A New House For Her , A Rugby Shirt For Me

andy1886

Mags30 wrote: »

Car problems:( I live in fear of such things because I never have the spare cash to resolve them either.

Never had any major problems with it before but unfortunately the warning light has reappeared on the dashboard so spoken to the garage and will see what the fault is on Wednesday . He thinks it could be the other 2 coil packs that need replacing , about £40 each plus labour , or the injection system , no idea about that . Whatever it is it will be December before it gets done as there is simply no money left to do it . Also got the breakdown cover to arrange then so problems ahead next month . Anyway 70 mile trip to work on Monday so will take my breakdown phone number with me just in case !!

andy1886

Rainmaker_uk wrote: »

Good luck Andy!

As well as cutting costs that others are soundly recommending, don't forget to look at your incomings.

Is there any way you could increase your earning power? A different job, missing benefits, take qualifications etc. You've probably thought them through already but if you can add to income whilst reducing spending it will make double difference.

Yes I have looked at the incomings but we have been overpaid with tax credits so what we get there is reduced and we aren't entitled to them after April so have that repayment looming . At work I do get a bit of overtime but it is not guaranteed and like most other workers there is a very real chance of our overtime and hours being cut . I can't earn any more money in the job I do and have applied for other jobs in the same industry where I could progress but have heard nothing back . On the qualifications front I would love to take a degree but obviously the funding is not there to pay for one nor the time away from work .

andy1886

More bad news I'm afraid , the windscreen wiper on the wifes cars driving side isn't working and on researching the problem on the net it is a common fault that can be fixed with some diy , unfortunately I am no diyer and having read what to do it is beyond my capability ( I don't have a drill and you need to drill holes ) so when I go to the garage with my car I will discuss this fault and see if I can find a cheap wiper system on the net .

andy1886

Found the replacement links for the wifes car online for £30 and my garage will fit them but my car has an injection problem which needs more tests and booking in for a day . Spending the rest of today looking at finances to see where I can save any pennies as at the moment Decembers wages are spent and probably Januarys as well !!!

andy1886

Wipers getting fixed on Thursday , should take an hour so not too bad there ( £160 is the bill from the dealer for same problem so saving about £100 ) .
On the DMP mbna have written and said that on my 2 accounts with them they have agreed to my repayments and frozen the interest . Finally some good news !!!!

chevalier

I think you need to repay your DMP payments. Is there anything in their allowances for car maintenance? Is so have you got anything against it? Might have to rejig your DMP figures to take account of these costs
chev

andy1886

Linkages fitted for £40 but now the screw holding the wiper blade onto the arm has fell off , need a new arm or a temporary fix . Injection problem on my car getting looked at on Thursday with the bill hopefully under £200 .

andy1886

Windscreen wipers now sorted and it didnot cost a penny :j
A very nice man in a car parts shop had some plastic wedges to go between the metal of the wipers , a bit of bending and forcing got them put back together and all fine .
My car now has my warning light flashing and the car unable to get beyond 20mph . A quick call to garage confirmed it has now gone into " limp " mode and shouldnot be driven , so I am hoping it isnot a bigger job than expected .
On the dmp front it appears from my latest statement from egg they have stopped adding on charges and interest and my payments to them are finally reducing the amount owed .

andy1886

I've been very busy this past fortnight that I havenot had chance to log in , anyway my car finally packed up 2 weeks ago causing me to relky on other people giving me lifts to and from work every day and putting about 2 hours onto my day .
Got the car fixed eventually , fingers crossed , for a 2 day job costing £210 .
Snow causing havoc but getting to and from work ok , hopefully the problems are behind me and I can look forward to 2011 and lowering what I owe !!!! Although my hours have been cut at work until April so will battle on ahead .

GeorgeUK

Try to work out how much you have and how much you need on paper Andy - hopefully you'll be able to see a way to dealing with the debts without tightening the belt too much.