Nibbling away at Debt....

Mice_Elf

OK...had a lightbulb moment, need to do something about these debts.

Not sure if we include mortgages in the outstanding debt, but I personally would like to. Currently we're on an interest only mortgage, which is AWFUL! It's a good rate etc, but it's not getting us anywhere with paying it off. So a main goal would be to either shove a lump sum into the house or manage our spending enough that we could comfortably afford a repayment one.

Our biggest spending is on groceries. And it shouldn't be. There's only the 3 of us - OH, me and our 19 month old daughter. So why have I just spent so much on groceries??

Last week I spent £60 in Aldi, £147 in Iceland and just put in an order for £180 in Tesco. That should damn well last us until next month, although it probably won't.

Daughter doesn't eat that much and she will only have a smaller portion of what we have but OH likes his meat. Meat, meat and more meat. Am trying not to rely too heavily on potatoes / pasta & rice as bulkers because I'm also trying to reduce our carbs as the both of us could do with losing some weight.

So....as it stands....

OH Personal Loan - £12000 ish (not sure how much - will have to look it up)
Egg Loan - £5000
Egg Credit Card - £3300
Sky Card - £6000
Barclaycard - £300
Aqua Card - £35 (to be paid off as soon as we get paid)
Total without mortgage : £26,635 :eek: :eek:

Added to our monthly outgoings is £423 for OH's monthly train ticket from home to work & back. Has to go to Canary Wharf, so if anyone has any ideas for reducing that without adding too much to his journey time, I'd love to hear them!

Otherwise, all our other monthly outgoings are standard ones - gas, electricity, water, rates, mortgage, Sky, credit card payments, pet insurance (cheapest I could find), CTF standing order for our daughter (I *could* although I'd rather not stop this).

Not even worth considering WITH the mortgage, so I'll start on getting these paid off.

Currently I don't work as I look after our daughter, although I am looking for part time work to try to supplement the income.

I am on Quidco and Pigsback and I've joined just about every survey company out there!

My Tesco shop was through the link on Quidco, so hopefully that went through OK.

Pigsback = £5.60 (only joined yesterday)
Mystery Shopping - £33
ACOP - £3 (chq due in 3 - 4 weeks)

Have also sent off an application form for a door-to-door delivery company which doesn't pay brilliantly, but it will get us out in the fresh air and earning a bit.

So...I know that I have to reduce our grocery bill, as that is really stinging us at present. My OH has a packed lunch to take to work every day as well, so that will consist of sandwiches, apple, yoghurt, carrot / cucumber sticks, nuts and a small snacky thing - a 2 finger KitKat or something. I think he's mildly diabetic as if his blood sugar drops from not eating, he develops a very short temper until he eats.

Have already switched our energy suppliers to the cheapest one in our area and I've got 2 months left of a 3month tie-in contract with BT before I can switch that to gain even more savings.

I use points from the SkyCard to offset our Sky monthly bill, so the next 3 months or so are free.

Hopefully writing it all down will make me realise just how much I/we spend and do something about reducing it.

I did try to become a Virgin Vie consultant....but I was rubbish at it. I'm not particularly a people person and don't like doing parties. So that cost me £100 because my sales didn't reach the target. That said, I can now sell the stuff they gave me on Ebay or somewhere.

Have a lot of stuff to sell on Ebay - just waiting for the next 1p day to save even more.

There...think that's about it...will keep this updateed as I strive to gain pounds and lose lbs!

Mice_Elf

Also, thanks to this site, I have just sent off the 2nd letter detailing charges for one account and the first initial letters asking for the charges / statements for my OH's account and my personal spending account.

The charges on my account come to just over £3500 without interest, so even if they pay back SOME of that, it will go straight on a credit card to get rid of it.

My OH should get a nice bonus in February - we've been told the amount, but it's got to be authorised and then subjected to tax, so not sure of the final exact amount. Probably to be in the region of £6000 ish. Possibly more. Again, pay off the credit cards with this.

Bargain_Rzl

Hi Mice Elf and congratulations on the lightbulb moment

The first thing to do is post a full statement of affairs (SOA) as described in southernscouser'spost for newbies towards the top of this forum. THen loads of people will start making helpful suggestions, but until you've done that, nobody can really see the full picture.

Just one thing from me though. About your husband's travel expenses... you say he works in Canary Wharf, but if we're going to look for a cheaper way, we have to know where you live as well! (getting to Canary Wharf when you live in Greenwich is a completely different prospect from getting to Canary Wharf when you live in Northamptonshire...)

Mice_Elf

Ah, that's true!

We live in a small village just outside of Cambridge, so he catches trains from St Neots. It's the closest station to us and has the most direct routes to London.

I shall work out an SoA now and then post it up.

Mice_Elf

OK....

SoA as far as I can get it at the moment....

