How can we cut back!?

stephbond89

Hi! I am new to this site, and looking for LOTS of advice!!

I am currently pregnant, and looking at our bills and income etc to try and look how we can save some money! We are always skint which gets me and my husband down alot! So any advice would be fab!

Ok so I don't work - not through lack of trying trust me, I was job hunting for 2 years with no sucess, and now I am pregnant, I am not looking as maternity pay wouldn't be given to me, and I'd be leaving again in 3 months!!
My husband works full time, and gets a great wage for one person, he earns after tax between £1250 and £1400, but we use an average of £1300, sometimes it's more sometimes less. We get no benefits or extra income of any kind.

Here is a list of our bills:
Rent: £405
Council Tax: £71 (but we owe around £600 in arrears so I am paying £100 a month to them even though they want more!)
Car Insurance: £124.80 (dont be mistaken we have a great car, it's a 15 year old banger, bt my husband had an accident 2 years ago and is only 22 which makes it very high!)
Petrol/Travel Expenses: £80-£100
Loan payment: £100
2 mobile phones and mobile internet: £110 (these are contracts and cannot be cut down until next year! Plus all are essential and the lowest they can be!)
TV/Internet/Phone: £60
Gas and Electric: £95
Water: £36
Overdraft payment (inc interest): £40
TV Licence: £36
Food Bill: £100
Extras: £50 (this is for unexpected rises in bills)

Total: £1346

As you can see, on approximately 4-6 months, this takes up our WHOLE income, and on some months, it doesnt exceeds the income, meaning we have to lower our food bill.

We will get £20 a week child benefit come september and around £30 a week in Child Tax Credits, not much really, but this will cover the things we need for the child.

We don't spend money on extras, and will only buy ourselves luxeries when we have extra income (so the rare month our income is over £1400), I dye my own hair, but haven't done in the last 6 months as I can not afford it plus I want to grow it out! And we very rarely treat ourselves to a night out or meal!!!

Many people on this income can afford to go out and spoil themselves a little, but we cannot! On top of this we also have £10,000 of debt, but we cannot afford the £100+ a month for a debt management company, so I am trying to pay our creditors ourselves! The loan we have at present ends in August, so that will be an extra £100 in our pocket, but this is also the month before our baby is born, and so liklihood is, we will need another loan from them for bits and arrears etc! Or even a new car if our car dies (which is why the loan was taken out in the first place!).

None of the bills above can be lowered, we owe money to our gas and electric company otherwise our bills would be less for that, but only by abour £10 a month less!!

I am fed up of reading about people who spend £200 a month on holidays and savings, £120 a month on having their hair done, £50 a month on clothes £50 a month on make up, and wonder why they have no money left over, when we really do not spend on luxeries, yet still struggle to pay the bills. We get basic food items (we buy the cheapest of the cheap food we can and neither of us smoke, and I dont drink, my husband drinks around 4 cans of lager a week, which cost us £3 as he buys the cheap lager, and also cuts it out if we cannot afford it).

Does anyone have any ideas of how we could improve our situation??? Of anything we can do, or of any benefits which may help us??? We have applied numerous times for council tax benefit housing benefit income support, I cant even get job seekers allowance when looking for a job!

Any advice would be really helpful!!!!!!

Soubrette

Hi steph, it would be worth posting this in the debt free wannabe section of this board.

Also if you do your statement of affairs using this link:

http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

Good luck

Sou

Lokolo

TV licence is £36 a month...?

You need to do a proper SOA

http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

Here's the link, it covers everything. It also has a debt thing at the bottom. Fill it in and repost it. It has a special MSE format.

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Car insurance can easily be cut down. I am 21 with 0 NCs and got insurance for £599 for the year. (unless its both of you insured?)

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TV Internet and Phone = £60!?

Virgin Media on XXL, XL and XL is only £65 a month!!! Who on God's earth are you with? And what package?

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Overdraft, once this is paid off you are saving yourself £36 a month. What's the amount owed?

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The loan we have at present ends in August, so that will be an extra £100 in our pocket, but this is also the month before our baby is born, and so liklihood is, we will need another loan from them for bits and arrears etc! Or even a new car if our car dies (which is why the loan was taken out in the first place!).

