SOA from a newbie

firesidemaid

hello!

i have no experience with kiddy costs, but my did those childcare costs make me go:eek: is there some government help available to everyone re. some childcare costs? anyone?

like the previous poster, the food bill can come down a lot. also, you can save loads on the virgin package - either get them to match the sky offer or move to sky for £26 a month (does your virgin include mobile costs?). there is also a great sticky on the telephones board for saving money on landlines - i have made the change and i pay very little, ie. £2 a month for all my calls!

also, you have no mention of costs for the car eg. mot/repairs/tax/rac etc, christmas, holidays, clothes etc etc - which is probably where all your other cash goes. do you take lunches to work?

the more time you spend on this forum, the more you will learn and pick up - it really is great - and there is so much to be saved!

good luck

LookingAhead

niklepic wrote: »

oh yes there is water - £90 a month (paying back a debt). no idea about the car costs though cos dp takes care of that stuff - im such a girl! think mot is about £50 and we just pray that it doesn't break down and then panic when it comes to tax lol

Your other half needs to let you know the annual costs of keeping the car on the road....you'll need to know so you can budget for it/put a bit away each month otherwise your budget will go out of the window when the car tax or insurance bill lands on your doormat (so to speak).

GirlRacer_2

This is how so many people get into difficulty, its certainly the case for me. I never ever budgeted for the odd emergency i.e new tyre, washing machine breakdown, etc etc. My new budget allows for these emergencies and that's what you need to do especially with the tax credits being reduced. It's really difficult when your paying off debt to try and put a bit aside each week for such emergencies but it certainly takes the pressure off when something does go wrong.

Another thing you can do is join all the cashback sites such as Quidco, GreasyPalm and PIgsback. These sites give you cashback for shopping. You can get quite an amount when renewing car, home and contents insurance. There's a thread on MSE telling you all about these sites.

Also do you have any bank charges you could reclaim. Some folks on here have had quite a bit of money back from unlawful charges.

niklepic

no other debts apart from my loan - we consolidated and i was good about not running up any more xx child care is about average where we are. i will get a reduced rate next summer though when my son turns 3.

niklepic

GirlRacer wrote: »

This is how so many people get into difficulty, its certainly the case for me. I never ever budgeted for the odd emergency i.e new tyre, washing machine breakdown, etc etc. My new budget allows for these emergencies and that's what you need to do especially with the tax credits being reduced. It's really difficult when your paying off debt to try and put a bit aside each week for such emergencies but it certainly takes the pressure off when something does go wrong.

Another thing you can do is join all the cashback sites such as Quidco, GreasyPalm and PIgsback. These sites give you cashback for shopping. You can get quite an amount when renewing car, home and contents insurance. There's a thread on MSE telling you all about these sites.

Also do you have any bank charges you could reclaim. Some folks on here have had quite a bit of money back from unlawful charges.

Have just issued proceedings against hsbc for just over £5000. its how i stumbled across this board - which is great btw. keep these coming. im making notes

GirlRacer_2

LOL...... The £5K will go a long way in reducing your outgoings, make sure you spend it wisely.

Can you ask the tax credit people if you can repay the overpayment over a longer period of time.

niklepic

i haven't technically been over paid (that i know of yet anyway). i had the notification letters the other day from what they estimate our earnings (which unfortunately they've got right) and i think they're just going down cos im earning more.

GirlRacer_2

Have a read of some of the diaries on the board here. Immoral Angel particularly comes to mind as she's just had another baby and money is really tight for her. She's an absolute inspiration to us all and maybe you can even borrow some of her ideas. I know recently that she listed her weekly shopping list and it was amazing that she got so much food out of so little money.

TITEASCRAMP

niklepic wrote: »

My salary - £950
Partners salary - £850
tax credits- £682 (going down v soon)
Child b - £102

Total £2584

Monthly Outgoings:

Mortgage - £586
Secured loan - Nemo (12%) - £200.99
Council Tax - £89
Nursery/after school for 2 £688
Gas - £40 (prepayment)
Electric - £40( prepayment)
TV License - £24.99
Virgin Media (phone/broadband/tv)- £70
Food - £300
Car Insurance - £39
Petrol - £50
Pet Insurance -£16
Life Insurance £12
Buildings/Contents - £28

Total - 2183.98

im sure there's stuff i've missed!!

im just about living within my means at the moment but dont seem to have any money left at the end of the month (dont know where it goes) but i need to budget because our tax credits are about to drop by about £400 p/m!!

I saved money in Insurances with MSE Ins search - Im only payin £3 per month pet Ins (1 dog) House £19 pr mnth. Virgin could be cut to min package £30 Hope that is of some help - I'll try to think of some more

silkglade

Hi niklepic

1st.. Just to let you know you will not have been overpaid by tax credits unles your earnings are £25,000 more than last year. I had a really long chat last year with a guy there as i was worried about being stung. I will also be loosing around £400 per month for the same reason.

2nd.. You are paying far to much for your virgin media package. phone the customer service number on the back of your monthly bill and follow the options for existing customer wanting to leave. this makes sure you get to the right department. and it is exactly what I did, I told them I was thinking of leaving and going to Sky as they had some really good offers on. said I wanted to see what they could offer before just leaving. I have stayed with them as they offered me an amazing deal. I now have the full TV package (not sports or films) telephone and broadband for... wait for it £26.00 per month. I also was paying around £70 per month