Needing Advice

nowpanicking

wow mum2one! that's loads of advice... will take me a while to go through it all but looks like I've got some things to think about

I'm not a taxi driver tho, I'm an accountant - which makes this even worse should really be able to manage my own money!

I'll reply properly later on... thanks again tho

thestealer

I'm currently battling through a debt management plan so tight budgeting has become a necessary way of life, here are my thoughts. No harshness anywhere intended

nowpanicking wrote: »

Expenditure (bills monthly / general spend 4 weekly)

TV Licence..........................................£ 12.12
Mortgage.............................................£ 516.99
Top up for child trust fund......................£ 10.00
Nice to have but get things sorted first

AOL (broadband and land line) .................£ 14.99
AOL (calls to mobiles etc)........................£ 10.00
Vodafone ..................................................£15.00
BT.....................................................£ 12.00
Seems a huge amount for telephone/internet etc. I'll bet you do better by switching and using the mobile less...hint hint

sky repair plan........................................£ 6.18
Sky........................................................£ 19.50
Sky films...............................................£ 10.00
I hate to say it but when I cut back, Sky was the first casualty. You're digibox will still function perfectly happily with the basic free-to-air channels, with a one off £20 it gets you a few extra channels. I bet you don't miss it, I didn't. When you think about it you're spending nearly £80/month on telephone and tv.

BOS Loan (APR 16.0%; 6 years remaining)..... £218.43
Scottish Power (electric) ..........................£ 80.00
If there's no gas then that's not bad for energy. Might sav a little by switching though.

Car repayment (3 year deal - get a new car in 3 years or
can trade in.... is up September 2011) ..........£175.60
Virgin Credit Card (APR 0% bal £3,834.63) ......£40.00
Council Tax .............................................£101.00
House Insurance .......................................£ 27.68
Seems high to be honest, are you perhaps a bit overinsured? I'll bet you could do better by switching.

Life Insurance ...........................................£30.93
Definately high. If you can persuade the other half to quit the fags, this would likely go down a bit as a nice side effect.

Interest on Overdraft .................................£40.00
Ouch! If you're credit worthiness is ok, I would recommend switching banks for the current acount. Many banks will match whatever borrowing requirements you have currently, some with extra incentives as well. I know it's a pain in the whatsit, but the banks know this so take advantage of their desperation for your business. Even you get a free o/d for a few months, that's a significant saving.

Charity (aiming to cancel this) .......................£ 8.00
Not nice to say, but charity begins at home.

DFS (interest free over 4 years - 3 yrs remaining... £50.27
Car Insurance ...............................................£14.45
TOTAL BILLS (MONTHLY) £1,413.14

General Spend
Petrol..........................................................£180
I'll bet you could cut down, walk to the shops maybe?

Food...........................................................£140
Pretty good, you are obviously a canny shopper, time to apply that same thinking to the rest of the finances

Me spending.................................................£160
OH spending.................................................£160
Coal............................................................£30
One of the things I did was to make contacts with people in the forestry game, they will be able to (or know someone who can) deliver wood to you instead of coal at pretty cheap prices. You might have to do some chopping but hey, it's good for the soul. Wood fires smell better too

TOTAL GENERAL SPEND (4 WEEKLY) £670

Annual Spends
Christmas/Birthdays......................................£1,010
Ouch...see 'charity'.

Car Tax.......................................................£132
Professional Subs...........................................£189
Car Service...................................................£120
Shop around, make friends with your local mechanic. I good local garage is worth their weight in gold, not only will you save money on servicing but if something goes wrong you have competatively priced help on the doorstep. By the way, you are probably aware but getting servicing done locally doesn't affect any warranties provided they use approved parts...they will.

£1,451

Summary for Year
Income £28,677
Bills (£16,958)
General (£8,710)
Annual (£1,451)
left £1,558

As I said any advice would be appreciated... please don't be too harsh

I would estimate you could comfortably save £80 to £100 per month without even really trying.

Good luck.

nowpanicking

Thanks to thestealer for the advice... I didn't realise you could switch current accounts with an overdraft (it's currently at £3,700)... this would definitely save me money though as the monthly charges are so much! Could then put the extra towards actually paying off the overdraft which would be good.

I really love my tv so ditching sky would be pretty painful - I'm going to have a look to see what channels you get through freeview and see if I can make the plunge... quite a lot of people on this thread have suggested ditching it tho!

