advice needed please. had enough.

Dolly_Smith

we use Virgin for broadband and it's 12.99pm

your phone bill is really high - that can easily be cut back on. I only make calls when absolutely necessary - everyone else I deal with via email!

I have sky and would really miss it so I phoned them up today to see if I could buy a reduced package and they also reduced my payments for three months - it's worth giving it a try

tomstickland

Gas - £34
Electric - £35

Are either accounts in credit - the monthly payments can be altered, I don't know how or when, but worth a try, as long as you don't run the account into debt. Or at least knowingly run it to debt with plans to pay it off.

TV Licence - £10.99

Might be regarded as good value if stops you spending money. However, since you are both working loads of hours per day, do you really need the TV? Maybe take the TV round your parents house or something and then cancel the licence for a while.

Sky £34.99

Get rid and use freeview.

House Phone - £42

Sounds way too much. I've got line rental £11 + Primus £3 = £14 per month for unlimited free weekend and evening calls.

Car Insurance - £94

Looks very high. Get onto confused.com and see how much of deal you can get. Also look into cashback from Quidco/Topcashback etc.

Warranties etc £89.49

Bin these if possible. At least read all of the smallprint and see if they really cover you for anything useful. Retailers make good money from warranties - must be a reason why.

sweetpeas_2

We have a baby but to be honest it will be cheaper when she eats the same as us because the baby milk alone is £5.99 a week, and the tins of food she has are 30p a day, so £2.80 a week. So my youngest alone costs £35.16. Then the rest of the £200 is including £20+ nappies a month. then food for the rest of us. it also includes my tram fares to work £2.70 a day three times a week. thats another £32.40 a month. so really the food budget is £112.40 for the 3 of us. and to make sure my litle boy doesnt eat frozen rubbish every day-i cant save on that at all really.
The car insurance is for 1 car, weve hunted round and got the cheapest deal going, but dh is only 23 so we get stung. i dont actually drive yet myself so the insurance is just for dh.
the warranties are for pc world, curries, dishwasher. we have everything covered because basically-long story short-january this year the washer, tumble dryer and fridge freezer all packed in within a week and half. and it cost us over 700 to replace them all bit by bit. i was washing clothes in the bath for 2 months because we couldnt afford to get fridge and washer together, and babies bottles needed to be kept cold-so fridge came first. we cant afford same happening again so we have the warranties.
the insurances are boiler breakdown cover (boiler packed in last jan cost us a bomb to sort out and cant afford it happening again.), house contents insurance and life insurance. cant really do without any of them.
we only seem to have what we cant live without.
i have one reason for the sky- we cant afford to go out so its our treat. thats the top and bottom of it really. sometimes i think-if we cant afford it we cant have it, but other times i think well dh works 2 jobs, i work 2 and am looking for another so we should be entitled to have sky tv for us and kids.

nog

Dolly_Smith

talking of washing machines and the like... I bought an Indesit for £150 8 years ago. It hasn't broken down once - never had a warranty or anything on it. Even if it broke tomorrow we could chuck it out and buy another for a similar price and it would be worth it. You only need one that does a boil wash, the normal 40 degs and delicates.

My mum bought an £800 Bosch and it goes wrong twice a year without fail!

The more complicated it is the more likely it is to go wrong...!

calleyw

You are spending £89 a month on warranties if you can afford this then put it aside every month that equates to £1068 a year and you afford to replace washing machine etc every year on that amount. And have some left over for short holiday as well. Who's pocket do you want that money in yours or theres.

Sorry but these are false economies.

You say you deserve sky. I work hard but don't even have a tv. So what do I deserve. I am sorry but you just can't afford it. I bet most of what you watch in the free channels. Which is better to pay £35 more each month off your debts/overdraft or pay so you can watch sky on your limited time off.

I know this is going to sound harsh. But you have to change your ways. And if keep going down the deserve route you are never going to get your debts clear.

I don't think you have had your lightbulb moment. Or if you have it is flickering. You are on the edge and that is with out including spending for birthdays etc. At the moment you say that sometimes you have between £290- £88 left at the end of the month. But do you. You obviously don't as why have you gone over your O/D limit.

You really need to look hard at where you money is going. Keep a spending diary and see what it is going and on what.

I know what I may be saying sounds harsh but until you get on even keel somethings will have to go. You can always add them back in again at a later say 6 months down the line.

All the best what ever you choose to do.


Yours


Calley

gallygirl

noggin wrote:

i have one reason for the sky- we cant afford to go out so its our treat. thats the top and bottom of it really. sometimes i think-if we cant afford it we cant have it, but other times i think well dh works 2 jobs, i work 2 and am looking for another so we should be entitled to have sky tv for us and kids.

nog

No - your kids are entitled to eat, you are not entitled to sky. It's that attitude that got you in this in the first place.

Sorry to be harsh, but needs to be said.

sarahs999

How old is your baby? making homemade purees and freezing them is far, far cheaper (and better) for your baby than tinned. And if they are a bit older they should be able to eat what you have blended down (as long as your food is pretty simple).

Also, I know others have said it, but out with SKy! If you can't afford baby milk then you definitely can't afford Sky.

Good luck

Verbatim

Hi Nog,

My heart goes out to you, you're both so young and have 2 young children and so much debt.

You will get through this terrible time and come out the other side stronger, (and wiser!). You have both taken enormous steps to start paying off this debt and seem totally committed to your family and each other.

I'm afraid though that the people on here are quite right about looking again at priorities and reworking the budget so as to have some spare cash to pay off the debts.

I would suggest working out a detailed budget including all expenditure, perhaps using the examples on this board and making an appointment with the bank manager. If you show her/him an action plan of HOW you are going to reduce the overdraft each month they are likely to be moresympathetic than if you just say that longer would be better but can't show how you will do it.

Other people on here ebay anything they can sell and car boot sale what won't sell there.

Definitely axe the warranties but maybe save half of this in a separate account for emergencies but pay the rest off the overdraft each month.

Once you've identified a little saving and have used it to reduce a debt this will give you a lift and hope that is is do-able.

Well done on making a start.

all_hours

Hi noggin,

I've never had sky so I'm not sure of how to do this - I've seen other posters say there's a way of keeping the sky box and turning it into a freeview box? Otherwise you can buy a freeview box for £20-£30.

On freeview you get
Kids channels - cbeebies, cbbc, citv these run from 6am - 6/7pm
ITV1-4
BBC 1-4
Film four
E4, E4+1, more 4
Sky three
Sky news, BBC 24 news
UK history
and more

For sport - most of the major events will be on BBC1 or ITV1 anyway.

If you want more film choice - register with Quidco (so you get some cash back) and sign up for the DVD rentals. Cancel before you have to pay anything then sign up for another.