Help needed to cut down outgoings - SOA included.

beanielou

IA, have said this before & will again , you do so well & you are just so foccussed.
Pity you werent near me you could have had my freezer from the garage.
You seem to have paid off another debt this week while I havent been around this week.Well done.

Spendless

IA_just a thought but when you were working did you pay tax? If so is it possible that you've overpaid for this financial year and can claim some back. Worth ringing up and finding out.

immoral_angeluk

Spendless wrote: »

IA_just a thought but when you were working did you pay tax? If so is it possible that you've overpaid for this financial year and can claim some back. Worth ringing up and finding out.

The first 3 months of the year I didn't pay any as I was only working 16 ours but then went up to 27 hours and have been paying tax on that albeit not much. How do I find out if I've paid too much???

DavidHM

Try here: put in your total earnings for the year before tax and it will tell you how much tax you should have paid on those earnings.

Obviously with your earnings being up and down, your weekly and monthly figures will be way out but the annual total should be right.

beanielou

Get in touch with your tax office as they should be able to tell you the situation & work out if you are due a refund.

pk2007_2

have you looked at the tesco clubcard threads on the forums under bargains.............. they have loads of tips on getting clubcard points e.g. recycling printer cartridges/phones etc

whatatwit

Hi I-A, :wave:

Have you looked at the Boots thread in the grabbit section.
I have always considered Boots to be expensive, although I do have a Boots advantage card.
On the thread, they list the offers on.
Last week it was 3 for 2 on toothpaste, and there was a 100 point voucher from the machine for their own brand.
I got 3 of the larger size @ 99p, so only paid £1.98 and got £1 in points.

You could also get a card in Ste's name as well to get double vouchers.

The Boots thread is quite long, but have a read through and you may be able to stock up on bargains for any birthdays.
The

pariskate

Now you have a new baby as well as your two year old, how about looking into washable nappies? You can get plain terry squares very cheaply and either use pins or 'nappy nippers'. I've found that washables are really not much more hassle than disposables but are a lot cheaper (and washable wearing toddlers potty train earlier also!)

Kate

barnaby-bear

pariskate wrote: »

Now you have a new baby as well as your two year old, how about looking into washable nappies? You can get plain terry squares very cheaply and either use pins or 'nappy nippers'. I've found that washables are really not much more hassle than disposables but are a lot cheaper (and washable wearing toddlers potty train earlier also!)

Kate

Apparently they are so keen to get people doing this that various people will give you some on loan, if things get really tight you could nappy-tart for a few months for free. They are the kind of thing also given away on freecycle.

barnaby-bear

immoral_angeluk wrote: »

The water is a bill. the mobiles are already on a cheaper deal from when our contracts were last up. Will definately sign up to quidco..
We can't get rid of the car until we clear the finance. If we can save up £2000 we can pay it off in a year and a half but no sooner. plus Dh is looking for another job and if he gets one out of the area he'll need it. We've already ebayed tonnes and don't have much left! Already signed up with pigsback Have £9.20 so far! We only buy what we need for meals and are planning on getting a chest freezer so we can bulk cook too.

I don't like SKY at all but they are doing a broadband, 2 package and free evening phone call package for £15 at the moment and there's a quidco sign up.

One thing that's a bit of a concern is contingency planning, basically if something goes wrong (not paid on time / breakdown ) etc. it can get stressful. RAC breakdown (including recovery) costs £20 in tesco deal vouchers and may offer piece of mind. I.e you can't afford to get the car towed if it does break. House contents insurance - given renting and some cashbacks from quidco up to £130, you might effectively be able to get a low level of cover for nothing. Renting we got full cover for contents for £8 with the cashback. It's often people who can least afford to replace their stuff who don't have cover. I know it isn't saving money but I think there's also a balance for peace of mind.

As for ebaying - I have a colleague who spends his lunchtime in charity shops and weekends at boot/jumble sales buying books to sell on amazon and he's raking it in. Amazon is a lot less hassle than ebay and more of a cartel the etiquette that everyone prices high and doesn't undercut. You have to be clever and choose books - not chick lit or novels but old kiddy books (Paddington Bear) and gardening/books on stately homes/popular history. I guess you'll be pushing your pram around in a few months and will have some time to do browsing in charity shops. You don't have to sell *your* stuff on ebay. Postage is fairly easy with books too. Or maybe CDs?
Another one is music mags, particularly UK issues featuring US bands - flog them online to states where fans can't buy the UK issue. Storing these they can increase in value but it is speculation.

To be fair - ebay opens a whole world of really stupid people and you can actually sell thin air or stranger
http://cgi.ebay.com/Love-Spell-Performed-by-Wiccan-High-Priestess_W0QQitemZ110099456499QQcategoryZ102517QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


Quidco quick bucks the ones I can think of are the cash backs for free trials of internet gambling (Bingo) etc through quidco although if you don't understand anything or would be in the least bit tempted stay clear. If you have the patience, clickthroughs can apparently earn you 50p a day which I guess is £15 a month. Quidco cashback for opening a new savings (savings not current so credit issues less likely) account (£25 cahoot - need to deposit £1). Quidco do 3% back on tesco online.