2007 - the year to clear...?

pollypig

OK, so I'm a fairly long-time lurker, with the odd post, but have never really come clean about my own debts

This year I've got lots of goals, but the main one is to significantly reduce my debt! (others being the usual eat better, go to the gym more, get a new job...!)

Since joining the site I have made some significant changes, but it isn't enough... for example, I haven't put any money onto my credit cards since May - they used to be used every month!

OK, here's my SOA:

Income: £1500 per month
Plus: £200 petrol allowance from work per month
Plus: £250 bonus (paid as £750 quarterly)

Total = £1950

Rent £223 (this is paid to my boyfriend, who owns the house, and includes TV licence, water rates, council tax and Sky TV)

Gym membership £34.50
Contact lense £22
Car Insurance £53 (cheapest I could find by a mile... my ambition is to pay this in full next renewal date!)
Broadband £15
Oxfam donation £5
Mobile £25
Food - £120 (this is the difficult one, I would guess it averages this for my share)
Car tax - £12 (paid until November 07)

I also have the following going into savings each month:
£50 - emergencies (car, household, etc.)
£50 - holidays
£50 - Christmas

Total = £532.50

My debts stand at:

Egg CC - £3800 at 0% (until July 2007) - £100 per month (more than minimum)
Halifax CC - £950 at 16.9% :eek: (overspending at Christmas - this should be paid in full on January 24th as I get a bonus payment then)
Halifax loan - £14,351 left at 6.4% - £463 per month (no overpayments).

Total = £19,101 :eek:

I know there are cutbacks that can be made... I think I just need a bit of a kick up the @rse to get them made!

I should also mention that I'm currently looking for a new job - which would mean that I would lose the petrol allowance and bonus, though the monthly wage would stay the same, possibly go up slightly. The idea was always to save the petrol/bonus for paying off debts... that hasn't happened!

so... DFWs do your worst!

Uniscots97

Is your mobile on contract? It would be the first place to start

lynzpower

so... DFWs do your worst!

Ok then !! :rotfl:

Income: £1500 per month
Plus: £200 petrol allowance from work per month
Plus: £250 bonus (paid as £750 quarterly)

Total = £1950

Rent £223 (this is paid to my boyfriend, who owns the house, and includes TV licence, water rates, council tax and Sky TV) ( are you certain that all these are the lowest they can go?)

Gym membership £34.50 ( do you need this?)
Contact lense £22 ( these can be got cheaper, try asdas, they are quoted often as cheap theres a long discussion in the health forum about these)
Car Insurance £53 (cheapest I could find by a mile... my ambition is to pay this in full next renewal date!)
Broadband £15 ( there are cheaper, AOL broadband is a tenner, hang on dont you get sky broadband if you have sky?)
Oxfam donation £5 ( not needed right now)
Mobile £25 ( is this the lowest?an you go PAYG)
Food - £120 (this is the difficult one, I would guess it averages this for my share) ( so for 2 you spend 240? only 120 for both of you should be adequate with the help of the OS board, thats what we spend including lunches, cleaning, toiletries etc) )
Car tax - £12 (paid until November 07)

I also have the following going into savings each month:
£50 - emergencies (car, household, etc.)
£50 - holidays ( do you really think you can afford holidays being 20k in debt, what about a little less, and go camping or something instead?)
£50 - Christmas ( do you really need 600 quid for Xmas)

Total = £532.50

My debts stand at:

Egg CC - £3800 at 0% (until July 2007) - £100 per month (more than minimum)
Halifax CC - £950 at 16.9% (overspending at Christmas - this should be paid in full on January 24th as I get a bonus payment then)

Halifax loan - £14,351 left at 6.4% - £463 per month (no overpayments). ( but you can have an early settlement I take it? )

Total = £19,101

they are just my thoughts to start off with. But you havent mentioned petrol or repair costs?

OberonSH

pollypig wrote:

OK, so I'm a fairly long-time lurker, with the odd post, but have never really come clean about my own debts

This year I've got lots of goals, but the main one is to significantly reduce my debt! (others being the usual eat better, go to the gym more, get a new job...!)

Since joining the site I have made some significant changes, but it isn't enough... for example, I haven't put any money onto my credit cards since May - they used to be used every month!

OK, here's my SOA:

Income: £1500 per month
Plus: £200 petrol allowance from work per month
Plus: £250 bonus (paid as £750 quarterly)

Total = £1950

Rent £223 (this is paid to my boyfriend, who owns the house, and includes TV licence, water rates, council tax and Sky TV)

Gym membership £34.50 Why not borrow a mates fitness dvd's, run up and down the stairs or just go for a brisk walk instead of paying out to a gym? I cut mine and the only thing I miss is the spa! I also lost more weight. Go figure...
Contact lense £22 I'm sure someone said you can get these online cheaper, starting around £8 a month
Car Insurance £53 (cheapest I could find by a mile... my ambition is to pay this in full next renewal date!) Hope you went through quidco/pigsback....
Broadband £15
Oxfam donation £5 Personally I'd cut his, pay it off your debt. If conscience pricks, start it again when you have the cash
Mobile £25
Food - £120 (this is the difficult one, I would guess it averages this for my share) Our family is 2 adult and 1 toddler, and this is our budget for the month al together. Have you cjhecked out moneysaving oldstyle recently for some new tips?
Car tax - £12 (paid until November 07)

I also have the following going into savings each month:
£50 - emergencies (car, household, etc.)
£50 - holidays
£50 - Christmas £50 Each per year is £1800. I'd certainly cut down the xmas budget. That's £600! Have you thought about doing pigsback and giving everyone boots vouchers? Or giving them a voucher for your time 0 'IOU 1 evening babysitting'. I'd appreciate that more than a box of smelly bath stuff.

