17K to clear ASAP! Panic Stations!

Gibbeth

Thanks all for your advice, been working on things.

Had a good H2H with the wife last night, defintely got her support and buy-in, and both feeling much better.

smancslad wrote: »

Hi Andrew
You live in one of the nicest parts of England, so life isn't all bad!!!

Thanks, we got married right in the middle of the lakes, after our original venue being closed by EA 4 days before the wedding, and had the most stunning wedding ever imaginable!

New Statement of accounts that me and SO think is realistic.

Andrew Wage1850
Sam Wage750
Benefits86
In Total2686

Mortgage440
Gas & Electric109
Water40
Car Loan269
Council Tax139
Insurance (House)26.2
Insurance (Life)25.8
TV Licence12
Broadband & Phone24
Loan160
TV Finance33.
MOT10
Services20
Tax28
Insurance100
Tyres30
Food300
Petrol300
Andrew Mobile (Orange)40
Sam Mobile (Vodafone)45
Land Rent21
Minimum CC Payment90
Xmas /Bday Gifts50
Haircuts etc15
Adult Clothes30
Childrens Clothes20
Cinema, Golf etc40
Debt Repayment250
Out Total2667

All (helpful/constructive) comments welcome!!

nicp60

Hi Andrew,
I've put some comments below, I hope they're useful.

Gibbeth wrote: »

Had a good H2H with the wife last night, defintely got her support and buy-in, and both feeling much better.

That's great news, tackling it together will make it go soooo much smother!!

Gibbeth wrote: »

Andrew Wage1850
Sam Wage750
Benefits86
In Total2686

Mortgage440
Gas & Electric109
Water40
Car Loan269 When does this finish, and what's the APR?
Council Tax139
Insurance (House)26.2
Insurance (Life)25.8
TV Licence12
Broadband & Phone24
Loan160
TV Finance33.
MOT10
Services20
Tax28
Insurance100
Tyres30
Food300
Petrol300
Andrew Mobile (Orange)40 This is very high - how long is your contract for? Can you call them and ask them to reduce? I have an iPhone with unltd everything for £26 a month.
Sam Mobile (Vodafone)45 As above
Land Rent21
Minimum CC Payment90
Xmas /Bday Gifts50
Haircuts etc15
Adult Clothes30
Childrens Clothes20
Cinema, Golf etc40
Debt Repayment250 I would put this to the debts at the start of the month (ie payday) to avoid overspending. Have you used the snowball calculator? It will help you to work out what to pay off first (highest interest) and then generate a debt free date for you. I'll post a link below.
Out Total2667

All (helpful/constructive) comments welcome!!

It looks like you've got something fairly workable there. The only thing I would suggest is that you don't have an emergency fund - boiler breaks etc. I'd consider maybe £50 a month to this.
You could cut down even further - our food bill for 2 adults is £120 a month, you could cut out things like entertainment etc, but I suspect that you probably don't want to be that drastic at this moment in time.
Snowballing: http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/snowball-calculator.php

I hope this is helpful!

nicp60

PS - have you worked out how you're going to save the tire/birthday/expenses money etc?

FBaby

you say you claim childcare vouchers but see no costs allocated to childcare.

Gibbeth

Thanks folks, really appreciate the replys, helps us to know where getting on top of things, and all the questions/comments are only putting is on a better track to the green!

I'm not sure what the representative APR on the car loan is, it had a period of 0%. Finishes in Jan 2016 I think, so not any time soon!

Nicp60:
Your right on phone bills, they are high.
Mine ends in Sept, and as I have an Iphone 4s which is still doing great, I'll be transfering to a sim-only rolling contract, so will need to have a look for best available in near furture.
May I ask where you got that Iphone deal?
SO rangn vodafone to ask about reducing contract, they said this is no longer available. However, since the contract is up in Dec, they'd offer her an Iphone 5, with unlimited calls, messages and data for £37. When 'recylcing' her existing phone, she'd be £8 better off, with £20 cashback. But tied in for 24 months.

With regards to how we'll save, OH has set up a number of E-saving ISAs to store the money in pots. Going to transfer the bulk out on my pay day (15th) and then weekly (SO gets paid every friday) transfer the smaller pots out.

FBaby:
I buy childcare vouchers through a work scheme, which means they come off before tax. Means I get £150 worth of childcare for £100, which covers the 1-day a week DD is in childcare.
Haven't included this in SoA as Income takes into account, and I see no possible way of being able to budget it any better. We're very fortunate that family take care of DD other days that SO is working.