Income : £2600 (OH's wages)
Child Tax Benefit - £27.41
Payment from Brother - £100 (I lent him some money which he is paying back - this will stop in May 2007

Total @ 2727.41

Outgoings :

Halifax Health Insurance - £10.45

Egg Banking - £123.46 (EggLoan)

SE Gas Limited - £22

L&G Insurance - £26.49 (Buildings & Contents)

Abbey National Saver - £50 (Savings Account)

Cambridge Water - £24.85

Southern Electric - £18

Eclipse Networking - £19.96 (Broadband - necessary for OH's work. Occasionally he will dial in from home to fix a problem. Work unfortunately do not want to pay / contribute towards this...)

Friends Provident - £18.58

BT - £27.78

ING - £10 (Child Fund - trying to build a fund so that should we incur any unnecessary expenses with regards to our daughter / future children, we don't have to panic...)

South Cambs DC - £168 (Council Tax)

TV Licence - £10.95

ING - £50 (Pure Savings)

LVIC Budget - £62.68 (insurance for 2 cars, 2 people)

Tesco Pet Insurance - £35.07 (for 4 cats)

Egg Credit Card - £72 (variable sum (APR - 10.9%)

Sky Digital - £37 (Next 3 months free due to using points from SkyCard to offset cost of monthly viewing)

Barclaycard - £15 £300 left on card, APR in negotiation.

Liverpool Victoria - £50 CTF money

Vodafone - £88 (variable)

ING - £20 (Pension)

Mortgage - £850 (interest only )

OH Loan repayment - £145

ING - £150 (Savings towards wedding)


Groceries....well so far this month - £389.87

Petrol Costs - 2 cars @ probably 2 fill ups each per month, maybe 3, depending on where we've gone. (More if we have to go and see OH's family in Reading over 100 miles away) - £200 - £300. OH uses his to get to the station and back every day, I use mine for grocery shopping, going to see my parents / friends or taking my daughter out to do things.



So : before petrol and groceries, it all comes to approx £2105.31 (variables like Vodafone mobiles notwithstanding).

Groceries included @ £350 = £2455.31
Petrol included @ £250 = £2705.31


So in theory, we should JUST come in under our funds....but we're not.

Places where funds could be dribbling away : OH buying coffees / snacks at work, despite having a packup. OH buying tea at the station if he has to work late. OH and I buying magazines that we could do without (to be fair this isn't every week or even every other week).







Ahhh...completely forgot about the train ticket @ £423 and the monthly car parking costs of £79.40 for the station...

So total is now : £3207.41 :S

-=sigh=-

So we're -£480 every month.... we NEED to get these credit cards and loans off as soon as possible.

As I said earlier, I've started the process of claiming back our charges from the 3 bank accounts (1 joint, 2 personal). Today I posted the first letter for the personal accounts and the 2nd letter (with charges defined) for the joint account.

So hopefully I'll have a response of some description within 14 days....

I've also sent an application form off for door-to-door deliveries, so that should net some more income, although I'm not sure just how much at the moment.

Mice_Elf

Of that, I'd like to be able to reduce my grocery bill a LOT as I don't see any need for that amount of money for 3 of us.

We're on the most cost effective tariff for our mobile phones and we're looking to get one of my spare (SORN'd) cars back on the road as it's much more economical than the car my OH is currently driving.

CLAPTON

if you're claim back bank charges presumably you have both opened other bank accounts and transferred your income to the new a/cs


you dont mention child allowance

things maybe missing

car tax, MOT, servicing, RAC/AA, xmas costs, presents, the odd takeaway, socialising, weekends away, holidays, clothes, any hobbies/interests, haircuts, any optical/dental/medical

other things
BT use option 1 at £11 and then use https://www.call1899.com and/or
https://www.call18185.co.uk for all the calls ...much cheaper than BT

vodaphone... use PAYG say 10 per month instead.

broadband .. tiscali have an offer at 9.99 for 3 months and then 12.99

groceries ..aim for under 300 initially ... plan a weeks meals, write a shopping list, check the fridge/freezer/larder and see what you already have or can substitute then buy only whats on the list

there is no point is saving any money when you have debts at higher APRs

Start a spednign diary so you can really see where the money is catually going but also think about those yearly/one off costs.

angelavdavis

Hiya Mice!

Welcome to the board and really well done for your efforts so far!

Firstly, you MUST get the grocery bill down - are you throwing away a lot of food? You must be! Keep your grocery receipts on the fridge door and cross off items that are thrown away, then at the end of the week, total what has been thrown away - I think this will be an eye-opener.

How about thinking about growing veg this year in the garden - there is a new green-fingered moneysavers board launched this week!

Look over on the Old Style board and do a store cupboard challenge to clear out your existing freezer/fridge and cupboard supplies - you will be amazed when you take an hour out to list out the contents and post up on the board how much food you have. You then need to spend a bit of time on planning some meals. Members recommend doing 8 day meal plans (so you get a week off once a month).

I would wager that you could trim that budget down by at least 50%.

Income:

Do you get child benefit? You may have missed that one out.

