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Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Income from Employment (after tax). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,119.08
Income from Self Employment (before tax). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
State Pension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Private Pension / Annuity Payout. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Benefits (Inc. Child Benefit/Tax Credits & Income Support). . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Income From Savings & Investments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Gifts From Family / Friends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

Monthly Expense Details

In Your Home

Mobile phones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.00
TV licence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.54
Internet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.42
Home phone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27.00
Cleaning products/Cleaner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Garden maintenance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Household maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31.00
Gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116.00
Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39.43
Council tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78.33
Overdraft cost. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Bank account fee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Home insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43.28
Mortgage/Rent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229.93
Plumbing/Boiler cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.80
Mortgage life insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.42
Mortgage payment protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.69
Life insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Food and household shopping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151.67
Drinks for home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

Motoring & Public Transport

Petrol/Diesel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151.67
Parking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Car tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.25
Car insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21.69
Car maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00
Rail/Buses/Taxis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Breakdown cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.72

Debt Repayments

Credit card repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Hire purchase repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186.34
Personal loan repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Car loan repayments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

Savings & Investments

Pension payments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Buying shares . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Investments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Cash ISAs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Lump sum saving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Regular saving. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

Family

Pet food. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
School trips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
School meals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Pocket money. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Nappies/Baby extras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Laundry/Dry cleaning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Children's travel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Baby-sitting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Childcare/Playgroups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Pet insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Travel insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

Entertainment

Satellite/Digital TV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66.75
Family days out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Cinema/Theatre trips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Books/Music/Films/Computers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Big days out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Shopping for fun. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Pet costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Hobbies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
IT/Computing (antivirus, etc) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
DVD rental. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Drinking out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130.00
Eating out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

Clothes, Health & Beauty

Complimentary therapies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Optical bills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Haircuts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.00
Dentistry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.50
Beauty treatments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Healthcare cash plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Dental insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Private medical insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Fitness/Sports/Gym. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Work clothes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
New children's clothes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
New clothes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

Education & Courses

University tuition fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
School fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Your courses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

Big One-Offs

Funeral expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Wedding expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Sofa/Kitchen/TV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Birthdays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43.33
Winter holiday. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Summer holiday. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Christmas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65.00

Odds & Sods

Newspapers and magazines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Tax & NI Provisions (self-employed only). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Regular charity donations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Meals at work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.00
Smokes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Coffees/Sandwiches/Snacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00


Total monthly income. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,119.08


Total monthly expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,542.76


«1

Comments

  • andyfromotley
    andyfromotley Posts: 2,038 Forumite
    crowey62 wrote: »
    Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

    Monthly Income Details
    Income from Employment (after tax). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,119.08
    Income from Self Employment (before tax). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    State Pension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Private Pension / Annuity Payout. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Benefits (Inc. Child Benefit/Tax Credits & Income Support). . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Income From Savings & Investments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Gifts From Family / Friends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

    Monthly Expense Details

    In Your Home

    Mobile phones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.00
    TV licence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.54
    Internet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.42
    Home phone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27.00 £47 for home phone and internet? I pay under £10. Absolutlely no more than £16pm,
    Cleaning products/Cleaner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Garden maintenance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Household maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31.00
    Gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116.00 This is a huge amount, looking at your council tax you have a smallish house, switch and use less a lot less, aim to at least halve this.
    Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39.43
    Council tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78.33
    Overdraft cost. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Bank account fee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Home insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43.28 What?? I have renewed today for £109 for the year. Use a comparison website, aim for £10-12 per month.
    Mortgage/Rent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229.93
    Plumbing/Boiler cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.80 Do you need this?
    Mortgage life insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.42 Do you need this?
    Mortgage payment protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.69 Do you need this?
    Life insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Food and household shopping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151.67
    Drinks for home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

    Motoring & Public Transport

    Petrol/Diesel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151.67
    Parking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Car tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.25
    Car insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21.69
    Car maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00
    Rail/Buses/Taxis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Breakdown cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.72 This is a lot per month. Shop around, drive it down.

    Debt Repayments

    Credit card repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Hire purchase repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186.34
    Personal loan repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Car loan repayments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

    Savings & Investments

    Pension payments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Buying shares . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Investments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Cash ISAs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Lump sum saving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Regular saving. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

    Family

    Pet food. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    School trips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    School meals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Pocket money. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Nappies/Baby extras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Laundry/Dry cleaning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Children's travel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Baby-sitting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Childcare/Playgroups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Pet insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Travel insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

    Entertainment

    Satellite/Digital TV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66.75 Whoa? cancel. you cannot afford this.
    Family days out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Cinema/Theatre trips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Books/Music/Films/Computers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Big days out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Shopping for fun. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Pet costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Hobbies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    IT/Computing (antivirus, etc) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    DVD rental. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Drinking out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130.00 This needs to stop until you can afford it
    Eating out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

    Clothes, Health & Beauty

    Complimentary therapies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Optical bills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Haircuts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.00
    Dentistry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.50
    Beauty treatments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Healthcare cash plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Dental insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Private medical insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Fitness/Sports/Gym. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Work clothes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    New children's clothes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    New clothes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

    Education & Courses

    University tuition fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    School fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Your courses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

    Big One-Offs

    Funeral expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Wedding expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Sofa/Kitchen/TV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Birthdays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43.33 Each month? Who are you buying presents for? £5 per month for each child. Tell everyone else you are skint and they wont be getting presents.
    Winter holiday. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Summer holiday. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Christmas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65.00 You are spending £780 on christmas every year? This needs to be cut dramatically, even if you have kids. £8.50 per kid each month. If you dont this can be reduced easily to under £100 in total to include all close family.

