Female on a mission to being DF

gilly1964

I have been reading the boards for several months and have picked up several tips - so thank you to all :A

I have decided today to get on track with the outstanding debts - the main ones being credit cards and an offset mortgage which is about £3000 behind where it should be :eek: and part endownment which won't meet its expected but have been refused compensation.

Income
Me 2250
OH 1900

Outgoings
Credit Card 1 200pm @4.9% 499.07 left
Credit Card 2 170pm @0% end 05/11 726.00 left

Ex Wife Maintenance 450
Mortgage 550
Gas 64
Elec 69
Water Rates 40.74
Telephone/Internet 45
Mobile Phone 35
Council Tax 112
TV Licence 11.37
Car Insurance 48.06
House Insurance 29
Pensions 106.61
Endowments 145.28
Mortgage Protect 83.81
Gym 142
Contact Lenses 12
Sky 42.50
Groceries 400
Petrol 240
Car Tax 10
Holiday Fund 300
Clothes 100
Weightwatchers 20
Total 3426.37

I thought we were struggling but having written it down it is not as bad I thought although I can see where we need to make savings. I just can't understand where the surplus is going

Groceries - setting a budget and sticking to it. Packed lunches for work and cut back on takeaways.

Sky - I never watch but everyone else does

Less expensive holiday

Gym - I don't go enough to justify the cost although the rest of the family do

Weightwatchers - Why am I paying someone to tell what I already know I am 3 stone overweight - I should get to the gym

My plan is to clear the outstanding credit cards by end of this year

I have started a £2 CS Bank and a 20pence CS Bank. £4 and 40 pence respectively.

I have signed up to Valued Opinions and am up £1.75 in the first week

Have a sort through of books and videos for Ebay - or is Amazon better?

Take a packed lunch to work and cut back on cans of pop - water is better for me.

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Gilly

evab_2

HI Gilly,

You've made a good start to identifying your difficulties and I'm sure others will give you some brilliant tips and suggestions as they did with me. One thing I've noticed so far is the cost of your utilities i.e. gas, elec, can these be reduced any further? If you use a search engine such as Uswitch you could get some quotes then check on Quidco to get cashback.

Your petrol and groceries also seem really high, how many people are in the household?

Hope that gives you some tips, good luck

bluezone

gilly1964 wrote:

Income
Me 2250
OH 1900

Outgoings
Credit Card 1 200pm @4.9% 499.07 left
Credit Card 2 170pm @0% end 05/11 726.00 left

Ex Wife Maintenance 450
Mortgage 550
Gas 64
Elec 69
Water Rates 40.74
Telephone/Internet 45
Mobile Phone 35
Council Tax 112
TV Licence 11.37
Car Insurance 48.06
House Insurance 29
Pensions 106.61
Endowments 145.28
Mortgage Protect 83.81
Gym 142 You say you dont use it enough then cancel it and if the rest of the family use it then let them pay for it.
Contact Lenses 12
Sky 42.50 Again the same comment applies as above
Groceries 400 How many is this for?
Petrol 240
Car Tax 10
Holiday Fund 300 COuld this not be cut down for a while until you get yourself sorted?
Clothes 100
Weightwatchers 20
Total 3426.37

I thought we were struggling but having written it down it is not as bad I thought although I can see where we need to make savings. I just can't understand where the surplus is going

Groceries - setting a budget and sticking to it. Packed lunches for work and cut back on takeaways.

Sky - I never watch but everyone else does I have already made a point about this earlier

Less expensive holiday Again comment already made

Gym - I don't go enough to justify the cost although the rest of the family do As said above - let them pay if they use it

Weightwatchers - Why am I paying someone to tell what I already know I am 3 stone overweight - I should get to the gym You could cut this BUT you may need it as a moral boost

My plan is to clear the outstanding credit cards by end of this year

I have started a £2 CS Bank and a 20pence CS Bank. £4 and 40 pence respectively.

I have signed up to Valued Opinions and am up £1.75 in the first week

Have a sort through of books and videos for Ebay - or is Amazon better?

Take a packed lunch to work and cut back on cans of pop - water is better for me.

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Gilly

I dont mean to sound harsh in any of my comments - you need to put yourself and obviously your OH first.

Hang on in there

Jessiepig

Hi Have you listed all your outstanding debts.
Looking quickly you have £1225 of debt and £724 left over income each month to pay it.
This means in two months you will be debt free? Is this correct.

Bambywamby

HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Well done for having a Light Bulb Moment.

Just a few suggestions towards your budget.

