Our SOA - trying to stay out of more debt!

Dobbibill

Hi Sox77,

Alot of good advice here.

I have to agree with others about the charity and lottery. With the charity donations, think of it more about postponing the donations. You can always go back to it. It's not necessarily forever.

When you renew your buildings/contents/car insurance are you using TCB and/or Qu1dco? That saved me some money.

I noticed there is no Emergency Fund, you really should get one of these, things seem to crop up when you least want/expect it.

HTH

DB

Sox77

Dobbibill wrote: »

Hi Sox77,

Alot of good advice here.

I have to agree with others about the charity and lottery. With the charity donations, think of it more about postponing the donations. You can always go back to it. It's not necessarily forever.

When you renew your buildings/contents/car insurance are you using TCB and/or Qu1dco? That saved me some money.

I noticed there is no Emergency Fund, you really should get one of these, things seem to crop up when you least want/expect it.

HTH

DB

Thanks Dobbibill, we do have an emergency fund in our savings, which consist of around £19k but I'm very aware this is finite so am hanging on to it rather than using it to pay off existing debt... will definitely check all the comparison sites again, I missed out on doing the home insurance again because I let it auto renew by accident - been a busy summer, will make sure not to let that happen again.


You are right about the charity but will try and keep it and cut down everything else first - I'm sure I spend more than that on alcohol which clearly has to go - I don't fit into even half my clothes at the moment


Thanks again, every suggestion is definitely a help and is keeping me focussed too which is great!!!

Sox77

theoretica wrote: »

Have you run all your insurances through the comprison sites? See the links on this site. They can be an easy win of paying less money out with no reduction in lifestyle.

Your entertainment and present budget look like good targets too - can you find ways of getting similar enjoyment for less money? Some of the kids' clubs could probably be thought of as entertaining/fun too so you aren't cutting their life to the bone.

Thanks Theorectica I did use comparison sites and TopCashBack but am going to look at the life insurance again, although I took a ten year one so may be committed. Will also look at the entertainment and budget and the kids clubs. All of the childrens clubs are supposed to be fun (you wouldn't think so if you saw my 5 year old sitting on the floor sulking every week before gymnastics because she doesn't like her leotard!!!) so I think I really need to look at them and whether my kids actually want to do the clubs or whether it's that I want them to.

Sox77

peaceandfreedom wrote: »

Have you taken out a joint life insurance policy, written out in trust to your Mum & Dad, that will pay out the mortgage sum owed if either you or your partner were to pop off? ...

Good luck with it all .

Actually no we haven’t, our life insurance only covers us for £40,000 and that was £673 per year for 10 years!!! It was the cheapest I could fine, I think our ages must be counting against us, DH is 43 and I'm 38, and upping it to a larger pay out pushed it up hugely... that said the house would go back to mum and dad if something happened to both of us (it would come with four children though which might present an issue )... but I see your point entirely, I just don't know if I can afford to up the payout amount. I will look into it again though.

Sox77

aznlayer wrote: »

It's wonderful that you donate to charity!

There are always people who face real life problems unlike rather unimportant ones such as "should I cancel sky.."

Keep it up.

peaceandfreedom wrote: »

I don't agree with the suggestions that you get rid of your charitable donations - it is a small sum and overall you have a good income. Even when I hit my rockest-bottom, I continued my small charitable donations as it was important to me to continue to help others. Many people are in horrible situations and would give anything to have my life, skint as I was.
.

Thank-you both, I really don't want to cancel this Direct Debit. It's a children’s charity and I have been donating to it since my 11 year old was born because much as they drive me up the wall I am so grateful that between us we have five healthy children. It will be the last to go definitely. To be honest it’s really not that much anyway, I’m sure I spend more on alcohol

Sox77

Sharon87 wrote: »

£97 a month on clothes, are those all the kids clothes? Could this be reduced in anyway? eBay for new clothes and/or sell old clothes the kids no longer on eBay. Same for your clothes too!

