SOA - Veteran Cheapskate needs Fresh Ideas

Evil_Olive

Was laid off a while ago (for the 3rd time in the past 5 years):mad: and finding it very difficult to secure a new job. It's now past the point of just 'tiding over' until I get a job as the books just aren't balancing, our overdrafts are maxed out, and I have to accept that I may not be lucky enough to get a job in the immediate future. I've cut out as much as I can but we're still short each month. Only by £12, which I could shave off the shopping budget without completely starving, but that won't help much going forward with paying off overdrafts, buying new clothes, emergency funds and all the other things I currently have a zero in the column for

It doesn't help that my husband is not MSE at all. I'm gradually changing his ways - but it takes time. Not helped by the fact that since I became unemployed, we've had to cut out virtually everything that isn't completely necessary so he feels like he's working 40 hours a week just to exist, with no life to speak of.:( I do all the finances as he freely admits that he can't be trusted with money and he is happy for me to do this to at least keep a roof over our heads.

2 years ago Husband was in a decent job. He'd been there 10 years and was on a respectable £22,000 salary. We weren't 'well off' but we were doing OK. But the job was outside 365 days a year with no shelter working with water and chemicals and was badly affecting his health. On doctors advice, he had to change jobs quickly. He managed to get a job straight away, in a music shop which he loves, but it's only minimum wage and not likely to rise any time soon.:(
That, coupled with my patchy employment has really knocked our finances over the last couple of years and we are ill-prepared for another bout of unemployment. Especially as we got married last year and ebayed everything of value then, to pay for our (very MSE) wedding.

I've been an old style cheapskate for 30 plus years and I know all this stuff but I'm sure I can still benefit from fresh eyes on the subject so I've done an SOA with the current income figures. Badly need some fresh ideas. I've tried to anticipate some questions/suggestions about certain items - if they're asterisked, there's further info in red underneath.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1 Cat
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 0
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1034
No overtime available. His present job is minimum wage but very secure. Also, judging by my experience, he is unlikely to find it easy to get a higher paying job any time soon anyway.
Benefits................................ 311.43
Other income............................ 0*
Husband is a musician on the side and occasionally gets a gig that actually pays more than it costs to do however this is completely random and not to be relied upon so I haven't included it. He's also looking into taking on some guitar students to up his income.
Total monthly income.................... 1345.43
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 595*
Cheaper property not an option - we're in a small one bedroom flat which is already £200-250 less a month than similar properties in the area because the property is very tatty (though in adequate repair) and has various other small disadvantages which make it 'undesirable' but we don't mind.
Management charge (leasehold property).. 8.34*
This is the £100 the letting agent charges annually for the tenancy renewal (rip off, but standard for the area )
Council tax............................. 91.10
Electricity............................. 24
Gas..................................... 25
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0*
Landlady pays this as it's joint with the shop underneath (which she also owns) for some reason.
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 65*
£55 of this is Husbands 2 year iphone contract which included phone so can't get out of it - a little over a year to run. He intends to keep the phone & get sim only deal next time.
TV Licence.............................. 12.13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0*
Shop next to flat has free wi-fi for customers and we use that as we can get the signal in our flat (not stealing - we're friendly with the owner and she offered, in return for us mowing the patch of lawn at the back of her shop when we do ours)
Groceries etc. ......................... 200*
This may seem high but it includes ALL toiletries, household items (cleaning products, lightbulbs etc), pet food/items and work-lunch food plus some very basic clothing when it needs replacing - eg tights, underwear, basic footwear, plain t-shirts & trackie bottoms etc. Also includes top-up shops.
Clothing................................ 0*
apart from replacing a very few worn out basics as above, we've both made do with existing clothing for the last couple of years.
Petrol/diesel........................... 50
Road tax................................ 20.12
Car Insurance........................... 41.7
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 4.6
Car parking............................. 2
Other travel............................ 10*
I get around on my bike mostly - this is for the odd occasion when I need to take a bus.
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0*
Currently in the process of finding out if we're entitled to free/discounted NHS dental care/prescriptions
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0*
Cat is registered with local PDSA for free vet care.
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0*
We cut our own
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Bank fee for using overdrafts........... 12*
We both have arranged overdrafts at the same bank and the bank introduced a charge of £6 a month just for using it - which we have no choice but to do at the moment.
Monthly Fee for Husbands bank account........... 12.95*
Mr Gullible was persuaded to upgrade to a fee-paying account by the nice people at the bank. We have asked to downgrade it again but they won't unless we pay off his overdraft in full first - not possible at the moment. It does include automatic mobile phone insurance though which enabled him to cancel the insurance that came with his phone contract which was £17 a month!!! and last year when he dropped and smashed the iphone that his stupidly expensive phone contract is paying for - the bank couriered him a brand new phone within 3 days so can't really complain too much
My e-cigarette supplies................. 7
I swapped to these from cigarettes when I lost my job - it was easy for me as I smoked menthol anyway and I couldn't really tell the difference - been on it 3 months now with no fags at all. I know it's not actually quitting the nicotine, but I tried to give up the cigs so many times before with no luck - quite frankly I think it's a miracle product!
Husbands cigarettes..................... 134*
I know, I know, Husband tried the e-cigs and couldn't stand them. He has gone from 20 a day down to 10 in a very short space of time though, and is now looking at rolling his own to save more money, with a view to giving up entirely eventually - I don't want to push too hard on this as we've already completely taken away all his alcohol, cakes and snack foods - if I ask him to completely stop smoking, cold turkey, as well, I think there'll be a rebellion
Total monthly expenses.................. 1329.99

