Is there anything else I can do?

NicChanna

Hey all,

We're trying to claw our way out of debt and have been making decent progress. Our SOA is as follows - have I forgotten something or am I being unrealistic?

This seems too good to be true that we might be debt free in a matter of months ... (wrings hands in hopeful anticipation ...)

Thanks all and keep it up - this board has been INSPIRATIONAL and despite stalling while OH was out of work for some months (and living WAAAAAAY beyond our means for years) we are back on track.

We are going to try to give others the same inspiration we've benefited from - GO TEAM!!!


Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 3
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1450
Partners monthly income after tax....... 750
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 90
Total monthly income.................... 2290

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 300
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 77.33
Electricity............................. 27
Gas..................................... 20
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 9.26
Mobile phone............................ 55
TV Licence.............................. 16.16
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 18.66
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 100
Clothing................................ 10
Petrol/diesel........................... 50
Road tax................................ 22.5
Car Insurance........................... 90.51
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 27.5
Car parking............................. 18.33
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 30
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 892.25


Assets
Cash.................................... 268
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 650
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 918

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Nationwide CC..................4490......135.6.....16.9
Total unsecured debts..........4490......135.6.....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,290
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 892.25
Available for debt repayments........... 1,397.75
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 135.6
Amount left after debt repayments....... 1,262.15

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 918
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -4,490
Net Assets.............................. -3,572

RAS

Is that food for 3 people or one person?

TV licence is £12 ish.

dbt3mummy

Do you (or would you if you had been clearing your OD) have that sum of money left in your account at the end of each month?

Do you pay water rates?

Your car insurance seems a bit high - could you shop around?
Are your contents insured?
Does your satellite include broadband access?

Fingers crossed you can get it cleared asasp!

debtfreewannabe321

is the mobile for 3 adults? (i.e 3 phones) if not can you get this cheaper?

Do you not have contents insurance? Or water rates?

Well done on getting your grocery budget to £100 for 3 adults though, i'm seriously impressed!

NicChanna

RAS - the food is for 2 people ... we flat share with someone else now (this was one of the big savings for us when we started getting our act together in February - rent went from £550 down to £300)

Re: TV licence - this is the first licence we've had in this flat so you have to pay the whole lot in 6 months then after that you pay the usual £12ish fee per month. I didn't get it at first either but they go into it in detail on the TV licence website

dbt3mummy - We did have contents insurance but we realised (perhaps wrongly?) that we probably wouldn't be able to claim on anything if our stuff did get damaged.

eg. both our phones were bought second hand, so no receipts, I have recently sold the only piece of valuable jewellery I owned, we got our telly for free off gumtree.

Only thing it would cover is this laptop. It is a risk to have it uninsured I know. I literally cancelled the insurance today and we're covered til the end of this month.

Water rates - in Scotland they are included in council tax so that is already in the calculation.

Sky bundle - this includes broadband

Car insurance - I KNOW!! I am a bit angry with myself about this actually but I don't know what to do about it now. I thought I had a year of NCB but apparently it was too long ago to count and that as of that day I was uninsured unless I agreed to the new premium. I panicked (I was driving at the time the call came, took the call in a car park thinking "I can't actually legally leave this carpark!")

As a result, premium went from £51 to £90ish - gaaah! Are you allowed to change insurer any time or am I stuck til it's time to renew?

Will I actually have the predicted amount of money left at the end of the month?: I don't know, as this is the first month in TIME that we have been out of the overdraft and OH has had full time/any hours. I have become obsessed with our bank balance and am checking it twice a day to watch everything going in and out.

I have a spreadsheet with projected balance so we'll see if it matches up to reality.

debtfreewannabe321 - the food and the mobiles are just for two people, the flat sharer takes care of himself. Mine is £40 (idiot woman I am - took this out in a moment of misguided optimism) and I'm tied to a contract and OH's is £15 (this guarantees his free calls and texts at certain times).

Last 2 weekly shopping trips (this is when we got serious about sticking to a budget, and we are still using some stuff in the cupboards):

Sun 25 Sep: £18.93
Sun 2 Oct: £22.23

We used to eat all sorts of relatively expensive food like big steaks and all that old el paso fajita stuff (yum!) but now the dinners for the next week (when we're eating together - he will be eating at work when closing) include:

Chicken Rogan Josh
Asda basic chicken quarters
Reduced Sharwood Sauce
Asda basic naan
Asda basic rice


Spag Bol
Reduced mince (frozen now)
Asda basic Bol sauce
Asda basic spaghetti
Asda basic garlic bread (2 in pack)


Fish and Chips
Asda Own Brand frozen fish steaks
Asda basic peas
Asda basic sweetcorn
Asda basic huge bag of potatoes from last week (to make chips)
Heinz salad cream from the cupboard


Pizza and Potato Wedges
2 of the "3 for £3" Asda frozen pizzas
Asda basic huge bag of potatoes from last week (to make wedges)
Morrisons Potato Wedge flavour sprinkly stuff from the cupboard


Chicken Extravaganza
Asda basic chicken wings
Reggae Reggae Sauce
Asda basic gravy granules from cupboard
Asda basic sweetcorn
Asda basic peas
Asda basic rice
Asda basic huge bag of potatoes from last week (to make mash)


Can't remember what else there is but I think your getting the idea that most of our shopping comes in green and white packaging now. To be honest I don't care though. It's actually quite fun (?!) to add up on a calculator as you're going round to see how low you can keep the total.