Some other comments:

Outgoings :

You need to include your APRs and time left on the loans so you can work out which one to pay off first. Are you able to overpay any of these loans?

OH Personal Loan - £12000 ish (not sure how much - will have to look it up)
Egg Loan - £5000
Egg Credit Card - £3300
Sky Card - £6000
Barclaycard - £300
Aqua Card - £35 (to be paid off as soon as we get paid)
Total without mortgage : £26,635

Halifax Health Insurance - £10.45 - does your husband not get this as part of his employment terms and conditions? Best check in case this is duplicated.

Egg Banking - £123.46 (EggLoan) What is the APR of this loan?

SE Gas Limited - £22

L&G Insurance - £26.49 (Buildings & Contents)

Abbey National Saver - £50 (Savings Account) You need to settle some of the £26k debts before starting savings - the amount of interest you will be getting will be a lot lower than you are paying for debts. How much is in this account that could pay off your debts?

Cambridge Water - £24.85

Southern Electric - £18

Eclipse Networking - £19.96 (Broadband - necessary for OH's work. Occasionally he will dial in from home to fix a problem. Work unfortunately do not want to pay / contribute towards this...)

Friends Provident - £18.58

BT - £27.78

ING - £10 (Child Fund - trying to build a fund so that should we incur any unnecessary expenses with regards to our daughter / future children, we don't have to panic...) This is a luxury you can't really afford at the moment. You are already paying setting up your child trust fund, put this on hold short term until you have cleared other debts.

South Cambs DC - £168 (Council Tax)

TV Licence - £10.95

ING - £50 (Pure Savings) As for Abbey savings. Pointless saving when you are paying so much interest on your debt!

LVIC Budget - £62.68 (insurance for 2 cars, 2 people)

Tesco Pet Insurance - £35.07 (for 4 cats)

Egg Credit Card - £72 (variable sum (APR - 10.9%) Is this minimum payment?

Sky Digital - £37 (Next 3 months free due to using points from SkyCard to offset cost of monthly viewing)

Where is skycard repayment?

Barclaycard - £15 £300 left on card, APR in negotiation. If you cut out your payments to savings, that would be £165 per month you could pay off - which would feel great to see another debt gone!

Liverpool Victoria - £50 CTF money

Vodafone - £88 (variable) Is this for you and your husband? Does he claim back his phone calls? Is it worth you switching to pay as you go and being strict with yourself over usage?

ING - £20 (Pension)

Mortgage - £850 (interest only )

OH Loan repayment - £145 What is the amount left on the loan and the APR?

Where is the Egg Loan repayment?

ING - £150 (Savings towards wedding) You need to settle debts before starting savings - the amount of interest you will be getting will be a lot lower than you are paying for debts

Groceries....well so far this month - £389.87 see above. Does this include nappies, etc too?

Petrol Costs - 2 cars @ probably 2 fill ups each per month, maybe 3, depending on where we've gone. (More if we have to go and see OH's family in Reading over 100 miles away) - £200 - £300. OH uses his to get to the station and back every day, I use mine for grocery shopping, going to see my parents / friends or taking my daughter out to do things.

You have not included the running costs for two cars - tax, servicing, mot etc. If your husband mainly uses his to drive to and from the station and you get grocery deliveries, why not sell one car to pay off some debts and drive him there yourself? This would potentially reduce insurance and running costs too.

Bottom line: you have done really well so far, but need to fill all the holes and post your SOA again.

LookingAhead

Hi Mice! Just wanted to say I agree with the sentiments about the savings at the moment and also the spending diary.

I hope your hubby gets that bonus that would be ace to help clear those cards and get you some breathing space.

By the way I am not too far away from you so....:wave:

lindsaygalaxy

Do you need two cars?

If you took you OH to th station and picked him up you would save on cost of 2nd car, insurance and station parking.

Also I can see that having savings is important to you, but could you not use this money to pay of debts which are costing you more, then you can start saving fresh when it is real savings.

timbo82

Hi Mice! Well done on posting your SOA - you're a better person than me as I haven't been brave enough yet.

If I may put my two-pennies in, perhaps if you combine your phone / broadband you may get some kind of saving. In my experience, swapping phone / broadband doesn't have to be as gruelling as you imagine. Also, I would recommend shopping around online for the best mobile deal - I currently pay £25 contract for me/other half and we've stopped using the landline.

I would suggest you start thinking about ebay auctions sooner rather than later as the feeling of taking positive action against your debt can only be a good thing. I know for me even if I sell an item and only make a pound I feel a certain sense of pride knowing that the money is going to a good cause! Also check out Amazon as another place to offload stuff - for some items it can make you more money (the other half just had a sort out and found an old text book that she bought for £15 three years ago and is now worth £30 - lets hope someone buys it soon).

Lastly, I would suggest that try as many of the challenges on these threads as you find. Things like the £2 savers club, the olympic challenge etc - they can really start to add up if you persevere.

Please keep us updated with how you are doing - good luck!