SOA...it's worse than I thought :(

DMPhereIcome

iris wrote: »

I don't post here very often, but this struck me as wrong.

If you have a septic tank then you shouldn't be paying drainage/sewerage charges. You should only pay for your actual water usage.

Does your water company know you have a septic tank?

We have a septic tank and only pay for the water we use. We are on a meter and our monthly direct debit is £4 for water only. We are 2 adults at home 24/7, we have a dishwasher and washing machine and only take showers.

I would suggest ringing your water company and asking why they are charging you for sewerage. They may need to come out to your property to confirm you have a septic tank, but this should greatly reduce your bill.

If your water company confirms the above, then you 'should' be able to claim back any sewearge charges.

Good luck

The sceptic tank services the whole road (10 houses), the council maintain it (when I say maintain, I mean subcontract out to a local company). The last few years the bill for the emptying/treatment/maintenance has been £235 per year, but for some reason it's now £400? I'm sure there will be a fuss kicked up about that by myself and my neighbours!

I will consider switching to a meter, although there is two showers a day, a small bath for my child plus all the clothes washing ...

DMPhereIcome

quintwins wrote: »

In the nicest possible way, you seem to want to cling onto alot of things.However you are in debt and it's just going to get worse.

You could easily cut £100 off your grocery budget(you soend more than me and there is 5 of us) give your son a good pack lunch thats another £55, cut your wine intake and budget and take it from your grocery budget and you have another £20 thats , get a dry cut for less than £10 and a pair of cheap clippers and you'll have another £15, thats £200 already, with very little hardship like no wine or no hair cuts at all.

Can you talk to family and see if they will wait a while on there £50? you really need to throw as much as posisble at that capital one.

Also another thing i noticed is you have oil, do you have to fill a tank? do you have a full tank right now? i know i do and it's £600 a pop but that does us a year as we don't use it in summer, now this really is robbing peter to pay paul but if you could put that money to your debts for now, once you've paid a few debts you will ahve more coming in each month.

Is it possible to get a 0% card for your capital one?

My grocery budget varies but you're right, it is a lot - I do shop in Aldi etc. What I haven't done yet is properly do a spending diary to see exactly where the money is going. To be honest £250 is a guestimate on what I think I'm spending...

I can't get another 0% card...like a genius I balance transferred onto Barclaycard for 0% and then spent on the old ones again I'm a plonker, I know!

I put 500litres into my oil tank at a time...every 8 -10 months - again £40 per month is an overestimate for two reasons:

1. I always run out of oil and hate being cold for a week before they deliver
2. I never have £340 quid when I run out of oil and end up being cold for ages!

If I save £40 p/m towards it and don't use it then it's a bonus to go towards debt payments...in theory!

School dinners may have to go...they are a fortune, and again, haircuts I know can be reduced. I think I really need to do a spending diary to see Exactly where everything goes...I just pay for stuff and not think about it until I'm skint. I need to be doing it the other way round!

DMPhereIcome

sharronej wrote: »

On the wine front if you looks for the letter D.O.C or I.G.T on the labels - usually it's the full words but it's in Italian and I can't spell it, it means that the wine has been through a quality assurance scheme and we've never had one that we don't like when we look for that.

Thanks! will do...on friday :T

DMPhereIcome

GraceJamesMum wrote: »

Hey, just wanted to say hi and good luck with the debt busting!

Agree about the wine :beer: - I've started to limit myself to one bottle over Friday and Saturday and Asda do 3 for £10 - the quality aint that bad - give it a go, if you don't like them, you don't have to buy them again!

Shall pop in regularly to wish you well!! x

Thanks...I shall raise a virtual glass with you at the end of the week

ViolaLass

sharronej wrote: »

On the wine front if you looks for the letter D.O.C or I.G.T on the labels - usually it's the full words but it's in Italian and I can't spell it, it means that the wine has been through a quality assurance scheme and we've never had one that we don't like when we look for that.

Denominazione di origine controllata (literally means 'we know where this came from')

girlatplay

Hi

I have DD (age 12) and myself (age rather more than 12 ) to feed.

Definitely menu plan. Write a list before you go shopping and stick to it. I am lucky enough (after years of struggling) to be debt free but I only just "discovered" menu planning since then. Loads of people mention it but it only just clicked in my blonde head in the past month I have so far got it down to £40 a week (usually less but I allow myself that for any mishaps, i.e. price rises that I'm not expecting or if I have left milk off the list by mistake, an essential; and for mid week top up shops for the likes of milk and bread).

Also, batch cooking = good. I make up soup and freeze it to take to work. I freeze leftovers and take them to work. I try to cook more than I need of each meal to freeze as I don't have a lot of spare time.

