can you help me save some cash????

retepetsir

Food (In/Out)
Drink (In/Out inc Coffee)
Clothes

Cut that down by 25% and you've already saved a lot of £££.

Certainly a nice position to be in.

liuhutOz

gazzad11, please dont let the comments by sunshineholiday bother you, as they say they are a new user and probably dont realise that everyone is welcome on the site.
Yes you do earn a very good wage and there a number of areas that jump out immediatly where you could save big money. Try halving some of these figures and putting your debts into a snowball calculator with your new found/saved money. You will see how it will shave months off a Debt free date.
I really think you should re-do your SOA, making sure that all your figures are correct and including all of your debts to get a true picture.

Setting yourself a monthly budget and working to it will give you greater control and allow you to plan your spends. for example I know that I need $70 every Aug for the school photos as I have a well used/updated spreadsheet!
Welcome to MSE and good luck with it all.
L

DCFC79

gazzad11 wrote: »

I am genuine and not trying to rub people up the wrong way. I may have a decent wage and so does my partner but we have lots and lots of small debts on credit cards and buy now pay later deals on furniture and 0% deals on argos etc. We just feel that we have lost control of our money and savings. The £700 savings are being skimmed all the time to pay for things that come up ie car insurance, birthdays, xmas etc. the account that i save in has £68 in it.
I know i am in a more fortunate place than some but it does show you that if you do not take control of your earnings and think that you can just buy what you want and that another store card or 0% deal wont make a difference it does and i suppose what i need is a simple system to control our money.
ps child benefit only paid on one child (one is fostered)

Complete the soa I linked to earlier then we can see whats what.

Pennywise2012

I think you need to list your actual outgoings - like the credit cards and all the stuff on the drip.

You don't really need ideas about how to save money, you've said yourself that it's booze. What you need is to have a proper idea about how much is coming in, how much is going out, and what's left. Then not spend it all on drink

It'll give you a proper idea of what you can and can't afford. It comes across like you're just kind of assuming you can afford anything because your income is high, but it's what's left after ALL your expenses that determines whether or not you can afford stuff.

sunshineholiday

gazzad11 wrote: »

I am genuine and not trying to rub people up the wrong way. I may have a decent wage and so does my partner but we have lots and lots of small debts on credit cards and buy now pay later deals on furniture and 0% deals on argos etc. We just feel that we have lost control of our money and savings. The £700 savings are being skimmed all the time to pay for things that come up ie car insurance, birthdays, xmas etc. the account that i save in has £68 in it.
I know i am in a more fortunate place than some but it does show you that if you do not take control of your earnings and think that you can just buy what you want and that another store card or 0% deal wont make a difference it does and i suppose what i need is a simple system to control our money.
ps child benefit only paid on one child (one is fostered)

Ok, then accept my apologies!

I thought the £700 was saved PER MONTH! your reply confirms that this isnt the case!

I agree that no matter what you earn, if you are not careful, it flitters away and you break into the credit cycle.

Been there, still doing that.

Definately cut down on the social side of your spends - going out, cinema, theatre etc, that would e a good way to start. Even the clothes spends are quite high if per month.

Good luck and again apologies for my incorrect assumptions!!

john

gazzad11

i'm busy completing my soa. its a nightmare just trying to get the balances on all the store cards. but hopefully i should have it completed today. And thanks to everyone who has commented and given me advice.

gazzad11

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 2

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2128
Partners monthly income after tax....... 2700
Benefits................................ 81
Other income............................ 450
Total monthly income.................... 5359

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 558
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 108
Electricity............................. 50
Gas..................................... 50
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 33.36
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 58.35
TV Licence.............................. 12.37
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 45
Groceries etc. ......................... 400
Clothing................................ 210
Petrol/diesel........................... 200
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 53.33
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 25
Car parking............................. 20
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 10
Contents insurance...................... 10
Life assurance ......................... 10.75
Other insurance......................... 29.41
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 25
Haircuts................................ 40
Entertainment........................... 100
Holiday................................. 250
Emergency fund.......................... 20
more furniture.......................... 50
newspapers/mags/snacks.................. 50
beauty treatments (nails)............... 25
takeaways............................... 80
xmas.................................... 100
cinema.................................. 10
family day out.......................... 100
travel insurance........................ 4
baby sitting............................ 20
pocket money ........................... 80
school meals............................ 40
school trips............................ 10
cleaning products....................... 20
car lease............................... 96.4
lap top................................. 16.25
union fee............................... 18.46
B.gas service .......................... 20.49
lotto................................... 12
isa/gurenteed savings................... 150
savings................................. 125
Premium bonds........................... 50
furniture............................... 71.91
Tesco loan.............................. 269
Total monthly expenses.................. 3747.08


Assets
Cash.................................... -1046
House value (Gross)..................... 135000
Shares and bonds........................ 8000
Car(s).................................. 10000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 151954


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 82000....(558)......3.69
Total secured & HP debts...... 82000.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
argos..........................538.98....0.........0
next...........................144.......0.........24.99
debenhams......................61........0.........29.99
littlewoods....................50........0.........24.9
tesco..........................713.......0.........0
very...........................41........0.........0
newlook........................184.......0.........28.9
Total unsecured debts..........1731.98...0.........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 5,359
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 3,747.08
Available for debt repayments........... 1,611.92
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 1,611.92

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 151,954
Total HP & Secured debt................. -82,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -1,731.98
Net Assets.............................. 68,222.02

I think i have everything included. What is the £1611.92. does it mean after i pay off my debt i will have this per month in extra cash?.
Why have i got no money left at the end of the month.?