Rather than spend cash at Weightwatchers use their website. It has a huge community of very friendly people who are supportive and can answer just about any WW related query you may have. It has lots of recipies, exercise ideas and before & after inspiration stories on there. PLUS to join the community and read most of the site it is free!
WWW.Weightwatchers.CO.UK

Cut back with your gas/electric bill as much as possible. the best engery saving tips can be found on the "Money Saving Old Style" style board on this forum.

Have you a water meter? If there is only 2 of you living at home, it may be cheaper to have a meter fitted.

Either cancel your gym subscription and get walking/cycling/dancing in your bedroom or as you tidy up/borrow exercise DVds from your local library/use tins as weights etc OR if it is too early to cancel your Gym subscription get using it.
You will be able to have a hot shower there every time you go and use all their products (shampoo, conditioner etc) make sure you get your monies worth. You will be saving cash whilst losing pounds.

Only use your mobiles when you really need to - we managed to survive for years before those expensive little blighters were invented.

Are you getting your best telephone/internet package from your provider. Check that you are getting the cheapest deal - shop around.

Same with house/car insurance - http://www.moneysupermarket.com/home/default.asp?Source=MSE
use the above link to to cover lots of different providers in one query.

Finally - get rid of sky and pay a one off payment for a digibox - be honest with yourself - how much sky TV do you really watch to pay £500 a year for it.

Good luck saving and getting rid of your debts.

Bams x.x.

LewisC_2

Hi Gilly,

You seem to be at the "starting to admit it" stage - you're cutting back on certain luxuries, but trying to convince yourself you still need them - you don't.

Obviously, some of these outgoings (maintenance, mortgage, bills) need to be kept up, but here's what I think you can cut back on:

Telephone/internet - get a cheaper deal! Shop around, or ring your current provider to negotiate a cheaper deal or downgrade your package. I reckon you could save at least £15 here.

Mobile phone - are you coming to the end of your contract? If you're within a month or two of the end, negotiate a cheaper deal here.

Gym - £142? This really has to go. You can go for jogs around the block or do exercises at home. Gym memberships are really not worth it - especially not at £142 a month. It's one of those things that can be done just as well at home - the secret of being thrifty!

Sky - Do you watch EVERY channel? I very much doubt it - get it downgraded! You can probably save at least £20 here.

Groceries - A very vague one, but go for the cheapest of each item - own brands are normally very good. Try a cheaper supermarket, or cut down on the amount you are buying - you won't need that gym membership then

Petrol - Do you need to use the car for every journey? Again, health benefits here.

Holiday fund - A difficult one to cut down on, but would cheaper holidays be a viable option?

Clothes - Do you need new clothes every month? Only buy what you really need for now.

WeightWatchers - Probably not the wisest use of your hard-earned money. This can be cut out. There's plenty of dietary advice available over the internet, and you can see your GP if you want a (free) diet plan. Your home exercise should help too

It's the little things that really surprise you. Each time you nip to the chippy, buy a pack of chewing gum or a bottle of water - it adds up BIG TIME come the end of the month. Fill a bottle with tap water and take that into work - that's free! If you're taking a bottle of pop into work each day, you're talking £7~ per week. That's £364 going straight down the toilet, literally!

If you have savings, use them to pay off the debt. This is my number one piece of advice. Savings will be earning you around 3% interest. Your debts are likely to be costing you 30%+! So, whilst your £1,000 savings are making you £30, your debts are costing you £300! You may be saving money, but you're losing £270! Use those savings to pay off the debts and you'll be in a much better position.

You've realised you need to do something, and hopefully you now realise that you need to completely cut back as much as is physically possible. I used to be the biggest spender in the world, but I now enjoy trying to spend as little as possible getting debt free.

Good luck, and give me a shout if you need any more help

gilly1964

There are 4 of us - two teenagers with hollow legs.

The car is a gas guzzling 4 year old BMW but was bought cash when we had a windfall so has only cost petrol and servicing since we have had it

LewisC_2

gilly1964 wrote:

There are 4 of us - two teenagers with hollow legs.

The car is a gas guzzling 4 year old BMW but was bought cash when we had a windfall so has only cost petrol and servicing since we have had it

As I said in my original post, you're going to need to cut down on both. Sorry mate, but there's no magic answer or easy way around it. Go for the cheaper groceries, or less of them. Try to walk instead of using the car. It'll be worth it in the end

littlestar1981

You are half answering your own questions!!

For the books and videos, look them up on both Amazon and eBay to check prices and see if they are selling.

I think Amazon only charge fees if a sale is made... so maybe list on both sites? I have done with a few books.

Bambywamby

I've just joined Amazon and sold 4 books in 48hrs - chuffed to bits!

Plus they give you cash towards the Postage & packing - its a great way to make a bit extra.


Bams x.x

nrsql

Check the offset mortgage against a repayment (or interest only with overpayments). I doubt if you are getting a good deal there.