Time to move forward! Life and times of a city girl in the country

Breeze_Hill

It's too late to write anything much but want to start with SOA. There is a lot of material to work with here!

-deleted for privacy reasons

GOALS: Pay off credit card
SAVE: To start a new business - preferably by September 2014.
Would love the savings figure to be £10,000

Horrified to realise the bank account offers a load of benefits I have never used, as of half an hour ago. :eek:

PS. I know the cleaner is a luxury! - I am a single mother with a 2 and 3 year old and work full time to support them, and have them with me 24/7 so no break apart from when they are asleep. I really value that bit of help right now, so would look at cutting other things back first...

puddingpops

Hi! Welcome to MSE land!

Breeze_Hill

Bad day for money saving so far!:( £75 at dentist. Apparently the annual spend is £437.00 for the past year.:eek: I asked about payment plans etc but my particular treatment isn't covered. Teeth are important though, right?!

Topped up at petrol in Sainsbury's which is 5p per litre cheaper than where I live, but round trip to dentist meant an extra petrol spend of £35 this week.

Just been on the phone to equifax (was rejected for 0% cc by barclaycard and trying to find out why)- they are so long winded.

beanielou

Welcome to MSE
So you only have one debt?
That's good.
Not sure what NaN means?

cte1111

Bit confused, why do you have mortgage, rent and management charge?

Breeze_Hill

Thanks for all the welcomes.:D

Hmm, I'm not sure what NaN is either?! I put a question mark there because when I tried to check the rate online I couldn't find it.

I bought a flat in London 5 years ago pre husband and children and rent it out - that is what the £900 income is. It is leasehold so has a management charge. I include it in the income/ expenditure because although the rent from that covers the mortgage, it doesn't quite cover the management charge. I pay to keep it.

I have had to move for work (long story) and am currently renting miles away in the sticks, but would love to move back. Hence the plans. I don't think I could afford the childcare in London though...Also it is a studio flat so small. But I need to get a plan together - thinking hard about it, will set it out some day soon.

So - equifax - goodness they freak me out! I haven't completed their registration process so need to do that so I can get that credit file. Still can't understand why I was rejected for that credit card!

I have 2 mobiles - again a long story - but moved out of marital home and discovered mobile had no reception. Was freaked out and felt I had to be able to call in emergency so got another one. The second has no reception at work. Anyway, the first one which is £35.80 per month contract is finished on April 30th. I called them today and they agreed to switch me to a SIM only deal for £10.50 per month immediately. This would save rental for the next 3 months which would almost save that annual payment. The question is whether to ditch the mobile completely?? I have 7 days to decide on the SIM deal. The other one will only expire May next year.

Went to look at a cheaper flat to rent today. Fear the 2nd bedroom is too small, but it was nice and warm. Need to measure up the girls' beds and see if I could get it to work. A cheaper rental property is my best bet for saving.

Tried to call solicitor as am trying to get some maintenance from ex. Is it better to go to CSA or make a private arrangement? I'm starting to think CSA because at least they will back date a claim. The true cost of my childcare is well over £1000 per month, but my mum has been helping me with this. I hate that she is helping as it should be the ex :mad:. Grrr. DD1 starts school full time in April, so I really want to sort the childcare out on my own from then.

Breeze_Hill

I've also had a tax code change letter from HMRC today. Need to try and understand what that's all about.

Breeze_Hill

Woo hoo!! Just received a maintenance payment!! :T:beer:
Costs so far this month that have gone over:
First life assurance payment: £109.82 (I've contacted them about a refund)
Presents: £43.24

Not over but need to be counted:
Entertainment: 16.50+4.90+3.15=24.55 (doesn't leave much!)
Haircuts: £10
Time to get scissors and do the girls' hair myself (poor things)
Dentist £75

Childcare: 126+420= 546, still got to pay £555, so appreciate the maintenance :T

Breeze_Hill

No spend day!! :T

Just made a chilli/ bolognese sauce to keep us going for the next couple of days and put some bread on as we're out of all bread items I bought at the weekend. Feeling tired though. Forgot to take the bay leaf out of the chilli sauce and whizzed it a bit as can't be bothered to let it cook for ages. DD1 may well freak out. Now got to pack up a couple of ebay things i sold...never feel like I get enough sleep!

Need to:
1. assess the mobile phone thing
2. decide about moving house.

But not today. zzzz

jwil

:wave: hello!

A couple of points on your SOA - TV licence is about £13 a month - is that figure because you are paying over 6 months?

Also, your car tax - is it really £27 a month? That's a huge amount - if that is correct along with the maintenance of £87 a month - is there any scope for getting a cheaper runabout car?

You are spending £94 a month on phones - landlines and mobiles. If the issue with the mobile is purely that you can't get a signal at work - would people be able to get hold of you in an emergency by calling your workplace? If you don't need it or use it a lot whilst there, then I would get rid for definite. Can you reduce your landline at all?

If your ex is not very good at keeping up with payments, then I would definitely go down the CSA route. It doesn't sound like he's been particularly forthcoming so far and he has a responsibility as much as you do.

Good luck

Breeze_Hill

Hi jwil, thanks for popping by! :wave: Really appreciate the comments.
On the TV license yes - it is a 6 monthly payment, but will drop in May:T
Agreed the phone situation is ridiculous!! And very annoying.:mad: I have a BT landline. When I first moved out here I went with BT as was not sure how good the broadband service would be (my old provider O2 who were much cheaper didn't have a service here at all) - then I moved out from home in under a year - BT tied me in for another year which would be up in May, but as I need to move sooner they will probably lock me in again. :mad: Are they allowed to do that??

Re the mobile - I have also been thinking about ditching the first completely.. it would be inconvenient but worth it. I'm going to take the second phone to work and see if there's any reception anywhere in the environment.

Thanks for the note on the CSA...

Re the car - I drive an old 4 wheel drive with mileage of 126,000 miles on it (hence maintenance costs)- big, safe, indestructible but expensive to run. I am not insured with the cheapest insurer though and know this could definitely be reduced as looked before. Have been meaning to look at it again. It is still good for me as I can get to work in all weathers. I am in the deepest country where there is flooding, muddy tracks, snow, any roads that are not main routes do not get gritted at all etc etc. I have asked around re trade in value and it was negligable. Also going to have to do quite a lot of longer distance driving for work this coming year. Thought I would save the payments I get for the mileage in an account and hopefully it will contribute to a new car in say 18 months time. I had thought it was most cost effective to drive a car into the ground before buying a new one - but if there is better advice out there I would love to hear it .

So - today - rotten night's sleep - up with daughter in the middle of it for at least an hour, and finally got a couple of hours from 5-7am. Really tired tonight (but feeling pleased with self for going running at lunch :T). Did bring my handbag in from car tonight, forgot where I put it (within about 15 mins of putting it down), panicked, tried to locate it, called work etc. Daughters exhausted and hungry. So multi-tasked dealing with them, handbag hunting, keeping log-fire going, and making supper. Then found it and felt like a bird brain. This is what tiredness and motherhood does to you!:rotfl:
Didn't spend anything. :T