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Beauty Treatments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50.00 Can you reduce for a few months? It would be better spent on debt re-payment.
Healthcare Cashplans. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Dental Insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Private Medical Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Fitness/Sports/Gym. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Work Clothes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.33
New Children's Clothes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
New Clothes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Education & Courses
University Tuition Fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
School Fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Your Courses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Big One Offs
Funeral Expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Wedding Expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Sofa/Kitchen/TV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Birthdays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.00 As Christmas
Winter Holiday. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Summer Holiday. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Christmas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50.00 This is alot can you reduce only buy for close family?
Odds & Sods
Newspapers & Magazines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Tax & NI Provisions (self-employed only). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Regular Charity Donations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Meals at work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187.50 Stop this, take packed lunches, or just do once a week. Throw the extra money at your debts.
Smokes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Coffees/Sandwiches/Snacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.67 as meals at work

Total monthly income. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,558.33

Total monthly expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,624[/QUOTE]

Hope my comments help, there are plenty of places where you can reduce to make your outgoings meet your incomings and further places to reduce if you want to throw extra money at your debts.

Good luck.

babie_gurl

savingwannabe wrote: »

Get rid of meals at work. Take sandwiches you will save £187.50 immediately. Why do we work ridiculous hours and then pay work a huge proportion of our income? (i have been doing this for a month and saved a similar amount of money!)

Can you reduce spending on the internet provider? get a PAYG mobile?

yes i know it wasnt untill i started to add up what i have been spending i now realise breakfast and dinner at work could pay for my loan a month!! but i do find i neva know what to take to work ?? i do love cooking probably why i spend so much at the supermarket i never buy frozen meals or processed food !! and you tend to find the offers are on crap junk food !!
my friend has told me to shop online as she spends less because she only buys what she needs also she has told me to invest in a nice luch box that way i will want to take it to work ! SHE KNOWS ME SOOOOO WELL !!
internet missleading this is a deal from virgin of £39 per month including home phone evening and weekends ,v+box (as i am mostly at work )internet,and large tv sorry but it was easyer to put it in one this contract is up in july do you think i should get rid??

gonzo127

babie_gurl wrote: »

Income from Employment (after tax). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,550.00
Income from Self Employment (before tax). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
State Pension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Private Pension / Annuity Payout. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Benefits (Inc. Child Benefit/Tax Credits & Income Support). . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Income From Savings & Investments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Gifts From Family / Friends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
ebay. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.33
Monthly Expense Details
In Your Home
Mobile Phone(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.00 - do you use all your texts and mins? if not phone your supplier and see about dropping the tarrif the worst they can say is no
TV Licence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.12
Internet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44.78 - this is massive for internet, however i am expecting there is more in this than just basic net, please let us know if this is right
Home Phone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Cleaning Products/Cleaner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.00
Garden Maintenance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Household Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.00
Gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.00 - water meter if there is only one of you in the house should work out cheaper
Council Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61.00
Overdraft Cost. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.00
Bank Account Fee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Home Insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.28
Mortgage/Rent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216.49
Plumbing/Boiler Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Mortgage Life Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Mortgage Payment Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Life Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Food and Household Shopping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200.00 - oh my thats a lot, i usually suggest people aim for about £60 per person per month for groceries, this is based on what a lot of people on here can do and taking into account some people can feed a family of 4 on £150
Drinks for Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
heating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.00
heating token . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.00
Motoring & Public Transport
Petrol/Diesel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60.00
Parking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.00
Car Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.04
Car Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29.63 - how much is your car worth and how much do you use it? might it be worth just swopping to third party or third party fire and theft instead of fully comp?
Car Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00
Rail/Bus/Taxi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Breakdown Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Debt Repayments
Credit Card Repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171.65
Hire Purchase Repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Personal Loan Repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132.00
Car Loan Repayments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Savings & Investments
Pension Payments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Buying Shares . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Investments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Mini Cash ISAs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Lump Sum Saving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Regular Saving. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Family
Pet Food. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
School Trips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
School Meals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Pocket Money. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Nappies/Baby Extras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Laundry/Dry Cleaning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Children's Travel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Baby Sitting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Childcare/Play Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Pet Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Travel Insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Entertainment
Satellite/Digital TV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Family Days Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Cinema/Theatre Trips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.50
Books/Music/Films/Computers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Big Days Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Shopping for Fun. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90.00 - try and limit this, surely there are only so much you can buy for fun
Pet Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Hobbies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
IT/Computing (eg Anti-virus etc). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
DVD Rental. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Drinking Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50.00 - can you halve this? swop between alcohol and soft drinks when you are out
Eating Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.00
mobile insurence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.00 - check if this is covered in your home insurance a lot of the time it is!
laptop in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.00 - check if this is covered in your home insurance a lot of the time it is!
Clothes, Health & Beauty
Complimentary Therapies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Optical Bills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Haircuts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18.33 - check out local colleges, they are usualy always on the look out for more models for the students to work with
Dentistry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Beauty Treatments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50.00 - are these done at a salon? if so maybe do some at home
Healthcare Cashplans. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Dental Insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Private Medical Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Fitness/Sports/Gym. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Work Clothes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.33
New Children's Clothes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
New Clothes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Education & Courses
University Tuition Fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
School Fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Your Courses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Big One Offs
Funeral Expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Wedding Expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Sofa/Kitchen/TV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Birthdays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.00 - who do you buy for? £360 a year on birthdays is a lot without kids around
Winter Holiday. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Summer Holiday. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Christmas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50.00 - who do you buy for? £600 a year is massive when no kids
Odds & Sods
Newspapers & Magazines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Tax & NI Provisions (self-employed only). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Regular Charity Donations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Meals at work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187.50 - packed lunchs will save you a fortune!!!!
Smokes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Coffees/Sandwiches/Snacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.67