Happytogetdebtfree

yes thats what it means, if this is not a true reflection skim your bank statements and see what your spending on, you could have your small debts paid off in 1-2 months and then start saving .... good luck

KiKi

gazzad11 wrote: »

Electricity............................. 50
Gas..................................... 50

If you *really* want to cut costs, you could do a cost comparison for the cheapest provider. But if you live in a large house, you may not be able to shave too much here. I pay £40 for month gas and elec in a 2 bed place.

Groceries etc. ......................... 400

I will bet my year's salary that you spend more than this, and that your money is going out more here than you realise. Keep a spending diary - yes, including the diet coke you buy one Saturday and that cheese you picked up on the way home from work!

Depending on how much time you have you can definitely cut this down by meal planning.

Clothing................................ 210

That's a lot for clothes. You could halve this quite comfortably, and buy in sales, or on Ebay (new stuff). You / OH probably also spend more when you're just in town and have cash on you, as well as cards, so might need some belt tightening (without a new belt ) here.

Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 25
xmas.................................... 100

That's £1500 a year, so pretty high. You might consider cutting this by 20% or so, if you don't want to make too drastic a cut.

Entertainment........................... 100
Holiday................................. 250
newspapers/mags/snacks.................. 50
beauty treatments (nails)............... 25
takeaways............................... 80
cinema.................................. 10
family day out.......................... 100

That's £615 a month on 'nice' stuff. £7380 a year. You could really cut this down very significantly indeed. Does this include the £200 or so you spend on drink (from your last SOA)?

Emergency fund.......................... 20

Are you actually putting this away, given that you only have £68 in that account?

isa/gurenteed savings................... 150
savings................................. 125
Premium bonds........................... 50

You're putting £275 away in savings, every month, which are undoubtedly in accounts earning you less than the debt you're accruing. Basic maths: if you're earning 3% on your £100 savings, but paying 19% on your £100 credit card, then your money should go to the credit card, not the savings account.

Your premium bonds, IMO, are a waste of money - the chance of winning is so small (use the calculator on the site to show you how small!), you're better off paying your debt.

Why have i got no money left at the end of the month.?

Because it goes on all those bits and pieces that you haven't accounted for! I suggest that for a month you exercise some OCD and keep a spending diary - record *everything* you spend. Absolutely everything. Only then will you know where you cash is going.

You're in a very lucky position of having an excellent income, so you can make inroads to debt very very quickly. What it requires is a mindset change. You don't have to live frugally, but you could cut your entertainment costs by half, your food bill by a third, your drinks by at least a half, and put your 'savings' money towards debt.

And, as I said, I'd bet my salary that you're spending loads more every day that you've not accounted for, possibly around £300 a week. The only way to find out what you REALLY spend is to keep that diary.

Then sit down with your OH and set yourselves a budget. I used to earn very well, and so I just spent it because I knew it was always there. You've gotten to the point where you've realised you're now spending more than you have.

a) set your budget for each month, divvy that money up (put it in separate accounts if you need to) and only use it for its intended purpose

b) Stop spending on cards. Why spend £1500 on a card and then pay £300 EXTRA in interest, when you could spend the £1500 from your bank account? Spending it from your account might also help you realise what you're spending

c) if you do pay by credit card, pay it back IN FULL every month. Because of your income you don't need to pay any interest at all.


HTH
KiKi

FinKite

You have a great income, and actually a pretty small debt (excluding the mortgage).
I see what you're saying - that it can be because of good income that you end up think "OK, I'll just take that store card out".
Fundamentally, you need to change that attitude.
In the short term - personally now you've got the list of debts (just £1.7K, right?) and decide to go hell for leather paying them off after your very next pay packet, in one month! You might find the challenge of that quite motivating. Do you REALLY want to be throwing away money on interest payments on £60 on a high APR?! When you could pay off £60 just by cutting out ONE night out, ONCE.
I bet you've got LOADS of stuff lying around unused begging to be ebayed! When you've had a good income, you do tend to have all sorts of luxuries... Your last mobile phone maybe?

After you've cleared your debts, you need to change how you manage your money - you could have a nice lifestyle AND be paying your mortgage off! Or pay into a pension? If one of you is self employed, either one of you or both looks to have no pension.

There is great advice on here for managing your money going forward, but if I were you... I'd say "right, I'll have loads of nights out at Xmas, November I'm staying in. I'm using that time to eBay and I'm going to be clutter free and cash rich for Xmas - I will pay off those cards this month!"

My tip is to pay off what you've worked out you can afford as soon as you are paid - it's too tempting to keep the cash til month end.

Self employed people have good motivation! I reckon you could rise to the challenge and totally blitz this! You'll get such a high from it, you'll find it easier to work out and stick to your new ongoing budget too.

Good luck!