Hi all - Report card says 'must do better'

ktb

Hi Barebear...

I can most definitely recommend doing a spending diary. I got a notebook which I carry round with and and started writing down every single penny that I spent.... from 28p for a packet of polos to £50 on a night out etc etc... it made such a difference to how I view my finances I cant even tell you. According to my SOA in theory I should have had over £200 'spare' every month yet I was constantly as the bottom of my overdraft. Since I started the spending diary I am so much more in control of where my money is going and have since been able to pay off the o/d completely and start making proper inroads into my credit cards too.

I do a similar thing for my food shopping now too.. I only do 1 shop a week - which helps prevent the danger of 'popping' into the shop a few times a week and coming back with 10 things I really dont need and cant afford - I keep all the receipts so I know exactly what I have bought and can see if I wasted money on stuff.

Taking control of it all is very empowering and has really given me the incentive to curb all my unnecessary spending.

Barebear

I just recalculated my SOA. It makes a damn site worse reading now than it did before. Still, I now know exactly what I've got to play with.

I've got my post graduate course fees to pay in August, so I've GOT to get this sorted by then. I'm also booked onto a trip to see Scotland play France in Paris this September. That's another target. It looks like I'll need to get some part time work fixing PC's in my spare time.

Here's the up to date SOA. :eek:

Income

Wages – 1209.90
Rental – 350.00

Total – £1659.90


Outgoing

Mortgage (flat)- 333.90
Mortgage (house)- 256.43
Council Tax - 127.18
B&C Insurance - 22.35
B&C Insurance - 12.19
Life Insurance - 25.54
Car Insurance – 31.63
Pet Insurance - 9.88
TV (all) - 54.80
Gas - 70.00
Electricity - 60.00
Loan 1 - 100.00
Loan 2 - 153.00
Mobile Phone - 40.00
Home Phone + Net - 30.00
Diesel - 80.00

Total - £1506.90




Remaining Per Month - £153.00 (£37 a week)

misspoppy

You say you have to get pre-payment meters to pay the gas and electric DON'T DO IT it iwill cost you more you are better off paying by direct debit with the arreas planned in to be paid back. Please don't let them put a prepayment meter in.

Barebear

misspoppy wrote:

You say you have to get pre-payment meters to pay the gas and electric DON'T DO IT it iwill cost you more you are better off paying by direct debit with the arreas planned in to be paid back. Please don't let them put a prepayment meter in.

Why not? does it go onto a different rate?

beanielou

I think they are allowed to charge a slightly higher rate on repayment meters.
Someone will be along to clarify soon though.

misspoppy

They do charge a much higher rate and with DD you get a discount and a better rate, i'll find some info from radio 4 yesterday and post it for you.

misspoppy

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5310530.stm

this should change your mind

Barebear

I asked the British Gas customer rep if they do charge a higher rate on the pre-payment meter, they said yes indeed they do. I subsequently got transferred to the Debt Collection dept where out of sheer interest, I asked exactly the same thing to that rep. Unbelievably he assured me that they charge exactly the same rates on both the pre-payment meter and the credit meter.

What chance do we have?????

Barebear

I have a further alteration to my SOA following the good advice from Miss Poppy. I rang British Gas back up and cancelled my appt. for the installation of the pre-payment electric meter, then set up a DD for £60 per month. That covers the usage and some debt.

I tried to get the Gas meter changed from the current one (pre-payment) to a normal credit meter, but they said I have to clear the debt first (approx £150) then wait 6 months before being allowed to change back to a normal meter, even at that, I would still have to undergo a credit check to have the normal meter installed!! :eek: Another option is to pay off the debt, then give them a deposit of £125 which they'd hold for a year then repay me with interest. I'm between a rock and a hard place with this one. In the meantime it looks like I'll have to carry on paying the higher rate that comes with the card meter!! :mad:

If I repaid the debt, then changed to another supplier, would I be able to get a change of meter? Or would they do a credit check too?

Barebear

I have to say I'm proud of myself on my first week of DFW-ing. I set a budget and ended with £7 spare from my spends.

I've added that to my new weekly amount of £35 and that gives my next weeks total pocket money of £42.

I also made around £60 from odd jobs fixing computers locally. That's safely tucked away in the stash. (that brings the total amount of funds in the stash to £60 :rotfl: )

:T

I will say that this has been a wonderful eye opener. I feel I am already developing good habits. I had a trip to the Scotland football match in Paris in September paid for. I thought that tere would be better uses for that money and now that I've realised just how little I can spend week to week, I couldn't afford much spending money, So I cancelled and offered my seat on the plane and my digs to some other willing person. hopefully I'll get a couple of hundred quid back when A.N. Other takes my slot.

When I was about to let my mates know, I immediately started a text messege, but stopped half way through when I thought how much it would cost to send 3 texts. I deleted it and went on the PC to compose an email and sent the info to all three of them for free.

I'm learning.