New to the forum - up debt creek - all advice welcome

Jesthar

_Persephone wrote: »

I will start to set up payday standing orders for big yearly expenses listed on the budget, like tax and mot.

Hey Persephone

Good to see you doing so well!

One tip - you might wnt to set up those standing orders to go out three or four days AFTER payday. That way if your pay is delayed for some reason (like bank holidays/weekends/corporate stuff up etc.) you won't accidentally go into the red

Keep up the good work! :T

~Jes

_Persephone

You've all been so nice, I posted in the credit card forum about my credit agreement, it's like swimming with sharks! I don't suppose anyone here has any thoughts on this subject - https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3101480 ?

rising_from_the_ashes

_Persephone wrote: »

Both the laptop and sofa cost me £1500 brand new, and I'm paying them off interest free.

I only added them as someone pointed out earlier I had no assets!

Also, I'm not spending that much on clothing now... but was up until a few months ago...

I will start to set up payday standing orders for big yearly expenses listed on the budget, like tax and mot. I don't think I will be in a position to pay this year's insurance annually, but I can save the equivalent of the monthly payments and use that for next year's premium. Another question - I assume that lots of forumites do this, but where do you send the money? I have a savings account, as well as another current account I never use. Is there an optimum place?

Hey, welcome & congratultions for getting to grips with things!

I'd still say your electric is very high - I used to stay in a big old flat with no double glazing and electric heating and I only paid £40/month (not that long ago so even with the price rise, this is steep).

Re putting money aside for annual bills etc, I'm useless at budgeting for next year and always end up having huge sums coming out one pay (Jan was car service, tax & breakdown cover)! Tried various jars/leaving money in my account etc over the years but always ended up raiding them! Have got to grips with this after great advice on here.

I ended up phoning my bank and I've been able to set up savings "pots" from my main account - car, pets, savings & hols (not had one for over 10 years so would be nice)! Once the money has been transferred I actually forget about it, as it's not in my main account it's just as if I've already spent it!

I agree that you shouldn't count the laptop/sofa as assets but you should include your car (your car tax will be cheaper if you're able to save up the money and pay for 12 months in one go so well worth doing).

Best of luck

_Persephone

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

Hey, welcome & congratultions for getting to grips with things!

I'd still say your electric is very high - I used to stay in a big old flat with no double glazing and electric heating and I only paid £40/month (not that long ago so even with the price rise, this is steep).

Wow, that is amazingly cheap? I am totally clueless when it comes to electrity I just put money on the key. Will look for some articles on here about saving.

I ended up phoning my bank and I've been able to set up savings "pots" from my main account - car, pets, savings & hols (not had one for over 10 years so would be nice)! Once the money has been transferred I actually forget about it, as it's not in my main account it's just as if I've already spent it!

Pots sound intriguing too, and just what I need. How does that work - are they like separate accounts for each category? I definitely can't save cash in the house, as I will just spend it!

Jesthar

_Persephone wrote: »

You've all been so nice, I posted in the credit card forum about my credit agreement, it's like swimming with sharks! I don't suppose anyone here has any thoughts on this subject - https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3101480 ?

Ah, you seem to have attracted the attention of at least one name I know and ignore there You may as well stick around this forum, even for seemingly specific questions, we have a a broad spectrum of experts here, and if they think you'd be better of asking something elsewhere, they'll advise you to do that.

Not sure about the question you asked there (you might want to repost it here in this thread), but if I were you I'd suggest being honest with your bank. You don't have to give them the gory details, maybe just say that you might get an unexpected bonus payment from work soon, and if you did, would it affect your arrangement if you used it to clear some of the balance of your credit card immediately. What you do will then depend on their answer, of course. Hopefully as you are making every effort to keep up repayments, they will be helpful as long as you are keeping your side of the agreement - just remember to be polite and thankful for any breaks they give you, as it is all voluntary on their side

It might be a plan to leave some in your bank account to reduce your overdraft, of course

Remember, if you look at your SoA you *should* have a small surplus each month, so work hard on making sure you don't overspend and find ways to save on your expenditure. Also, your computer loan will be finished in October, which will give you another £150 to put towards the credit card.

*hugs* Chin up, you're doing OK so far!