I understand about the school dinner thing. My DD used to take packed lunches every day to primary school but she has just started secondary school and all her pals go out for lunch every day. I can't let her miss out on that. She has more than enough embarrassment with our household situation. I go without [STRIKE]wine[/STRIKE] stuff so that she can have lunches with her friends. I refuse to compromise on that. However, in your case if your DS can take lunches with him you can incorporate them into the grocery budget also you know exactly what he has in his lunch box. You can buy cheap food flasks if you want him to have a hot meal. Needs must.

Keep going, you can do this!

DMPhereIcome

girlatplay wrote: »

Hi

I have DD (age 12) and myself (age rather more than 12 ) to feed.

Definitely menu plan. Write a list before you go shopping and stick to it. I am lucky enough (after years of struggling) to be debt free but I only just "discovered" menu planning since then. Loads of people mention it but it only just clicked in my blonde head in the past month I have so far got it down to £40 a week (usually less but I allow myself that for any mishaps, i.e. price rises that I'm not expecting or if I have left milk off the list by mistake, an essential; and for mid week top up shops for the likes of milk and bread).

Also, batch cooking = good. I make up soup and freeze it to take to work. I freeze leftovers and take them to work. I try to cook more than I need of each meal to freeze as I don't have a lot of spare time.

I understand about the school dinner thing. My DD used to take packed lunches every day to primary school but she has just started secondary school and all her pals go out for lunch every day. I can't let her miss out on that. She has more than enough embarrassment with our household situation. I go without [STRIKE]wine[/STRIKE] stuff so that she can have lunches with her friends. I refuse to compromise on that. However, in your case if your DS can take lunches with him you can incorporate them into the grocery budget also you know exactly what he has in his lunch box. You can buy cheap food flasks if you want him to have a hot meal. Needs must.

Keep going, you can do this!

Meal planning and batch cooking are a habit I need to get back into, I like cooking and I've always hated wasting food (grew up in a very [STRIKE]tight[/STRIKE] thrifty household, throwing food away makes me angry! My problem is I've got very lazy with cooking (cleaning too, motivation for these things has gone the same way as my bank balance) - need a kick up the bum to make some time for things like this! I've opened a new bank account and resurrected an old cashminder account which my 'shopping money' will go into...I'll soon limit my shop when it has to be done in cash and not a few hundred quid to sainsburys...with delivery (please don't shout:o!)

DMPhereIcome

quintwins wrote: »

In the nicest possible way, you seem to want to cling onto alot of things.However you are in debt and it's just going to get worse.

You could easily cut £100 off your grocery budget(you soend more than me and there is 5 of us) give your son a good pack lunch thats another £55, cut your wine intake and budget and take it from your grocery budget and you have another £20 thats , get a dry cut for less than £10 and a pair of cheap clippers and you'll have another £15, thats £200 already, with very little hardship like no wine or no hair cuts at all.

Can you talk to family and see if they will wait a while on there £50? you really need to throw as much as posisble at that capital one.

Also another thing i noticed is you have oil, do you have to fill a tank? do you have a full tank right now? i know i do and it's £600 a pop but that does us a year as we don't use it in summer, now this really is robbing peter to pay paul but if you could put that money to your debts for now, once you've paid a few debts you will ahve more coming in each month.

Is it possible to get a 0% card for your capital one?

I've seen today that capital one are offering a 0% for not good credit scorers, I've had my capital one card since I was eighteen (I'm not telling you how old I am now!) but I reckon I must be classed as a 'valued customer' given how much they've made over the years! I'm wondering if I can balance transfer my HSBC card to that (I don't think you can balance transfer within companies to do the Capone card too?)

quintwins

DMPhereIcome wrote: »

I've seen today that capital one are offering a 0% for not good credit scorers, I've had my capital one card since I was eighteen (I'm not telling you how old I am now!) but I reckon I must be classed as a 'valued customer' given how much they've made over the years! I'm wondering if I can balance transfer my HSBC card to that (I don't think you can balance transfer within companies to do the Capone card too?)

sounds like a good idea, depending on the length of the )% and the limit of the card if you can't balance transfer i would be using it for all your living expenses and throwing that money at your capital one

andy1886

Best of luck in reducing your debt . The things that jumped out at me that have not been mentioned are your car expenses . Your insurance is £500 a year , I hope you use comparison sites , but that sounds high to me unless you have points , claims etc . You also budget £120 a year for mot and service . My mot is £40 and a service £80 with a tyre being £37 . Do you service the car regularly , what sort of mileage do you do , although you budget £20 a week petrol , I'm guessing a couple of hundred miles a week . Or are you a trained mechanic so no fees ??? You might need to put more money in this part of your soa .