Is £300 reasonable on a monthly social budget?

Chasing_cars

Hi it might be a silly question but after all my bills and everything including food! I am walking away with £300 to live on for the month; now if I am wanting to start saving too is £300 ok to live on? or should I look to cut down some other bills, if I can?

I recently signed up to a new loan to get myself out my damn student overdraft, pay of a credit card, pay for a holiday etc so have no savings again. I also took out full payment protection, home insurance, mobile phone insurance and life insurance bundle for like £280 a month all in. Again, with all that added it comes to just over £910 a month on everything? which is leaving me in the region of £300 or just under?

So back to my original question for a busy single, social, 28 year old who wants to start saving too, am I doing ok? I feel I am, but in the past I got into a lot problems financially and now I am finally sorted and happy - I would hate and worry for it all to go pete tong!

PS: This does exclude over-time so technically my wage differs each month.

Please advise :S

HappyMJ

It's not enough...You should look to cut down other bills. You should always look to cut down every bill you have to the minimum.

Chasing_cars

So what is a good social budget then?

p00hsticks

Chasing_cars wrote: »

I also took out full payment protection, home insurance, mobile phone insurance and life insurance bundle for like £280 a month all in.

I may be out of touch (my mobile cost £12 from Tesco with £10 free credit!) but unless you are covering the crown jewels this seems a ridiculously high amount to me - are you sure you need all that cover ? My contents insurance is less than that a year ! Do you have dependents ? If not, why do you need life insurance ? And even if you do, check that it's not something that your employer is already giving you - many large companies offer 'death in service' benefits.

Chasing_cars

p00hsticks wrote: »

I may be out of touch (my mobile cost £12 from Tesco with £10 free credit!) but unless you are covering the crown jewels this seems a ridiculously high amount to me - are you sure you need all that cover ? My contents insurance is less than that a year ! Do you have dependents ? If not, why do you need life insurance ? And even if you do, check that it's not something that your employer is already giving you - many large companies offer 'death in service' benefits.

I forgot to say it's £280 a month including the new loan.
£210 loan (great rate!)
£40 life insurance/pp
£15 home insurance
£10 - Phone/Travel Insurance
£275 + everything else = £910 monthly...

Thank you all for the advice so far! I am just trying to keep my head above water, enjoy life and look to the future if I can.

findingmyownway

Chasing_cars wrote: »

I forgot to say it's £280 a month including the new loan.
£210 loan (great rate!)
£40 life insurance/pp
£15 home insurance
£10 - Phone/Travel Insurance
£275 + everything else = £910 monthly...

Thank you all for the advice so far! I am just trying to keep my head above water, enjoy life and look to the future if I can.

It would helpful to see the 'everything else' broken down. On face value, you don't need £40 life insurance but there may be things we don't know about you. For comparison, I am 29 and mine is £5.50/month. If you don't have dependents I'm not sure why you are paying out so much?

Wanting to keep your head above water is commendable but I think some more research on here could help. Getting a loan to pay for a holiday is frankly a terrible idea, but you need to realise this for yourself not just have someone else tell you.

Please keep posting

findingmyownway

I've just realised this is in the 'savings' board, you will probably get more advice if you repost in the 'debt free wanabee' section. Goood luck.

HappyMJ

Chasing_cars wrote: »

So what is a good social budget then?

Single? Cancel the life insurance. You don't have dependants. You only need life insurance if you have dependants.

I would say at least £100 a week would be a good figure to aim for. That's for all your discretionary spending and saving. Clothes, going out, mobiles, Sky...etc.etc...and a savings plan such as a regular saver putting £100 a month aside for instance.

Your basic cannot live without this expenses such as gas, electric, water and grocery shopping should come to about £70 a week plus housing costs such as rent, mortgage, buildings maintenance and insurance and council tax. Plus your travel to work costs on top whatever that comes to.

Chasing_cars

I had a finance meeting with the bank etc (I do every year so I never get into finance stress!), and they said considering my life style (i like to travel, see friends etc), how much I earn, age etc they explained it is best to think of the future ra, ra, ra payment protection, life and loan insurance bundle! I took the loan to get myself away from the student over-draft borrowing a little extra for a holiday was a bonus.

Here is my personal workings out:

Main Account:
£350 - Rent (All Inclusive)
£40 - Transport (10 Weekly)
£10 - Spotify
£6 Netflix
£40 - Food (10-15 Weekly)
**£450 - S/O to Bill Account
£15 Gym
TOTAL: £910

**Bill Account:
£40 - Mobile/Insurance
£70 - Family loan (ends June 2013) [Helping a family member out]
£20 - Barclaycard
£10 - Phone/Travel Insurance
£15 - Home Insurance
£40 - Payment Protection/Life Insurance
£215 - Lloyds Loan
TOTAL: £410 (£450)

Plans
PAID Holiday 2012 £550 (All Inclusive)
Practical - £90
CAR - £800-£900?

Upcoming/2013
£200 - Barclaycard (Monthly)
£300 - Plasma TV (End: Sept 2012)
£40 - Comet TV Insurance (Last payments - June/Sept)
£40 - XBOX Live (April 2013)
£30 - Contacts - £30 (Monthly)

- thoughts?

Reaper

Chasing_cars wrote: »

I had a finance meeting with the bank etc, and considering my life style and how much I earn, age etc they explained it is best to think of the future ra, ra, ra payment protection, life and loan insurance bundle!

They would as they get commission on everything you take out. Insurance is what you need now, not what you might need one day.

They have flogged you PPI. You should be aware that even if you need it (and the recent scandal has been about selling it to those that don't) you can get it much cheaper if you don't get PPI from the same people who give you the loan.

Here's the MSE article on the subject:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/cheap-loan-insurance
I suggest you get another quote in case it comes in much cheaper. Trimming that £40pm cost might not make a big difference but every bit helps.

Don't trust anything else your bank advisor tells you unless you have double checked it.

P.S. I see you got Comet TV insurance. I assume you bought the TV at Comet too so got stung by their salesman as well. Here's the article about cheap or free warranty insurance cover:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/cheap-free-warranties

Be wary of salesmen!

Chasing_cars

Don't trust anything else your bank advisor tells you unless you have double checked it.

Sounds a little ominous, can't trust anyone eh? so what else could I "trim"? Also £100 a week on social is a good start then?