Newie trying to sort out finances

ilovelondontown

I feel inspired, I really do and I intend to follow this through, documenting here for encouragement and to make it harder to sink back into deniel about everything.

My current credit card was a 0% transfer that I got in January, it was from a previous card charging quite high... then hubby changed jobs and we were down to my salary alone for 6 weeks and we had no other means to pay for things so now I've lost the 0% on this card Can I transfer to another 0% or would it be automoatically rejected?

Also I just remembered I have a lovefilm account that I don't use- I've only had it a couple of months and don't remember my log in details. Does anyone know if you're tied into a 12 months contract or can I cancel at any time? and if I can cancel how do I find out my log in details?

This microscopic look at the way I handle money is making me feel so ashamed. I kept looking at things like "it's only £8 a month" or It's only going to save me £5 a month if I cancel that" ... but it adds up SO quickly. It's already feeling like a hair raising experience! :eek:

blitzboy

Hi there, I've made a few notes that hopefully may help.

Credit card: £400 (current balance £2800) - Are you paying interest? If so, can you switch to a 0% deal?

Gas: £50 - Seems quite high, have you shopped around recently?

Sisters internet: £12.50 - Why can't your sister pay this? I know it's nice to help but it doesn't make sense to when you are trying to repay your own debt.

Gym: £23 ( I go 4 times a week) - Personally I would cut this out and exercise at home and go for runs etc, but that's not a bad price if it is your main hobby to be fair. Depends how much you want the extra money.

Sky: £53 - This is one that confuses me, you say that you keep your finances seperate from your husband and that the sky tv is 'his only luxury', so why is it on YOUR SOA? Surely he should be paying for it if your finances are separate? Or at least split it 50/50

Lunch at work: £60 - make your own, it's amazing what you'll save over time.

Home Food: £200 - £200 on top of whatever your husband pays? I'm sure you could half that if you wanted to. Own brand food, cook from scratch, etc.

Disposable: £140 going out, £40 take aways. - That is a lot! Don't need to offer advice here as the solution is obvious. Don't spend as much / go out as much! You don't have to stop all together, but even if you cut out 1 night a month it's a start.

matttye

ilovelondontown wrote: »

I feel inspired, I really do and I intend to follow this through, documenting here for encouragement and to make it harder to sink back into deniel about everything.

My current credit card was a 0% transfer that I got in January, it was from a previous card charging quite high... then hubby changed jobs and we were down to my salary alone for 6 weeks and we had no other means to pay for things so now I've lost the 0% on this card Can I transfer to another 0% or would it be automoatically rejected?

Also I just remembered I have a lovefilm account that I don't use- I've only had it a couple of months and don't remember my log in details. Does anyone know if you're tied into a 12 months contract or can I cancel at any time? and if I can cancel how do I find out my log in details?

This microscopic look at the way I handle money is making me feel so ashamed. I kept looking at things like "it's only £8 a month" or It's only going to save me £5 a month if I cancel that" ... but it adds up SO quickly. It's already feeling like a hair raising experience! :eek:

It's impossible to say if you'll be declined or not, but you should have a look at your credit reports with the three agencies first and make a decision as to how likely you are to get one.

Re: lovefilm - in a word...no!

"LOVEFiLM promises...

1. No late fees2. No long term contracts3. Cancel anytime"

http://www.lovefilm.com/

I know Amazon is a git for not paying tax, but they're good to their customers.

I know what you mean about looking at expenses under a microscope.

I was paying this: -

1. Netflix - £5 a month.
2. Spotify - £10 a month.
3. Graze - £3.79 x 4 a month.
4. Xbox Live - £5.99 a month.
5. Lloyds TSB premier account - £25 a month.
6. Car insurance - £45 a month.

So I cancelled Netflix, Spotify, cancelled Xbox Live, cancelled two of the Graze boxes (still get them for my fiancee once a fortnight), cancelled the premier account with Lloyds and paid off my car insurance in one lump sum.

Saved £50 on my car insurance over the course of the year. I mainly had the Lloyds premier account for the breakdown cover, so I cancelled that and bought a year's membership with RAC for £40 through Quidco and I'll get £30 cashback out of that at some point.

ilovelondontown

Will definitely cancel lovefilm then, that’s a no brainer… I’ll go through my direct debits to check they are all up to date as well. I did check quite recently but if I’m going to look into every dark corner of this situation then I may as well double check.

I would like to point out about the internet and the gym thing- My sister is 15 and is literally in the middle of her GCSE exams as we speak, I will look to cancel this once the exams are over, but with my mother not working (she has mental health issues) I feel like it’d be too cruel to cancel something that she needs to get online homework etc. If anything this expense is an essential for me.

Re the gym, it’s in the building at work and I go most lunch times- so it means I don’t have to find time outside work to do it. I find the gym helps to de- stress me and keeps the weight off. When I’ve tried to go for a run instead of using a gym in the past I fail after 3 days, because it’s cold/ I’m tired after work/have other plans…. I’m not saying I’m opposed to cancelling this, but I think cutting the food / social bill before I do this is going to be more cost effective for me.