This is your problem. You are getting into debt for things you don't need to. This is costing you more and more.

bryanb

TV licence £36?

stephbond89

yes my TV license is £36 a month for the next 4 months as we set it up, and then the bank kept on sending back the direct debit as they didnt have the right information or something stupid like that lol- and now it's £36 until August when it goes down to £12.50 a month.

Yes our car insurance is £124.80 for one person, and trust me we have tried to change it to get a cheaper deal, and this is the cheapest we can get it. It is because my husband wrote off a car 2 years ago, causing alot of damage, which has to be declared on the car insurance, also we live in a pretty dodgy area where our car is parked on a street, as there is no private parking- all of this is taken into account. my parents in only £28 a month, i know poeple who are like my husband who have it for £70 a month, but its all a mix of his job (a security guard which makes it much mroe expensive), and where we live, as well as his accident and age. Just one of those things, trust me we have tried to lower it.

And yes £60 a month for TV Phone and Net...with Virgin, as you said it's £65 for the highest package with them, we have the highest TV, the medium internet and lowest phone, as well as the phone line (£11 on top of the virgin bill), which takes it to £56 a month, and we add £4 a month for phone charges which we usually spend, sometimes we don't, but its an average. Again another thing we cannot lower, we use all the internet we have, the phone is the lowest package, and without the XXL package of TV we have to pay extra for the on demand services we use a lot, and it doesnt lower the price by enough to make it worth it.

The overdraft is an ongoing thing, its a payment arrangement, it's for 6 months at a time, but after 6 months they put the overdraft back up (regardless what I say apparently as we owe money in charges), so it goes on. It's £40 a month until October, which will take the overdraft to £345, and then that either is completely taken off, which would mean £345 been taken out in the one month, or another arrangement of £40 a month been set up until its all down, so long as we get no more charges, whcih we shouldn't.

daveyjp

Here is a list of our bills:
Rent: £405 - ESSENTIAL
Council Tax: £71 (but we owe around £600 in arrears so I am paying £100 a month to them even though they want more!) - ESSENTIAL
Car Insurance: £124.80 (dont be mistaken we have a great car, it's a 15 year old banger, bt my husband had an accident 2 years ago and is only 22 which makes it very high!) - NONE ESSENTIAL SELL THE CAR
Petrol/Travel Expenses: £80-£100 - TRAVEL CARDS ARE CHEAPER
Loan payment: £100 - ESSENTIAL
2 mobile phones and mobile internet: £110 (these are contracts and cannot be cut down until next year! Plus all are essential and the lowest they can be!) - THIS IS A LUXURY. A PAYG WILL DO THE JOB - DUMP MOBILE INTERNET
TV/Internet/Phone: £60 - DUMP TV AND INTERNET - GO TO FREEVFIEW AND INTERNET IS FREE AT THE LIBRARY
Gas and Electric: £95 - ESSENTIAL, BUT CHECK TARRIFFS
Water: £36 - ESSENTIAL - METER MAY BE CHEAPER
Overdraft payment (inc interest): £40 - NIL IF YOU SORT OTHER ITEMS
TV Licence: £36 - THIS IS QUARTERLY
Food Bill: £100 - ESSENTIAL
Extras: £50 (this is for unexpected rises in bills)

Total: £1346

TOTAL LESS THAN £1000.

This looks tough, but it needs to be. Unless you find a way of increasing your income dramatically things could quickly get much worse once the baby arrives.

Take steps now and you will benefit in a few years time.

20 years ago I went to see a business who couldn't afford rent - when I looked at the statements they had three payements to BMW finance. I asked about these and they were for the ESSENTIAL cars for the directors. The rent was £600 a month, the cars were £2,000 a month. They refused to get rid of the cars and the business failed - an ESSENTIAL item cost two director's their homes.

opinions4u

I replied to a different thread recently with these ideas:

1) Register with survey sites like www.valuedopinions.co.uk and www.pureprofile.com to earn a modest amount extra.
2) Food shop with a friend and split the bogof offers between yourselves.
3) Food shop after you've eaten, never before - you'll spend 20% less. Economy brands for certain things too!
4) Are there any journeys where you can walk instead of drive?
5) Can you car share anywhere?
6) Can you park for cheaper/free at work?
7) Can you give up crisps ?
8) Do you collect all the loyalty points for shopping / petrol you can (e.g. Tesco, Nectar, Boots, AirMiles etc)?
9) Check out www.mysupermarket.com prior to shopping and work out who has the best offers on that week for what you need.
10) Use www.petrolprices.com to identify the cheapest place to buy petrol when you do need it.
11) Take a sandwich to work for lunch.
12) Give up coffee - it's no good for you any way.
13) Review your mortgage. Is there a cheaper way of operating it?
14) Review your insurances. Do you need them all? Are there elements of cover you don't need?
15) Don't buy magazines, newspapers, Starbucks coffee, sweets, fizzy drinks etc.
16) Just drink tap water.
17) Don't be afraid to ask parents for help - they can be amazing at times.
18) Make sure lights are turned off, taps don't drip and wear a jumper instead of turning the heating on.
19) Take showers instead of baths.
20) Print off vouchers from this site prior to shopping.
21) Check out the freebies at Hot UK Deals each day. It might only be a sample of washing powder or a handful of tea bags, but it's something for nothing.
22) Ask for overtime / a rise at work!
23) Would parents have the kids one night a week (and pay to feed them )?
24) Budget for everything and stick to the budget! Try to spend in a way that stops the overdraft increasing.
25) Wash up and don't use the dishwasher. Or at least make sure the dishwasher is full!
26) Only put full loads in the washing machine.
27) Dry clothes naturally, don't use the tumble dryer.
28) Use the microwave to cook rather than the oven - especially if it's food for one!
29) Review your bank account - how much does your overdraft cost you and can this be reduced?
30) Turn the telly off, don't leave it on standby.
31) What do you pay monthly for - Sky? Mobile phone? Gym? Are these essential? My stepson reduced his mobile phone contract from £35 a month to £8 a month - he uses it less but sometimes needs must.
32) Buy yellow sticker stuff for tonight's meal from the supermarket ... my local Somerfield used to sell off a whole rotisserie chicken for 10p in the 15 minutes prior to closing!
33) Register with www.topcashback.co.uk and review your gas and electricity deals. See if you can get a cheaper deal and a decent cashback (you could get up to £80) for changing supplier. Use this to reduce debt.

They might not all be appropriate to you, but some will help!

(for me, your phone contracts are ridiculous and you really need to make a call to try and negotiate down - and adjust your use to make sure that you are within the contract price and don't have to pay extra. In future, could one of you have a PAYG and the other make all the calls on contract?).

I'm no tax credit expert, but does your other half qualify for Working Tax Credit?

In future, I'd be reluctant to sign a contract for anything. These things can tie you in knots if your circumstances change!

You might get a lot of support posting on Debt-free Wannabe part of the forum.

Lokolo

stephbond89 wrote: »

And yes £60 a month for TV Phone and Net...with Virgin, as you said it's £65 for the highest package with them, we have the highest TV, the medium internet and lowest phone, as well as the phone line (£11 on top of the virgin bill), which takes it to £56 a month, and we add £4 a month for phone charges which we usually spend, sometimes we don't, but its an average. Again another thing we cannot lower, we use all the internet we have, the phone is the lowest package, and without the XXL package of TV we have to pay extra for the on demand services we use a lot, and it doesnt lower the price by enough to make it worth it.

You keep saying its a necessity when its not.

http://allyours.virginmedia.com/html/tv/channels/index.html

Look there. The difference between L and XL is very little. These extra channels are costing you an extra £7 a month. The only big differences I can see are MTV and the HD channels.

If you want to budget you'll cut this down.

I don't have Virgin Media TV because I can't afford it. I watch Freeview. I can get most on demand stuff on my internet anyway.

What On Demand services do you need to spend so much on your television?

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Just found the on demand thing you were on about; TV Choice On Demand is packed with the best series from Channel 4, BBC, ITV, HBO, Warner Bros, MTV, Virgin 1, Living and Bravo. Watch them whenever you like - a whole series back to back, or one episode at a time. Many available in HD.

