Updated SOA - advice please!

lobsta100

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

Unfortunately, something has to be cut somewhere ...... as you've said the cleaner is a bit of a luxury that's not an essential atm & if you can reduce the groceries/cleaning/lunch budgets then you should manage to break even.... but this isn't going to help with trying to clear the outstanding debt.

If your wife will be off work for sometime yet (not a critism) then the only way of doing this that leaps out (and has done to everyone) - is her car. As others have suggested, sell this one and buy a cheap runaround. There are many cars cheaper to run than a Ford Focus (and a Fiat 500!). You need something that's going to be cheap to run & insure .... plenty of cars around now with £30/year road tax etc.

Or the other option is to get rid of your car & use public transport for work (I note your comments re cost - but it's less than the cost of running the car - and many people have to leave that early.....).

I'm afraid that you just can't afford to have/run two new & fairly expensive cars with just the one income.... sorry

I do obviously agree that the cars are the reason things are as tough as they are. We got the Ford in June 2009 and have been paying for it since then. When I got my new job in September 2011, I was certainly not wearing my sense hat or MSE hat when I decided to finance yet another car.... I do need a car (not prepared to go on public transport for 5 hrs a day im sorry) but I should never have gone down the finance route for a 2nd car.

Any suggestions? Should we settle the Ford loan (current settlement is c. £2,200) early and find a cheap car to somehow buy outright?

We obviously dont have spare cash lying around so any advice re. car situation is welcome.

Any responses please assume the end result is to somehow still have 2 cars at the end of it.... for now

Tixy

What do you think you could sell the current ford for?
It would certainly be easier financially if you sell it, pay off the debt and hopefully pocket a bit extra from it. Then to buy a cheap runaround for under £1k from your cash funds. I'd definitely have a think about that.

I do think the car insurance seems high for the 2 cars so check out the insurance group and cost of any runaround before you buy, so that you'll know how much you'd save a month
(I'm just about to review and am upset I've can't yet find below £330 for mine 1 car, but I do have a lot of years no claims - perhaps you or your wife don't?). Do you shop around on the various comparison sites etc when you renew?

sp1987

lobsta100 wrote: »

I do obviously agree that the cars are the reason things are as tough as they are. We got the Ford in June 2009 and have been paying for it since then. When I got my new job in September 2011, I was certainly not wearing my sense hat or MSE hat when I decided to finance yet another car.... I do need a car (not prepared to go on public transport for 5 hrs a day im sorry) but I should never have gone down the finance route for a 2nd car.

Any suggestions? Should we settle the Ford loan (current settlement is c. £2,200) early and find a cheap car to somehow buy outright?

We obviously dont have spare cash lying around so any advice re. car situation is welcome.

Any responses please assume the end result is to somehow still have 2 cars at the end of it.... for now

If you owe £12,000 but the cars are worth £17,000 there is £5,000 there if sold?

I would be shot of both of those money pit finance cars asap and replace them with second hand older models. One older focus... 2003/2004 older style focus will be cheap. Small car for you, older diesel fiesta/corsa/206 or something? Insurance will be cheaper, too.

Two cars isn't so much the issue, two expensive cars is. Though I would say your wife should limit her use to essential trips only to get costs down.

TTC40

lobsta100 wrote: »

I do obviously agree that the cars are the reason things are as tough as they are. We got the Ford in June 2009 and have been paying for it since then. When I got my new job in September 2011, I was certainly not wearing my sense hat or MSE hat when I decided to finance yet another car.... I do need a car (not prepared to go on public transport for 5 hrs a day im sorry) but I should never have gone down the finance route for a 2nd car.

Any suggestions? Should we settle the Ford loan (current settlement is c. £2,200) early and find a cheap car to somehow buy outright?

We obviously dont have spare cash lying around so any advice re. car situation is welcome.

Any responses please assume the end result is to somehow still have 2 cars at the end of it.... for now

Is selling the Fiat an option (or is it too early in the finance to make this an option). If it was, could this be an option? Even if it didn't free up equity, you could buy a car with your remaining savings and use the monthly payment to reduce the credit card.

lobsta100

sp1987 wrote: »

If you owe £12,000 but the cars are worth £17,000 there is £5,000 there if sold?

I would be shot of both of those money pit finance cars asap and replace them with second hand older models. One older focus... 2003/2004 older style focus will be cheap. Small car for you, older diesel fiesta/corsa/206 or something? Insurance will be cheaper, too.

Two cars isn't so much the issue, two expensive cars is. Though I would say your wife should limit her use to essential trips only to get costs down.

I think I would have to pay Ford credit off before selling - am I right? If so I know the current figure to settle is £2,200.

I've looked around online and cars like our Focus are selling for £5,000 - £6,500 depending on source. The mileage on it is v low (3 yrs old, just over 21000 miles).

Can anyone suggest a car to buy outright with that profit (£3 - £4k) of similar size/ capacity to new style focus that would be cheap to run and not have a lot of costs coming soon due to age/ high mileage?

lobsta100

TTC40 wrote: »

Is selling the Fiat an option (or is it too early in the finance to make this an option). If it was, could this be an option? Even if it didn't free up equity, you could buy a car with your remaining savings and use the monthly payment to reduce the credit card.

