Someone else looking for advice

Tartan_2

Okay thanks for all the advice so far all much appreciated.
I did try a spending diary last month but don’t think I captured all the items we spend on, will start a new one and ensure everything is captured. Yesterday was my first time on the forums but been on the site many times, will investigate more about tips on here.
I think I perhaps need to expand on some of the outgoings to give a better picture:
Monthly Outgoings
Mortgage £549.71
Shopping £300.00 (this is for 2 of us, we cook all food from scratch, wine is also out of this money. Have tried cutting back but find it hard, will try harder)
Diesel £100.00 (surprised that this cost seems high, we don’t have far to travel for work, I presumed this is a normal cost)
Council Tax £127.40
Gym Membership £84.00 (can’t get rid of this as still in the year commitment period, we are regular users although perhaps not recently. Only other option I believe is we can postpone payments for a while, I think that is allowed)
BT - Phone & Broadband £35.00
Car Insurance £35.52 (yes do need a car, live in an area that doesn’t have good public transport)
Electricity £53.00 (this is high as previous payments weren’t covering actual usage so built up an outstanding amount. This makes it harder to change as you have to pay whole outstanding amount as a one off payment. I have had loads of hassles with the last 2 change of suppliers I have done)
Sky Subs £37.00 (we have Sky+ (Only 6 months old) I think we need to keep some kind of package or you get charged for that)
Life Insurance £31.93
Gas £24.50
Pet Insurance £16.27 (will shop around haven’t looked at this for a while)
Mobiles £35.00 (partners mobile is £25 (recently changed so tied in for 18 months) mine is a work mobile and all I pay for is personal calls \ txts)
House Insurance £15.14
TV License £10.99
Lottery Subs £9.00 (agree can cancel)
Property Management £15.00 (this is for maintaining the common areas, is part of the deeds so can’t cancel)
Xmas Savings £40.00
Total Out £1822.22

Monthly Incomings
My Wage £1,636.49
Partners Wage £815.80
Total In £2,452.29
SMART CC – Balance £4,037 APR 0% until start of Aug 2007
Overdraft - £1526 (limit £900) APR 5.9%
Car Loan £302.76 (Northern Rock 6.2%, 24 Months left)

Tartan_2

david_hellier wrote: »

Hi and Welcome,

As you suggest it's your spending that's the problem and it's not being monitored.

According to my figures you have £260.77 per week to spend on food and any thing else, including lottery, going out and clothes. I suggest you write this amount in a little note book (a spending diary, ebay) on a Monday and keep a note of what you spend/withdraw by subtraction. If you have any over, carry it forward to the next Monday. You need to ignore any money you spend on the AMEX as long as it is fully matched by the reimbursments. Ignore also your bank balance; go by the book. I've included a £50 per month figure to payoff the od, so the balance will fall.

You should set up a standing order (not a DD) to payoff the £201 per month fixed amount on the CC. Stop using the card for any more purchases.

The others will advise on cutting back (that gym is a rip off) so follow their tips.

It's time to tighten the belt I'm afraid!

Good luck, the figures:

incomeweeklymonthlyself1636.49partner815.80total0.002452.29divide by 4.33 £ 565.92 £ 565.92 total weekly incomespendweeklymonthlyrent/mortgage549.71council tax127.40elec53.00gas24.50water0.00secured loans0.00TV licence10.99fines0.00gym84.00bt35.00car ins35.52sky37.00life31.93pet16.27mobiles35.00house ins15.14property man15.00smart201.85od payoff50.00total0.001322.31divide by 4.33 £ 305.15 £ 305.15 total weekly spendStart= income - spend = £ 260.77 per week

I think you have left out the car loan from the spend weekly but I get the picture of what you are saying as it still gives me £190 a week

climbgirl

I am in the same position with work - I have to build up expenses on my personal credit card (cashback luckily!) and claim it back as an expense payment. What I do is as soon as I get the money from work, I pay it off the credit card, even if the card isn't due to be paid for a month. There's nothing at all to stop you from paying early, even if it's not the full amount due - a credit card company is never going to complain about being paid early!

If you're not disciplined enough to not spend it, I'd say this is a good course of action.

Shineyhappy

Where do you get your food shopping? Three hundred pounds is an awful lot for two of you! I would seriously have a look at the Old Style board. Do you spend a lot on alcohol?

When any of your insurances do come up for renewal make sure you throughly shop around as they do seem rather high.

Tartan_2

Tesco for shopping, have used a mix of LIDL and Tesco in the past but didn't notice a big difference, as I said may need to look in a bit more detail on what we spend most on. We tend to have a few bottles of wine a week.

Ignatius_A

Tartan wrote: »

Gym Membership £84.00 (can’t get rid of this as still in the year commitment period, we are regular users although perhaps not recently. Only other option I believe is we can postpone payments for a while, I think that is allowed)

Another option MAY be to sell on your subscription, if the gym allow it. You may be able to sell your remaining membership either privately or through the gym to someone who wants to try out gym membership to see if it will be worthwhile for them. You won't make a profit, but you may avoid the loss of a gym membership you're not getting value out of.

Try talking to your gym about options. My wife & her mum both managed this with their memberships (was a few years ago now, mind)

angelavdavis

Tartan wrote: »

Tesco for shopping, have used a mix of LIDL and Tesco in the past but didn't notice a big difference, as I said may need to look in a bit more detail on what we spend most on. We tend to have a few bottles of wine a week.

Well, I find my bill is 50% lower from Lidl, so I am amazed you have found this.

Do a meal plan for the month and then make a list of what you need and stick to it. If you find this hard, then order from Tesco online - even paying £5 delivery will mean you save on avoiding impulse buys. It also means you get a lie in on Saturday morning and the shopping arrives on your doorstep

Karmacat

Uh, Tartan, it seems you've locked yourself into quite a few really expensive deals here. And you know, much as it pains me to say it (it pained me even more to do it, I can tell you ) if you need to spend less, then something has to go/you have to make more effort/get more money in/spend more wisely. Some or all of these options! For instance, about the shopping - the food plan is a good idea, if you're actually cooking from scratch for only two people, you're probably wasting a *horrendous* amount of food. In post No.12, you said this didn't include wine... but in post No.16, it sounds like it does. Either way, you're not sure where your money is, and what its going on. Thats part of the point - when you know, you can take action appropriately. Keep a spending diary, and note ***everything***.