My Lightbulb moment(s)

evie451

First thing to say is that I have been a lurker on the boards for a while though mainly out of fear and guilt so be kind I am sure there are a lot of us about!

Anyway I thought I would put this thread on today having read so many inspirational posts to see if I can get a bit of encouragement/advice.

My first lightbulb moment happened when my OH handed in his notice finishing up on 24/12/05 Happy Christmas to me! :eek:

Bang goes 2/3 of household income (£2000) :eek:

He has started his own business which is doing ok at the moment but we are still only working on a contribution from him of £1000 a month.

It was ok for a while although I only managed to keep up credit cards at the minimums for most of the year.

Then when the kids were off on summer holidays i started robbing peter to pay paul and not opening the CC bills which was a habit I thought I had broken :mad:

I finally cleared out the paperwork drawer or place I stuff things I cant deal with last week Lightbulb No 2

Capital One £1954
MBNA £3357
Amex £3497

:eek:

This appalled me and I am determined to deal with it now But i just need a bit of a kick/encouragement. The only thing I knew about the minimum payment trap was it would take you longer to clear your debt not that it made it worse :eek: I have abstained from my cards since October last year let I am no better off :mad:

I have that payment protection thing on all these cards does anyone know if its worth it? All replies gratefully read I am buckling down to my SOA now illuminated by a Giant lightbulb !

Wonder_Girl

May i be the first to offer you a warm welcome and a swift kick up the bum

Well done you! i hope to see your SOA soon

You have made the first step and that is the worst over with, now you know you have a problem you can start working to solve it, we will be here to help where we can.

As for the PPI i personally think it's a big waste of money, but it is a personal choice, others who know a bit more about it will be along soon i hope.

Here you go i found this - http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid1083023073,92723,

WG xx

evie451

Thanks for the kick wonder girl. I think the SOA is as bad as the CC statements though

skintasusual

lets face it

all our SOA's are hurrendous!!!!!

In_Search_Of_Me

welcome & congratulations for the beaming lightbulb! Look forward to getting to know you in the months ahead!

evie451

Thanks Fishface You have done so well judging by your sig........ maybe some of it will rub off

moozie_2

Hello evie541 and welcome

Well done on having your lightbulb moment(s)! Please do post an SOA as I am sure we can find ways to speed up your repayments. Include all your income and outgoings as well as the debts with min payments, APRs and limits

Good luck!

evie451

Ok here goes with the SOA

Mortgage £568.50
Endowment £ 33.77
House ins B & C £ 20.20
utilities £ 45.00
Council tax £ 262.00
life ins (me) £ 10.00
life ins (OH) £ 20.20
pet ins £ 5.19
Sky ins £7.50
Employment ins £ 27.60
Sky £21.00 Just finished the free 3 months after threatening to cancel :cool:
Phone (mobile) £ 12.00
BT £ 45.00 Landline and broadband
childcare £160.00 one child (DD) after school care 4 days
childrens bonds £ 50.00
TV licence £ 11.07
car ins (OH) £ 65.87
Music lessons DS £ 33.00
gym £ 34.95 locked in til february
debt repayments £422 NB £200 is OH credit card
Food £250
Petrol £60 my only travel cost (other than tax) with company car
RICS sub £30.50
Pocket money (me) £45.00 includes toiletries and one lunch out a week
Clothes £30 for everyone
Entertainment £30

Salary £1539
benefits £110
OH cont £1000 sporadically and often late.... bank charges :mad:


My debts Cap one £1954 15.4% £2500 limit
MBNA £3357 8.9% £3500 limit
Amex £3497 4.9% £3500 limit

Any suggestions ? I am in the kitchen typing away and all I can here is bloody adverts on the telly trying to persuade people to get more credit Marks and Spencer are the worst (particularly for reforming spendaholics like me) cos it looks like you get free stuff.... just given to you.... something for nothing:rolleyes: I think not. I used to have an M & S store card try 29% interest :eek: I learned the hard way paid it off and cut it up.

Sorry for the rant at the end but it is annoying, so many people in debt yet companies still try to push the consumer into more with every marketing trick they posess.

bigliz

Just a quickie, have you claimed help thru child tax credit for childcare?

A_Nice_Englishman

Others will have further ideas I'm sure, but to start with....

Car Insurance seems very high.

Do you need two cars?

Sky Ins - is that so they will come and fix your equipment if it goes wrong?
Cancel this as they will fix it for £65 (or you could do without Sky)

Sky - cancel the subscription. You will still get the 100's of free channels

Children's Bonds - not sure what these are but though it's nice to save for your kids' future consider whether it would be better to pay off debts insteasd now and make up the savings once you have spare cash.

Mics_chick

Is Employment Ins - like redundancy cover or is something to do with other half being self-employed?

Is it is redundancy cover - I don't think it will apply now that your other half is self employed - check your policy and cancel if OH not covered.

Try MS Old Style Board - to cut down food bills...?