Earthmother's Diary

earthmother

A quick update - SOA to follow


Just paid off and closed the Brantano account, after we ended up running it back up after the last payment in January (I know - stupid, stupid, stupid - all I can say is that the two elder boys needed new shoes sooner than budgeted, and they don't fit in the cheap ones).

Grolier (Willows) is also now paid off, and there's less than £10 each on the Pooh and Ladybird accounts, so they'll be gone this month too.

I'm working on the Classic account now, as that's owed to my mum and I'd rather not be in that position.


Also putting £40 a month into savings from this month - I know it's not the usual advice when in debt, but our Motability car is due for renewal in just over a year, and we need to get the money together for the next one.

It is going into the best ISA I could find though, so we should see some return on it, which will go back to the creditors.


So - debts stand at just over £10,000 between 12 creditors (15 if you count the kids, whose money is counted above to be fair), with an overall DFD of July 2009

earthmother

Income

Incapacity Benefit £676.43
D L A - Higher Rate - Care £269.75
Child Allowance £183.30
Invalid Care Allowance £210.82
Child Tax Credit £406.90
Housing Benefit £454.13

D L A - Higher Rate - Mobility - direct to Motability for car
Council Tax Benefit - direct to Council

Total Income (cash in hand) £2,201.33



Expenditure

Rent £625
Council Tax £24.00 (over 12 months)
Water £24.50
Electric & Gas £125.00

Life Insurance £10.04
Contents Insurance £11.74
Additional insurances (mobility scooter, breakdown etc) £19.55

TalkTalk B/band Package plus non-geo call allowance £25.00
Mobile Top Ups £5.00
Postage, Stationery, etc £5.00
TV Licence (Cash Entry Scheme) £11.00
Sky (4 packs and 'plus') £28.00

Travel & Transport
Petrol £130.00
Car Maintenance £10.00
Towards Next Motability Vehicle £40.00

Food & Housekeeping:
Nappies for two £70.00
Food & Groceries £325.00

Ironing Service £10.00
Gardener £71.50 (part of rental agreement)

Footwear £40.00
Other clothing etc £10.00 (School uniform - everything else comes from credit accounts listed below)
(Without credit options, clothes and footwear would be approx £185pcm)

Total Expenditure £1620.33


Balance Available After Essential Expenditure £581.00


Payments on Debts (in order of interest rate) – some already increased past minimum to speed payment

Cap One MC £105.00
Next £35.00
Aqua £35.00
cap One Visa £60.00
Kaleidoscope £40.00
Kays £100.00
Empire £120.00
La Redoute £20.00
Classic Combination £15.00 (My mums account, but my debt) – increased to £35

Grolier Thomas £3.99
Grolier Ladybird £2.99
Grolier Seuss £3.49

Total £560.47


Balance after all spending £20.53

earthmother

One small change to the SOA - middle son has finally toilet-trained, so only one batch of nappies to buy now - that takes that figure from £70 per month to £40 - have factored the difference into the creditor payments


Also, had a bit of a rethink on the increased payments - have decided rather than putting the savings away for the Motability car each month, I'll use them to pay off the creditors, and when it gets closer to the time, I'll just revert to minimum payments for 2-3 months to build the savings up quickly.

Doing it this way will reduce the interest accrual, and, along with the extra £30 a month, has actually shortened my DFD to March 2009 - 4 months earlier :j




:think: Wonder if I can tweak the budget any more - would be nice to be debt-free by Christmas 2008 :think:

beanielou

Good idea about the motabilitycar.
Do u need a specially adapted vehicle that you need quite a high deposit?

earthmother

Hi, yes, we have to have the car adapted to hand controls each time, and we need a large car for access and luggage capacity.

Although, to be fair, the deposit isn't that high for us - whilst the car itself is a £5000 down payment, we (should) get the Motability grant aid thingy, which means we pay about £500.

£40 a month from now would have given us £600 by the end of June (car due July next year) - the £500 for motability, and £100 for the non-scratch bumper shield (needed because of getting the wheelchair in and out of the boot) and a full tank (last time we picked one up, we literally sputtered into the nearest garage on fumes they put so little in the new cars these days, and our normal budget doesn't allow for that much fuel in one go).


By the time the next car is due though, all the debts will be paid and we won't have to rely on the Motability grant.

chevalier

[QUOTE=earthmother;4673017My comments are in blue

Expenditure

Rent £625
Council Tax £24.00 (over 12 months)
Water £24.50 Does your water company run a vulnerable persons scheme. It means that there is a cap on how much they charge you. Might bring this down a bit. Have you got hippos in your cisterns to cut down on amount per flush?
Electric & Gas £125.00Does this include arrears? If not this is very high. So you could thing about switching suppliers? If there is a cheaper company then, register with https://www.quidco.com and get cash back when you change companies. Also check the thermostat on the house (does it need to be as high as it is?), and on your boiler. Turning down these by 1 degree (house thermostat) saves about £90 a year. Also leaving things on standby takes nearly as much energy (and therefore costs nearly the same) as when they are on properly. As you are on benefits you can get free loft insulation and even in some areas cavity wall insulation. You can ask your council (i think) to come and do a energy efficiency audit of your house, so you know where you can cut down. Also have a look at https://www.est.org to find more energy saving ways.

