My SOA

RhiBi

gizmo111 wrote: »

you have a balance so unlikely they will give you 0% offer at thsi stage.
have a look and see if there are any long 0% deals that you could transfer to.

There is a virgin one that is 0% for 16 months, no idea what sort of limit it would give us though, but I guess no harm in applying and finding out...

somethingcorporate

Worth asking MBNA, even to shift a couple of the smaller (but more expensive debts to).

Otherwise, lower your limit on MBNA and look to take out another 0% card if they will not entertain it. You evidently have the income to cover your expenses, you just need to minimise what your current debts are going to cost you interest wise.

chevalier

1) Be careful about applying for another card. Even if you aren't using all of that 17k limit on the card, they may think you have to much available credit already. Probably better to look at balance transferring the debts to this card, AND THEN CLOSING the other accounts not just cancelling the cards. This will bring your overall available credit down.

2) When you look at your building and contents insurance, have a look to see what deals are being done on cash back sites. I managed one year to pay about 20pounds for building and contents insurance for the whole year, because I got 100 pounds cash back for each policy from a cash back site:rotfl::rotfl:.

3) Food. Your first order of business is to see what you already have in your freezer, cupboards etc, you will probably be surprised at what you have already. We are all guilty to some extent of auto shopping. Where you put the same things in the trolley each week WHETHER THEY ARE NEEDED OR NOT! And yes I was one of these.

Once you have inventoried your storage, then challenge yourself to meal plan from what you have in already (with maybe the addition of veggies if necessary). After that it is a case of meal planning in advance and then doing the shopping list to only get what you need for the meal plan. I reckon you could easily knock 100 pounds a month of your bill here.

4) Energy bills. When you turn on your hot tap do you scald yourself? if yes then turn down the water thermostat and save. Same with the central heating thermostat. Set it at say 19 degrees, and where jumpers if a bit chilly. With 4 girls you will need to remind them to switch off electrical gadgets at the wall, rather leaving them on standby...

good luck
chev

MFWannabe

RhiBi wrote: »

Thank you so much for your comments, I really appreciate them

The main bulk of other child related is piano lessons. I know not essential, but when you have children who are doing so well (the 11 and 14 year old are about to take Grade 5, the 7 year old grade 1) it's really not something I want to put a stop to unless it is essential.

The SOA is as we deal with finances now, hence nothing factored in for the sundries.

I'll definitely look into switching utilities providers, we aren't in arrears, and the price increase was done without a meter reading being taken. Our home and contents are due for renewal this month so we'll certainly be looking into reducing that - We live in a 3 bedroomed terraced house.

I'm certainly going to keep a spending diary, as the food cost is a complete estimate, and I suspect is actually higher than the estimate.

Do you think we should see if we could transfer the balances of the cc's and the next bill onto the MBNA (limit is unbelievably high at £17,000). And then cancelling the other cards/next account? Assuming MBNA will give 0% on the transfers.

Hi I would definitely call MBNA first and see if they will offer you a deal.(Worst they can say is no) If they do say no lower your limit (just make sure it's not too close to how much you owe on it though) so you can apply for another 0% card.

miggy

Hi, well done on getting all this down in writing! I know there are estimates to be tightened up but you've already got yourself started which is probably the hardest bit - staring it in the face and rolling your sleeves up ready for action so to speak.

We have 3 older 'children' (20, 18 and 16) all living at home so I sympathise with your grocery bill! I'll share what we did in case it's of help.

Last summer the grocery spends were out of control - the youngest child is a bit OCD and his 'must do' trips to the supermarket with Dad were costing us a lot! To bring that under control, we put his pocket money into his account by Standing Order (so we no longer had to keep an account of what we owed each other) and insisted he pay for the treats he buys using his bank card. Taking kids to the shops always adds at least a tenner!

I think we may need to put the brakes on further and insist they walk to the shops (not far) because those short trips cost in terms of diesel and wear and tear on the car too.

