I have stuck my head in the sand long enough, debts now standing at £22,000

Andrew_P

nicp60 wrote: »

Hi Andrew_P and welcome!
You need to address this surplus on the soa - do you have £500 a month spare?

If you don't have £500 a month spare, then you need to re-do your SoA
Then you need to look at snowballing and throwing everything at the highest apr debt. Here's the snowball calc
This should keep you motivated to clear that debt, and give you some debt free dates to help!

Hi nicp60

Thanks for your reply - Well I filled out the SOA with all our outgoings as accurately as I could although we need to do a spending diary as I do not know where this £500 has gone over the years.

I think the problem I have had is I have been paying more than that off the Tesco card as I use it as main card for purchases and this has resulted in me going over drawn by a couple of hundred until i get paid. Obviously I need to only pay what I can and make sure I am left with enough to get by until the next months pay day.

Thanks for your help

Andrew

floella80

Having a spreadsheet of outgoings and ingoings, checking your accounts everyday, keeping receipts and adding them onto your spreading outgoings does really help to curb unwanted spending. I've just started this month and it's amazing to see how much I've saved just being more frugal and making sure that I pack my lunch and snacks for work. This time last month I'd be in my overdraft by now. This time I'm still in the plus!
I'd say most of mine was spent on little shops, on things that would last no longer than the evening , only to go back the next day and do it all again.

I've also downloaded apps that give me money back on items you can buy in the supermarket, only obviously buying the items that I need! Definitely keep a spending diary, it really does help!

nicp60

Andrew_P wrote: »

Hi nicp60

Thanks for your reply - Well I filled out the SOA with all our outgoings as accurately as I could although we need to do a spending diary as I do not know where this £500 has gone over the years.

I think the problem I have had is I have been paying more than that off the Tesco card as I use it as main card for purchases and this has resulted in me going over drawn by a couple of hundred until i get paid. Obviously I need to only pay what I can and make sure I am left with enough to get by until the next months pay day.

Thanks for your help

Andrew

Hi Andrew,
Thanks for your reply. I think the answer is right there. Whatever you use this credit card for is what you are overspending on in terms of the missing £500. It's probably a combination of food, fritter, fuel, treats etc. And it's always a month behind because you clear last month's spend with this month's money.


If I were you I would spend an hour putting together an accurate SoA using the last couple of months bank statements - include the transactions from the credit card to work out your current spend in each category.


I know it seems like a grind and a bit retrospective when you want to be focusing on the future, but if you don't know where your money is going then you won't realistically know where to cut down. It's like going on a diet without weighing yourself first and without knowing what you actually eat. IMO it's pointless doing anything to cut down on your spending until you do this.


If your SoA were already accurate, you wouldn't actually have to cut back on anything at all because you'd have an extra £500 a month to throw at the debt.


Hope this helps.

sugarcube84

Andrew_P wrote: »

Thanks for your advice sugarcube84

In terms of my broadband and phone I am in contract with BT until January 2016 unfortunately as when I signed up they were only doing 18 month contracts .

Will certainly bear in mind @ldi and L1dl as currently we go to Asda and we don't find them too bad for prices.

Will certainly look into cashback sites although typically we don't have any renewals coming up until next year!

What would you say is the best way about getting an emergency fund?

Many thanks

Andrew

I found a big difference swapping from @sda to @ldi, and I found myself making more from scratch rather than reaching for a jar of sauce and its much better for you. Its surprising how much sugar is in some of these tomato pasta sauces.


I have a spreadsheet and on one tab is my SOA, a current SOA and forecast SOA side by side. This allows me to identify areas where I can make potential savings and see how much of a difference it make to the bottom line. It also gives me a list of renewal dates all in one place so I don't have to go searching through reams of paperwork.


As for starting an emergency fund I started putting £20/month aside as it was all I could afford, now my pot is at £1000 which I think is a sensible amount. I'm currently overpaying my c/c by approx. £700/month so I would dip into this payment first rather than the emergency pot but its what suits your circumstances.


I think getting a handle on your budget month by month is what you need to do. Whether that is by using a spreadsheet (as I do) or YNAB as recommended by lots of people on this forum you need to know exactly what your incomings/outgoings are.

rockm87

I agree with sugarcube, I saved a fortune switching from Tesco to Lidl.

I managed to save over 50% every week on food/toiletries/household etc.

Try it for a few weeks and test the theory, I honestly think the quality is also better.

Andrew_P

nicp60 wrote: »

Hi Andrew,
Thanks for your reply. I think the answer is right there. Whatever you use this credit card for is what you are overspending on in terms of the missing £500. It's probably a combination of food, fritter, fuel, treats etc. And it's always a month behind because you clear last month's spend with this month's money.


If I were you I would spend an hour putting together an accurate SoA using the last couple of months bank statements - include the transactions from the credit card to work out your current spend in each category.


I know it seems like a grind and a bit retrospective when you want to be focusing on the future, but if you don't know where your money is going then you won't realistically know where to cut down. It's like going on a diet without weighing yourself first and without knowing what you actually eat. IMO it's pointless doing anything to cut down on your spending until you do this.


If your SoA were already accurate, you wouldn't actually have to cut back on anything at all because you'd have an extra £500 a month to throw at the debt.


Hope this helps.

Thanks for your help

Well I had a look over my bank account for the last 3 months, and I am astonished that I have withdrawn around £250 each month, however some of this has paid for meals, fuel, shopping so can see where some of the money's disappeared.

I have updated my SOA now to reflect this .

Thanks again

Andrew

esbm

Another vote for Lidl- I'm amazed at how their quality has gone up in the last few years.

I know the presents thing was a boo boo, but still- something I've found helps is collecting up a list of all the birthdays, celebrations etc that you buy presents for and list them by month (plus list for Christmas), then throughout the year I keep an eye out for that person's gift eg when on sale and keep it. I've found I'm spending a lot less and don't have the last min stress of "ahhh what to get"?! Which often = spending more.

bexster1975

I couldn't agree more re: presents. If you buy something when you see it on offer knowing someone will love it ( and knowing who the someone is when you buy it!) can save loads of money and, especially at Christmas, hassle. If I can get my Christmas stuff sorted i have time to make a few hand made extras in the run up to Christmas, rather than elbowing through the crowds trying to find something for auntie flo ( I don't have an auntie flo, but you get the idea).

Don't know if I said so on this thread but lidl has been my shop of choice for about a year now. Lovely quality, great bakery and saved me over 30% on shopping.

Bexster