I've already written to the charity so that's stopping; will cancel the top up to the child tax credit and look at insurances. Biggest thing for me though is sticking within my budget. That's been my downfall in the past - I get 3 weeks into the pay month then get fed up and end up splurging on rubbish :mad: determined this month tho!!

thestealer

nowpanicking wrote: »

Thanks to thestealer for the advice... I didn't realise you could switch current accounts with an overdraft (it's currently at £3,700)... this would definitely save me money though as the monthly charges are so much! Could then put the extra towards actually paying off the overdraft which would be good.

Oh yeah, do a bit of research, hit the bank you like the look of, tell them you wish to switch current accounts but you currently have an o/d of £xxxx...what can you do for me? Watch them fall over themselves for you. There's an article on MSE's main site somewhere. I think Alliance and Leicester were offering a free o/d for a bit and then £100 if you let them switch your direct debits, don't quote me on that though, they are in the process of changing to Santander so the offers might be different now.

nowpanicking wrote: »

I get 3 weeks into the pay month then get fed up and end up splurging on rubbish :mad: determined this month tho!!

I was/am exactly the same, this is what worked for me (although I stress this probably isn't for everybody). Work out a weekly budget you can afford and take that amount of CASH out from the hole-in-th-wall each Sunday (or whatever day suits you) and keep all your spending to that cash pot. Food, clothes, petrol, cleaning products...everything. It's hard but it is possible.

Just the fact it's a visbible, physical entity helps reign in the spending and if you get to the end of the week and there's nothing left...tough! You'd be amazed how resourceful you are when you need to be.

mum2one

nowpanicking wrote: »

wow mum2one! that's loads of advice... will take me a while to go through it all but looks like I've got some things to think about

I'm not a taxi driver tho, I'm an accountant - which makes this even worse should really be able to manage my own money!

I'll reply properly later on... thanks again tho

Sorry v posh profession, just guessing with the petrol etc..... could of done with you yesterday, to do my accounting question on OU exam, aiming for BA Hons Business, level 2 business exam, - shall we say very quietly forgot to do the accounting section, but bluffed the assisgnment and still got 60%....

I always think its easier to manage other peoples money, not your own, I can dish out advice and my thoughts when it comes ro other peoples SOAs etc, but mine, no I like my holidays which are my downfall, hence the scenoic route xx

nowpanicking

mum2one wrote: »

Sorry v posh profession, just guessing with the petrol etc..... could of done with you yesterday, to do my accounting question on OU exam, aiming for BA Hons Business, level 2 business exam, - shall we say very quietly forgot to do the accounting section, but bluffed the assisgnment and still got 60%....

I always think its easier to manage other peoples money, not your own, I can dish out advice and my thoughts when it comes ro other peoples SOAs etc, but mine, no I like my holidays which are my downfall, hence the scenoic route xx

nah, not posh at all - and well done on your exam, I'd be pretty pleased with 60%

have to ask, what's the scenic route? sorry if it's obvious!!

Anyway - here's what I'm intending on doing over the next wee while: -

- [STRIKE]written letter cancelling charity donation[/STRIKE]
- cancel child tax top up (for now anyway)
- cancel sky (this is going to be painful but I'll see how we get on)
- reduce my 4 weekly spending by £60
- reduce petrol budget by £20 per 4 weeks
- look at ideas for reducing christmas/birthday pressie budget

That's a few to start me off anyway - and put all spare back towards paying off the overdraft...

mum2one

nowpanicking wrote: »

nah, not posh at all - and well done on your exam, I'd be pretty pleased with 60%

have to ask, what's the scenic route? sorry if it's obvious!!

Anyway - here's what I'm intending on doing over the next wee while: -

- [STRIKE]written letter cancelling charity donation[/STRIKE] - thats one down, I know its hard, but theres always the future
- cancel child tax top up (for now anyway) - again,once your back up and running your be back up in a position to restart it
- cancel sky (this is going to be painful but I'll see how we get on) - as long as your out of the 12 month contract, they may come up with some super dooper offer to keep you, your still get a wack of digital channels
- reduce my 4 weekly spending by £60 - that may be hard going, maybe for the 1st month do a small drop, say £20, but keep a spending diary to see where the money is going, so by month 2, then go to £60, cold turkey.
Without being nosey has OH reduced his "money" as well
- reduce petrol budget by £20 per 4 weeks - if that doesn't happen don't knock urself, aim for better fuel consumption

- don't drive with windows open -
- don't let the tank go below 1/4, suck up all the dirt
- use loyalty card, sainsburys, morrisons (petrol only), and Tesco
- Drive in the highest gear that you can

- look at ideas for reducing christmas/birthday pressie budget
Def agree with that one

That's a few to start me off anyway - and put all spare back towards paying off the overdraft...

