Reducing expenditure, help?

mattystorey001

Righto..

My SOA...

Stuff - £200
Rent - £695
Lunch - £20
Building content insurance - £23.75
Water - £17.52
Xbox live - £4.99
Petrol - £100
TV Licence - £15
Electric+Gas - £60 *see below
Council tax - £98
NTL/Internet - £32
Food - £100
Newshosting - £10
Amex Loan - £150
Gym - £29.95
Mobile Phone - £80 *see below
Going out - £150

The obvious ones are xbox live, newshosting, and random stuff.

Xbox live and newshosting makes life bearable, xbox allows me to interact with my friends (220miles away), and newshosting allows me access to binary newsgroups.

Random stuff includes hair cuts, suit dry cleaning, things required for flat (like knives, light bulb's) replacement of anything that breaks. Usually £150, but i budget £200. I try to buy any replacements off ebay for stuff 2nd hand. Spare money goes towards amex bill.

Food is limited to 100£ a month. I go shopping maybe twice a month and limit expenditure to 100£ only. Buy in bulk, and in the going-off-today-bin and freeze. No little presents for me.

Water - no meter. 2 bedroom flat. i have a dishwasher but dont use it (washup to save water and leccy), washing machine washes @ 30degrees.

Petrol is 100£ a month. I rarely see my parents and friends becuase this is so low now (something that i had to give up to become debt free).

Council tax - band b, claiming living alone allowance.

NTL/Internet is premimum package but i have friends in ntl that do me deals (legally) internet requires it for my job when i work from home and allows life to be bearable.

Gym, i was fed up of being skinny. my only luxury and allows me to see friends (its better than the pub).

Mobile phone.. Im on the wrong package with Orange and stuck with this until another couple of months when it comes up for renewal cannot change it threatened to leave etc.

Going out.. says what it says on the tin, this also acts as a go-between, if for example random goes over the £200 i can take money out of here, this means i go without. I cannot put money into this account from other accounts so i can go out.

Gas and electric.. a biggy.. it fluctuates. I dont have a overdraft facility. What ever money is left over goes to paying off amex bill, i regulary (weekly) update my electric meter and gas meter readings online so i cannot be billed wrong. I have turned off heating in the evenings (sitting with a big hoody on now) and practically live out of one room (lounge and kitchen are one). COmbi boiler and i used Uswitch?&quidco (with southern electric (not the cheapest but best service!!)) money from quidco went to amex bill!

Amex - minumum £150. No less than stated amount. I can put in more if i end up with extra money left over at the end of the month.

If anyone can suggest anything, would be appreciated? Please be critical about it..

mattystorey001

Should note that i am seeing my parents and friends on Wednesday this week.

Why..? Its a funeral and work is paying for my petrol down as long as i do a job in Milton Keynes and London on Tuesday and Thursday respectively.

Nice.

~ M.

lynsayjane

mattystorey001 wrote:

Righto..

My SOA...

Stuff - £200
Rent - £695
Lunch - £20presume this is for work days? take packed lunches, much better for you too!
Building content insurance - £23.75
Water - £17.52
Xbox live - £4.99get rid of, once your debt free you can reassess if you NEED this
Petrol - £100
TV Licence - £15
Electric+Gas - £60 *see below
Council tax - £98
NTL/Internet - £32
Food - £100is this just for yourself? get over to the old style board for meal planning advice, I live quite well on £10-£15 a week on food!
Newshosting - £10this isn't essential either, get rid then reassess once your debt free
Amex Loan - £150
Gym - £29.95I know how much it hurts to get rid of this but again it's not a necessity
Mobile Phone - £80 *see below
Going out - £150can you really afford this?

You asked for critical...;)

You name at least three things on there as your only luxury...I think that says it all! :rotfl: I could easily get £65 extra for your debts by making the changes I've mentioned above. I knwo how hard it is to get rid of the things you enjoy doing, but to get debt free it is sometimes needed. When I first started I cancelled sky AND my tv license (tho i know this isn't for everyone) along with my cinema card and gym. It hurt but it made a huge difference.

Start batch cooking food and freezing it, this will save you money electric wise as well as food wise. Plus you can take the meals to work to save you buying lunches. I've done this for years and find buying lunch out a chore as there is nothing I fancy more than a home made meal! It's cheap enough to buy a pack of chinese take away style containers which make perfect portion sizes.

You've put £200 for 'stuff' and although I see it includes hair cuts (your a man you don't need that many! ) and thngs for the flat can you cut this down? I'd suggest starting a spending diary to note just what you spend on, down to the 25p daily paper. Then you can see at the end of the week/month just where all this money is going. Also when you are about to buy something think about whether you NEED or WANT it. I'd also try setting yourself a weekly budget and joining in moozie's challenge to try and reduce the spending on stuff.