Life Insurance £10.04
Contents Insurance £11.74
Additional insurances (mobility scooter, breakdown etc) £19.55

TalkTalk B/band Package plus non-geo call allowance £25.00
Mobile Top Ups £5.00
Postage, Stationery, etc £5.00
TV Licence (Cash Entry Scheme) £11.00
Sky (4 packs and 'plus') £28.00 Do you really need this?

Travel & Transport
Petrol £130.00
Car Maintenance £10.00
Towards Next Motability Vehicle £40.00

Food & Housekeeping:
Nappies for two £70.00
Food & Groceries £325.00How many is this for? I spend £300 a month on food and petrol to feed 2 adults, 2 children and 2 cats. There is lots of advice about cutting down on the old style forum

Ironing Service £10.00
Gardener £71.50 (part of rental agreement)

Footwear £40.00
Other clothing etc £10.00 (School uniform - everything else comes from credit accounts listed below)If you are on benefits you can get grants towards school uniform
(Without credit options, clothes and footwear would be approx £185pcm)

Total Expenditure £1620.33


Balance Available After Essential Expenditure £581.00


Payments on Debts (in order of interest rate) – some already increased past minimum to speed payment

Cap One MC £105.00
Next £35.00
Aqua £35.00
cap One Visa £60.00
Kaleidoscope £40.00
Kays £100.00
Empire £120.00
La Redoute £20.00
Classic Combination £15.00 (My mums account, but my debt) – increased to £35

Grolier Thomas £3.99
Grolier Ladybird £2.99
Grolier Seuss £3.49

Total £560.47


Balance after all spending £20.53[/QUOTE]

I am sorry but I don't know your circumstances. Do you care full time for your OH or is it you that is ill. I am assuming that is why you don't work? If not have you made sure that your pension National Insurance credits have been protected? You can check with the DSS about this.

best of luck with your journey
chev

earthmother

Thank you for your post Chevalier.


Yes, Severn Trent does run a vulnerable household scheme, but so far we are actually under the cap, so it doesn't apply to us. We have hippos, reuse water from the kitchen on the garden, shower not bath etc so I think we're about as low as it goes (until the boys get to the age where they actually want to be clean, lol, then watch the bill soar).


Gas and electric - yes, it includes arrears - we just about pay each winter off in time for the next (had about 2 clear week this time around). We minimise consumption where possible - energy saving bulbs, nothing left plugged in if not in use, and have already had a Warmfront assessment (already had everything apparently), but we have to run the heating pretty much constantly in the cooler (not just colder) months at a higher temp than most people would because of my husbands disability and how the cold affects it.


Sky - personally, I could do fine without it, but it is my husbands main link to the world - more content than newspapers, easier for him to access than the internet, so worth the money (especially as he gave up smoking and the Sports channels to keep it).


Food & Groceries is for 2 adults and 3 children. We are on an additive-free diet, and use chemical free toiletries etc, for health reasons, so this is about as low as I can get it.


I had looked into uniform grants, but apparently my council doesn't do them. The school does do a second hand sale every so often, so that helps, and of course, providing it's in a fit state, it will get cheaper as hand-me-downs kick in for the younger ones.


It is my husband who is disabled, and I'm full-time carer, so at the moment I don't earn a wage, but I do get HRP through the child benefit, so theoretically my pension is protected. Whether my husbands is is another matter, and one that we can't get a straight answer on from the DWP.

earthmother

Argh! I can't win! :mad:


We were passing a large Tesco today on route a hospital appointment, so I made sure I juggled the finances to have a good shopping budget so I could stock up whilst there.

So we get home, and about £20 worth of shopping goes into the fridge. Then we needed to go out for another appointment.


Get back 2 hours later to find that hubby had left the fridge door wide open - so not only have I had to dump this morning's shopping (it was warm to the touch - not worth the risk), but also another £10+ worth of food that was already in there - including this weeks packed lunches for eldest, and food for his birthday party that I'd got on offer at the weekend and was due to go in the freezer (waiting to make space - would have been there after tea tonight).

