SOA - what else can I shave off?

mrs_mug_2

Right, DFW, I challenge you to shave as much as you can off my outgoings. Think you can do it?

Here are the details:

INCOMING
wage 2245
taxcredit 40
family allowance 116
Total 2401

OUTGOING
PETROL 250
FOOD 160
DRIVING 80
TV LIC 10.99
BT 30
LIFE Assurance 15.14
redundancy cover 29.64
MORTGAGE 969
GAS 20
WATER 31.04
ELEC 38
CTAX 81
SKY 7.5
Mob phone 40
mob phone 30

Nationwideloan 165.66 5.7%/7600/3.5 years remaining
SETTEE 76 0%/1064/14 months remaining
CAR 187.63 see notes

Total outgoings 2221.70 :eek:

Notes:
We're not in arrears with gas/elec but the dd amount didn't cover the amount we were using and so owe a further £300. We hope to clear that after christmas but can't swtich until then (can we?)
Landline - what is the cheapest/least confusing way to reduce this?
Mobile phones - I'm tied in for another 12 months. H can switch after christmas but he has to have a mobile phone for work purposes (which isn't paid for by work)
Petrol - H commutes so petrol costs are high
Car running costs/ house insurance/christmas and birthdays are all covered for 2 years in our savings account
Food - covers food for 2 adults and 2 chlidren and all cleaning products
Driving - I'm nearly 'there' with the driving. I'm reluctant to give up as this is the 15th time I've started with a new instructor over the years and really need to be able to drive so I can get evening work. Test is in Feb anyway.
'Car' is on a rotating loan system - we pay that amount for 3 years and then get a newer car in 3 years. We can't see any problems with this (given the amount of miles H does in the car each year). are we missing something with this?


Up to the challenge?

aj3001

Mobile phone use is quite high, could you cut down to a lower priced contract? And maybe a cheaper Redundancy cover? Like going through a bank for it? I think HSBC quoted me something like £1 a month

lynzpower

YEP- course

INCOMING
wage 2245
taxcredit 40
family allowance 116
Total 2401

OUTGOING
PETROL 250 ( WOAH, this is high, If you cant cut down your journeys then make sure you fill up at tesco so you get clubcard points- which should shave off a bit from your shopping I estimate in CC vouchers a month on this alone youd get about 15 quid)
FOOD 160 ( if you shop at tesco then you can have that 15 off
DRIVING 80 ( wahts this? I presume lessons? Need or want? )
TV LIC 10.99
BT 30 ( hows this working? We have line rental 11, tesco broadband - but you can get cheaper at 13, and free primus 2 call package, so you could save 6 quid there, or you can always go dial up, thats cheaper? )
LIFE Assurance 15.14
redundancy cover 29.64 ( checked this is the cheapest? Why do you have this, you migt be as well to look into a PPI that covers redundancy, sickness, life assurance etc)
MORTGAGE 969 ( is this fixed? Cheapest you can get it?)
GAS 20
WATER 31.04 (aRE YOU metered and doing all water saving things?)
ELEC 38 ( high, we pay that a month and we dont hav gas- look at est.org.uk and use all tips)
CTAX 81
SKY 7.5 ( this can go )
Mob phone 40 ( high, go PAYG)
mob phone 30 ( as above)

OK, whaddya think of that?

embb

Hiya

With two mobile phones do you really need a landline aswell? I discovered I didn't, maybe you could get rid of it? Also, the mobiles are quite high, might be worth looking around at PAYG? The sky package can go as much as we think we need it, we don't If you reduce your food shopping trips to one pw/pm petrol costs should come down? Also worth having a look at the OS board for more money saving tips on food

mrs_mug_2

Thank you

Right, don't have to have sky but we do need to have an aerial put up if we ditch it so need to find the money for that first.
Driving - it has become a need really so that I can get part time evening work
BT - I think we owe a little on this and the £30 covers it. Though it is only about £100 so we could clear it and get a cheaper option elsewhere. but who with? We have to have a landline for internet reasons (h needs to have broadband access for work)
Petrol - can't reduce the miles unfortunately. H has to travel at least 300 miles a week for work...work dont' pay for petrol because it was our choice to live in a cheaper area further away from his office.
My mobile - tarriff is the cheapest I can drop to apparently. I will switch to payg when the contract is up. Not sure if it would be cost effective for h though
Mortgage is fixed and just remortgaged to get a better deal. Life assurances are being reviewed as I type.
Gas/elec - as explained in the notes we've built up a bill that needs clearing. We only have GcH, everything else is run on electricity (including lots of computer equipment required for H's work).