Hope some of this is useful for you, let us know how you get on!

lynsayjane

Just saw your sig. Cancel the natwest visa card, it's bad for your credit rating and temptation to keep it! I'm also not sure about saving as much as 300 a month while your still in debt. Although it is wise to have an emergency fund when you hava a flat this may be excessive. I've owned my flat for 5 years and never had an emergency fund...am also pleased to say (touch wood) I've never needed one, though once I'm debt free I'm sure starting one!

misspoppy

Hi There are quite a number of things that are essential to make life bareable for you which for most wouldn't be essential, eg, xbox, newshosting, (don't quite understand this one) going out and stuff. This comes to £365 a month. You have also said that the gym is your one luxery can you see how almost everything is an essential? You need to look at these figures and be realistic as to whether or not you do want to make changes to make life more bareable. eg, buying nicer food and being warm and seeing friends and family more often or having these non-essentials.

You say you aren't on a water meter yet you are living like your water is £100 per litre, it wouldn't matter much if you used the dish washer twice a week instead of washing up several times a day.

Your gas and electric would be cheaper if you paid monthly by DD have you checked with Uswitch you are on the right tarriff if you aren't switch but sign up to quidco and make money there.

suki43

Hi Mattey,

I think the advice you have so far is good. I agree, get rid of the Natwest card, it will improve your credit rating. Also, paying off debt is a form of saving. There is no point paying £300 into a savings account until you have cleared your debt. Once cleared, you will automatically have more money in your current account to do as you wish.

Check out my sig for my debt. I would love to put £££ in my ISA but there is no point until this debt is gone.

Suki

mattystorey001

Hi, i plan to start saving when i remove my debt. Until then it's not an option.

I require my Natwest Visa card for work (hotels, petrol, food etc) as i travel alot for work.

The £20 for lunch is packed lunches.. Unfortuantly i am a big lad (14stone, mostly muscle) so require to eat healthly (meat, pasta, vegetables etc. at least every 3hours).

The gym is my only outlet and real joy atm along with xbox live and newshosting. I have sold everything else to reduce my debt!!

Usually my week nights are taken over by the gym, xbox and g/f. If i buy a new xbox game it's second hand about 2-3 months after it has come out and that comes out of my going out fund.. This means i stay in for that weekend and not spend any money! Would also like to point out that £150 pays for little treats for the g/f!! Sorry!

Gas and electric are only £17 and £15 respectively. This has only been up and running for a month now so expect it to increase hence the £60. I only washup once a day in the evenings.

I rented out my spare room for the last 3months and made £400 out of it. This went towards amex bill.

I get a bonus every three months as well of about £700-1200 after tax. This goes towards amex bill.

I know i try to save alot, but man i didnt realise how much of a head case i was about money!!

moozie_2

Hi there Matty

Let's have a look....

mattystorey001 wrote:

Righto..

My SOA...

Stuff - £200 How much of this is actually essential?
Rent - £695 This is on the high side. Would you look at sharing/renting a room out?
Lunch - £20 Drop this and go home made for the main part of the week at least.
Building content insurance - £23.75
Water - £17.52
Xbox live - £4.99 This is a luxury.
Petrol - £100 Other car costs?
TV Licence - £15 Mine is £11.37 why is yours £15?
Electric+Gas - £60 *see below I pay this on a three bedroom house. Check uswitch.
Council tax - £98
NTL/Internet - £32
Food - £100 You can do better on this.
Newshosting - £10 This is a luxury.
Amex Loan - £150
Gym - £29.95 This is a luxury @ £359.40 pa.
Mobile Phone - £80 *see below
Going out - £150 This is a luxury @ £1800 pa.

If anyone can suggest anything, would be appreciated? Please be critical about it..

You really need to decide how many luxuries you need to make life bearable as you say. I don't know what your income is but your non essentials are high.

You have had some great advice already and there is plenty of room for improvement, including breaking down the 'stuff' amount.

Good luck!

mattystorey001

The stuff account is again just for stuff. I can't really do anything about haircuts and dry cleaning (i need my suits looking nice and they make them last longer which saves money in the long run). If i dont spend anything from stuff it goes into the Amex bill.

The rent is 695, and i did rent a room for 400£ a month to a friend including bills. Worked out well. Was on a temporary thing, rolling until friend sorted himself out (had a few issues and needed to start afresh). Will consider it again. But i like my stuff, and im wary of people and the respect they give.

I'll review the food thing again and see if i can reduce it.

I wont remove the gym as its an outlet, along with xbox and newshosting.

I'll review elec and gas at the end of the month when the new bill comes in.

I have a company car, no other costs except for petrol and massive income tax bills!! : (

Adjusted tv licence.

david_hellier

What is your income?

mattystorey001

i'm afraid i would rather not post it. Please dont take it as an offensive gesture in any form.

I am looking to adjust my out goings effectively to loosen up some cash to pay off my amex more. I'm stretched for cash most months and find i stay in more than i go out.

~ M.