OK I've done it - SOA

shoe1206

Hello again. Thanks for your replies to my previous post. I've done my SOA (not as hard as i thought)

It seems like i have more money to spare than i thought- don't know where it goes, so i am determined not to fritter it away any more and will start the diary today (but am not going out so will spend £0 today!)

I did the http://www.whatsthecost.co.uk/snowball.aspx
and if i manage to pay £800 a month could be debt free by Feb 2010. mmm - here's hoping.

Am looking forward to your ideas and support. I have also just changed gas and electric supplier - so hopefully this should save a bit. Unfortunately we are tied into BT for phone and internet for 12 months.

(ps my partner has his own debts - which he hopes to pay off in 3 years - these are not included here)

Here it is:

Monthly Incomings:

My salary - £1,287.91
Money from Partner - £590
Benefits - £152.36
Total - £2,030.27

Monthly Outgoings:

Mortgage/Rent - £Paid by partner
Council Tax - £96
Gas - £61
Electric - £37
TV Licence - £10.99
Phone/Internet - £40
Water - £21.90
Contact Lenses - £12
Gas Service - £14.91
Food - £325
Car Insurance - £25
Petrol - £20
Kids Swimming / Dance Lessons - £48
Mobile phone - £10
School Dinners £67.20
Childcare - £176
Car Tax - £8.40
RAC - £10
Bus Pass - £60


Total: £1,043.40

Mint CC - £6293.70 (0% until May 07)
MBNA CC - £12,792.29 (0% until March 07)
M&S CC - £6004.46 (3.9% fixed)
Capital 1 CC - £482.67 (16.9%)

Total £25,573.12


Debt Free Date Feb 2010
http://www.whatsthecost.co.uk/snowball.aspx

Ali-OK

Well done!

I'm sure they'll be lots of people along with ideas to cut down on those outgoings.

School dinners is one that stands out - could they go onto packed lunches? It will cost less to buy the items for them and it takes only a few minutes each day to prepare them (I do mine and DS's at same time!).

Contact lenses - I've stopped doing a monthly plan with the Opticians and now buy them on-line (solution/lenses/cases), via Quidco.com for cashback. Have a look and see how your current lenses and solution cost compares. You will still need to have an annual check at your opticians - mine is @ £30, so budget that into your annual outgoings.

Gas service - Its probably better value to stop this plan and save that amount instead. Annual boiler service is cheaper than your years payment - though depends if you've got a reliable system or not!

RAC - Again, that's £120 per year, going via Quidco you could either cut the cost of this and get cashback or ask yourself do you really need it?

Also you should note down annual bills..car tax/maint/MOT, dentist/hair cuts/Xmas...and then divide total by 12 to find what you need to save monthly so there's no surprises during the year!

There's a few for starters!

shoe1206

Thanks for your reply Ali OK, i need all the help i can get !

I know the school dinners stand out , they have had packed lunches up to now - i've finally buckled to pester power. I do make sandwiches for me and dp - I'm hoping to cut back on the food shopping but the school dinner situation is on trial.

Thanks for the contact lens tip - i'll have a look online now.
I'm too scared to stop paying for the gas service - don't know what i'd do if the boiler packed in - it's very old and unreliable.
The RAC has just been paid for but hopefully i'll put this money aside for next year and decide then.

So i just need to include the extras in my SOA - hairdressers, dentist etc. MOT

Thanks again

Kazonline

Hi Shoe - Ive not much to add to what Ali has said - the same things stood out to me.
Have a play with the Snowball calculator to see what a difference paying the ammount you've allowed for school dinners would make to your debt free date - and more importantly to the total interest you would pay. While you are in debt everything costs much more than the basic price - you have to remember to add the interest for the period it extends to debt. (I wish I'd realised that one sooner, lol)
Kaz x
PS - jealous of your petrol usage - if you only use £20 per month and use buses, is it worth the running costs of the car? You probably have good reasons - but I'm nosey
Especially remember to allow for Christmas as Ali said. I'm sure if your darling can persuade you to pay out for school dinners they'll be experts at Christmas

cantcope

Sorry i dont have much advice except that if you shop at tesco you can get RAC cover with your clubcard vouchers.

Also you mention you don't know where the rest of your money goes. Something that was invaluable to me was keeping a spending diary for a month. I was amazed at the end of it how much i spent on the odd magazine, pack of chewing gum, choccy bar in the afternoon.

It was at least another £40 a month i now save.

skintchick

Just a thought on your boiler - why not put the cash aside as a fund for reapirs/ a new one? I had my old boiler removed, and a new one put in somewhere else in the house, with lots of pipes, and it cost me 3k. So I'm sure you could do it for £2k. It's a lot, yes, but you'll need one anyway, and better you have the money than British Gas or whoever it is.

I mean, what exactly do you get for that money anyway?