Working to a ten year plan

Cialilerin

Hi, Good luck. My debt is only slightly smaller than yours and I am feeling motivated to tackle mine now so will follow your journey with interest (and support when needed)

Ninno820

Thankyou - it was a little scary confessing in public but now its "out there" its quite empowering!

Good luck with your journey and let me know if you set up your own diary so that we can follow each other.

Itsadogslife_2

I have to say, I have made so much more progress where my debts are concerned since I "came out" as far as the amount is concerned.

chevalier

My comments are in blue hope they helpl.;

Ninno820 wrote: »

Okay, deep breath, here we go:-

Accounts Total
Income 41,912
Expenditure 41,003
Halifax loan 3,264 what are the APRs for all of the debts below? It is usual to suggest that you pay as much as you can to the highest interest debt and mimimums to the rest, as this minimises interest paid. If you look for the snowball calculator on the main site this can help you here.
Halifax 4,260
Evans 840
Capital One 5,400
Barclaycard 2,400
Access 120
Tesco credit card 840
Mortgage 6,444
Bank Of Scotland credit card 3,972
Marks and Spencer credit card 3,108
Hair and beauty 600 So this is 50 a month, can you go longer between hair appointments or other appointments to cut (scuse the pun) a bit from here.
Union Fees 348
Sky TV 600 Again this is 50 a month. How about a tv diary for a month. You might find at the end of it that there are a block of channels that you don't watch. Which would be the basis of negotiating a lower contract. Do you really NEED sky, or could you make do with the Freeview channels?
Food 1,460 So 121 a month, is that really true? Have a look over your bank statements to make sure you have included those going for a pint of milk at the corner shop type buys aswell:D
Financial Charges 240 What do you get for this? Can you get the benefits cheaper
Clothes 1,200 100 every month? Can you shop from your wardrobe for a year? This alone would pay off Evans and the Access debts. Are you in a role, where you have to dress really well? If so try ebay for a cheaper alternative.
internet 264
Council tax 950 Is that with a single persons discount?
Electricity 528 44 a month isn't too bad, if you only have electric where you live. I don't notice gas or oil? Still worth having a look on a comparison website to see if you can get it cheaper.
Water 540 Ouch are you on your own? If so a water meter might be cheaper for you. I think if you go to your water companies website, you can check this.
Telephone 240
TV Licence 152
House Insurance 720 60 a month. Is this building and contents? It is a ginormous amount. When I had normal insurance I think my building and contents was about 25. Have a look on a comparison website and find the best deal. Then look on quidco.com or similar to see if you prospective new provider is offering cashback. You may find that you get almost free insurance if they do.
Petrol / servicing 1,200
Car Insurance 540 Again this is very high, I was paying 123 a year for mine. Fully comp with protected no claims. Admittedly my car was pretty old, but even so. As above about getting a comparison to see how much you could save.
Other Motor 160
pet insurance 352 Wow. For how many pets? Do any of them have special conditions? If so then fair enough you may not get a new policy to cover them, but if not, then again it pays to switch.
Holidays 261

Ninno820

Good luck with sorting out your debts. I think there is a fair amount of wiggle room in your budget. I spend about 100 a year on clothes, but then I am a stay at home mum, so don't really need high powered gear. But even then I look in my wardrobe every 6 months or so and if it hasn't been worn, it gets sold...Good way of funding new purchases
chev

Ninno820

Thanks for the advice chevalier - I have already looked at switching the insurances but need to wait until contracts are up - summer for house and pets, car is due earlier in march. I agree that there are large savings here.

I am in a position where I need to dress well. If I can shift some weight then I can shop from my "Smaller" wardrobe iykwim!

I intend to phone sky this weekend re cancelling / deal - keeping a tv diary is a good idea as I suspect that I dont really watch many sky channels but want to investigate keeping the sky+ box - I read somewhere that they would accept a small monthly payment to still have the use.

As for the financial charges - thats a posh way of saying the overdraft fees - I am currently working my way through it and they are getting less.

Thanks again for all the advice xx

caeler

I too used to budget £50 a month on beauty (hair and waxing) and in order to save money I have cut down the visits however I do miss the pampering!! I think it is important to take of yourself so finding a balance is important. I think I am going to have to reinstate the hair appointments soon!!

Ninno820

I think that you are right caeler. Don't get me wrong - I know that I have to make savings - but you do have to take care of yourself into the bargain. I was supposed to go to the hairdressers this weekend but have defferred it for two weeks so that its the right side of pay day! I also had a quick win with Sky - they have agreed to reduce my bill by £15 for the next 12 months - that will give me time to look around at my options.

Ninno820

Weekly check in - ebay did not go well last week - raised £3.99!! Never mind I am undeturbed and am about to list some more items.

January's grocery shopping challenge is going well and I am amazed at how good I am being - in the past I could easily spend up t £100 a week and then end up throwing things away because they have gone out of date. This month I have spent £90 (with a week to go) and much of that was on coffees with friends etc during the christmas break.

Next week is pay day and I am hoping to post the reduced total.

caeler

Funny that you post about ebay, I've just spent about £15 on ebay without really meaning to! haha!

Ninno820

Thanks - nothing like rubbing it in eh!