Update and help from you guys needed!

lil'H

Hello all!
Ok I have been a DFW nerd for a couple of months now and am feeling so much better about being in control of my finances, however I seem to have stopped making headway on my repayments now! Current situation is that I'm £1253.22 in debt (if you take of my ISA savings which I'm not spending but simply keeping to earn interest on as my debts are all interest free. I have an overdraft of £1500 at 0%, which currently stands at £1116.45 and a credit card balance of £1100, which is in the process of being transferred to MBNA as the 0% deal is nearly up. Will be getting 0% on new card with no fee, for 12 months, and a credit limit of £5000. Do I clear my overdraft onto this, or leave it where it is?

Also in a few weeks, DS starts school and leaves nursery so outgoings and income are going to change significantly, so here is my new budget I am planning to use, any suggestions?

Income: 1575.13 pcm including all entitlements to tax credits etc etc

Outgoings:
Rent - £625
Gas - £60 (paying off arrears which should soon be gone)
Electric - £24 (as above)
Water - £13
Car Insurance - £19.84
Contents Insurance £9.05
Health insurance - £6.95 (covers cancers which run in my family, and all premiums are paid back after 15 years so also saving policy for my son_
NTL phone - £11 (including 24 hour uk landline calls)
Broadband, NTL - £10
O2 - £35 (a lot but I use all the minutes and calculated this would cost around £250 on pay as you go a month)
TV Lisence - £11.33
MOT & Repairs - £20
Car Tax - £10.08
Food - £195 (am working hard on cutting this)
Petrol - £75
Masters expenses - £45
Cash Spends (inc birthdays etc) - £195
Babysitter - £43 (one night out a month)

Debt repayments - £156

I have tried cutting cash spends down, but seem to struggle here, and I'd sooner have a more realistic bugdget that fail everyweek, for me I get more hyped up when I save a pound off it than I would if I had a tighter budget and was feeling under pressure form it. I also quidco and pigsback everything and have saved £30 in a couple of weeks from there. Have stuff on ebay and amazon which I don't count into income, goes straight onto credit card.

So you wise and wonderful lot what do you think? :rolleyes:

lil'H

Smashing

What exactly is included in cash spends? Are you keeping a spending diary to see where you could cut down?

tawnyowls

What's the Masters expenses?

lil'H

tawnyowls wrote:

What's the Masters expenses?

Hey tawnyowls, the masters expenses are for my course, I am studying an MA in London, so they are for the once a week train fare plus photocopying, and book purchases. I'm allowing £15 a week, and the train fare should be around £7 (still got to confirm this) allowin £8 towards other costs. Books are all over £15 and hoping to get as many as possible from uni library but it is unavoidable that I'll have to buy some. Also photocopying and printing costs are unavoidable when I'm needing to do research. Hope that explains!

lil'H

lil'H

Smashing wrote:

What exactly is included in cash spends? Are you keeping a spending diary to see where you could cut down?

Not keeping a spending diary but will start. expample for last coupple of weeks cash spends included:
Treat for DS of meal out
Postage costs for amazon selling (which obviously means I've made extra money)
Ciggarettes - please feel free to have a go I need it! (Have switched to cheaper brand though)
New pants and socks for DS
Tester pots for lounge, Landlords are paying for actual paints though so not having to fork out on that. (That waw £16 alone)


Generally it includes all activities for DS, clothes for both of us, drinks on my one night out per month etc etc However I keep finging unexpected things crop up far to reguarly, such as the tester pots!

Will start a spending diary on Monday (I work my finances Mon-Mon, adn see how I do!) Most weeks I am under anything up to £10, though usually around a fiver.

david_hellier

Hi,

You seem to be doing ok. According to my calculations you have £133.83 per week to spend on anything you like including food, birthdays etc.

I suggest you write this in a debt diary on a Monday and subtract what you spend through the week. If you have any over, carry it to the next week in your book. Ignore your bank balance. I have included an amount to go against your od. If you are paying interest on this, use your savings to pay it off.

Good luck.
The calcs are as follows:



income weekly monthly
self 1575.17
partner







total 0.00 1575.17
363.50 divided by 4.33

363.50 total weekly income

spend weekly monthly
rent/mortgage 625.00
council tax
elec 24.00
gas 60.00
water 13.00
secured loans
TV licence 11.33
fines
car ins 19.84
contents 9.05
health 6.95
ntl 11.00
bb 10.00
mob 35.00
mot 20.00
car tax 10.08
petrol 75.00
masters 45.00
od reduce 20.00











total 0.00 995.25
229.67 divided by 4.33

229.67 total weekly spend

Start= income - spend = 133.83 per week

david_hellier

Sorry,

Missed the £156 debt repayments. This takes your figure down to £97.83. Also you did not mention council tax?



income weekly monthly
self 1575.17
partner







total 0.00 1575.17
363.50 divided by 4.33

363.50 total weekly income

spend weekly monthly
rent/mortgage 625.00
council tax
elec 24.00
gas 60.00
water 13.00
secured loans
TV licence 11.33
fines
car ins 19.84
contents 9.05
health 6.95
ntl 11.00
bb 10.00
mob 35.00
mot 20.00
car tax 10.08
petrol 75.00
masters 45.00
od reduce 20.00
debts 156.00










total 0.00 1151.25
265.67 divided by 4.33

265.67 total weekly spend

Start= income - spend = 97.83 per week

lil'H

Thank you David, I'm definately going to start a diary, at the moment I've been taking out my left over moeny out of the bank each week, adn then only using cash, so that I can keep track of spending, if there is say ten pound left at the end of that week i take ten pound less out the next week. On this new budget I was going to take out £100 each week, which would leave me with £33.83 to pay credit card. Will definately keep a diary though, as I can't reduce the cash spends at the moment as I only have a vague idea where they are going!

lil'H

llh189

Can I come and baby sit for you, £43 per month for one night is heaps?

lil'H

llh189 wrote:

Can I come and baby sit for you, £43 per month for one night is heaps?

:rotfl: it's daylight robbery! They charge £7 an hour, and I have one big clubbing night a month, so usually £42 or so. COuld et a 14/15year old for £5 an hour, but prefer to use the nursery staff who my DS knows well, and I trust. He's only 4 and I wouldn't have a good night out with some one else!

lil'H

lil'H

david_hellier wrote:

Sorry,

Missed the £156 debt repayments. This takes your figure down to £97.83. Also you did not mention council tax?

Start= income - spend = 97.83 per week

They £156 is not a minimum debt repayment but what I have allocated to put aside, hence taking out the £100 a week. Will recheck my figures but from what your saying I seem to have miscalculated by £2.17 a week!
I currently do not have to pay council tax, but that may be changing again soon, will post SOA every few months as situation changes!