I'm an idiot

Toomuchdebt

deleted sorry

nimbo

Toomuchdebt wrote: »

I have just switched gas and elec supplier so am hoping that will be cheaper-waiting for the first bill to come in(I pay 126 monthly for both at present as that's what they set it to)

Groceries-how much should I be spending on 6 kids?One is still in nappies(I buy Aldi's nappies and wipes unless there's a BOGOF in Tesco on Pampers).

My road tax is due this month but as I'm going to visit family in Poland for 2 weeks I won't be needing it so am going to SORN it for August.I can do without it till the kids go back to school-just means a rather long walk to work(an hour each way)

hi

that seems to be a massive bill for gas and electric is there any arrears on that????

if not look into if you are over paying as you may be due a refund.

i'm not a driver but i thought they were going to abolish SORN's a friend sold hr second car as she was no longer allowed to do this i thought - it may not have happened but do look into this.

when it comes to grocery shopping go to :

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=33

they are really friendly and really helpful when it comes to food shopping as well as cooking....

good luck

BlushingRose

I;d try and do a proper SOA, then you can see where you really are - also do a spending diary for a month?

HappyMJ

Toomuchdebt wrote: »

........lots of ironing with 6 kids...........I have just switched gas and elec supplier so am hoping that will be cheaper-waiting for the first bill to come in(I pay 126 monthly for both at present as that's what they set it to).

nimbo wrote: »

hi

that seems to be a massive bill for gas and electric is there any arrears on that????

if not look into if you are over paying as you may be due a refund.

£126 for both gas and electric for a household with 6 children is not massive. The bill is fine. The average bill for an average household is £110 per month as this household is about 100% larger than average then the bill will be bigger.

Toomuchdebt

I only just switched over to npower a few months ago and they set the direct debit at 126 and it will be reviewed once the first bill is produced...hopefully I won't need to pay any more.
The sorn is still an option if you go onto the gov website so I assume it's OK.If they want to abolish it what else are they going to do?
I lurk on the old style board

HappyMJ

Toomuchdebt wrote: »

I only just switched over to npower a few months ago and they set the direct debit at 126 and it will be reviewed once the first bill is produced...hopefully I won't need to pay any more.
The sorn is still an option if you go onto the gov website so I assume it's OK.If they want to abolish it what else are they going to do?
I lurk on the old style board

As it's summer they will have no idea of your winter usage. You need a whole year's usage figues in kWh for a reasonable estimate and as last winter was relatively mild then the bill this year could be bigger in any case. As it's with Npower you will also be overpaying by £10 per month and in 12 months you will get a £105 bill credit to be used over the 12 months following that.

Toomuchdebt

Thanks-I used my last year's very accurate figures of kwh to put in all the comparison sites as well as the sites themselves and in every case npower came out the cheapest so we shall see

nimbo

my apologies for the power i spend about £60 a month for both... (i may need to check that I'm paying enough if the average is £110 though)

and having spoken to friend - as she was going to be expected to have insurance for second car even if in garage she thought she would need to have it taxed, and so got rid then...

Fae

Hi,

I don't think anyone is going to shout at you, most of us are here for very similar reasons, and it's great that you have realised the problem,
I can't add much to the good advice on here already. I found the SOA really useful, so really recommend completing one and posting it on here, people on here have great advice on how to cut things down so it's worth letting everyone take a look.
And good luck on your debt free journey

Fae

Toomuchdebt

Thanks Fae-I just feel like a moron for letting debt build up again-some of it was unavoidable like when my ex moved out cos he cheated on me and left me with the entire rent to pay 3 days later. Also I only just started working in January this year, so I was totally on benefits before and that took a while to sort out too.
My real problem though is that I buy things to cheer myself up...I've had a nightmare year-ex cheated and went to live with her, my kids had TB(the eldest had active tb, the others were latent),my car broke down-non repairable,washing machine broke down-the concrete block snapped in half-non repairable,hoover stopped working,kitchen table fell apart(it was very old),I met someone else and was only with him for 3 months as I found out he had been in prison for 12 years(!!!!),ex wanted to come back-I agreed-he went back to her again....and I've had various little problems with the kids and the house....and so I buy little treats to cheer myself up...except those little treats add up and up and up....
Working hasn't added a lot to the money coming in to be honest-I no longer get free school meals or music bursaries.And I was stupid enough to buy a car on finance which is 180 a month,though as I said earlier I think I may ask about handing it back and getting my mum to take a small loan to buy a runabout rather than something newer.Sadly once the kids are back at school and the nights get darker I can't do without a car-it's over an hour to one school/playschool,one school is about 45 mins away,the last one is even further than the first one and buses are too expensive,and not a direct school bus anyway.
But I am determined to get rid of these debts, especially if housing benefit is going to be capped next year for large families. Once my youngest goes to school I will look into getting a decent job, not just cleaning in the evenings on minimum wage.I can't manage to work in the day as my 2 youngest are 3.5 and 2 and one goes to playschool for 3 hours and the little one doesn't and it's all a bit complicated with pick up times etc.Once they are all at school I can look for something better and send them all to after school club if need be until my 2 older ones can pick them up and walk home or to granny's with them.

savingmummy

Sounds like you`ve been through a pretty rough time
BUT your here now and facing things and hopefully you`ll start sorting these debts out again.

I would recommend doing a SOA http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html this will really help you to see what comes in and what goes out and will let you see if you can cut back in certain areas. It will need to be very accurate to work for you though so may take a while to do.