We've budgetted out the rest of this month, and wil start all pots on 15th next month. Wish us luck!

R_P_W

Gibbeth wrote: »

Thanks folks, really appreciate the replys, helps us to know where getting on top of things, and all the questions/comments are only putting is on a better track to the green!

I'm not sure what the representative APR on the car loan is, it had a period of 0%. Finishes in Jan 2016 I think, so not any time soon!

Nicp60:
Your right on phone bills, they are high.
Mine ends in Sept, and as I have an Iphone 4s which is still doing great, I'll be transfering to a sim-only rolling contract, so will need to have a look for best available in near furture.
May I ask where you got that Iphone deal?
SO rangn vodafone to ask about reducing contract, they said this is no longer available. However, since the contract is up in Dec, they'd offer her an Iphone 5, with unlimited calls, messages and data for £37. When 'recylcing' her existing phone, she'd be £8 better off, with £20 cashback. But tied in for 24 months.

With regards to how we'll save, OH has set up a number of E-saving ISAs to store the money in pots. Going to transfer the bulk out on my pay day (15th) and then weekly (SO gets paid every friday) transfer the smaller pots out.

FBaby:
I buy childcare vouchers through a work scheme, which means they come off before tax. Means I get £150 worth of childcare for £100, which covers the 1-day a week DD is in childcare.
Haven't included this in SoA as Income takes into account, and I see no possible way of being able to budget it any better. We're very fortunate that family take care of DD other days that SO is working.

We've budgetted out the rest of this month, and wil start all pots on 15th next month. Wish us luck!

In your situation signing up to another 2 year contract at 37 a month probably isn't a good idea. Why not just go sim only? Do you really use much of the unlimited you are paying for? I know I don't!

Stroppypops

R_P_W wrote: »

In your situation signing up to another 2 year contract at 37 a month probably isn't a good idea. Why not just go sim only? Do you really use much of the unlimited you are paying for? I know I don't!

I have SIM only on Vodfafone for £8.93 a month and just stick it in my iphone. Perfect. I got my OH on the same network so calls to each are free, the only downside is data but then i just stop using it when I'm out. It's antisocial anyway.

Gibbeth

She says her phone isn't working well, battery life has dropped off suddenly and struggles with signal.
Plus, its cheaper than her contract now, not significantly, but still cheaper.
And its cheaper now, rather than in Dec when contract ends.

But I'm having a hard time convincing her otherwise. Rather attached to her Iphone, even if its impossible to get a dearer contract!

I think we are on the right track though. I've done a snowball, but after advice in this thread, and experience of others on the forum, I'd like to prioritise Overdrafts.

Plan is:

Next Catalogue - 800 - Paid by Dec '13
OH Overdraft - 900 - Paid by Mar '14
My Overdraft - 500 - Paid by May '14
Car Loan - Paid by Jan '16
Credit Card - 8200 - Paid by Aug '16
"Consolidation" Loan - 6400 - Paid by Oct '16

39 Months til debt free! Well, only mortgage anyway!

nicp60

Hi Andrew,
My deal is for a 4S through TMobile (not sure if they still run it), but I'm locked into a contract. Giffgaff do brilliant sim only deals (I have one with my last iPhone for £15 a month). Info on their packages is here: http://giffgaff.com/goodybags

I deliberately went for a 4S and not a 5 because as much as I love my iPhone, I love savings even more, and I couldn't justify another £420 (the difference of the contracts) for a phone 6 months newer. Oh, and I'll be out of contract in a year and can go on giffgaff for £10/15 a month!

39 months is not as long as it sounds. Maybe try some of the challenges on the boards to keep you motivated? It can be great at first, and then about 6 months in you might start to feel bored and demotivated. Don't forgot that you can always chuck any extra spare pennies and change at one of the debts to reduce your debt free date.

All the very best of luck! It gets really addictive!!

Gibbeth

Thanks, I'll have a look at giffgaff. Not sure what O2 are like in the area, always been with either vodafone or orange, and work has its own orange mast, so they've always been a priority.

I don't think motivation will be a problem until its chipping away at the large credit card. I think the individual <£1000 debts will be easier, hence why I want to focus on those first when getting into the swing of the budget.

The best thing about it is, I haven't included potentially bonuses from work (usually >£500, twice a year) and we have a small "cottage" business, but its a bit irratic and unreliable in terms of income, so didn't want to use it in SoA. Hopefully these will knock a few months off!