Total = £532.50

My debts stand at:

Egg CC - £3800 at 0% (until July 2007) - £100 per month (more than minimum)
Halifax CC - £950 at 16.9% :eek: (overspending at Christmas - this should be paid in full on January 24th as I get a bonus payment then)
Halifax loan - £14,351 left at 6.4% - £463 per month (no overpayments).

Total = £19,101 :eek:

I know there are cutbacks that can be made... I think I just need a bit of a kick up the @rse to get them made!

I should also mention that I'm currently looking for a new job - which would mean that I would lose the petrol allowance and bonus, though the monthly wage would stay the same, possibly go up slightly. The idea was always to save the petrol/bonus for paying off debts... that hasn't happened!

so... DFWs do your worst!

Have you thought about getting a train ticket or bus ticket to work? If it's not too far, that's your excersize taken care of!

Uniscots97

Do you get your insurance, contacts etc through Quidco? If not why not? You could be earning money back to throw at your debt.

pollypig

Hi all

Thanks for your replies so far... there are some great ideas and some that I had kind of thought of but hadn't put into practice...

Gym - this is a really hard decision - I have problems with my hip/knee so can't do running outside - I have to do other CV stuff - I know I could probably do these with a fitness DVD but if I can, I'd prefer to stick with the gym - where I can go for classes, go for a swim if my hip is really bad... but it's something to think about certainly...

No, my bills are not all at the lowest - unfortunately, they are in my OHs name (it's his house, he lived there about 6 yrs before I moved in) - I keep asking him to get all the info so I can compare on uswitch, etc. I'll give him another kick!

I'll investigate sky broadband - also, I've found out through work that I can claim some of my broadband back to July 06 so that'll be a nice lump sum to chuck at debts!

I travel for work so need my car sadly - I drive the length and breadth of the "north" (apparently anywhere north of about Watford!) - this is why I want to change jobs. If I go back to working in the office, I'd still need to drive but would only be about £35 month petrol costs...

food shopping is where we really need to get better - the problem is my OH - he's SO good with money that he doesn't have any debt bar his mortgage that is tiny because he bought at the right time... so he's not so keen on budgeting the shopping because of my debts! but, he's also been hinting recently that he'd like to move - so I'm thinking food shopping can be my bargaining tool! also, he does all the cooking so it's not like I can be sneaky about it... but I'll try!! We already get Stardrops so that's one MSE thing :T

The savings were the bit I was unsure about really - I know everyone says there's no point in savings if you've got lots of debt and I'll rethink these... maybe just put the £50 emergency money away for now, plus maybe £10 for Christmas/birthdays?

I hope it doesn't sound like I'm making excuses?? I KNOW things have to change and, to be honest, if it was me living on my own I think I'd manage a bit better - when I was a student I spent £40 per month on food tops!! It's just the OH - I feel bad denying him stuff when it's me that's been stupid with my money!

pollypig

PS - I need to look into quidco/contacts and will do that now - am fed up of Specsavers anyway!

OberonSH

I know how you feel, I feel bad about my other half (who's horribly debt free except his car) being dragged through shops with me muttering 'Bet this is cheaper in Nettos'. But the way we look at it is that if he has more money left at the end of the month thank's to my budget, he can buy more Warhammer stuff. He's really got on the wagon with me, and is wondering how he managed to spend so much before!

So it can be a positive experience for the Debt Free Partner. Tell him if he matches your budget he will have £XXX left at the end of the month for stuff he wants. Most men !!!!! up their ears at the sound of extra beer/clothes/Goblins.

pollypig

well, he's been going to see a lot of football recently then panicking that he's spending too much - maybe we could at first try saving the money for 2 football tickets (each, which would be about £70 a month for my debts) then take it from there...?

I'm going to talk to him tonight - tell him I really want to make headway into my debts this year and I'd really like his support... he's generally a very supportive guy he just doesn't understand how I've spent so much money!

OberonSH

I think that;s a great idea. That way he's not going to panic, gets to see the footy and gives you support without pressuring you to spend more, or feel bad about being on a budget.

mizmir

pollypig wrote:

PS - I need to look into quidco/contacts and will do that now - am fed up of Specsavers anyway!

I got mine through quidco - Contacts 4 Lenses - they worked out cheapest for me - less than £10 a month for torics (I was paying £27.00 to my optician!). But worth comparing prices for your type. Bear in mind some will ask for a prescription which you may or may not have (I only had the box with the details of mine not an official prescription from my optician). C4L are based in channel islands so seem to get around that.