A bit of help please. SOA too.

mumsicle_2

Hi, we don't have heaps of debt but I want to be able to stay at home with the children and hopefully have another baby this year. I don't mind working part time. I did work over christmas and found it such a chore and we had the 'we are both earning let's spend more' mentality. I would like to shave what i can off our bills to enable us to be able to have a holiday a year and to live more comfortably.

Income
Husband £1350 approx, could be more but rarely less.
Me £126.32 child benefit
£57.00 tax credits
£251.3 CSA, this is normal maintenance and money he owes to me.

IN £1784.62

Monthly Bills
Mortgage. 573.15 Fixed until August 2007
House ins 19.91 £125 cash back with Quidco, best quote by far
Car ins 22.86 £100 cash back
life and crit 48.22 Needs looking at
mortgage protection 33.61 As above
crit ill for kids 9.39 Should I cancel this?
orange 39.00 Contract until 2008 (eeeeeeek)
oil 65.00 9 months payments for 2000 litres
water 10.00
c/tax 89.00
tv lic 10.99
sky 37.00 Have already cancelled multi room
elec 65.00 High, but trying to cut down
Talk talk 25.00
tiscali 14.99

SUBTOTAL £1063.12

Other bits and bobs.
Service, mot etc. 25
xmas 50
clothes 30
holiday 50
n/trust + days out 20
diy and garden 20

SUBTOTAL £1258.12

Petrol £130 Cannot be reduced due to work
Food £300 for all meals and pack ups.


TOTAL BEFORE DEBTS £1688.12 :eek:
DEBTS

MBNA 1924.72 total, min payment is 38-44 per month.

IN LAWS 5000.00 a 0% to be paid when we can afford, want to start paying them something soon, even £10 a month if needs be.

COUNCIL TAX £420. I have spoken to them and I cannot pay the full amount by Jan 23rd so they will take legal action and add £55 to the bill. Not paid this due to a balls up by csa over the last 2 months, hopefully pay most of it by mid-late Feb.

Studio £150.00, ordered some Christmas stuff from here and will pay it asap (minmum payment this week)

Tiscali £207.00, they made a mistake when we moved and haven't taken any money from my bank in a while. I wil pay this asap too.

I know I need to do a diary. Any tips on how to stop husband being enticed by 'quality' food? I have improved him quite a lot but he still thinks 'finest' means better etc!!

Thanks in advance!!

Yorkielass

mumsicle, well done for posting all that.

I'm going to be predictable and mention Sky first £37 a month is still a lot when you're income and outgoings almost match - before taking into account the debt. We had Sky for a while (on the £21ish a month package) and have recently moved, were deciding whether to get it installed so we went through all the channels and worked out how often we actually watch them all/when we last watched them and whether those we did were on freeview. Outcome is we've scrapped sky and after 6 weeks or so on freeview haven't missed it at all.

Is talk talk just your landline? If so £25 a month seems very high - do you use it a lot/call overseas etc? I'm sure you can get cheaper than that especially with that kind of mobile deal - must get lots of free minutes!

As for the shopping - can you do the food shopping on your own so those 'finest' items don't slip in the trolley. I've found meal planning and lists really work well - but some people on here are amazing - check out the old style board for tips.

Good luck

bluezone

you say that you have cancelled multiroom on sky but have kept the package?? why is this? cancelling this luxury would free up more money to throwat you debts

Bestthingsinlifearefree

Hi Mumsicle,

"MBNA 1924.72 total, min payment is 38-44 per month".

What is the interest rate on this card ?

If it is high, could you transfer the debt to a low or zero % interest rate card ?

Keep up the good work.

mumsicle_2

Hi, we are keeping the sky, it is literally our only luxury. We never go out, we have the full package and make use of the sky+ as my husband works shifts so watches his programmes at silly hours. I am not sure of the mbna rates, but approx 19 apr. We cannot move to 0% as we had a default for £7 with a mothercare card. Talk Talk is just landline. We live a ong way from family and they are all on talk talk so free calls to them. It's calls to the csa etc that have bumped the phone bill up lately.

Yorkielass

With TalkTalk line rental is £11 per month and unlimited UK day and evening calls are about £9 a month so £20 a month.

If you're needing to call people who publicise 0845 or 0870 numbers have you searched for geographical alternatives on https://www.saynoto0870.com it's a brilliant site, I just typed in child support agency and got lots of geographical numbers, obviously don't know which number you need to call but rather than 3p a minute for example it'll be free (included in the free calls on your talk talk plan).

anniestar

Welcome, if you don't want to cut Sky out then could you perhaps look at your figures under bits and bobs? National trust £20; Christmas £50; holiday £50; clothes £30; diy and garden £20. This adds up to £170 could you trim some of this down? £170 is a lot to be throwing at your debts.

mumsicle_2

Hi, we never actually use those full amounts in bits and bobs. Not had a holiday in 2, nearly 3 years, not joined the national trust yet as we use free days out vouchers from tesco etc and we will use birthday money to join. We live in the peak district so lots of national trust places nearby that we would go to loads with a card. These are just wishful thinking, what i will do in a few months time ideal figures. We need to keep the diy/garden figure as our house needs quite a bit of work and this figure includes stuff for the veg plot in the garden too.

I think for 6 months i won't put anything to one side (apart from a holiday, even if it's camping). I will use all of the money to pay off the c/c and other debts too.

I will look at that phone site yorkielass, thankyou for that one.

webitha

" £251.3 CSA, this is normal maintenance and money he owes to me."

hi call me thick (you wouldnt be the first jade goody is a genius compared to me lol) but if you living with hubby whyis the csa involved?
im sorry i dont undertsand that bit

and sorry if ive caused any offence in asking