OK. Now Channel4 and BBC are available on others. ITV you can watch on the net as catchup. You seriously want to spend £7 a month extra for HBO, Warner Bros, MTV, Virgin 1, Living and Bravo?

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The loan, overdraft and TV licence are going when you have the baby. So thats an extra £100 + £40 + £24 (£164) a month.

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£95 a month on gas and electric. House I was in last year (5 bedroom house) was £125 a month for both electric and gas. I suspect you can cut down here too. Start record your meter readings and put them into an excel spreadsheet. Then you can do a comparison from your current provider to others.

stephbond89

Lol sorry but I dont agree at all with the post by daveyjp...
sorry but our car is essential. I wish it wasn't but it is. My husband works 10 miles from home, and works from 6pm til 8am, and is not on the bus route, he does own a bicycle, but the only way to his work is along a dual carriageway, where you cannot go on a bike, or should I say where its not safe to go on a bike. Although he is considering it. Also where we live it is difficult to get buses anywhere as the only bus goes direct to the town centre and is £2 each way, so thats £4 just for us to get TO town around £6 return for us both.

The mobile internet is only a small proportion of the bill, it's £30 a month and actually also essential for my husband, another thing I wish we didnt have to have, the rest goes on 2 phone bills, which are £40 each, but soon going down to £35 each as I have now set up Direct Debits so paying £5 less on each bill a month! But this is the least the bills are, I have tried lowering mine, but I have lowered it to the least it can be now, mine is actually £25 a month, and my husbands is more, as his was bigger when we bought it and we can only lower it by so much every 6 months, so I cannot lower it any mroe until next year now!!! Again essential as we have no free minutes on the house phone, plus my husbands is also a works phone.

Internet may be free at the library, but considering the library is only open certain days and certain times, and you only get an hour each day, plus comsidering its a bus ride (I cannot walk 8 miles round trip everyday), I do reviews online to make a little extra cash every couple of months, so i need the net everyday. We would have freeview and be happy with it, but we're in a 12 month contract not ending until next year.

My TV licence is monthly, as I said I am paying £36 a month until October (so may, june, july etc) then it goes down to £12.50. Also my overdraft was put on by my bank, not me, I didnt want it, but I had to have it or I had to pay £1000 to the bank in charges. It wasn't something I wanted- and I am stuck with it until at least October.

I cannot come out of my gas and electric tariff until what I owe is payed off, we owe £350, which is been paid monthly. If we could find £350 we would pay it off and change suppliers, although British Gas is apparently the cheapest around which is who we are with.

You may not agree the car is essential, but without it, the simple fact of the matter would be, my husband would lose his job and then we'd have no money coming in. We have thought long and hard about getting rid of the car, but there was just no other way of him getting to work, his hours are too difficult, buses just don't go past his work, or anywhere near his work for that matter, and it is too dangerous to cycle (plus it would take him 2 hours to get there at an average speed of 5mph- i dont know how quick bikes are!), and way too far to walk.

Yes the TV is not essential, but we are tied into a contract, as with alot of the things we have which is the problme, the phones are on contract until November too. As is the mobile net, to cancel them I would need to find a good £1000 to pay them all off first!!!!

stephbond89

Again, I keep trying to get across we are in contracts for all INternet TV and phones until next year. And our internet is not fast enough to watch the on demand things online, but no your right this isnt essential, and once the contract ends it will go, we will cut down the package to L or even M, considering we tend to watch the normal channels and on demand again due to husbands job.

But its the contracts whihc get us. Nothing can be changed on there until I think it's October.

Lokolo

Although I sure the car is essential, but you are saying most things on your statement are essential when they are not.

How far into your VM contract are you?

Your internet is fine to watch things online. http://www.speedtest.net/ Go there. If its less than mine, then you might have a point. Mine is showing as 3mbit currently. We have 2 people on the xbox and I am streaming TV. I had L VM broadband last year. We had 5 of us all using the internet (gaming, watching TV, browsing) and it was fine.

You need to get a grip on what actually is essential. I am 5.5 miles from work. I do not spend anything near £80-£100 a month on petrol. If I don't go home (150 mile round trip) this will be around £30-45 a month. Where on earth are you going with spending that much on petrol?