Seen_the_light

Don't cancel the gym, or your sister's web access, I don't think your amount of debt is proportionate to these extreme measures. I think there are other things to tackle that will make a heap of difference. Re husband, I would advise not doing anything at the moment. If you press the issue, and force him where he's not ready to be, it could make him resentful and cause arguments. It's not his fault that you are ready to take this on now (and he isn't). Just keep doing what you're doing and slowly the penny will drop (or maybe not) either way it has to be his moment in his time.

matttye

ilovelondontown wrote: »

Will definitely cancel lovefilm then, that’s a no brainer… I’ll go through my direct debits to check they are all up to date as well. I did check quite recently but if I’m going to look into every dark corner of this situation then I may as well double check.

I would like to point out about the internet and the gym thing- My sister is 15 and is literally in the middle of her GCSE exams as we speak, I will look to cancel this once the exams are over, but with my mother not working (she has mental health issues) I feel like it’d be too cruel to cancel something that she needs to get online homework etc. If anything this expense is an essential for me.

Re the gym, it’s in the building at work and I go most lunch times- so it means I don’t have to find time outside work to do it. I find the gym helps to de- stress me and keeps the weight off. When I’ve tried to go for a run instead of using a gym in the past I fail after 3 days, because it’s cold/ I’m tired after work/have other plans…. I’m not saying I’m opposed to cancelling this, but I think cutting the food / social bill before I do this is going to be more cost effective for me.

I run three times a week and sometimes can't be bothered after work, but I just remind myself that just because my mind is tired, doesn't mean my body is, and I usually enjoy the run once I drag myself out!

It's just changing your mentality...

That said, the gym price isn't unreasonable and if you enjoy going and it's keeping you healthy, it's not the end of the world.

his_missus

It took my Hubby a while to realise that getting rid of the debts rather than managing them is a much more positive attitude to have. We managed our debts for years quite happily and he didn't really understand my need to be debt free. In fact it wasn't until I'd almost cleared all my debts and said "Next month I'll have £xxx spare as I have no CC to repay now" when the feeling of being almost debt free hit him. Now we have £500+ a month we can use to save/go on holiday/spend instead of using it to pay the CCs and it's a great feeling.

It's a long slog but small changes lead to less debt and as you see your debt decreasing it will spur you on to get rid of it all. Good luck to you xxx

Perservere with your OH

ilovelondontown

I've decided that the gym and internet will be the last things I cancel, when I've gone through the food bills, and I've sold everything that I reasonably can. They'll be things I can easily cancel if that becomes something I have to do, like seen_the_light says it not necessary just yet.

His Missus thanks for the imput on the husband front. He's a great person who works very hard and even more so now he's self employed I don't want to cause a rife between us when he's not read to join me on board. While our finances are spilit, it's very easy for me to manage what debt I have without him being able to change that by spending as I save.

I've had a few more thoughts about this finance malarkie (even though it's draining to be thinking about it constantly I can't seem to stop!):

1) We were going to start ttc in July... I think we might push that back to the end of the year when things are a bit more, in control. That's a hard thing to admit but in the long run it means less stress in the parenthood years.
2) I'm going to do my own lunches for a few weeks and see if it makes a difference. I usually have a make your own/weighed salad (3 of my 5 a day) which is great after the gym, if I can do it cheaper for less than £15 a week then I'll start doing that, but I'm not sure I could do a weeks salad for less that?
3) I stupid thought we should look at getting a new car- of course on credit... that will also go on a back burner for the forseeable future.

I realise some of these things aren't making me money or saving me money but ultimately it's stopping things from getting worse.

his_missus

I'm sure you could do salad cheaply even at supermarket prices. I suppose it depends how varied you like your salad and what you like in your salad. Couple of bags of salad leaves, cucumber, tomatoes, carrot (grated) as a basis will only be only a few quid from the SM and some do large, prepared sharing salads. Asda do one for £1.75 (lettuce, cabbage, grated carrot, cucumber, tomatoes etc) I think which would easily make 3 meals and then you could add some other veg (celery, radish) or even egg/sliced meat/tuna to make it more filling. Home made lunches are definitely a money saver

foxgloves

Just wanted to pop back & say how useful it can be to shop around. Almost no one supermarket chain is the cheapest for absolutely everything. We use the Co-op, Waitrose, Aldi & the local market. Waitrose is only top-up shop destination for ingredients I can't get at the other shops, but even so, there are things like bread flour which I can often get cheaper there when on offer than other places in town. Most of our fruit & veg is bought from the local market. It's good stuff, often local, so low food miles & you can buy as much or as little as you like. They're not bothered if you only want one courgette or a tiny piece of ginger. We save a lot on fruit & veg by using the market each week. Just from shopping around, I've come to know that Aldi is the cheapest place in town for mayonnaise, baked beans, kidney beans, tuna, etc. It's really worthwhile taking the time to look at different retailers. All our boring everyday toiletries....toothpaste, toothbrushes, handsoap, etc, now come from the 99p shop. Why anyone would pay more than 99p for identical brands, I don't know. Also, for salad stuff, we are lucky to have the space to be able to grow some of this in the warmer months. Even cress on the windowsill & a couple of plastic troughs of mixed salad leaves or rocket outside the back door can be a useful addition to salads, esp. as seeds are often 4 packs for 99p in the aforementioned establishment! Sounds like you are really having your LBM....hope you can get your partner on board soon x
Oh, & if your Waitrose has a cafe, don't chuck that Waitrose card away just yet.....you can use it to get a free coffee every single day. That's a perk I really enjoy using towards the end of the month when my budget needs to hold out till payday!