New poster requires help and support!!!!!

lauradora

Hello there,

Firstly can I say how impressed I am with what I have read so far on the DFW threads. Its very comforting all the help and support you lot are providing for each other :beer:

Right i'll come straight out with it.

Here is my budget;

Income

Wages £520.00
Tax Credits £533.67
Child Benefit £75.55
Maintenance £77.36

Total A £1206.58

Outgoings

Rent £224.99
Council Tax £100.00
Water Rates £30.00
Gas £40.00
Electricity £21.65
Food £175.00
TV Licence £26.30
Petrol £130.00
Clothing £20.00
Phones £90.00
Childminding £161.66
Cigarettes £20.00
Gym £60.00
Birthdays £15.00
Holiday Savings £20.00

Total B £1134.60

Total A – B = £71.98 Spare money C


Total Debts



Ikea Card £179.58
SLC Overpayment £1486.53
Personal Loan £9944.92
Business Account £1442.86
TNC Credit (Nursery withdrawn) £1262.82
Overdraft £1455.88

Total Debts £15772.59


Monthly Repayments

Ikea Card £11 pm average
Personal loan £187.64 (non negotiable)
Business account £20.00 pm

Total monthly debt repayment D £218.64

The others are awaiting offers!!!

As you can see that means that I am overspending by £146.66 every month.

Steps taken;

1. I have slightly lowered my mobile tariff, as much as orange would let me anyway, so from the end of Jan it should be costing me around £65 a month instead of £90

2. Hopefully soon my boyfriend should be renting his house out so that he can officially move in with me and help out. (not that thats the onlt reason I want him to move in mind!)

Any suggestions more you guys could give me would be great n.b. I am also looking for a new job to boost my wages!

The only other steps I have taken so far are to get in touch with the National Debtline who have provided me with their info pack which so far has been a graet help when compiling my budget.

Hope to speak soon!

xxx
Laura :eek:

chevalier

hi there
the others will be a long soon, but there are two things that stand out.
The first is the smoking, could quit?
The second is the gym, that is the highest monthly figure I have seen on here for gym membership. Could you go to a different one, or down grade to a cheaper membership (ie an off peak membership), or could you maybe take up running instead, or biking to work (both free!)?
At £65 the mobile phone is still very high. Is this for more than one phone?
best of luck sorting things out
chev

Martinslovechild

£65 a month for phone calls still sounds mighty high to me. That's still £780 per year £1170 per annum approx gross figure for a basic-rate taxpayer).

I would also consider cancelling the gym membership. At £60 per month, that's £720 per year saved (£1080 per annum gross).

Have you been claiming the single-person discount on your Council Tax? Whilst I realise that your boyfriend's moving in with you soon, you may be able to backdate the single-person discount.

Check if your Gas & Electricity costs can be lowered. Try uSwitch.com or one of the other sites available from a link on the MSE homepage.

I know that it should be obvious, but ensure that you pay off those debts with the highest APRs first.

Good Luck.

CLAPTON

when you bf moves in how much will he contribute?
is it enough to resolve your financial problems.


i didn't understand the bit about 'the others are awaiting offers' do you mean you have defaulted on the debts and are making them offers to pay reduced amounts?


your spending doesn't seem to have any of the normal annual car costs included, like car tax, MOT, servicing, RAC/AA allowance for repairs

on the spending:
gym - you can't afford it with this level of debts
mobile is simply huge ..think 10 PAYG not 90

lynzpower

I presume you only have one child with that child benefit? if so 175 on food for both of you is pretty high. Id head over to the old style board and see what they asre doing there I cook for 2 on 100pcm ( 2 adults this is!) and that includes all cleaning stuff, toiletries, lunches for work etc.
I reckon theres a 75 saving there easily.

What hours do you work?

lauradora

Hello again,

thanks for all your valued advice so far.

Firstly yes the housekeeping figure is for me and my five year old daughter and includes cleaning, food, toiletries etc..(basically the weekly shop) I did have some diffculty trying to get this figure as it is so up and down week on week. I started by looking in 'the booklet' that I got from national debtline. According to the figurese in there I should be spending aroung £340!!!!!!
But £175 is my best figure yet but I am keeping a spending diary to monitor it

Secondly smoking...I know....I know I get it from my dad everyday!! The only thing I can say to defend this is that I truly dont smoke a lot (previously 5 a day and am now cutting it down to 3 a day due to debt probs) Also I can honestly say that I dont drink....at all!:A
Also money saving exercise this month was I bought duty frees which should last me for a good few more weeks

Also the gym....well this is actually my tae kwon do club, and as with most modern day gym memberships I am in a binding contract, although I am coming up to renewal date so am planning to have a chat with sensai. I'll explain my situation and show him my personal budget so that he can't vex me with his bloody sales talk!!!

The thing you have all obviously commented on is the mobile phone bill. Again I am in a contract, I have lowered it as much as Orange will let me, but that is the only phone I have yes.

-car tax, MOT, servicing, RAC/AA allowance for repairs;

One of the cutbacks I have already installed- is share the car with bf who pays all the other bills-I just pay the petrol :j

-Work;

I am working 20 hours a week at the minute. I have asked my boss for more hours but my job is that miserable there is no overtime going for the next few months. Plus i'd rather have a new job anyway

Hopefully speak soon :beer:

angelavdavis

Hi Lauradora and welcome to the board.

I have some suggestions:

Water Rates £30.00 Are you on a meter, might be worth seeing if this will reduce your costs - I only pay £19 per month for three adults.
Gas £40.00 - Have you checked whether you can get cheaper through Uswitch?
Electricity £21.65
Food £175.00 - As suggested, I think you could save at least £25 per month on this
TV Licence £26.30 - this can't be per month - this totals £315.60 per year - this must be about £11 per month.
Petrol £130.00 - this is a lot of money on petrol. Could you reduce this?
Clothing £20.00 - Might be worth looking up your local freecycle. People are always getting rid of children's clothes in particular. This could get this down.
Phones £90.00
Childminding £161.66
Cigarettes £20.00 - I think enough has been said already about this one
Gym £60.00 - You really need to negotiate this down somehow
Birthdays £15.00 - this is £180 per year - quite extravagant for someone struggling.
Holiday Savings £20.00 - again, this might have to go if this is the difference between being gradually worse off or having your head above water.

I estimate about £200 per month could be salvaged here through the above suggestions.

As well as finding a better paid job (good luck). Have you thought of other moneymaking initiatives featured on the site:
- eBay (anything to sell?)
- Quidco
- Pigsback

Look for the money off vouchers on this site.

Good luck !

Hope that helps.

bank_of_slate

Hi Lora!
Welcome to the dfw family!

Can you get child care vouchers through the company that you work for, you can often save money there. Is it a big organisation that you work for?

With the duty free cigs, make sure you ration yourself! When you have a large box it's tempting to have more 'because there's loads, they'll last ages!' train of thought kicks in.
...Linda xx

lauradora

Thats a good idea Linda, I work for B & Q so will investigate, although I doubt as I think they would have mentioned it when I started, but brill tip many thanks!!!!
Also the Duty Free fags....I am rationing myself I promise, in fact i've done three a day for the last three days!

Speak soon
Laura xx

lynzpower

hey laura
How much is in your holidays savings?

Could you miss a holiday this year and use this to pay off debt instead?

None of us enjoy this, but many if not most of us pass this off. could you scraounge a tent & go camping, some campsites in england are only a fiver a night or less, which you could go for a long weekend, and do some free stuff on the 20 quid for one months holidays savings?

Robin-o'-the-Hood

Hello Laura....
I sympathise with your position as in same boat myself. I'm afraid I can only echo what others are saying...the holiday might have to be sacrificed. Owing thousands means you just cant have what others take for granted...its hard but there it is. The gym fees are jaw dropping...again, v hard to give up but thats more than my GF and I's combined gym membership...and thats going as soon as contract expires. (Same for the mobile!)
Be aware that your BF moving in might affect your Tax Credits as its a change in circumstances...(does anyone else know anything about that?)
Best of luck and best wishes to the 3 of you!