Newbie here - updated to include SOA

Katie-Kat-Kins

That is great with Npower, they should be able to reduce your monthly DD, and you can probably get them to pay you back your surplus which you can pay straight to the credit card! RESULT

tbourner

NPower are idiots, they seem to do it quite a lot - offer you a really low monthly rate so you switch, then after 6 months say you owe them hundreds and your bill doubles!! We've just come out of 12 months with them so we're back in credit, not looking forward to 4 months from now when they no doubt say I owe them again - how long are they going to take to work out the average!!

tbourner

kevstanley wrote: »

These are just drawn from expenditure last year, but the idea of putting money into another account is great, and might ease the panic when things go wrong in the house too. Thanks for that.

See my sig; many bank accounts make light work!
We use the ING for presents, £30 a month, and we use the 1st joint account for saving for emergencies and car MOTs etc. as well as any vet visits. If we then don't need to see the vet we can spend some on something for the car that we wouldn't normally (for example) - needs careful spreadsheeting so you know how much you've saved for each item though, otherwise we'd do it with 4 or 5 savings accounts!
Eventually I'd like to feel confident enough to cancel the pet insurance and reduce others and just save the same amount each month, then it's my money if we don't need to spend it on those things - obviously it's a risk if something goes wrong that's more than you've saved, or early on in the plan, but when we're a bit more debt free it's the way we'll go.

Katie-Kat-Kins

tbourner wrote: »

NPower are idiots, they seem to do it quite a lot - offer you a really low monthly rate so you switch, then after 6 months say you owe them hundreds and your bill doubles!! We've just come out of 12 months with them so we're back in credit, not looking forward to 4 months from now when they no doubt say I owe them again - how long are they going to take to work out the average!!

haha tell me about it!!!!

I had a monthly bill of £65 which was just about the right level, they then reduced it to £30 of their own accord. Obviously that wasn't nearly enough and I built up a sizeable debt, they then wanted to increase our monthly payment to £160. So six months later we have a massive surplus and a monthly payment of £5...........

But they are cheap and they support my unusual E10 meter so I'm still with them and I'm just budgeting my bills as I see fit!

kevstanley

This DFW stuff is time consuming but rewarding! I've been busy reading up about trying to get a better deal out of Virgin, and will try to do that on Monday. I've done a quick price check with Sky and can cite that as my reason for cancellation if I go down that route. People seem to have got some great deals! Am wondering if I can persuade OH and daughter to ditch ESPN :eek:

The couple of quick car insurance quotes I did weren't very nice, so will look at that more thoroughly next week.

Still haven't spoken to OH, as I don't feel I can drop it into the conversation when we're both running around like mad things. I feel really nervous about telling him, but I'm fairly sure he'll be ok after the initial shock - and particularly when he sees that I'm doing something about it.

I've started a spending diary - wish I knew how to use spreadsheets, but I'm such a luddite, I'm using a cash book (from years ago) and pen! Better than nothing though, eh?

Most of that "excess" money is definitely disappearing somewhere. We draw altogether too much cash out. Have had my head so far buried that looking at bank statements was just not on my agenda. But I have scrutinised them today, and the odd £30 here and there which never seems accounted for has to stop!

One quick question - as I don't have an income, won't getting a 0% card be tricky? The last time I got a new credit card, I was still working.

Anyway, I think I'm done for the day - I'll have bank statements dancing before my eyes all day if I don't! And thanks again for all the brilliant help and support. I think this will be the first weekend for months I can go into not having the worry nagging at me all the time. Not that the debt is one jot improved yet, but knowing I've made a good start and there's a great community here to be a part of.

Have a good weekend, all

chivers1977

"Most of that "excess" money is definitely disappearing somewhere. We draw altogether too much cash out. Have had my head so far buried that looking at bank statements was just not on my agenda. But I have scrutinised them today, and the odd £30 here and there which never seems accounted for has to stop!"

We have a joint current account that our salaries go into. All DDs come out of this and Standing Orders to car and shopping savings acounts. I need to restart my saving into a Christmas account. Weekly Standing Orders get sent to our sole current accounts for weekly spending money and petrol. This works as there is no unaccounted money (except around Christmas when it was the longest month ever as well as OHs birthday, Christmas and NYE!!)

kevstanley

I wasn't sure where to update, so thought I'd do it here. I want to keep myself accountable!

This week we've managed to get £10 a month off TV/phone/broadband (think we could do better here, but I'm up against some opposition, and it's not as though we are absolutely desperate), and £57 a month from gas and electricity. I've stopped paying the minimum on my credit card and have, for now, set up a fixed monthly payment of £250. In time that will increase, as the savings start to kick in elsewhere.

We have filled in applications for the local credit union, ready to be submitted next week. We plan to use these accounts for Christmas savings and holidays. We've set aside time on Monday to sort out exact details of other accounts needed, and to apply for them (one for the children's activities, and one for the car, for example).

I already feel WAY more in control of everything. I've been checking the bank account online every day (instead of avoiding it like the plague!), have kept a spending diary to begin to account for the "missing" money, have cut back on alcohol, and been stricter with menu planning. I've been reading up all the different guides to saving money too, and so have more ideas about where I'm heading.

This is a brilliant forum. It's even helping me sleep better! Thanks to all

Katie-Kat-Kins

Well done! Keep up the good work, and keep updating us here! If you do it on this thread it is easier for those who have helped to follow your progress, and for you to look back and see how far you have come.

Verbatim

I'm really glad you're sleeping better and feeling in control. The two things go hand in hand don't they? Well done on everything you've achieved in such a short time.