Our SOA Help required

us,thecat&thedebt

hi all thanks for all the replies

the argos card is with a debt collection agency so no intrest..

the sky i have today reduced to £15 per month saved £25

Car- I use my car for work (im a lettings manager) need it for viewings ect..
no chance or car sharing as i need mine for work and oh starts work while im at work..
Oh is going to try and cut petrol bills

food bills
does anyone have the link to the thread sounds like i could save a fortune..

in response to the post about being ready to buy we cant live for free forever its either buy or go into rented and if rents the same price as the mortgage (which it is give or take a few pounds) then why rent? The debts we have argos card and vodafone and tmobile only have about a year to go
also no i didnt use public transport previously i relied on my partner luckly we used to work in similar location/times and i did not have the job i have now...

Tv Lic have been paying it for 5 months so will try next month to get a break

my mobile costs me 13.50 a month payg and i get £15 credit again i use my phone alot for work (more to recieve calls)

Landline phone is in place on the lowest priceplan mainly to recive calls broadand is on highest option so will reduce to a lower option..

calleyw

Does your car insurance cover you for your job. Because if you have insurance that is just communting and social and domestic it only covers going to the office and not going off site all the time.

Also if you are using your car do you not get petrol money. Find it strange that you don't have a company car or access to one. As all the letting agents around here have cars plastered with the company name over them.

If you are using your mobile phone for work then either they give you a works mobile or they pay for the calls that are worked related that you make.

Also why did you not think about saving as much as possible before putting in a offer for the house as well as clearing the debts as well. Do you have a mortgage yet. As you may well find the debts may hold you back from some mainstream lenders.


Yours


Calley

CLAPTON

why do you need to boost your deposit as presumably you have agreed a purchase price and agreed a mortgage ?

have you worked out a budget for after you have bought your house....obviously it will include the mortgage but it needs to include all the things currently left out...car tax, MOT, servicing, clothes, haircuts, xmas /presents, goingout and purchases for the house also a significant emergency fund (against boiler packing up, tiles off the roof, appliances going wrong, major car repairs costs , does 'food' inlcude work lunches/coffees etc. do you ever go on holidays, weekends away ...

scottishspendaholic

Hi usthecatetc,

You've been getting some great advice and congrats on the move!

I'm mostly lurking just now - but I had to jump on to say that you don't HAVE TO pay your tv license upfront - only if you want to pay it by monthly d/d. We pay by quarterly d/d and its £35 every quarter - this is annoying - but I am so annoyed about the fact that every time I phone them to try and pay monthly, they tell me that I have to pay 6 months upfront - I personally think this is a total swizz! When will you ever get that 6 months payment back?

So you could pay quarterly or yearly?!?!?

Good luck with everything. Stick around - we've missed you.

scottishspendaholic x

tootles_2

For cutting your food bills have a look at the Old style board. There are two of us and my food bill is £100 per month.

I do a menu list and shop once a month for staples, once a fortninght for fresh food and veg, try cooking up doubles, so you can freeze a portion to use another time..........shopping on line is good too, you can see exactly how much you are spending and if you look on the vouchers board you will find codes for money off at Tesco £5 off a £50 shop, which will pay for your delivery charge. If you choose a £3.99 slot you will have a bit towards your shopping as well. Asda deliver as well. Look at alternatives for foods, Aldi and Lidl are both good and lots of people swear by them. If you can afford to pay your TV licience in one go you can then divide the yearly cost by 12 and transfer the money to a savings account, so that when the licience is due next year you have the money in the bank and some interest as well. Banks like ING allow you to have several accounts or pots, we use this method to pay for our car insurance, tax, servicing and breakdown.... I put £65 a month into the account and just draw on it when a bill falls due. Clever use of your credit cards can also be useful, if you know your billing date you can pay the car tax on your CC and then you will not have to pay the bill until the next bill which will give you an extra months interest..... i.e. CC billing date 12th of the month say june, pay car tax (or what ever) after this, you will then have to pay the bill in August........

Only use direct debits when they will not cost you extra, Insurance firms will charge for paying by DD where as gas, electricity council tax etc do not......
I make sure all my DD's come out as close to the beginning of the month as possible, so then I know that what is left is what I have to play with. I draw cash for my shopping unless I have it delivered, when its gone, its gone.....draw up a budget spreadsheet on your computer, or use a programme like microsoft money so you can track what you are spending and also keep a note book and write down every single thing you spend, you will be suprised where money dribbles away to.......