Tales from the city

ani*fan

Igamogam wrote: »

Wowzers:eek: What do you drive? My car tax is £32 for 12 months and even our 'big car' is just over £100.

Points for speeding - hmmmm I have discovered that it really depends which insurance company you are with - I have done quotes in past with points declared and without - just to see the difference and in many cases the difference was pence and at the most less than a fiver. All points spent now

I know, it's a dreadful expense, I drive a 2L shogun gas guzzler but I love it so much I can't bear to part with it. I hardly drive any miles at all anymore other than for work, so no worries about petrol, but the road tax is massive.


I can't help thinking that if I went for a smaller car I'd probably end up with a car loan. My car is over 10 years old and worth more to me than the amount I'd get if I sold it. And no car loan.


I got all the quotes first time round forgetting to add my points. Then when I remembered, all the quotes went up quite a lot. I did all the comparison sites though and got the best deal I could. I'll need to give up this car one day, but not today!

ani*fan

I will need to put away £100 per month for the next 3 months to cover the road tax. And after that I'll need to keep putting away £100 per month to prepare for the mot. I need new tyres and there were a couple of other recommendations I'll need to be ready for. I have no idea where this money is going to come from.

ani*fan

Rent 625.00
Council tax 109.00
Gas 39.00
Electricity 32.00
Car insurance 23.99
Phone/internet 2.00
Mobile 25.00
Food 80.00
Petrol 20.00
Music group 5.00
Netflix £5.99
Debt repayments £480


Total 1446.98

This is how the budget is looking as of next month. Not too bad at all, a few bills have gone down.


When my wage goes up in May to £1700, I'll have excess of 253.02. This will need to pay for mot, road tax, birthday and Christmas presents, haircuts, eyebrow waxes (:o) and holidays.

Over 12 months, the excess is £3,036.24. So that's the figure I need to play with.

ani*fan

So...

Haircuts. I can get a cheap one for £25 when I go to visit my mum. Four per year = £100.

Christmas easily costs £500 including travel.

Birthday presents £100

Eyebrow waxes...I just need to stop this. At £10 a go here (used to be £6 where I lived before) that's £120 a year which can't be justified. Oh well.

Road tax £285

MOT £500

And I forgot to add clothes which I badly need right now especially for work. £30 per month would be £360

That all adds up to £1845

Phew. That's a lot. And leaves £1191.24 to go towards debt. Which almost covers my £100 per month overpayment but not quite.

And no mention of a holiday. Looks like I won't be going anywhere for a fair while. But it will be so worth it to see that debt disappearing.

I'll need some miscellaneous spends for the dentist and stuff. But otherwise I think I have it covered. Anyone see any glaring gaps in my plan?

Igamogam

I always admire people who can add up all their outgoings and incomings - basically work out a budget!!!!! I'm OK with meal plans;) All looks fine as far as I am concerned - do you have an emergency fund?? I have started putting a little bit away in a CU account which I know is daft when I have debts but I am hoping that it will mean if there is an emergency then I will dip into that rather than reach for a CC. If I dont dip in then the plan is to have over £1K by end of year................. we will be MF next year but will need to replace both our cars which means car loan. My plan is to look into using a CU loan....early days in the planning and may well not come off but its something I am playing around with. Debt figure looking good Ani BTW:)

asparagus1968

ani*fan wrote: »

Finally I got my student number and was able to apply for a student extra card. This cost £12 but can get me discounts at loads of places like amazon and my local supermarket so I'm well pleased. No sign of my real student card yet.

I've done a budget and am pleased to report that everything is covered this month, including the Easter trip, and that I've made my £100 overpayment to Cap 1. :j I've updated my signature and the debt has gone below £18k so I'm well pleased with that. Next month I will have paid off over a thousand pounds. I'd forgot how quickly this can move at the start.

Cap 1 card is showing on the website that my minimum payment has been received yet no money has gone out of my bank account. I've no idea what's going on there but suspect it may be something to do with all those extra payments. I'll phone them later.

Hope everyone has a fabulous money saving weekend.

wow, great news, well done:A

ani*fan

Igamogam, I suspect it's easier for me to work out incoming and outgoing cos I only have myself to look after. If it was a family of 4 or 5 or 6 I wouldn't even know where to start. And look at the mess I'm in even though it is only me. Good grief. And I can't meal plan to save my life. It was so much harder than I thought. I did one and give up. Maybe I should try again...


Let me know how you get on with CU. I'm pondering a savings account with them for my brand new emergency fund which has £60.02 in it. But I'll see.

Igamogam

CU couldn't be easier - opened it all on line and move money into there on line too using faster payments. I am assuming moving money out of there easy too!! £2.50 fee for the year. Not sure what dividends are but then return from high street banks savings accounts not great. I have an online cash ISA so I guess I could use that but CU feels so much more 'ethical' IYKWIM:)

ani*fan

I like their ethical vibe too, I don't trust any of the banks to not rob me blind!

ani*fan

I'm having the best birthday ever!

Just spent the afternoon with my family and about to settle in with a scrummy dinner and some wine.

Life is good! :j