~Jes

rising_from_the_ashes

_Persephone wrote: »

Wow, that is amazingly cheap? I am totally clueless when it comes to electrity I just put money on the key. Will look for some articles on here about saving.

Pots sound intriguing too, and just what I need. How does that work - are they like separate accounts for each category? I definitely can't save cash in the house, as I will just spend it!

Yup, each one is separate and although they have the usual account numbers, I've renamed mine to "car", "pets" etc so I can easily see what's what.

It's really easy to manage:

I've got my main account which my salary goes into then on payday, I transfer a set amount to my Household bills account. This covers all my direct debits and includes a small amount for household emergencies - as others have said, make sure you've a few days between transferring the money and the date of the first payment (just in case).

I've actually done this for years so don't know why I never did anything about putting a bit away for the other bits before!

At the same time as transferring money to my bills account, I now also transfer various amounts to each of my pots - you could easily do this by standing order if you wanted it done automatically (you could then just "pretend" these were other essential direct debit amounts that come out of your account each month).

If I need money from a pot to pay a bill, I can go into the pot and just transfer the money to my main account.

I haven't touched any of these pots since I set them up so it seems to be working!

Any money that's then left in my main account is then mine!

Jesthar

_Persephone wrote: »

Wow, that is amazingly cheap? I am totally clueless when it comes to electrity I just put money on the key. Will look for some articles on here about saving.

My elec is only £12 a month - although my heating is gas central, not electric. Mind you, gas use must have come in at under £15 a month last year, too, as I got well over £100 back as an overpayment refund

Heat is the main waster of electricity - heating, cooking, tumble driers, immersion heaters etc. If you have an immersion heater, make sure it is well insulated, not a bare cylinder, or money is literally radiating away. Make sure appliances are turned off when not in use, preferably at the wall, and lights too. Thick curtains and draught excluders work wonders for retaining heat, and make sure you always draw the curtains at night - you can even make some cheaply or line other curtains using thermal blankets you get in pound shops. And speaking of which, snuggling up in warm cloths and a spare blanket or duvet on the sofa is far cheaper than having the heating on and wearing a t-shirt whilst watching TV - two pairs of socks also works wonders in bed!

I know some of that sounds daunting - it's easier for me because I grew up in a house without any central heating, so I've never let myself get used to it (my thermostat is only set to about 13 degrees C at moment, and never more than 15), but it's amazing what a difference even a few small changes can make

~Jes

patman99

OP, I will assume that your main Bank Account is with the same provider as your credit card. If so, there is nothing stopping the Bank from taking the money from the account to clear the credit card balance.
In which case, I would suggest opening an account with a Bank where you do not already hold a cc, then transferring your wages and DDs to it, leaving the DD for the Lloyds cc linked to the LloydsTSB account, and transferring over the £75 + your months o/t to it.

_Persephone

I realise the folly of having all the debt in one place - all my debt is with Lloyds, loan, CC and overdaft. I really want to move banks when all this is over. THe only thing stopping me is my overdraft - it's currently £1k, and I am in it all the time! As I'm snowballing with the CC, I don't envisage getting round to pay this one off any time soon.

Also, there is a cost of changing banks. Paying off the laptop is a convoluted - the deduction date is couple of days before payday when I am always skint, so I move this to another account (much like Ashes' pots method) then put it back a few days before deduction date. It cost £25 to change the deduction date! By paying this, it makes it not interest free any more, although I'm desperately trying to read through the small print to see if it charges for change of bank also.

I do actually use some of the benefits with my Lloyds account, such as breakdown cover / travel and phone insurance, but as it costs £25 a month now (introductory price is over, the cost outweighs the benefit).

patman99

If you use cash-back sites you could get AA or RAC cover for under £30.00. When you are arranging your contents insurance make sure to ask about the level of cover for personal items. Some insurers will only cover for items up to £600 each, whilst others (the Co-Op included), go as high as £1500 per item. If your macbook got nicked or dropped and broken you might regret not asking about individual item cover or accidental damage when you have to fork-out for a replacement. Also, a lot of contents policies cover the loss of a mobile phone (pers. items) and the cost of calls made from the time you last used-it prior to loosing it and the time your provider deactivated the SIM.

There really is no benefit to the monthly fee accounts at all when you really look into it. Even travel insurance can be had for as little as £60 p/a.