Truly shocked....SOA etc so here we go!

dancingfairy

You can actually afford some luxuries like puppy sitting, cleaner, dry cleaning, ironing, going out ec etc - just not quite so many or spending quite so much on each one.
No doubt you both work hard for you money so it's just a case of making sure that your money works hard for you - for example if you work out how much a new item of clothing costs - you may find that you had to work for several hours to earn enough for a top that you have worn once for example, and with interest etc it's actually costing you a lot more as well.
As others have said - with determination you can start to make a serious dent in those debts.
Good Luck
df

MrsTinks

The dog walker/puppy sitter - look at giving the dog/s a good walk in the morning and when you get home... then it will only need a short walk/widdle early afternoon... Cheaper than a 30-45min walk I have a dog walker as work circumstances changed after we got her and I couldn't get home at lunch to walk her. We accepted that responcibility and added cost although it's not a cheap one!
If you think you have loads of food in the cupboards and freezer from all the trips why not try to see how many days you can go without buying any more food other than milk and bread and eggs? I bet you'll amaze yourself and it's great to clear out the cupboards occassionally I try to do a storecupboard challenge every 3 months as it means I don't end up with tins and packs that are WAY out of date in the cupboards

g_attrill

MrsPiglet wrote: »

Insurance, tax etc is for two very old cars (both over 10) and one of us just passed their test so insurance is very high.

Check if 3rd party fire & theft insurance is cheaper, you don't need comprehensive, although it might not work out cheaper.

MrsPiglet wrote: »

Can't change mobile tariffs either and £40 is for calls abroad. Looking into reducing that somehow. Family don't have PCs so can't use skype

Use a cheap calling service with your landline, there will be a page on MSE for this.
edit: here! http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/phones/cheap-overseas-calls

Overall as mentioned go back through your old bank statements and highlight spending that isn't in your SOA. If it is an ATM withdrawl then try and think of what it was spent on. If you use ATMs a lot then you should both agree to not use them unless absolutely essential, since it obscures your spending patterns, use your debit card instead.

You have a high income and relatively low outgoings so in theory you should be able to reduce your debts quickly if (for example) you stop spending £200/month on clothes!

looktothefuture

How are you feeling today Mrs Piglet? I hope a little less shaky!

MrsPiglet

debtdesperado wrote: »

"Over the last few weeks, we have cut down things like house cleaner, puppy sitter for when we are at work (although looking to re-introduce that), dry cleaning and ironing service and have hardly gone out."

Yep - that's where your £2k goes! Start tracking your spending and you'll be genuinely shocked how much a few drinks here and there, and the odd bit of dry cleaning, a few coffees and magazines adds up to... the good news is that you'll be equally shocked in a few months time when you have making little purchases like that under control how much money you have leftover :rotfl:.

Apart from the puppy sitter, which is your choice, the rest are definitely luxuries and can go whilst you are paying back debt... check out flylady.net or the flylady thread here on getting cleaning under control.

Also if you are spending loads at the supermarket, try doing your shopping online...even with the delivery fee you will save loads as you won't be browsing through the homeware aisles buying the odd cushion, or DVD, or clothing, which all adds up.

Also start using cash for every purchase - somehow handing over a card doesn't register as spending, whereas you will be stunned how quickly you burn through cash at the moment...I remember those days at the start of my debt-free journey, when I couldn't understand how someone could have £10 in their wallet and still have most of it left at the end of the week...now two years on I am one of those people.:)

My other tip is doing NSDs... sounds easy but is amazingly difficult at first if you're used to spending money all the time.

You are absolutely right! Looking back at our statements, I can see an extremely high number of supermarket trips, and not all on food. Also, before we got so close to the edge with the overdrafts, we were having a couple of meals a week out, coffees, magazines, papers and various other bits and bobs which all add up.

Once I started looking, it's easy to see where we have been just frittering money away, apart from being extravagant with presents for friends and family on their special days.

It's clear that the SOA is very very much a draft. I have put together a spreadsheet which shows all our standard outgoings in the form of direct debit and then everything else as we estimate it. We have both started keeping spending diaries too which helps not to spend actually!

So much to take in and think about, thank you for all your very useful points.

chesky369

Can you ask your family to call you for a few months, instead of you calling them?

MrsPiglet

dancingfairy wrote: »

You can actually afford some luxuries like puppy sitting, cleaner, dry cleaning, ironing, going out ec etc - just not quite so many or spending quite so much on each one.
No doubt you both work hard for you money so it's just a case of making sure that your money works hard for you - for example if you work out how much a new item of clothing costs - you may find that you had to work for several hours to earn enough for a top that you have worn once for example, and with interest etc it's actually costing you a lot more as well.
As others have said - with determination you can start to make a serious dent in those debts.
Good Luck
df

You make a very good point about clothing and how much it actually costs with interest etc. To be honest, I don't remember the last time I bought any clothes. Over the last 3 months, I have been getting increasingly stressed about the financial situation and the possibility of being made redundant and I have been comfort eating a lot, so I have put on weight. Apart from not having any cash (we destroyed all the card some months ago and been going in and out of overdrafts since), I don't want to buy any bigger clothes so that's a good thing I guess.

MrsPiglet

MrsTine wrote: »

The dog walker/puppy sitter - look at giving the dog/s a good walk in the morning and when you get home... then it will only need a short walk/widdle early afternoon... Cheaper than a 30-45min walk I have a dog walker as work circumstances changed after we got her and I couldn't get home at lunch to walk her. We accepted that responcibility and added cost although it's not a cheap one!
If you think you have loads of food in the cupboards and freezer from all the trips why not try to see how many days you can go without buying any more food other than milk and bread and eggs? I bet you'll amaze yourself and it's great to clear out the cupboards occassionally I try to do a storecupboard challenge every 3 months as it means I don't end up with tins and packs that are WAY out of date in the cupboards

Thanks for the tips. We walk the puppies in the morning and the evening but as we are out from 7-6 usually, I used to have someone call in during the day to feed and walk them. I am looking to have that again as friends/family are not as reliable and my consience tells me it's not fair on the puppies.

I am doing the use up what's int he cupboards/freezers at the moment It's a challenge but I love cooking and it's good to give the supermarkets a break. I will still get some essentials from the butcher but I am meal planning now as opposed to my usual....:o

MrsPiglet

looktothefuture wrote: »

How are you feeling today Mrs Piglet? I hope a little less shaky!

Thank you for checking up on me, I appreciate it so much It's all sinking in, slowly but steadily. I keep telling myself I must be able to do this, I have achieved things before so this cannot beat me. I hope I am right

persian_star

Hi MrsPiglet!

Good to see you've started a spreadsheet. That (along with the wonderful advice and encouragement on these forums) is what's getting me out of debt so hopefully it will help you too. Counting everything that comes in and everything that goes out really helps, seeing it in front of you helps to keep it in control The snowball everyone keeps going on about is here http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx - I took the results and put that in my spreadsheet too, and although I'm a bit OCD for checking it every day, boy does it stop me spending! I now know exactly how much I have left at the end of every month and if I overspend, it shows up big time (eek! )

Leaving your cards at home also does wonders - I stopped buying little bits and pieces during the day and was amazed at how much i saved. I also have a really strict food budget of £20 a week for 2 adults (we really had to cut back!) but with the help of the old style money saving boards it really is amazing how far you can stretch it.

Best of luck