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 1500

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Loan...........................457.27....42.38.....21.9
My Overdraft...................350.......0.........19.9
Husbands Overdraft.............600.......0.........19.24
Total unsecured debts..........1407.27...42.38.....-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,345.43
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,314.94
Available for debt repayments........... 30.49
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 42.38
Amount short for making debt repayments. -11.89
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 1,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -1,407.27
Net Assets.............................. 92.73
Created using the SOA calculator at www.stoozing.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

So, is it a case of 'bully husband off the cigs immediately and get offered a job next week or you're fudged'
Or does anyone have any other ideas :undecided:

Any and all suggestions welcome - sane or mad, harsh or cuddly.......

andyfromotley

Wow Olive that is one of the skinniest SOA's i have seen except for Hubby and his expensive choices!! (is divorce an option?? ;-)

The only real suggestion is that car insurance seems quite high, but i'm guessing that you shopped around like mad for this?

The only realistic saving i can see is to get rid of the car??

Perhaps look at your local Credit Union see if there is a loan that could free up your current loan and the overdrafts? Not sure that will actually save you much if anything though?

You have to get a job and fast!! I will keep my fingers crossed for you.

midnight_express

Do you NEED a car ? Re fags a trip to Belgium would be a good idea. 46 euros for 10 large pouches of tobacco.

Evil_Olive

Yes, we did shop around for the car insurance.
The car probably isn't ideal where that's concerned though - it's a big ol' muscley BMW.
Husband is a bit of a petrol head. (Cars 'n' Guitars is his mantra) When he finally settled down with me and had to contribute to a proper household, he had to give up a life of Ford Cosworths and Toyota GT4 Celicas for a series of scabby sub £300 Fiestas that we would run until they no longer passed MOT, sell for scrap and buy another...... It was kind of his part of the wedding present money to get a half-decent car again - we did get a £1500 car for £850 on one of those mis-spelled ebay ads though :money: But if we'd known I was going to lose my job, again!, we probably wouldn't have.

Weirdly, the monthly insurance on it is £10 LESS than he was paying on the last Fiesta?????

It would only be a temporary cash injection anyway - we'd have to buy and insure some sort of car to replace it. He needs a car for work, for gigs/rehearsals (big amps & PA system to cart about) and, if he gets some students, to travel to their homes (don't want to get into H&S or anything else that might have to be considered if the students came to ours instead).

Not sure about selling the car - we've named it and everything
But if it has to go, it has to go - we'll see how bad things get.
Could be a good bargaining chip with Husband - the car, or the fags ..... :think:

Will possibly have a look at some sort of credit union consolidating loan - that could at least save us the Bank fees. I have a horror of loans/credit though - always lived on such slim margins that they are dangerous things to have hanging round your neck - would have to be some sort of decent benefit in it, like much lower interest or something - you seem to be saying that there isn't really though andyfromotley ?

Surprise, surprise the loan in my SOA was Husbands - he took it out without the benefit of my advice to pay off his overdraft then promptly racked up the overdraft again.
Overdraft was £600, minimum loan amount was £1000 - the other £400 'disappeared' as it does and the interest on the loan is higher than it was on the overdraft!!! (This was before the monthly charge was introduced) Cue being stuck with paying £43 a month for 2 1/2 years and STILL having the overdraft.
He could have given me £50 a month to put in an envelope for him and cleared the overdraft in ONE year. :doh: :wall:

He's a lovely man but absolutely USELESS with money

Thank you for the good luck wishes - I need 'em!

andyfromotley

Evil_Olive wrote: »

Will possibly have a look at some sort of credit union consolidating loan - that could at least save us the Bank fees. I have a horror of loans/credit though - always lived on such slim margins that they are dangerous things to have hanging round your neck - would have to be some sort of decent benefit in it, like much lower interest or something - you seem to be saying that there isn't really though andyfromotley ?

Not exactly what i'm saying, i am just always VERY hesitant to advise people to get consolidation loans as they have an inherent danger which you recognise. It MAY be appropriate in your case as

a) you are a very clued up DFW &
b) even a small saving could make a big difference to you.

Its obviously not my decision, you'd need to crunch some numbers to see if its worth it but obviously it would free you from the bank fees too. Its a toughie.

I'd just reiterate, any sort of even the smallest of part time work would have by far the biggest effect on your finances. Just hunt high and low for any work at all, anywhere any hours. I know its hard out there. Good luck.

Bobarella

Olive my only spot was your council tax. Is that over 10 months? If yes you could stretch it to 12 for a small saving. We pay £136 a month over 10 months for a 3 bedroom house so yours seems high if only 1 bed flat.

PasturesNew

Evil_Olive wrote: »

Husbands cigarettes..................... 134*
I know, I know, Husband tried the e-cigs and couldn't stand them. He has gone from 20 a day down to 10 in a very short space of time though, and is now looking at rolling his own to save more money, with a view to giving up entirely eventually - I don't want to push too hard on this as we've already completely taken away all his alcohol, cakes and snack foods - if I ask him to completely stop smoking, cold turkey, as well, I think there'll be a rebellion
.

I switched to a "brand" called "Make Your Own". You buy a plastic fag maker (£3 or so?) and a tub of tobacco £15 (ask for "The JPS tobacco in the tub) and "a box of tubes" £1.

That should last him over a week, never need to buy the machine again, so then it's down to about £16/week for fags that look like fags as the tubes have the filters and everything.

You poke tobacco into the machine, pop a tube onto the end shute, pull/return the gadget and it shoves the tobacco into the tube.

I get this stuff from all major supermarkets.

It's like paying £3 for a pack of 20, so if he's on 10/day then it'd be more like £1.50/day, or £45/month!

When_the_going_gets_tough

Op you sound like a brilliant budgeter - I agree with others your best bet by far is some sort of wage doing whatever it takes. I think you are probably just above the radar for any benefits but it might be worth trying turn to us just to be sure. It might just be worh checking on working tax credits. Good luck - times are hard but you sound like you can make it through.

sourcrates

PasturesNew wrote: »

I switched to a "brand" called "Make Your Own". You buy a plastic fag maker (£3 or so?) and a tub of tobacco £15 (ask for "The JPS tobacco in the tub) and "a box of tubes" £1.

That should last him over a week, never need to buy the machine again, so then it's down to about £16/week for fags that look like fags as the tubes have the filters and everything.

You poke tobacco into the machine, pop a tube onto the end shute, pull/return the gadget and it shoves the tobacco into the tube.

I get this stuff from all major supermarkets.

It's like paying £3 for a pack of 20, so if he's on 10/day then it'd be more like £1.50/day, or £45/month!

YUK !!!!!

Stop smoking for gawds sake,

I'm not one to preach, but 3 years ago we buried father in law, 40 a day smoker, riddled with cancer, age 57 !!!

This week mother in law, same age and habit, gets same diagnosis !!

Utterly speechless at the stupidity of it all !!!

FatVonD

Have you thought of nicotine patches for your husband, even the stage 2 or 3 ones and then cut the ciggies down by half again if he can't give up completely. They are way cheaper than cigarettes (currently half price in my local chemist.)

Please don't let him start rolling his own, they smell disgusting and are so much worse for your health.

Pixie5740

My brother smoked for 15 years and successfully quit just before Christmas by reading Allen Carr's "Easy Way to Stop Smoking" book. He swears by it as he just stopped smoking one day, no nicotine patches or anything.

Anyway, back to your budget. The obvious thing would be for uou in increase your income. Finding a job is certainly one way to do it but have you ever considered setting up your own business? You say you mow a neighbour's lawn in exchange for wifi so perhaps you could set up some kind of gardening business? Dog walking (if you live dogs that is)? It could be anything really.