Help!!

andys15

bluesdevil wrote: »

I know the shopping is too much, its the result of us both working shifts and never planning meals etc, we are in supermarkets every day.

If i thought i could pay that back in 15 months ... i would be one happy man.

Cheers!

ok it looks like your loan is with natwest. 24000 over 15months is £1717 per month, as you already pay £404 you need to find £1313, which your surplus plus reduction of shopping is manageable. you will also save over £9000 in interest. Or just do it over 2 years and have a little more money each month. 7 years going by you soa is silly.

pixiechick_2

I think you would definitely benefit from meal planning and only ONE supermarket shop per week - it's too easy to buy extra things that you don't need if you keep 'popping in'. I know - I've got the t -shirt!!!

bluesdevil

andys15 wrote: »

ok it looks like your loan is with natwest. 24000 over 15months is £1717 per month, as you already pay £404 you need to find £1313, which your surplus plus reduction of shopping is manageable. you will also save over £9000 in interest. Or just do it over 2 years and have a little more money each month. 7 years going by you soa is silly.

Loan is with RBS

If we can nail the savings ( mobile, shopping, utilities ) im sure we can do this.

also..

Just noticed that my soa hasn't included the 1600 quid on plastic. yet more embarassment. It's on a zero percent card.

3Dogs

You will need to check the terms of your loan agreement to see if you will still be charged the same over a lesser period or whether you can do it and save interest

bluesdevil

pixiechick wrote: »

I think you would definitely benefit from meal planning and only ONE supermarket shop per week - it's too easy to buy extra things that you don't need if you keep 'popping in'. I know - I've got the t -shirt!!!

Ha... tshirt.. video game.... dvd.

Its a hellish cycle to break.

I feel gut sick at the way we have run our finances. Like has been pointed out, we SHOULD have a blimmin nice surplus every month to kill the debt and if anything the soa has been a rude awakening for me as i can assure you we dont have that surplus, where it goes I dont know as its not spending we 'plan'.

gonzo127

if supermarket shopping is the problem do your supermarket shopping ONLINE

yes you might have to pay for delivery every now and then (when you cant get the e voucher codes) however at least you will have to sit down and go through what you actually need - i do this and it only takes me (and this is honest i have timed it) 128 seconds to walk to the door of our local tescos, however i find this really makes massive savings on our shopping each week, you also end up planning your meals as a consiquence, and once you have done it 3-4 times it will only take you roughly 20-30 mins to do your weeks shopping

gonzo127

bluesdevil wrote: »

Ha... tshirt.. video game.... dvd.

Its a hellish cycle to break.

I feel gut sick at the way we have run our finances. Like has been pointed out, we SHOULD have a blimmin nice surplus every month to kill the debt and if anything the soa has been a rude awakening for me as i can assure you we dont have that surplus, where it goes I dont know as its not spending we 'plan'.

two words here

SPENDING DIARY

get a note pad and write down EVERYTHING you buy during the course of a month (ok if its somethign with lots of items such as a weekly grocerie shops just put weekly shop) but for anything un-usual mark it down and the value, at the end of the month look at what you have spent it on and it might help you and your partner think a bit more the next time you go

andys15

bluesdevil wrote: »

Loan is with RBS

If we can nail the savings ( mobile, shopping, utilities ) im sure we can do this.

also..

Just noticed that my soa hasn't included the 1600 quid on plastic. yet more embarassment. It's on a zero percent card.

This is what I do to the penny. Today is payday, I have £5422.17 coming in, and all my outgoings equal £4614.66. Outgoings include £2000 debt repayment, £550 holiday in 99 days, 1 month car tax (put away 1/12th each month). Anyway I am then left with £807.51, which I beak down into weeks and thats to get food,petrol etc etc. It can be quite depressing seeing £5422 going in and sometimes eating 9p noodles, but thats life and there is an end in sight. 99 days will be sat on beach in barbados in £8000 less debt.

bluesdevil

the problem is ... for days that i dont take homemade meals to work, maybe 3 out of the 5 for example, I nip into tesco en route to work and buy paper ( quid ) bag of salad ( 1.19 ) pack of turky ( 1.59 ) roll ( .30p ) mints ( .52p ) and... probably a magazine one of those days ( about 3 quid ) ... so in a week eating at work will cost me... £16.80... thats just madness.

Thats actually the first time ive totted up the cost of my 'healthy' lunch.

pixiechick_2

bluesdevil wrote: »

Ha... tshirt.. video game.... dvd.

Its a hellish cycle to break.

I feel gut sick at the way we have run our finances. Like has been pointed out, we SHOULD have a blimmin nice surplus every month to kill the debt and if anything the soa has been a rude awakening for me as i can assure you we dont have that surplus, where it goes I dont know as its not spending we 'plan'.

That's the trouble with 'popping' to the shop...you went in for a t-shirt and came out with the video game & DVD!! Especially if they were on 'Special Offer'.

Joking aside, the good thing about all this is that it seems like you've had your 'light bulb moment'. Learn from the experiences and advice of others on here. You're certainly in a stronger financial position that a lot of us, so now you need to learn to plan and do a spending diary - find out where that tenner went that you got out of the ATM this morning.