Total monthly income. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,558.33

Total monthly expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,624 - you are currently spending more than you are bringing in so you NEED to make a few changes before it gets to much further out of control

hi i have made a few comments above, however as you have said your food and groceries are your biggest problem when you consider this

Food and Household Shopping 200.00
Meals at work 187.50
Eating Out 30.00
Drinking Out 50.00
Coffees/Sandwiches/Snacks 8.67

so as it is you are currently spending £476 a month on food and drink for just yourself, this could with a bit of thought and planning be dropped quite easily to £100 a month saving yourself £376 a month, as i have said above there are people on these forums for buy their groceries (including toiletries) for a family of 4 for around £150 a month

babie_gurl

1stdayofmylife wrote: »

I am relatively new to this as well, but in the same situtation as you. I have made some comments, hope they help.

QUOTE=babie gurl;discussion/2401867]Hi everyone
thanks for looking at my diary !!!
i am probably horrifieing you all i know !!
i love making money but i seam to love the spending too !!
I WOULD LOVE TO SORT MYSELF OUT SO I CAN ENJOY MY CASH !!!!
i seam to spend out of bordom !! yet i never realy get to do the things i would like to because of the silly spending i turned thirty this year and i think its about time to enjoy life but i also wanna be debt free !!!
my worst spend is food i get bord at work so i go out and eat!! im board at home so i go out and eat !! although i must say a waste alot due to i never know what you can freeze or keep so i chuck it !!
any how i know your all fab at this so give me anything you think might help !!
ohh just to let ya know im single and have no kids so all this is spent on just me !!
Income from Employment (after tax). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,550.00
Income from Self Employment (before tax). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
State Pension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Private Pension / Annuity Payout. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Benefits (Inc. Child Benefit/Tax Credits & Income Support). . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Income From Savings & Investments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Gifts From Family / Friends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
ebay. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.33
Monthly Expense Details
In Your Home
Mobile Phone(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.00
TV Licence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.12
Internet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44.78 This is very high what does it include, can you look at reducing?
Home Phone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Cleaning Products/Cleaner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.00
Garden Maintenance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Household Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.00 This is high per month, especially as it doesn't seem to include heating. Check comparison sites and use cashback site to switch. checked can save £30per year
Gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.00 Do you have a water meter? If not and you live alone look at getting one fitted. im in rented accomodation im not sure how this stands ??i can look in to this though!!
Council Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61.00
Overdraft Cost. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.00
Bank Account Fee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Home Insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.28
Mortgage/Rent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216.49
Plumbing/Boiler Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Mortgage Life Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Mortgage Payment Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Life Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Food and Household Shopping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200.00 This is quite high for one person. I aim for 120 a month and this is much higher than many people on here. Have a look at OS board. i think if i include food for work do you think £150 thats also washing powder ,cleaning e.c.t
Drinks for Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
heating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.00
heating token . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.00
Motoring & Public Transport
Petrol/Diesel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60.00
Parking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.00
Car Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.04
Car Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29.63
Car Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00
Rail/Bus/Taxi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Breakdown Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Debt Repayments
Credit Card Repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171.65
Hire Purchase Repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Personal Loan Repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132.00
Car Loan Repayments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Savings & Investments
Pension Payments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Buying Shares . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Investments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Mini Cash ISAs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Lump Sum Saving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Regular Saving. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Family
Pet Food. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
School Trips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
School Meals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Pocket Money. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Nappies/Baby Extras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Laundry/Dry Cleaning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Children's Travel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Baby Sitting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Childcare/Play Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Pet Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Travel Insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Entertainment
Satellite/Digital TV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Family Days Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Cinema/Theatre Trips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.50
Books/Music/Films/Computers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Big Days Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Shopping for Fun. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90.00
Pet Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Hobbies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
IT/Computing (eg Anti-virus etc). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
DVD Rental. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Drinking Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50.00 This is a lot especially considering food bill can you reduce, drink soft drinks etc. your so right i didnt used to drink maybe i should try tea total for a while this is my once a month night out!!
Eating Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.00 Look for 2-4-1 vouchers, reduce frequency. yes maybe once every other month !
mobile insurence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.00 Is this worthwhile? i am looking at swalping i get 3 months free so not paid till next month but i thought i should put it in anyway i am a calmity jane pourd butter on my last phone dont ask !!
laptop in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.00 as above as above
Clothes, Health & Beauty
Complimentary Therapies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Optical Bills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Haircuts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18.33
Dentistry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Beauty Treatments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50.00 Can you reduce for a few months? It would be better spent on debt re-payment. i have my nails done yes an extravigance
Healthcare Cashplans. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Dental Insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Private Medical Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Fitness/Sports/Gym. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Work Clothes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.33
New Children's Clothes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
New Clothes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Education & Courses
University Tuition Fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
School Fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Your Courses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Big One Offs
Funeral Expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Wedding Expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Sofa/Kitchen/TV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Birthdays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.00 As Christmas this i need to stop ! help i just love making my family and friends smile !! i try to make it just what they want i used to have time to shop bargains but i work most of the time and then im too knakerd to shop round so i pay what i think is cheep ( but that is not always the case !!!)
Winter Holiday. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Summer Holiday. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Christmas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50.00 This is alot can you reduce only buy for close family?
Odds & Sods
Newspapers & Magazines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Tax & NI Provisions (self-employed only). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Regular Charity Donations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Meals at work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187.50 Stop this, take packed lunches, or just do once a week. Throw the extra money at your debts. this has gone just £15 a month thats 1 treat month !!( dinner with the area manger !)
Smokes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Coffees/Sandwiches/Snacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.67 as meals at work nope this is days off when i have coffie/ lunch with a friend e.c.t

