Your suggestions and help is welcomed

FerociousDave

Hello everyone, newb here, don't hurt me ;-)

I bought Martin's book a while ago and have followed quite a lot of the tips in it. I looked at these forums and never thought to join up as I thought I had everything under control, but apparently not, as I am pretty much back to the point I was at 6 months ago, albeit with a bit more preperation for christmas!

So, I know my debts aren't as great as a lot of people who post on this site, but I really, really would like to be debt free. Never seeing a positive figure in my bank account causes me a lot of stress, but reading how quickly you lot have got out of debt has really made me think 'I could do that' but I need your advice please?

Here's my SOA:
Monthly Incomings:
My salary - £1,200 odd (changes with travel expenses)
Partners salary - variable - supply teacher

Total - £1,200 odd

Monthly Outgoings:

Mortgage/Rent - £400
Council Tax - £92
Gas - £23
Electric - £30
TV License - £15
Phone & Broadband- £30
Food - £160
Car Insurance - £60
Petrol - £200 (a lot I know, the car is essential for work and I live a long way from where I work).
Water -£12
Contact lenses £10
Charity donations - £10
home / contents £12.50
Mobile phone £30
Professional fees - £45

Total: £1129
Egg Loan:£5,869 @ 7.7% APR (repayments are 154 per month)
Lloyds Overdraft:£800 (I'll be honest, I don't know what the APR on this is, but it's a classic account)
Lloyds credit card £300 @11.9 %

As you can see, I'm usually riding the line between going further into debt and breaking even. I have a bit of an addiction to photography equipment as well and usually find some way to justify buying it!

So I guess what I'd like to know is - How can I reduce my debt AND can anyone think of ways to make more money? I have school holidays off so there are opportunities there, but if anyone knows of any I'd love to know them. If it was to involve photography that would be cracking!

TIA for any help!
D

FerociousDave

Just realised the title of this thread sounds a bit poncy, ah well, sorry about that!

embb

Is it possible to car share for your trips to work? that could save quite abit on Petrol, maybe for the time being cancel your charitable donations? try and cut your food shopping bill even if it's only by £20 it's still £20 in the bank, you could maybe save the £20 in a special savings account and have it as your 'car insurance' account it's cheaper to pay the full year in one go rather than monthly (I know cause I did it too ) too late for this year obviously but next time maybe?

As for the photography equipment, don't look at any, that way you wont be tempted to buy it My OH always said to me if you haven't got the cash then you can't afford it, AND (he's full of these little pearls of wisdom) always say to yourself when you see something you like, 'do you need it?, most of the time you don't

moozie_2

Hello and welcome FD

Here's what I think...

FerociousDave wrote:

Monthly Incomings:
My salary - £1,200 odd (changes with travel expenses)
Partners salary - variable - supply teacher

Total - £1,200 odd

Monthly Outgoings:

Mortgage/Rent - £400
Council Tax - £92
Gas - £23 Are these the cheapest providers for you for gas and electricity? Check on uswitch.com
Electric - £30
TV License - £15 Are you in arrears? I pay £11.39 I think.
Phone & Broadband- £30 Is this the cheapest package for you? Worth shopping around.Food - £160
Car Insurance - £60 This is high, is it because of claims or age?
Petrol - £200 (a lot I know, the car is essential for work and I live a long way from where I work). What about other car related costs? they need to be accounted for too.
Water -£12
Contact lenses £10
Charity donations - £10 Can you suspend these until you are debt free?
home / contents £12.50
Mobile phone £30 any chance of lowering this?Professional fees - £45 Can your employer contribute/pay for this?

