Newbie wants to be debt free looking for help and support

KatrinaC_2

Serialdieter wrote:

Thank you all for your replies.

Kat - you are right electricity is high - but this is the lowest, we swapped recently through uswitch. We don't have gas, this covers heating, cooking etc.

The 2 lots of life assurance are separate, it would cost more to re-apply while I'm so overweight. One covers the mortgage, the other is additional.

The AA policy was renewed in July for 1 year, so will reconsider this next year. My car is not quite 2 years old, so I probably don't need this.

White goods Insurance - this is for the hob and dishwasher, so does work out quite expensive. Need to look at this one.

I use the ISA savings for birthdays / christmas - I find it easier to have it separate.

I sort of split the bills with dh, except I pay electric & phone and he pays food bills, sky, internet, coal, childcare.

We have a healthshield plan which costs £29 per month, but this comes out of my wages before I get them, so isn't included anywhere.

Bits I missed off.

I pay £20 every 5 weeks to have my haircut.
Petrol costs around £35 per month.
Clothes - around £50 per month for me and the children (2)

I need to do a spending diary, cos now I've written it all down, I have no idea where around £300 per month is going. How embarrasing is that.

Jx

Ok - how about making a HUGE effort to cut back on your power use? Turn off the lights, eat cool foods, cook in batches, check your fridge and freezer are on the right setting, turn the heating down by a few degrees (you will never notice) or even leave it off and use a hot water bottle and snuggle instead (very romantic!). If he questions your sudden desire not to leave anything on standby (including TV, video etc) make out that it's bcause you are interested in saving the earth.

I would suggest that you could well do without the AA and the white goods insurance. Instead, put the money into your ISA and save up so that if your washer does breakdown you can afford to have it fixed. Seriously, the AA has only done £15 of work on my R-reg car in three years - less than one year's subscription costs

I'd also maybe look at reducing the amount you spend on Christmas and Birthdays. It's tough with kids but it is possible.

Is the Healthshield plan something like HSA where they refund the costs of your medical costs, or is a BUPA type private policy? If it is the second I'd consider getting rid of it as 9 times out of 10 all you are paying for with private care is slightly faster service and nicer coffee.

Could you get your hair done every 7 weeks instead of 5? That way it'd save £10 per month on average. Or, how about looking for cheap nights at local hairdressers and colleges where they allow (supervised!) trainees and juniors to try their skills?

Is it possible to use the car less? Walking is an excelent way to burn calories. Maybe park a little further from work or the shops?

Finally (honest!)... £50 a month is a lot for clothing. Kids grow out of clothes at a terrifying rate, but what about buying cheaper clothing and/or e-baying the old stuff. As you are losing weight you are also going to need a new wardrobe - again, how about selling off the old clothes to help with the purchase of the new ones?

As for being embarrased for not knowing where that extra £300 went - I bet 99% of people on this board were in that position once. It's taken me nine months (9 months! I made a whole person in less time than that!) to get the hang of accounting for my pennies as well as the tenners. You'd be surprised how much money I used to spend on rubbish and then wonder why I was broke

Kat

steffzi

Slimming World is the lest expensive of all slimming clubs out there and may i say the best!
I really hope you suceed on you DFW journey xx

Serialdieter

Healthshield is like HSA, so pays back dental / opticians / osteopath etc. The £29 covers the whole family so we are getting back much more than it costs.

I'm trying to reduce energy costs. We have a water meter and have recently had some (free) energy saving things to put in the toilets. We do keep lights off but I have a lot of things with little lights on all night, need to switch these off. We don't have any heating on atm, except in ds's room, but he doesn't sleep if he's cold (he's 2).

Unfortunately we live in the countryside so I need a car to get everywhere.

Sorry I feel like I'm making excuses and I'm trying not to, I've taken on board what you've all said and will be starting a spending diary and looking at the other things. Thanks again.

david_hellier

According to my calcs you have £93.92 per week to spend on food, clothes, going out etc. You are not in a position to save when you have debts. If get rid of ISA, Child's Bond, NSPCC, White Goods ins this rises to £106.73. I suggest you get a little book and write this amount in it on a Monday and keep track of what you spend by subtraction. You will stop overspending. Carry forward any you have over to the next week.

The higher figure is calculated as follows:


income weekly monthly
self 1108.00
partner
pension
child ben 122.59
TC 43.55




total 0.00 1274.14
294.03 divided by 4.33

294.03 total weekly income

spend weekly monthly
rent/mortgage 147.50
council tax 78.00
elec 71.00
gas 0.00
water 16.00
secured loans
TV licence 11.99
fines
bt 11.00
pension 39.00
life 5.70
isa 0.00
childs bond 0.00
nspcc 0.00
white g ins 0.00
car tax 13.75
AA 5.66
house ins 9.58
car ins 16.25
slim world 18.42
cahoot 127.81
lloyds 150.00
IF cc 90.00







total 0.00 811.66
187.31 divided by 4.33

187.31 total weekly spend

Start= income - spend = 106.73 per week

Serialdieter

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who has posted. I've started a spending diary, well haven't actually spent anything yet.:D

Jx

jobbingmusician

Serialdieter wrote:

White goods Insurance - this is for the hob and dishwasher, so does work out quite expensive. Need to look at this one.

White goods Insurance is a total waste of money - one of the most expensive insurances going! Seriously, if you save the money you are spending on this insurance for a year or 2, you will find that it pays for a BRAND NEW (perhaps slightly cheaper) version of the thing you are insuring. Stop it now - you can put the payments into a special account if you are worred about your hob or dishwasher breaking.

skirt

Hi hello, glad to hear you are trying to sort stuff out. Seriously the white goods insurance is a rip off. We had it for years but since we became badly in debt we cancelled it. Our washing machine broke last week, and instead of being a complete panic, we bougth a 2nd hand one off tinternet for £60 which is 14 months old and fabulous.