The main thing was that we took stock and realised we were probably spending £120 a week on food and cleaning stuff! DH went on a money management course and was advised to have 'pots' of money for different things and I was aware this was high so I suggested we try for £100 a week for this 'pot'. We get it out in cash. To our amazement, not only is this enough, but if the money gets low we get creative with what we've got rather than getting more money out of the bank. Seeing it in cash helps us a lot.

This has made a huge difference to our finances - and it's really helped us feel in control.

Noting your daughters ages, (and I'm guessing that's why you have a bill from Next! ), I suppose they must hand clothes down so you may not have many available for Ebay, but have a look through. There may be some that won't be used and which could be sold. When our DD was old enough to do shopping with her friends we switched her to an allowance (I think £10 a week - we couldn't afford more and we pay for her gym as well). The allowance had to cover her phone, family presents, makeup, clothes, food that she buys when she's out (she can take a packed lunch for free) and fares. Just adding that bit as I can see you will be coming up to that stage quite soon! (Nowadays she is in 6th Form and has a Saturday job though we still give her some money).

Can you get your daughters on board with the whole money-saving thing? They might have some creative ideas and if they feel part of it they may make it easier for you.

ETA - Sorry this is so long!

RhiBi

Thanks for all your replies, I really appreciate each and every one of them. Ultimately, what we want (and I guess what most people want) is to free up cash to enjoy life without getting further into debt.

Another thought I have, and I'd like advice from some of you who are much more knowledgeable, is to apply for an extension on our mortgage to clear all debts so all we're left with is monthly running costs and a higher mortgage. If we were to borrow £28,000 and pay it back at around £250 a month for 14 years (this is the current term left on our mortgage), we could potentially free up around £700 a month.

We would certainly cancel all cards and only buy what we can afford, and save for what we can't afford.

Is this a good idea or not?

Thanks again x

miggy

My initial thought is that interest rates are low right now, but what when they go up again?

MFWannabe

RhiBi wrote: »

Thanks for all your replies, I really appreciate each and every one of them. Ultimately, what we want (and I guess what most people want) is to free up cash to enjoy life without getting further into debt.

Another thought I have, and I'd like advice from some of you who are much more knowledgeable, is to apply for an extension on our mortgage to clear all debts so all we're left with is monthly running costs and a higher mortgage. If we were to borrow £28,000 and pay it back at around £250 a month for 14 years (this is the current term left on our mortgage), we could potentially free up around £700 a month.

We would certainly cancel all cards and only buy what we can afford, and save for what we can't afford.
Is this a good idea or not?

Thanks again x

It is definitely not recommended to turn your unsecured debt (credit cards) into secured debt (mortagage). If the worst happens and you can't pay the credit cards then no one can take your property away from you; they can if you secure it against your home.
Please don't risk this. Your mortgage is very low and although you are probably paying a lot on loans and cards at the moment you can clear it.

Firstly ring MBNA to see if you can move your high interest debt to them either at 0% or low rate for life transfer. They may well be very likely to do this if they know how much you have to transfer. I'm always getting 0% offers from Virgin and i have a balance outstanding on there currently. If they won't then lower the limit so you will be able to apply and hopefully get a new 0% deal elswehere. Do it now; a quick ten minute phone call and you may feel a lot better!

RhiBi

Thanks for your reply again!

I definitely see what you're saying about moving the debt to a secured one.

The MBNA card is in DH's name, and he intends to contact them when he gets in from work this evening. We have applied for the virgin card at 0% for 16 months for balance transfers, but I'm unsure now whether they'll reject on account of the high limit on the MBNA. Nothing I can do about that at the moment though.

RAS

Do NOT secure any of your card and loan debt against the house.

You want to free up cash to enjoy life?

The stark fact is that you have been spending more than you can afford for some time.

All you can do is pull in your horns; decide what you really want to spend money on and learn to love more economically. It will take years to pay off this much debt and you have to choose whether the piano lessons go or you learn to feed the family on less?

Can you go out to work at all? £5,000 earnt by you is equivlent to OH getting a £8K salary increase.

Alternatively, sell the house, pay off the debts and use the surplus to fund your expenduiture for the next few years?