The only thing I can't stand is the price of toilet roll. It's literally unbelievable, in that I am actually unable to believe it. Even when we don't have to buy any, I like to go to the toilet roll aisle just to give myself that perverse thrill of looking at the prices. I marvel at people who casually stroll past and pluck a "nearly £4 for 4 rolls" packet without a thought. I sometimes wonder what their jobs might be. I can only imagine drug dealer, city banker or buttock model. Or perhaps a worrying yet intruiging confluence of the three ...

Sorry this has become a mad rant ... stopping now but hope that solves the mystery of some of the figures.

Will keep you informed ...

curlytop12

gosh,think you are doing grand.you have certainly got stuck in !
could you switch to 0% bal transfer card at all?
think you CAN actually change insurers for car anytime,youjust have to pay up to date,heck,ring and ask them if you find a lower quote,they might just match it to not lose you! (and go through a cashback site too)
meals- that spag bol-maybe next time try a pack mince, 1 onion, bit of garlic and herbs, tin or two basic tomatoes, some red lentils-you would have twice the amount, have a look at the OLD STYLE board to get more ideas on cooking from scratch,it usually is cheaper for bigger amounts! on the toilet roll front, make sure you squash them before putting them on th holder,less will get used!!:)

please-let-me-be-lucky

[QUOTE=NicChanna

The only thing I can't stand is the price of toilet roll. It's literally unbelievable, in that I am actually unable to believe it. Even when we don't have to buy any, I like to go to the toilet roll aisle just to give myself that perverse thrill of looking at the prices. I marvel at people who casually stroll past and pluck a "nearly £4 for 4 rolls" packet without a thought. I sometimes wonder what their jobs might be. I can only imagine drug dealer, city banker or buttock model. Or perhaps a worrying yet intruiging confluence of the three ...

[/QUOTE]


:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

NicChanna

I actually tried to switch to a 0% card with RBS but they said that I have relied too heavily on my overdraft in the recent past ... fair enough. How long do you think I should wait before making another application somewhere else?

I did not know it might be possible to change car insurance. Oh my goodness I'm going to do that NOW (if possible ... ) Any one who knows how this is done let me know! Do I just phone them up and say, you aren't the cheapest, I'm off? Mmmm ... :cool:

I honestly don't understand about cashback site things ... can anyone explain?

Yeah the spag bol recipe sounds good and once there is freezer room that could be a real winner ... won't have to cook much after work, just boil pasta and heat bol.

As for your toilet roll idea, I'll not lie, it baffles me AND YET I have already been into the bathroom to implement it. I have come to treat the advice offered on this forum with something approaching reverence. Someone could have a lot of fun giving me specious advice which I am sure to follow ...

Channa: "Nic why are you trying to nail your hand to the coffee table?!"
Nic: "Well gem68 thinks it might help improve my credit rating ... "
Channa: "Really? Here let me hold the nail straight for you else it will never go right through ... "

:rotfl:

turbo.jet

NicChanna wrote: »

Channa: "Nic why are you trying to nail your hand to the coffee table?!"
Nic: "Well gem68 thinks it might help improve my credit rating ... "
Channa: "Really? Here let me hold the nail straight for you else it will never go right through ... "

Does that work? OMG I'm doing it right now. Is it ok if I nail my left hand to the table because I'd never have the co-ordination to hammer with my right. Now... where did I put my toolbox?

Hehe.

I think the idea is the T.P. doesn't spin round and round and round letting out heaps more than necessary, if I understand gem correctly?

dancingfairy

Re car insurance. I would assume that you can cancel at any time BUT you would need to check your contract - you may have to pay a penalty (but it still might work out cheaper)- I'd check whether there is any penalty.
Regarding cashback sites you decide who's the cheapest car insurere to go through ( say I dunno Joe Bloggs for this example using a comparison site and double checking with the website concerned) THEN as an added extra if cashback is available on that product you go to Quidco (or whoever) sign in then click through to the website you want to go with for the car insurance (Joe Bloggs). IF you have visited that website previously (Joe Bloggs) you will probably need to delete your cookies so that when you go to it from Quidco (or whoever) then it will register you for the cashback. Basically Quidco etc get paid for promoting Joe Bloggs car insurance and are willing to pay a slice of that commission on to you Cashback is not always 100% foolproof though and it should be seen as a nice extra so you should check you've got the cheapest deal first and treat any cashback as an additional bonus. Whenyou get to a certain amount you ask Quidco or whoever to send you the money.
Some cashback sites let you do 'clickthroughs'. Basically they give youa small amount of credit for just following the link and/or watching a short promo video for a product - it's normally around 5 -10p (so not a great amount) and the amount you can do each day is limited but it can obviously be used in additional to actually buying products/services through the cashback site. Just don't buy stuff you won't need through a cashback site just for the cashback
Oh I haven't used a cashback site for years (I know, I know) but that's generally how they work.
Best of Luck
df

saving4life

Just had to add to your rant about toilet roll. Even the basics one has gone up and are now £1.50ish for 4 rolls.
Its like corned beef, when did that get to be sooo expensive?