That's this month's increased creditor payment down the drain

Why does he always seem to do this? Just as I'm getting money straight, he breaks something, or costs money somehow (it's not the first time I've lost the contents of the fridge or freezer). I'd got a load of catalogue commission saved up a couple of months ago for the holidays, and he smashed the mobile phone - so as we had no cash that month, and we need one for emergencies, there went the commission and the trips out I had planned this easter.


And he's had a hissy at me because I dared to be annoyed! I am sick to death of biting my tongue so that he doesn't go into a rant in front of the kids. So what, he's in pain - it's no excuse!

earthmother

OK - I'll admit it - slap my wrists - we slipped a few months ago and took on extra credit when, for the most part, we shouldn't/needn't have :mad:

So, now rather than it being a simple case of getting rid as soon as, and chugging along in the meantime, it's a case of if gas/electric/milk/petrol/anything goes up by much more we need to consider a DMP :eek: :mad:


So *deep breath* the next post has my 'new and unimproved' SOA. I think it's been tweaked about as much as possible, but if anyone can spot something I've missed, please shout out.


There is intermittent income from Quidco, Slice the Pie and all those sort of sites (in fact this month's nappies are being paid for by Pigsback), but I haven't included in the SOA as it can vary so much.

earthmother

Income pcm
Housing Benefit £463.32
Incapacity benefit (taxable - approx £10/wk deducted) £653.01
DLA (Higher Rate Care) £279.50
Carers Allowance (taxable - £0) £210.82
Child Tax credit £507.74
Child Benefit £183.30

Indirect Benefits - no direct cash payment
D L A (Higher Rate Mobility) - direct to Motability for car
Council Tax Benefit - direct to Council
School Dinners (eldest), Nursery funding (middle), Milk Tokens (youngest)

Total Income £2,297.69

Outgoings pcm
Rent - £625.00
Council tax (after benefit, paid in 12 installments) - £24.00
Gas & Electric (inc winter arrears, and Eon are still to announce price increases) - £111.00
Water - £24.50

Contents Insurance - £14.63
Life Insurance - £10.04
Breakdown policies and insurances - £16.35

Talktalk Phone & Internet Package (often nearer £25) - £30.00
PAYG Mobile Top-Ups (two phones) - £5.00
Sky TV - £19.00
TV Licence - £10.83
Stamps, stationery, cards & wrap, school equipment etc. - £5.00

Christmas & Birthday Savings (Park Hampers) - £21.22

Petrol - £130.00
Car maintenance - £10.00
Towards Next Motability Vehicle - £20.00

Food & Groceries (£60 a week, but have been storecupboard living since Christmas at about £45 - only a week or two before a big stock is needed) - £260.00
Toiletries - £40.00
Nappies - £40.00

Ironing Service (not regularly used, but sometimes required - £10 min. per 'order')
Gardeners (part of rental contract - 2hrs/wk 01 Mar - 01 Oct, ie 31 wks) - £56.83
Hairdressers (for 3) - £15.53

Children's Leisure & After School Activities - £23.83

Footwear (will go up in Sept to £75.00 due to second child starting school) - £70.00
School uniform (logo'd - only from school - will go up in Sept to £6.00) - £3.00
(All other clothing comes from credit listed below. Without credit options, clothes and footwear would be approx £195pcm, £215 from Sept 08)


Total Expenditure £1,585.77


Balance Available After Above Expenditure £711.92


Payments on Debts (in order intended to clear)
Grolier x 4 - Paid
Duet - Paid
Studio - Paid

Creditor & Monthly Payment (Overall balance & Interest)
Classic Combination (in mother's name, so first to go, will be paid off in one payment in Feb) - £11.00 (£48.37, 3.50% per month)
Vertbaudet (will be paid off in one payment in Feb) - £5.00 (£19.31, 2.20% per month)
Simply Be - £10.00 (£127.84, 3.50% per month)
Kays - £95.00 (£946.34, variable, some at 0%, some at 29% apr)
La Redoute - £45.00 (£905.52, 2% per month)
Kaleidoscope - £50.00 (£903.13, 2.20% per month)
Aqua - £50.00 (£1,600.00, 2.00% per month)
Capital One MC - £105.00 (£1,921.08, 2.31% per month)
Capital One Visa - £60.00 (£1,979.92, 1.50% per month)
SCS (furniture) - £46.62 (£2,703.96, Need to find the paperwork, but it's a 5 year agreement, with just 2 payments made so far)

Interest-free, or intending to keep for future (controlled) use, so not so much of a rush to pay off
Littlewoods - £95.00 (£523.13)
Next - £75.00 (£908.06)
Empire - £110.00 (£1,267.58)

Money borrowed from children (adding interest each month so as not to shortchange them, but not yet repaying) - £1,720.61


Total Expenditure on debts £757.62
(Total Debts £15,574.85)


Balance remaining after all expenditure, currently being covered on credit cards -£45.70