Total monthly income. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,558.33

Total monthly expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,624

Hope my comments help, there are plenty of places where you can reduce to make your outgoings meet your incomings and further places to reduce if you want to throw extra money at your debts.

Good luck.[/QUOTE]
thank you xxx

babie_gurl

Tixy wrote: »

Hi and welcome

Okay as a starting point well done for posting up your budget. This in itself suggest you do want things to change. I notice straight away that you are spending more than you earn. So you need to change that straight away. You need to be committed to changing your past bad spending habits.



You are right - you are spending a horrific amount on food. Seriously all in you should be able to easily manage on £100 per month, maybe set aside £20 for meals at work for the odd treat. These savings alone will mean you can increase your credit card repayments by £270.

What sort of food do you actually buy for home? do you cook or just tend to buy ready meals to heat up. Maybe if you learn to cook this will help you appreciate food more and take up more time to prevent the boredom that means you spend so much money.

Can you do a full list of your debts. list each debt, the total balance, the APR charged and the amount you pay each month. This will show the true picture which should help motivate you to change and help us give you advice.

Good luck with it all. Sorry if the comments are harsh but I think at 30 you need to take a grown up attitute to money and life and start planning ahead.

i think your right i spent the last 5 years working sooooooo hard trying to earn more finaly got to the wage i like only to find most of it is already spent !! on cards what a fool!! but not much more i want a balenced life !!i reward myself with things thats my problem also i spend lots on otheres carnt help it i grew up with not much so i spend to make myself and otheres happy !! madness only when i look at the bills can i now see what im doing !! havent had a holiday in two years but spent £150 on dresses crazy cause where am i wearing them too ??? i have no cash !! !!!! this is eye opening experience
but i know the only one who can change things is me so like you said time to grow up !!
ohh im a shamed to say interest rates on loan i dont know !! i do know i have £1043 to pay
cards again i think at last look i have £12000 ish hate looking at them they make me feal sick !! but i will ring the companies and update !
thanks for all your help !!

babie_gurl

ohhh information overload this is definatly a way of life !! its gonna take me some time to get my head round all this but food is the start !!

gonzo127

lol, just take your time, you have done so well that you have faced up to things and it usualy takes people many number of 'lightbulb moments' before it fully sinks in

its generally advised that you stick around on these boards and occasional update your first thread, as this will become your 'debt free diary' and you can read through it again in a months time and realise just how far (or not depending on the person) you have come and we are always about and willing to give what ever advice we can

blue-bells_2

babie_gurl wrote: »

ohhh information overload this is definatly a way of life !! its gonna take me some time to get my head round all this but food is the start !!

food is a good start! Me and my DH are the same- have spent a shocking amount on food in the past, by eating out and being disoragnised- throwing food away, not planning meals properly when doing supermarket shop etc.

I think what people have said already makes alot of sense- start by setting yourself a budget, shopping around for the best deals/looking on the internet for best deals, planning meals so you know exactly what you need to buy. Also, if you like cooking, maybe try cooking a few meals from scratch in bulk and freezing? Could be useful for the evenings you feel too tired/busy to cook from scratch!

Good luck!