Don't know where to start! SOA in post #22

[Deleted User]

Squidlet16 wrote: »

Council tax is over 10 months

Ask to pay over 12 months. That would reduce it a bit.

but that's base on if we were to put £45 per month for dentist

You spend £180pa, each, at the dentist?

and 16 for optician costs.

And £64pa, each, at the optician?

Haircuts is based on the higher estimate of a cost of 65-90 every 8 weeks for all 3 of us to have our hair cut...could probably look to reduce.

Perhaps reduce the frequency and/or the amount done.

bargainbetty

Squidlet16 wrote: »

Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Total monthly income.................... 2743

Monthly Expense Details:
Mobile phone............................ 54
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 65 You've already had comments about these two, but you probably can reduce them on renewal.
Groceries etc. ......................... 400 For two adults and a child, this is rather high. Switching to meal planning and home cooking should be able to clear £100 off this expense each month. Have a look at the Old Style boards for advice.
Clothing................................ 40 Do you sell old stuff on ebay? Kids clothes go quite well. Ask for vouchers/clothes for birthdays and Christmas for the little one. For you and your partner, shop from your wardrobe for a while.
Petrol/diesel........................... 260 Can you reduce this?
Other child related expenses............ 54
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 61 Have you looked into pre-payment cards for regular prescriptions? I save quite a bit on that.
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 15.9 Shop around? Have you considered the quarantine costs for taking your pet to Australia?
Buildings insurance..................... 21.87 Shop around.
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 100 Definitely look to reduce.
Haircuts................................ 45 Try beauty colleges, voucher deals and extending times between haircuts.
Entertainment........................... 50

Unsecured Debts:
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Natwest Loan...................7862......273.......6.4
Next Account...................75........12........25.99 Pay this off this month, before you think 'Oh, it's just £20' on something else!
NRAM Loan......................14500.....130.......5.49
Natwest Overdraft..............2800......40........14.89
Total unsecured debts..........25237.....455.......-


Amount left after debt repayments....... 477.48 Do you have this? Use it to bring down your overdraft by a few hundred per month. Then look at overpaying your loans, using that money and your overtime. It's very doable.

Just a few thoughts - good luck with your plans.

penaltychargenotice

While reading this thread it did occur to me that you are not totally aware of what you are spending on each month. Do you keep a spending diary? If not I would recommend you try noting down everything you spend over a month. This will show you where your money is going and may help you see where you can cut back.

Squidlet16

Thanks both.

We don't currently put anything aside for dentist or optician costs.

The monthly amount for optician is based on the cost of our last prescription split into monthly payments. Is there better way to do it so it's more clear?

The dentist cost is based on the fact that we haven't been for a while (eek) so we may well need some work!

Will definitely have a look at the grocery info...this is one area where we feel we spend far too much!

The clothing budget again is an area that we don't put money aside yet but feel we should...shouldn't I include these...I feel as though I've confused things - sorry! We sell bits on ebay and do occasional boot sales.

The fuel and pet payments aren't going to change unfortunately. I'm a community nurse so I do a lot of miles. Our cat has an ongoing illness which means I can't change his insurance, & unfortunately he's not likely to be around when we move.:(

Buildings and contents insurance is due at the end of this month so I'll definitely look around.

Will definitely be ringing around telling family we won't be buying pressies this year!

Will have a look into reducing the hair costs!

The first thing I will do is clear the next account at the end of this month!

Thanks again for all the advice...we really appreciate it.

We don't have that left over bargainbetty...what would be the best way to separate our money out from the main account so we can see clearly what we have left. I think we really need to do that to stop us from overspending.

[Deleted User]

Squidlet16 wrote: »

I'm a community nurse so I do a lot of miles.

Aren't you re-reimbursed for business travel?

If not, then can't you at least offset some income tax against it?

Also, if you have to buy special clothing for your job (or do excessive amounts of laundry), you can get an increase in your personal tax allowance.

penaltychargenotice

I've found the best way is, after listing my SOA, I set a budget for things like grocery shopping, clothes, entertainment. I have a helpful app on my phone which I put my monthly allowance in and then everytime I spend money I note it down. It is very useful as I can see exactly how much I've got left for each thing.

John1993_2

Squidlet16 wrote: »

That's our estimated debt free date using the snowball tool.

I'm a bit confused now. You said that you have £480 left a month, which doesn''t seem enough to get you to that date. You then say that you don't actually have this much left after all, so what amount have you entered into the snowball calculator, and where is this money in your SOA (if the £480 is incorrect)?

bargainbetty

You might want to consider separating you money into two accounts - have one for all the household bills and another for less essential spends.

When doing the SOA, it helps if you actually look at your bank statements for the last three months to see where you really do spend money. Keep a spending diary for a few weeks (both of you) and note down every penny that you spend. This will help you see where it really goes.

You might find your 'It's only £20' thing is worse than you think - mine certainly was. Protect your household payments and debt repayment first - Once you have cleared Next, allow for the £12 per month towards reducing your overdraft. In fact, call the bank and ask them to reduce it by £100 per month. If it is there, you are more likely to use it. If you have the discipline, save hard and wait until you have reduced your O/D dip by £500, and then ask for that drop to be applied.

Tommelise

Not much of advice regardig your spending.

Just wanted to say, that if you really have got your mind set on OZ, then you will with determination be able to do it.

When you have got som free time take a look at this tread, as it could turn out to be a huge inspiration for you:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1815513

Squidlet16

I don't get reimbursed for travel because we have lease cars in the team (the net income I've provided is after the lease car and childcare vouchers). I'll definitely look into the increase in tax allowance...I don't have a uniform but definitely do excessive washing due to my work!

Penaltychargenotice - you're absolutely right. We don't keep a good track of what we're spending and that's our biggest problem. We're in what I realise is a fortunate position in that our income exceeds our necessary outgoings. We need to get a grip on what we're spending.

Bargainbetty - that sounds like a great idea. I think the reason we're struggling to get out of this situation is the fact that we can't actually see where we are & I think you're probably right about the £20 here and there being more than we think! :eek: Moving everything other than money for bills into a separate account would make it much easier to track so I think we'll do that from now on. We've been talking about not using the debit cards as well .

John1993 - I've entered the information from my SOA into the snowball and that's what it came up with based on paying more off my debts each month. We do 'have' the money in that it's not used for necessary things...the overdraft is *slowly* decreasing but because it's so large it's hard to see exactly how much we have 'left'. Hopefully using some of the advice we've been getting will help us to manage things better.

Tommelise - thanks so much for the positive thoughts...and the link!