this is me

emma_b_4

hi
wanting, well needing, to shave some money off my outgoings to convert into money to pay off some debts beofre they start mounting up. i have been in this position before, thinsg got our of hand and we extended our mortgage to cover the debt. dont want to do that again.

debts at mo arent horrendous but accounts are forever empty. we get married in four weeks (parents paying for most of it, but has drained our accounts too) and want to start as we mean to go on

outgoings

vodafone £30 .... got 6 mths left on contract, ran up a hundred pound bill last month, tip of the oceberg i suppose, was in tears all night PAYG when contract up

internet £10

car finance £157 , got 2 years left.
loan £86
BT £11, calls through primus, bills around £4 per mth
o2 £30
payment protection on mortgage £10
life assurance 13.23
" " 8.15
gas and elec £55, but still in debit by £60 so might go up again
mortgage £343
home insurance £22, would change this but has a home emergency cover, do other companies offer that? was a godsed when boiler wouldnt work

water £24
sky £18

i think thats all

so thats £823.

debts are £1700 on sky card, with interest free period about to end
£300 student overdrafts, interest free so not a priority
and soon to be £400 on student fees for OHs course (dont know best way to pay it)

and obviously car finance and mortgage and some bits on old credit cards

any ideas?

emma_b_4

forgot council tax

and all the other things like shopping, where money seems to fritter away i cant keep a hold on what it goes on
we spend around £50 a week at smarket, then never seemt o have any food in! tried going to market but without myOH i cant carry all the bags aorund town!!

Mrs_Sparkle

Hi Emma and welcome!

How about your spend for food, clothes, entertainment, presents, holidays etc? Sometimes that's we're overspending the most and can make the most savings.

Good luck for your wedding!

C x

emma_b_4

hi mrs sparkle, that made me smile, when i was a teachin assistant the kids called me mrs sparkle!

well we spend £5 a week ish on food, cigarettes ten a day, spend for travel at uni £10 ish a week, petrol £20 a week,

clothes etc we get as and when we need, couldnt really put a figure on it, i always go to primark and OH only gets things for holidays!

emma_b_4

i think that your probably right as i have no idea where the rest of our money goes, we have two seperate accounts and i know where the DD account money goes, but no idea about the "spend" account

Mrs_Sparkle

You could probably cut your food bill down a bit I should think. I would also keep a spending diary for a month or so- this helps you to work out where the overspend goes. I used to regularly spend £80-90 in Tesco's for a week's shopping then I'd pop to the shop for a pint of milk & end up spending £10 on a magazine and a bottle of wine too... it's frightening how much you can fritter away without really registering it.

Good luck! You're on the right track.

emma_b_4

thats just what i do

so what do you do now?!

Mrs_Sparkle

Well I keep my supermarket shopping to an absolute minimum- I make cheaper meals and cook everything from scratch. This keeps my bill to £40-50 a week (and some people on here would be horrified at that too! I'm aware that I can improve further). I plan meals so I don't pick up too much food for the week then have to waste it. I freeze leftovers (mind you I've always done that) and I grow my own herbs, tomatoes and carrots. I don't have processed food and I scrutinise the price of everything on the shelves. I know it sounds deadly boring but you'd be surprised at how addictive it gets.

Oh, and you can cut down on your cleaning stuff by investing in bottles of Stardrops (58p from Wilkinson's) instead- I bought my first bottle last weekend and I'm a convert.

itsarichmansworld

Hi Emma I'm in the same position All I can offer is what I have already done.

Stop smoking! and go to http://www.whatsthecost.com/smoking.aspx it'll show you how much you'll save.

Also call Sky tell the your cancelling as you cant afford it they'll give you ot half price for 3 months Or cancel that altogther if you can

Hop it helps x

lil'H

Hi emma,

Sky is the first and most obvious one, freeview is the way to go, or if your NTL phone customers now get free cable for life (basic package but with on demand which records pick of the week eg eastenders etc for you to watch whenever) £25 installation fee, but at least if anything happens to the box it's for them to replace not you.

Also how much is you 0% overdraft, transfer as much of your credit card to this as poss to save on BT fees when your current CC deal ends.

Also gas and electric, can you reduce these by reducing use. I used to just have hot water on tap, now have the boiler on barely at all and really noticed the savings, but hardly noticed the hot water supply changing. Similarly with electirc, turn off everything at the wall whenever possible.

And smoking.............

Lil'H

Dolly_Smith

price-checking at the supermarket is indeed v.addictive - I've never looked back! There are loads of deals to be had aswell - always buy own brand stuff (except baked beans, obviously!), it all comes from the same factory after all!