    Odds & Sods

    Newspapers and magazines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Tax & NI Provisions (self-employed only). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Regular charity donations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Meals at work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.00
    Smokes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Coffees/Sandwiches/Snacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00


    Total monthly income. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,119.08


    Total monthly expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,542.76



    High Crowey. Your SOA is in pretty poor shape. How are you funding the shortfall each month?

    Luckily there is a lot of easy wins for you. If you implement the savings i have listed above then you should just about break even. I'm unsure if you have kids or not.

    However this is going to leave you on a pretty frugal lifestyle. However if you dont mind this then thats ok.

    Otherewise you need to look to increase your income. I'm guessing that you are on about 17k? If you are working full time this isnt a ton, set yourself a goal to get into a job that pays you at least 25k per year which is roughly the average annual salary. Work overtime, get promoted, train, change jobs. You could get yourself a second or third job.

    More income will revolutionise your situation. Use it to pay your debt off which in turn will give you even more money each and every month. Before you know it you will have plenty of cash.

    Welcome to the forum, stick around and good luck. Hope this helps.
    £1000 Emergency fund No90 £1000/1000
    LBM 28/1/15 total debt - [STRIKE]£23,410[/STRIKE] 24/3/16 total debt - £7,298
    !
  • Pixie5740
    Pixie5740 Posts: 14,515 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Eighth Anniversary Name Dropper Photogenic
    How many people are in the household? Is it just you or do you have a partner, maybe a child or two?
  • crowey62
    crowey62 Posts: 13 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary First Post Combo Breaker
    I am divorced and after being a single parent for 11 years both my kids are now at uni which meant all my tax credits, child benefit and child maintenance, i received stopped all at once which is what has left me in this situation. i thought tax credits would last till next april which is what threw me.
    I have no family other than my kids but i have been busy sourcing better deals for Home ins, Mortgage protection ins gas and electric, telephone broadband etc as well as cancelling certains payments like sky etc
  • crowey62
    crowey62 Posts: 13 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary First Post Combo Breaker
    Just a question that is bothering me and i don't want to sound to daft.

    I have my telephone with BT and my question is this

    If i move from BT to say a cheaper telephone and broadband deal like you say would BT still charge me for certain things?

    This might sound daft but it is bugging me
  • Providing you are not in a contract with BT (unlikely unless you have signed up for a deal in the last 12 months) then no.

    You switch to a company that will provide both your phone and internet. (strictly speaking you don't have to take both from the same provider but in practice nearly everyone does.) and you will get one monthly bill from them covering phone line rental, internet and phone usage. Check out the main site for their best buy section.
    £1000 Emergency fund No90 £1000/1000
    LBM 28/1/15 total debt - [STRIKE]£23,410[/STRIKE] 24/3/16 total debt - £7,298
    !
  • hi, andyfromotley has covered it all I think.
    why is your gas so high? is it arrears? I can't imagine how it could be otherwise.
    For an example re.telephone/internet/tv, for which you are shelling out
    £114 a month.
    I am with talktalk, I pay £17.70 line rental and £7.50 for unlimited broadband .I never use the phone as I have enough in my mobile phone package to cover my calls. I use my old sky dish and freeview box for freeview channels- £88 less than what you pay. definitely have a look at their site.
    (also you can get cashback through top cash back . com)


    My son is leaving next year so my circumstances will change like yours have, I know what you are going through! Luckily though I have had time to adjust and plan etc. It's just the emotional bit I will struggle with now..


    at least there are cutbacks to be made, so the SOA looks a little dire now, you have wiggle-room! -insurances-get cheaper, get cashback ,make sure it's not over-insured (I reduced my contents to cover £20000,is £5 a month)
    presents- review your budget now, are you actually saving the £65 + £43.33 a month somewhere to cover this? speak to those you buy for, tell them your situation has changed.
    £130 drinking money can be reduced-could you have friends over instead?
    good luck.
    once you have been through each amount and thought "cheaper/get rid" re-do your SOA :)
    LIVE SIMPLY * GIVE MORE * EXPECT LESS * BE THANKFUL

  • Hi you could rent out a spare room if you have one. Also make a list of everything you have to pay that can't be negotiated down any more. ie Make sure you have the best mortgage at the cheapest rate, Water (maybe on a meter), cheapest Gas and Electricity provider etc. When you have done that see how much you have over for mobile phone, presents, entertainment etc so that you can allocate money for that to live within your budget. The only other thing you can do is make more money or downsize. Hope that helps.
  • crowey62
    crowey62 Posts: 13 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary First Post Combo Breaker
    Well its taken some time and a lot of work but i have finally got my finances under control although i will not have a lot left over each week for socialising at least i should now be able to clear my debt and hopefully stay clear of debt in the future.
    Many thanks for all your advise it has been a great help and i wish i had visited this site ages ago.
    Allthough i can now live within my means i would like to increase my income _ i have applied for some part time work to go with my main job but i was wondering if anyone has any ideas/advice on good ways to increase income
  • Hi,glad you have got sorted out-you have been busy! it would be lovely to hear some of the things you have done-we are all learning :)


    Have you had at the " UP YOUR INCOME" board on here? some fab ideas.
    LIVE SIMPLY * GIVE MORE * EXPECT LESS * BE THANKFUL

  • oh, meant to say before- this is a much easier/ clearer SOA in case you wanted it:


    http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php
    LIVE SIMPLY * GIVE MORE * EXPECT LESS * BE THANKFUL

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