Can't believe our SOA and our debt!!!!!!?

enator

Get a Nokia 520 or 630, brand new they are around £90 and are cracking phones. Add a £10 SIM only deal from Tesco with a cap, so no extra payments per month.


Bob's your Uncle.

BillJones

You indicate that you have £1,000 spare each month, even after your debt payments. Is it then the case that your debt has been dropping by this much every month, or are your figures inaccurate?

ampersand

Hello Darcey, I hope you will look at my signature.

Martin approves strongly of CAP and as for 'Christians Against Poverty', that is WHY they help everybody, totally non-judgmental. They do not proselytise.
Look here first:
https://capuk.org/

Then pop your postcode in the top line.
You have friends here on these boards and you have taken the first brave step...but I DO hope you can be united in this, with OH.

Simple treats[take out a mywaitrose card, for a free drink each day, for example], batch cooking, mysupermaket.com, all the old-style threads on here are just starting points.

Jumble sales and carboots are lovely fun for finding things - haggle hard:-)

As others have shown, you need a mindset transplant. Use Martin's Car Insurance calculator. PAYG is all you need for a phone. I have a PAYG Blackberry via Tesco and a £5 mthly top-up gives me mobile internet usage. Grow things in pots if you've no other space. This whole shebang of Life and living is a great game and YOU are in charge. Thermoses and hot water bottles are great friends:-)

If you are a SAHM, have you checked out the Comps Thread on mse? Surveys are another way to gradually rack up gift vouchers etc.

Well done for coming here. Again, I really do hope you can BOTH be part of this. You are not alone.

Okydoky25

Someone might have a better idea but with that amount if fuel being purchased I would buy it at a tesco and collect the points. These can be used for free days out and meals at 4x the value on some places or just save them and do your expensive Xmas shop when you can double them.

AndyT678

darcey1105 wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Income from Self Employment (before tax). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,054.20

Tax & NI Provisions (self-employed only). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.00

Wish I had your hubby's tax rate. Mistake?

darcey1105

Thanks Andy yes that is his monthly Ni contributions!! Luckily he has 20% tax deducted at source so we luckily don't need to save for his tax bill as usually this is covered by the 20% deduction- although I think we perhaps should maybe start saving something as if he does get an unsurprised bill it could upset everything we have been doing!! Yes I am a stay at home mum to two kids, my son gets his free 15 hrs a week and luckily his swimming and football are paid for by our lovely parents so he gets to do extra activities but for us without the cost! Will def look at cancelling my phone as especially as we have unlimited broadband I can use this at home however that tesco mobile sounds brill!! Means if I want a quick look at things I could.

darcey1105

I have no idea where he extra money is going he is paid weekly and I think we must be just spending it stupidly!! I'm currently sat going through three months bank statements ( mine and his) we will be dealing with this together as one - i just feel like I've let him down as I didn't realise how bad we had been overspending!! I think unfortunately we just put expenses on the credit card with the intention of paying it off and just didn't!!

KiKi

darcey1105 wrote: »

Thanks Andy yes that is his monthly Ni contributions!! Luckily he has 20% tax deducted at source so we luckily don't need to save for his tax bill as usually this is covered by the 20% deduction- although I think we perhaps should maybe start saving something as if he does get an unsurprised bill it could upset everything we have been doing!!

On that salary he'll be in the 40% tax bracket. So you may want to check if you do have an additional tax bill at the end, or if they're deducting ALL tax at source.

Also, check if he needs to pay NI 4 contributions, as they are based on earnings (he's already paying NI 2s).

19lottie82

darcey1105 wrote: »

I have no idea where he extra money is going he is paid weekly and I think we must be just spending it stupidly!! I'm currently sat going through three months bank statements ( mine and his) we will be dealing with this together as one - i just feel like I've let him down as I didn't realise how bad we had been overspending!! I think unfortunately we just put expenses on the credit card with the intention of paying it off and just didn't!!

You and your OH both need to start spending diaries and see where the extra £100 + a month is going

riverboat2001

I put all our expenses into Microsoft Money and it showed me exactly how much we we're spending on takeaways, and as we passed Tescos on the way home from work, we would often pop-in for one or two items and come out having spent £30

We cut out the takeaways and bulked shopped in Lidl and Aldi, and filled up the freezers and went from there.
Also if you DO pop into a shop, take a basket NOT a trolley, once your arms are falling off, you'll stop shopping.

I also Highly recommend Step-Change. Go for it, they'll ease your panicking and stress, just keep up with what they ask, and you'll get there.

Our life has completely turned round, now i prefer to save money than spend it, trust me it's a wonderful feeling when you make that last payment.

You've made the hardest step, now follow it though.

Good Luck.