Does anyone know if we can claim anything back because H does work at home for 70% of his week? His work will not pay anything towards 'running costs' because it was h's choice to work from home. but can we get a reduction in ctax or tax back or anything?

mrs_mug_2

Meant to add - we dont' shop at Tesco all that often any more, found that between lidl, morrisons and the butcher we can get more for our money. though I might consider doing it for the cc points. All shopping is done by me walking to fetch it - so transport costs aren't a problem, I don't drive yet

embb

<<Right, don't have to have sky but we do need to have an aerial put up if we ditch it so need to find the money for that first.>>

*You still have the freeview channels on Sky even when you close the account, I don't have an aerial either

BT - I think we owe a little on this and the £30 covers it. Though it is only about £100 so we could clear it and get a cheaper option elsewhere. but who with? We have to have a landline for internet reasons (h needs to have broadband access for work)

* I used to have the Telewest phone/broadband package but got rid of the phone and just kept the BB - £17.99 pm, not sure if the same applies for BT customers, maybe someone else will know

CLAPTON

one of the important things about drawing up a budget is to see if you are spending less than your income or more than your income.
once you've done that it gives you the information to decide whether you're happy with the situation or whether you need to take action to either increase income and/or decrease spending and if you have to decrease spending it helps you decide spending priorities based on good information.

that is why is very important to include absolutely everything in the budget. so you really really do need to include all the yearly or one off spends (work out a yearly figure and divide by 12).

so yes you really should add a figure for car tax, insurance, MOT, RAC/AA, servicing, repairs budget, clothes, presents, xmas, holidays, house insurance, school/kids costs/activities/school /pocket money, emergency fund (essential as car/house owners with children.
Now i know you say thats covered by the saving a/c...does that mean you are planning to spend more than you earn for the next two years until the money is exhausted?
anyway the main point is that at the moment its not possible to see whether you are solvent or not.

lynzpower

In terms of phone

Have a look on the internet & phone board

Make sure you get your quidco cash bac kwhen you switch using uswitch or simply switch.

I got 15 quid for taking on primus 2 ( free evening & weekend calls to LLs up to an hour & a half) and that package is free.

If your oh is using facilities from home that hes not using at work then I think, although do check wih acas.org.uk that he is entitled to some sort of rebate or dcontribution from his work, even if they only pay his internet its better than nothing.

peskie_pixie

with regards to budgeting as mentioned by Clapton, have a look at the Budget planner at the top of this page as a good starting point. It does make you remember the little things that are easy to overlook.

Also there's another free spreadsheet available on

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=238618

With regards to petrol, asda do a credit card which if you use it to buy petrol knocks off another 2p a litre and also collects points and gives you vouchers. I use my card only to do this (plus my shopping in asda) and make sure i pay it off in full.

As you say, regarding gas/elec, if you're owing a large amount cos the DD was understated, if you switch suppliers now you'll be hit with a settlement bill from your existing supplier. Fine if you can pay it in one go, but probably the wrong time of year. As soon as you can, switch.

In the meantime start researching best deals and also get your annual usage figures together so that can switch as soon as possible. (loads of info on this site) and if you use uswitch via quidco link you'll get cashback.

for info on all your utilities etc and to find out if there's anything else you could possibly cut see: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities


Not sure on the rules etc regarding home working and offsetting costs against tax as they've changed. Will have a look though (am an accountant but don't specialise in tax!)

Keep up the good work (and the driving) x

Edit: here's details regarding tax relief for unreimbursed homeworking expenses: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/bulletins/tb79.htm

But would recommmend you ring your relevant tax office for more advice (plus hopefully it'll clarify the goobledygook :rotfl:

Storm

Is it a petrol or diesel car? Apparently you can use a mixture of diesel & vegetable oil to save money - but I'm too scared to try it!