Total: £1129 Excluding medical/dental/presents/social/emergencies of any kind etc

Egg Loan:£5,869 @ 7.7% APR (repayments are 154 per month) How many repayments? Any PPI on this? If so, check if you actually need it/would be covered.
Lloyds Overdraft:£800 (I'll be honest, I don't know what the APR on this is, but it's a classic account) I think this will be higher than the card. If so, focus on paying this off first.
Lloyds credit card £300 @11.9 %

As you can see, I'm usually riding the line between going further into debt and breaking even. I have a bit of an addiction to photography equipment as well and usually find some way to justify buying it! You simply cannot afford it at the moment. In fact, I would suggest you start looking into ebay or other means of bringing in additional income to help you stay afloat.

So I guess what I'd like to know is - How can I reduce my debt AND can anyone think of ways to make more money? I have school holidays off so there are opportunities there, but if anyone knows of any I'd love to know them. If it was to involve photography that would be cracking! Many threads on making money on the side. A search should bring up some. Also there is a sticky at the top of the forum.

TIA for any help! You are welcome
D

You came in at the right time before things become tighter for you. Make sure you cut up the credit card and not add more to the overdraft if possible. You can make savings on your SOA but there are many items missing. Additional/increased income is your best way forward.

Good luck!

CLAPTON

can you explain about your partner.....is the SOA yours or is it joint and if so does your OH contribute or what?

FerociousDave

Yes, sorry, the SOA is all mine, my partner does contribute to the household running costs - we agreed £300 per month, but she only pays it when she can, depending on how much she has worked.

Thanks all!

FerociousDave

moozie wrote:

Hello and welcome FD

Here's what I think...



You came in at the right time before things become tighter for you. Make sure you cut up the credit card and not add more to the overdraft if possible. You can make savings on your SOA but there are many items missing. Additional/increased income is your best way forward.

Good luck!

Thanks for the advice, so I have a bit of a plan, tell me what you think:

[li]Check on Uswitch for Gas / Electricity prices and see whether I can get them cheaper[/li] [li] Check car insurance - why is high, could it be cheaper[/li] [li]I read about contact lenses in one of Martin's emails as well, so I'll have a look into that[/li]

So another question - my car insurance renewal date isn't until June, do I have to ride it out until then? It's with direct line. I'm 24 with three years no claims bonus, would you expect my insurance to be that high?

pollyanna24

Suppose the insurance all depends on the car, but next year you will hit a age boundary at 25 and your insurance should come down.

My bf is 26 and always sticks me on his insurance as this makes it cheaper (even when I was under 25).

lynzpower

is there any reason why your partner is only supply teaching? Are there no permanent jobs about only I thought ( and i get enough emails, despite not being a teacher! promoting various teaching vacancies - although I dont know where you live)

What is your partner able to do? Not working or only doin the odd day here ad there is jnot going to keep you afloat, as we can see by your SOA you simply dont earn enough to support both of you.

Her not working isnt an option- you need half of the bills paid for to free up money for you to sort your debts out with.

Sorry if this sounds harsh it really doesnt mean to ( im unemployed myself at the mo, its not easy is it) but the bottom line is you dont earn enough to support both of you.

Sorry to be the bearer, but big welcome :wave:

KatieKins

My advice is not as good as the hardcore debt defenders! but I would suggest joining up to things such as pigsback (good for vouchers etc - even if it takes you a while to get a £10 every little helps), quidco etc. There are also a lot of survey sites (look on the freebies board) which pay in vouchers etc. Just set aside a little bit of time to organise them all as it is very easy to get muddled. As time goes on, join a few more and you will soon build up points!!
Good Luck

FerociousDave

lynzpower wrote:

Sorry if this sounds harsh it really doesnt mean to ( im unemployed myself at the mo, its not easy is it) but the bottom line is you dont earn enough to support both of you.

Sorry to be the bearer, but big welcome :wave:

No worries, harsh is what I need! And thanks for the welcome!

She is looking and applying for jobs but not many seem to come up in our area (Nottingham) she's primary and I think there's less of those than secondary. To be fair, she does seem to be working an average of 3 days per week, but then she has her own debts to sort as well (you're going to tell me to sit down and talk to her about her debts aren't you? - she will hate you for that! )