Help me make my money go further, please!

Nottoobadyet

I'd reccomend posting over on the Debt free Wannabe board - even if you arent in debt people over there are very experienced in helping people cut back their expenses.

FatVonD

Thanks, Gonzo

gonzo127 wrote: »

to be honest you do need more information posted to be able to get the full help we can give, ones that jump out at me,

gas and elec seem high, i live in a 3 bed semi with me, wife, teenage daughter, 2 1/2 yo daughter (full time) and when back from uni 18 yo son, our gas and electric combine is £90 a month and wife and younger daughter are at home all day - find out your annual usage in KWH and do a comparison, online duel fuel accounts paid by direct debit are usually the cheapest

The gas and electric haven't been read for ages and we're on economy 7 (left over from previous occupier) so I've never really understood it all/had the right information to compare. Once I'm not working I'll get them round to read the meters and take it from there, thanks.

gonzo127 wrote: »

car insurance - not being funny but how much is the car actually worth? what is your excess? just something to think about really as if the car is worth less that £1000 and your excess (comp and vol - each insurance policy will have both) is £300 plus is it actually worth spending out ~£400 a year to insure it fully comp when you would actually only get probably £500 back if you wrote it off (taking into account the excess you would have to pay) in this instance it might be worth it to swop to third party fire and theaft or just third party to try and save money

It's a 2002 model so not much and they are notoriously unsaleable! I thought third party didn't cost that much less as you could still do as much damage to the other party's car however old yours was? If I could find cheaper insurance or change to third party do I have to wait until it's up for renewal?

gonzo127 wrote: »

phone/broadband/tv - do you actually need this, or do you need it all? would freeview/freesat and seperate phone and broadband be a better option?

We have freeview TVs but we live next to a railway line so get really rubbish TV reception without cable.

gonzo127 wrote: »

things you have missed out
mobile phones - are you on contract? - if so phone up and find out how many mins and texts you use, if you dont use them all ask about dropping down a tarrif to one more suitable, or if you are out of contract look at leaving and going pay as you go for even more control

Prepare to fall over... I don't use a mobile phone! I do have a PAYG for long car journeys but I hate the things. DH has a PAYG.

gonzo127 wrote: »

groceries - aim for £60 per person per month (full time people at home) for your budget - this is doable with a little work and you can still have a healthy diet with the odd treat

That doesn't sound as difficult to achieve as I'd expected, I've been spending too much time lurking on Old Style!

FatVonD

Nottoobadyet wrote: »

I'd reccomend posting over on the Debt free Wannabe board - even if you arent in debt people over there are very experienced in helping people cut back their expenses.

I'm in denial plus I've still not got over the mods moving one of my threads into the free-for-all that is the Moneysavers Inn!

gonzo127

FatVonD wrote: »

Thanks, Gonzo

The gas and electric haven't been read for ages and we're on economy 7 (left over from previous occupier) so I've never really understood it all/had the right information to compare. Once I'm not working I'll get them round to read the meters and take it from there, thanks.

It's a 2002 model so not much and they are notoriously unsaleable! I thought third party didn't cost that much less as you could still do as much damage to the other party's car however old yours was? If I could find cheaper insurance or change to third party do I have to wait until it's up for renewal?

We have freeview TVs but we live next to a railway line so get really rubbish TV reception without cable.

Prepare to fall over... I don't use a mobile phone! I do have a PAYG for long car journeys but I hate the things. DH has a PAYG.

That doesn't sound as difficult to achieve as I'd expected, I've been spending too much time lurking on Old Style!

np

not wishing to be rude but why wait? for one especially with redundency coming up i would be wanting to get the gas and electric sorted as soon as, as if it hasnt been read for a while you could be due a large bill or a large credit, best to find out as soon as possible, and unless you have storage heaters i dont think economy 7 would be your best bet - head over to the gas and elec board for a bit more advice

car insurance - phone your current company and ask them if you can swop and stay with them, as whats the worst that they can say "sorry we cant do that you will have to wait till renewal", they have all your details and will usually change you over with you stay with them without a penalty, and if its not going to be cheaper all you have wasted is a single phone call

what about free sat? 2 different versions of this, one from Sky and one from the regular operators - might be worth lookign into - i think its about £150 for installation and a box (more if you want recording functions)

mobile phone - not totally shocked, impressed really good on you

groceries - it really isnt that difficult, i feed my family on slightly less ~£50 a person, still have meat, fish, veg, fruit