£8.99 - is that Netflix? Do you need the higher end package? You can get the package where you can still have 2 users watching at the same time. Alternatively read this article, it explains cheaper alternatives:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/money/netflix-price-rises-cheapest-way-to-stream-tv-shows-5886982

I would try to go with someone other than British Gas for Gas. Go to uSwitch and compare costs - 10 minutes of form filling could save you a lot of money. - Also compare costs on other products including insurances.

I would reduce birthday spends too. My parents didn't spend much on me at Christmas on some years, but I didn't feel like I lost out! Be creative with presents and buy second hand. My brother got a second hand TV when he was younger, I got a second hand MP3 player. There are ways to save and still treat your kids.

Hi Sharon87
The money on clothes is nearly all kids clothes, I don't often buy anything for myself and my husband really doesn't. That said I have bought a few unnecessary dresses for myself this year from Ebay - unnecessary in that I don't even fit into them anyway (they were supposed to inspire me to get back to my diet but are currently folded away where they can't depress me), so will sell those... has been a very high spend month or so on clothes as I have three children going to new schools so lots and lots of school uniform - over £400 so far and that's without new shoes for two children!
The £8.99 is Netflix and no, you were right, we didn't need the higher package so have been to Tesco today and bought a NowTV box for £15 so as soon as the Netflix sub runs out this month will switch to that for 3 months. We've done that before but everyone missed Netflix so we went back... they can wait three months this time. I'm sure we watch too much TV anyway
Will shop around for energy suppliers definitely, and reduce my spend on presents - I do buy the kids second hand stuff and it doesn’t ever bother my 11 year old and I don't think the others even notice

Sox77

MallyGirl wrote: »

if the £400 pcm on child costs is for clubs for 4 kids then I can understand how that comes about.


I would drop the lottery & charity donation, would shop around for life assurance as that seems high, focus on the grocery costs as you should be able to trim that a bit, cut the entertainment/presents budget back for a bit and throw any money you can at the credit card to get rid of it before the 0% runs out.

Thanks MallyGirl, and thanks for understanding how the club costs happen, they each do swimming, gymnastics and Rainbows (or similar) and then there's all the school trips oh and music lessons... that said there must be some way to cut back. Maybe just get them to choose two each... will have to be next term with some though, I've already signed up again and have paid for a whole year of swimming!


The lottery will go, I just get sucked in, every time! Am desperate to clear the credit card before the 0% ends so maybe I should remind myself of that when I'm tempted! Will also keep an eye on the groceries and plan better, I'm sure you're right and I can cut back on both that and the entertainment and presents!

Sox77

rockm87 wrote: »

Do you really have money left over at the end of the month? Or is that a guess?

With yoru numbers, to be honest. I'd quit work and look after the children and cut out nursery fees, and work at reducing grocery spends (batch cook etc). Your paying out money for your children and your wages barely cover it.

Obviously I know this is temporary, and you may be looking for work.

also I'd ditch british gas as soon as possible, complete rip off!!

Thanks rockm87, hmmm it is roughly accurate because I have been writing down everything I've spent for the last eight months so is an average of those, but some months definitely no to anything left over


Re work, I actually only work at the weekends at the moment so the fees are for clubs and school trips, not childminding, that said I do spend too much on clubs so will be looking at that oh and hoping to up my hours at work as the children get older.


I will definitely look for a new gas supplier, just waiting for my electricity fix to come to an end (March 2016) so I can switch both if that makes sense?

Sox77

Thank-you all so much for taking the time to reply, sorry it took a while to get back, have read and re-read all your hints and advice and it's given me plenty to think about and will help keep me focused.


I hope I have thanked and answered you all, again is really appreciated! Unfortunately I still have a few bits of school uniform left to get but once that's done I will try and have some no spend days - I never seem to be very good at those but it's time to try harder I think

ellesbellesxxx

Hi
Fab suggestions so far.

Just a couple of extras: how many mobile phones is that for? Giffgaff do a great sim only deal, very flexible, 7.50 a month covered all my messages and minutes too! If you are soon to be out of contract, worth looking into.

Also Quidco, a cashback site, is amazing! especially if you are going to compare deals for gas/elec/insurances.