I only started the finance (4yrs) in October 2011 so surely this is not an option?

miggy

On a very practical level:

lobsta100 wrote: »

I totally agree re. food at work. This is wholly down to me and a combination of my appetite and lack of willpower! I am really trying on this. Embarrassingly this amount is after bringing in my main lunch (i.e. a sandwich) every day anyway - I still end up getting hungry and buying crisps, fruit or a chocolate - i know..... :-(

So... the sandwich is a good basis, but isn't enough. My suggestions would be to ensure you include protein in your lunch, along with low GI things such as wholemeal bread or an oaty muesli bar. They keep you fuller for longer. Then there are the supplementary things. Crisps are cheaper if you buy a multi-bag and bring your own in (but only if you don't eat all the multibag at once!) You could also bring in your own fruit, biscuits, yogurt etc. My son has access to a microwave at work and makes a baked potato for lunch in the winter - if you did this, you could always take in a box of filling like grated cheese. It's worth keeping a few instant soups and a packet of biscuits at work if you can, to guard against the day you leave your lunch on the fridge at home. Some people also keep a bottle of squash.

Anything out of a vending machine is going to cost over the odds.

If you have a water cooler, aim to get your 8 glasses a day and this will help your energy levels as well as helping fill you up.

Meanwhile back at home - your wife has my full backing as she's able and willing to feed the baby herself. There are few more important things to do. To help the finances, is there anything she could do based from home, either to bring money in or make it go further? With an admin background, can she proofread, do accounts or similar? I know the early months are incredibly hard work though so if she can't, I for one would understand that. When my kids were little I took on a couple of Betterw*re-type jobs to bring in a few more pounds (though interestingly I had to give it up because the pressures of having small children are such that DH succumbed to a chronic condition and ended up in hospital - so nobody dare think having little ones is easy!)

I can't contribute much to the car discussion except to say we've only ever had second hand. Our mileage isn't huge though.

Mort

lobsta100 wrote: »

Achievements since last SOA
- Paid off HSBC card (18%) - £4,000 - with savings
- Paid off £1,700 overdraft facility with savings
- Stopped overpaying by £150 each month on mortgage
- Transferred broadband to BT to combine with phone and saved
- So far making concerted effort not to buy snacks at work and to bring from home instead

Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Entertainment........................... 45
Cleaner & cleaning products............. 40
Savings (Child Trust Fund).............. 20
Food at work............................ 50
Donations/ Synagogue membership......... 190
Newspapers/ Magazines................... 20
Heathcare cashplan...................... 12
Amount short for making debt repayments. -85.5

Well done on what you have achieved so far, but it does appear to be largely due to using capital - nothing wrong with that especially the way interest rates are.
It looks to me that you are now facing or looking at lifestyle choices and your shortfall is quite small.

Regarding the mortgage overpayments you have made. Can you get the money back to service your other debts or take a mortgage holiday?

The list of things above are those that I would consider stopping or cutting down to the absolute minimum.

• Your kids are young and won't notice if you don’t buy for them.
• At the moment you can't really afford the Child Trust Fund. Stop it for now and start again when finances are under control.
• Take a larger sandwich box and keep a multipack of crisps to work (rice cakes and porridge are in my desk drawer).
• Charity begins at home. Why not ask if you can go down to membership only for a while.
• That's a lot on publications. I would drop those that are for entertainment only.
• You could possibly stop the healthcare cashplan?

I would strongly recommend that you get rid of the credit card(s) so that you don't spend on them - my mother in law got ours

Credit-Crunched

lobsta100 wrote: »

I think I would have to pay Ford credit off before selling - am I right? If so I know the current figure to settle is £2,200.

I've looked around online and cars like our Focus are selling for £5,000 - £6,500 depending on source. The mileage on it is v low (3 yrs old, just over 21000 miles).

Can anyone suggest a car to buy outright with that profit (£3 - £4k) of similar size/ capacity to new style focus that would be cheap to run and not have a lot of costs coming soon due to age/ high mileage?

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201139417995122/sort/priceasc/usedcars/price-to/4000/fuel-type/diesel/price-from/3000/model/focus/make/ford/radius/1501/postcode/sa46rt/page/1?logcode=p

£3k for a ford focus TDCI - go forever on a tank of diesel and plenty big enough for a young family

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/search/used/cars/ford/focus/postcode/sa46rt/radius/1501/price-to/4000/maximum-mileage/up_to_60000_miles/sort/priceasc/fuel-type/diesel/price-from/3000

Loads about, ditch the new cars

Credit-Crunched

PS a sandwich will never fill you up!

I train quite heavily and I eat a LOT, but on a budget.

Breakfast - porridge, youghurt and toast with peanut butter
Snack - protein shake / oat cakes

lunch - brocolli / chick peas or cous cous or lentils butter beans, rice, any complex carbs, but make sure you have protein, fish or chicken. I know its not pc but i buy the buy farm foods 12 frozen breasts for £8 last me two weeks (the price of one m&S sandwich) season with sprinkle on sauce £1 a cellar

Snack - nuts / dried fruit

dinner - as much brocolli as you can eat!
or a spag bol / stew (use cheap cuts and slow cook) bascially good old cheap classic dishes.

I guarantee that you will not be hungry if you follow that!

Eating well is not expensive, time consuming, a little, yes. Worth it when you save £200 a month, definately