FatVonD

gonzo127 wrote: »

np

not wishing to be rude but why wait? for one especially with redundency coming up i would be wanting to get the gas and electric sorted as soon as, as if it hasnt been read for a while you could be due a large bill or a large credit, best to find out as soon as possible, and unless you have storage heaters i dont think economy 7 would be your best bet - head over to the gas and elec board for a bit more advice

car insurance - phone your current company and ask them if you can swop and stay with them, as whats the worst that they can say "sorry we cant do that you will have to wait till renewal", they have all your details and will usually change you over with you stay with them without a penalty, and if its not going to be cheaper all you have wasted is a single phone call

what about free sat? 2 different versions of this, one from Sky and one from the regular operators - might be worth lookign into - i think its about £150 for installation and a box (more if you want recording functions)

mobile phone - not totally shocked, impressed really good on you

groceries - it really isnt that difficult, i feed my family on slightly less ~£50 a person, still have meat, fish, veg, fruit

According to readings I've given them before they owed me but I left it with them to cover the winter months, I do need to check though now that the worst of winter is over.

I've never heard of FreeSat?? (I'm not much taken with technical stuff, hence no mobile phone.) Is it a one-off payment?

gonzo127

yep just like freeview just uses satilite instead of your ariel

http://www.freesat.co.uk/
or
http://www.sky.com/shop/freesat/home/

pupsicola

Your gas and electric bills seem high. I live in a 3 bed detached and my gas is £35 pm and my electric is £20 pm. Look around at other energy suppliers. Whichever supplier you are with they can send out leaflets with ideas on reducing your usage. Was surprised at how many of the ideas I ended up using and the difference it made.

Your water bill seems high, mine is £21.50 pm

Definately have a look at your grocery shop. This is often where alot of savings can be made. I saved myself a fortune by doing weekly meal plans, batch cooking and freezing. Also trying supermarket own brands for certain things.

How much do you have to put by for petrol, travel costs, car tax, mot, etc etc.

Even if you dont want to post full details here, I found doing the sites budget planner really usefull. Stops you overlooking things

FatVonD

pupsicola wrote: »

Your gas and electric bills seem high. I live in a 3 bed detached and my gas is £35 pm and my electric is £20 pm. Look around at other energy suppliers. Whichever supplier you are with they can send out leaflets with ideas on reducing your usage. Was surprised at how many of the ideas I ended up using and the difference it made.

I've spoken to Southern Electric this morning and given them new meter readings and got my annual usage figures from them so I can go on the comparison sites. The main problem so far seems to be that we have been on Economy 7 and not using it properly so I've made an appointment for a standard meter to be fitted ASAP.

Our gas usage is ridiculous, what they owe me on the overpaid electric I need to transfer for the shortfall for the gas, I seriously need to buy my DH a few jumpers! I don't feel the cold but he sits around in just a T-shirt with the heating on full complaining he's cold, there will be a few words exchanged about this tonight. Of course my baths probably aren't helping either.

pupsicola wrote: »

Definately have a look at your grocery shop. This is often where alot of savings can be made. I saved myself a fortune by doing weekly meal plans, batch cooking and freezing. Also trying supermarket own brands for certain things.

I'm not a label snob at all (I think I'm still rebelling against my mum who boasts how expensive everything she has is so I love to do the exact opposite!) but I've definitely noticed my food bills creeping up since we moved and no longer have room for a chest freezer. We have a half and half fridge/freezer left in the 'old' kitchen plus another undercounter fridge in what's now our kitchen/diner. If push comes to shove we could replace the fridge freezer with a tall freezer but it's integrated so it wouldn't be straightforward or I could put a freestanding chest freezer in our bedroom.

pupsicola wrote: »

How much do you have to put by for petrol, travel costs, car tax, mot, etc etc.

I'll have to put money aside for these out of my redundancy payment, I didn't list these though as they're fixed costs.

In good news I've found car insurance for £22 per month (still fully comp.) I'm not sure if I'm more delighted at saving £13 per month or gutted that it's with Saga! :rotfl: