SOA - any help would be appreciated

pennypusher

Hi, I've had a quick look at your SOA and it seems as though your OHs share of the bills is over £500 per month but it's not clear. I would suggest you go over your SOA again and work out how much each one of you should pay.

Also concerning the outstanding ccs etc you need to work out a fair amount for your OH to pay towards them - presumably some of them are joint bills.

It doesn't seem a fair share of bills when you are bringing in £2800 per month and he contributes £700. So go over it again and also factor in those one off bills that you had forgotten about.

Keep a spending diary and you will soon see where the money goes.

Good luck - you've made a great start.

nomorespending

well... i;m beginning to get a clearer idea of why i never seem to have any money!! today I my alarm has cost £90, my car has cost 36 and i've been told i need 2 new tyres in feb plus new brake pads and disks - this is going to be at least £300 in Feb - so i need to make sure i plan for this and try and reduce my budget for Jan and Feb to make some of this up!! I had a security light fixed up today - its been booked in for ages and that was £30. so clearly my emergency fund needs to be much greater!!
in relation to my partners contribution...

nomorespending

he gets 1100 per month, 700 comes to me, 200 at least goes on his petrol, £80 on his car insurance, 35 on the water bill, so he has £75 per month for everything else - usually this goes on presents and cards for family etc, extra petrol if we visit family anywhere and ofcourse if anything needs doing on his car he really struggles to pay for it. Whether his contribution is exactly half or not i'm not sure, but I am sure he would really struggle to pay anymore.

MFWannabe

With reference to meals; have you tried using a slow cooker? They are really good as you can get away with using cheaper cuts of meat and have your meal cooked ready and waiting for when you get home; especially good when you work long hours and really don't feel like cooking.
You can usually pick one up for about £10

pennypusher

Hi maybe you need to put more towards car maintenance, have a look through your statements for the last year and see how much you spent on your car!

Can you transfer any of your debt from your high interest cards onto 0% ones. Or alternatively spend on 0% cards if you've got that facility and pay off your 17.9% cards. Don't spend on the 0% ones if that triggers you having to pay interest on them.

Can you sell anything on ebay to make any extra money.

Can your OH get a 2nd job to help at all?

Can you get an energy monitor and see what you spend so much money on Electricity each month. My Gas and Electricity are £75 combined for a 3 bed house.

Can you go PAYG for your phones or downgrade and go PAYG when you can. Can you get Pet Insurance cheaper by going on the comparison sites?

Is it possible for you to cut down on your petrol costs by combining two trips into one or car sharing for work?

Hope these ideas help. Good luck

nomorespending

pennypusher wrote: »

Hi maybe you need to put more towards car maintenance, have a look through your statements for the last year and see how much you spent on your car!

Can you transfer any of your debt from your high interest cards onto 0% ones. Or alternatively spend on 0% cards if you've got that facility and pay off your 17.9% cards. Don't spend on the 0% ones if that triggers you having to pay interest on them.

Can you sell anything on ebay to make any extra money.

Can your OH get a 2nd job to help at all?

Can you get an energy monitor and see what you spend so much money on Electricity each month. My Gas and Electricity are £75 combined for a 3 bed house.

Can you go PAYG for your phones or downgrade and go PAYG when you can. Can you get Pet Insurance cheaper by going on the comparison sites?

Is it possible for you to cut down on your petrol costs by combining two trips into one or car sharing for work?

Hope these ideas help. Good luck

Thanks for these useful suggestions... I definitely need to put more towards car maintenance!! I have an energy monitor already but really need to reduce energy consumption i think - I only have a bungalow!! i don't know how I can use so much - i'm working about 60 - 70 hours a week!! I have a special kettle that just boils one cup full of water at a time so this is one step. We have a tropical fish tank on all the time so i guess that uses a bit - in summer the energy costs are around 65- 75 per month but they have shot up since it got cold so i'm guessing its the heating!! I could also try reducing my shower time in the morning - I spend about 15 mins in the shower - its electric, i bet if i cut this down it would help!
we have discussed my oh getting some more hours - he does overtime when its on offer, but we agreed not to get another job because we don't see enough of each other as it is. I think we would rather take a bit longer to pay things off and not be too miserable!
My partner has just taken out a 0 percent card for spending so the plan is to get shopping on it, and pay the money off one of my high interest cards and then make sure we can pay his card off before the interest free period ends...
I have 21 items on ebay at the moment - I put them on on sunday in the free listing so fingers crossed I get some money from this - although the plan is to use any money from this on Christmas things.

We are tied in with our phones - and i use it all the tie as i work so much that i don't think pay as you go will be any cheaper anyway but as soon as the lock in period ends i'l have a look into a cheaper plan for us both!
I have just remembered that I pay £5 per week to slimming world - not accounted for!! must start adding all these things in. Also £2 per month for tea money at work.. again not accounted for! shall add it to my spread sheet.:)

nomorespending

FREEZ wrote: »

With reference to meals; have you tried using a slow cooker? They are really good as you can get away with using cheaper cuts of meat and have your meal cooked ready and waiting for when you get home; especially good when you work long hours and really don't feel like cooking.
You can usually pick one up for about £10

Thanks freez... I have a slow cooker and some casserole veg in the freezer and a bag of diced beef which i can use - I can shove all this in the slow cooker in the morning - its sometimes a bit bland - i have been buying regae regae sauce ( levi roots) for casserole which gives it a lot more flavour -Do you have any other suggestions to season slow cooker stuff as it would help my shopping bill i think if i wasn't buying extra sauces.
I'm going to go and have a nosey around the menu planners as i've planned about 8 meals and then totally run out of ideas!! brain tired.

I have committed to not buying any christmas decorations this year - must not get carried away with christmas - I always spend far too much!!