The accounting tma I got 60 on, don't get the exam results to Aug/Sept...... so no finger nails left, can go one way or the other just got to hope I pass...

Just put a few thoughts re thelist, just remember baby steps, and the hare and tortoise fable..... don't wear yourself out trying to cut 1001 things in one go, better to have little achievements, than all failures.

"The scenic route", basically bone ideal route, not quite that bad, its the I still need a life, bar my loan which is fixed finish, do pay back more, could be 50% stricter and maybe pay £50 extra a month off, but I need a life....... hense the nickname senic route!!

Re xmas prezzies just popped links to 2 xmas threads, they work side by side, one is money making, the other santas challenge, where we have a challenge (set by yours truly), with the aim to spread christmas planning and expenditure over the year. Its as much a gossip thread, but we all have saved a fortune.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/33793683#Comment_33793683

Money making thread

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2160839=

Money spending - santas challenges

What I do with bdays and xmas, set up a spreadsheet with the persons name and maximum spend, very rarely give vouchers or money, as buy cheaper.

Our house we've got 5 pay and go phones, minimumtop up £25 a month, then my mobile internet is pay and go, so make sure all top ups are done via Boots, 4p back in the £1.00, sometimes theres special offers, so come Jan sale - try to wait to 75% sale day, and bulk buy, so they get what there given,

If a family has children, now said lets just buy for the kids, most people have been great, one friend said thank heck for that, its what I have wanted to do for the last couple of yrs but wasn't brave enough to say it.

My main tip is buy early, look at sales, internet, I use ebay, and also a company called Halfcost, basically its like Studio cards etc, and Betterware, it has overstocks etc, you pay a fraction of the price and get some good presents. Sometimes theres nothing, others could spend a fortune.
if you do an order, and there is no discount applied to the account - enter FF15 gets another 10% off.

Pop a bday, xmas list and budget and sure theres corners can be cut.

Handmade presents - I use some small baskets and make mini hampers, (we have 2 eldery men by us), so I make a basket, mini jams, mini xmas pud, biscuits, mini whisky, etc, and wrap in cello wrap, inc the whisky, costs £4, but looks more expensive. xx

nowpanicking

Hiya... just a wee update on how I'm getting on. Managed my first weekly spending challenge and was within budget

nowpanicking wrote: »

- [STRIKE]written letter cancelling charity donation[/STRIKE]
- cancel child tax top up (for now anyway)
- cancel sky (this is going to be painful but I'll see how we get on)
- reduce my 4 weekly spending by £60
- reduce petrol budget by £20 per 4 weeks
- look at ideas for reducing christmas/birthday pressie budget

The list is still unchanged... I'm going to phone sky tomorrow, and I've started spending less each week... I'll score it off the list at the end of the month if I've managed!

Thanks mum2one for the christmas pressie tips, will def check out the links.

p.s. haven't cut OH spending budget yet, I'll see how I get on with mine first

nowpanicking

Hiya

Just another update... think this is keeping me focussed!! Phoned sky to cancel and they've cut my bill for 6 months so only £10 per month until December which is cool.

I've been trying to dig out the sky repair plan paperwork so that I can cancel that but can't find it. What will happen if I just cancel the direct debit? Will I get charges from the bank?

Phoning to cancel child tax credit top up tomorrow.

Two and a bit weeks until pay day and still feeling fairly positive altho I think OH has spent his budget already

On the plus had a really good day out with family yesterday and hardly spent anything - took a bottle of juice along with us so didn't need to buy any... this is def a change for me which is good

mum2one

thats gd news re sky reduction, as for the service plan, on your bank statement there may be a reference number, or ring sky and ask them for the details.

You do need to motify them as well as the bank, just a thought are you tied into a 12 month repair plan?

Sounds like a good day out yesterday, and u had glorious weather xx