SOA - please help!! I want to start today!

getmore4less

Forward_thinking wrote: »

Sorry if I haven't commented much yet - am going to sit down tonight and spend some real time on this. I really do appreciate your help.

it takes time for everything to sink in, remember the regulars here have seen it all before so can reel off suggestions till the cows come home. when bombarded for the first time it can be a bit overwelming.

The key thing is to challenge every spend.

Can we do without, can we get it cheaper.
you get three values, the do nothing, the make it cheaper and the get rid.

Then you prioritize what you really want, allocate the income till the money runs out, the rest drops off the list or gets swapped for something on the list.

TV look at something like the NowTV box its cheap makes your TV smart and you can get Sky entertaiment packages and Movies quite cheap when vouchers are on offer.
we got 2 new boxes 4 months movies and 6months entertainment for £38, more TV along with catch up and regular channels than most could ever need.

As for hubbys idea earn more, if he can't do it you need to earn £30k to cover just the shortfall and more if your expenses go up with childcare and commuting and....

Goldiegirl

Forward_thinking wrote: »

Point taken lee111. I do accept that. I am currently absorbing what everyone has said. Yes, I think we should get rid of the hire car if we can afford a cheap second one. Yes, we can drop the clubs - feel terribly guilty but would feel even worse if we ended up with no roof over our heads. Happy to go into a smaller house - 3 or hopefully 4. Happy to get rid of the cleaner. Happy to cut down on groceries - try the freeze suggested, cut down on the hair cuts.

The only things I can't get my head around is having no tv, no holiday (it's the only real time we get for bonding as husband works so hard. Also, we only have a few holidays left with the children being children and memories are a priority for me). The other thing I really don't want to lose is our medical insurance. Without going into detail, one of our children has a condition that really needs ongoing treatment and it has been a lifeline for us. We only have very basic so I could probably drop ours).

Sorry if I haven't commented much yet - am going to sit down tonight and spend some real time on this. I really do appreciate your help.

It's about getting a balance, and you need some pleasure in your life.


I think dropping the TV would be going to far in your situation. But if you use a paid for TV or streaming service, maybe drop that, and only have Freeview. We dropped Sky when we retired, and honestly have never missed it.


As for the holidays - £5000 maybe is too much to be spending on a holiday at the moment - so perhaps something cheaper would be appropriate. Or have just one year without a holiday until your situation is more stable

Brightspark87

Hi well done on starting this.

So my thoughts:

Rent and household bills:

Rent I understand - I come from a lovely town in Surrey and this seems pretty much the going rent for 4-5 bedrooms houses I doubt the moving costs would mean you wouldn't save anything for at least a year or 18 months. Plus you don't have a spare c£3k deposit. Bills - you are overpaying but that is due to making up that shortfall so once that is sorted you will need to review.

Food spend - having this many children is expensive ( I am 1 of 6 so not judging at all) but get them involved in reducing the cost of eating! Drop an after school club and instead get it to be them making dinner for everyone that night. You can easily find VERY cheap meals to make for the family and as long as you supervise a lovely way to get everyone on board.

Holidays - Yes your husband must work hard for that salary BUT think of the stress you would be reducing by giving this up for a year? Have a holiday at home and spend time together and budget for a few days out.

Presents etc - you have some very young children and some slightly older. The older ones might prefer a sleepover type party that you can spend very little on but make so much fun. When I was 11 my party was a spice girl themed sleepover. all my mum had to do was put a few union jack bits around the lounge, we made pita bread pizzas and watch the spice girls movie - my friends still talk about it today as we even dressed my little brothers up and did their make up!! But you can do this

Good luck x

matchboxfull

Brightspark87 wrote: »

Hi well done on starting this.

So my thoughts:

Rent and household bills:

Rent I understand - I come from a lovely town in Surrey and this seems pretty much the going rent for 4-5 bedrooms houses I doubt the moving costs would mean you wouldn't save anything for at least a year or 18 months. Plus you don't have a spare c£3k deposit. Bills - you are overpaying but that is due to making up that shortfall so once that is sorted you will need to review.

Food spend - having this many children is expensive ( I am 1 of 6 so not judging at all) but get them involved in reducing the cost of eating! Drop and after school club and instead get it to be them making dinner for everyone that night. You can easily find VERY cheap meals to make for the family and as long as you supervise a lovely way to get everyone on board.

Holidays - Yes your husband must work hard for that salary BUT think of the stress you would be reducing by giving this up for a year? Have a holiday at home and spend time together and budget for a few days out.

Presents etc - you have some very young children and some slightly older. The older ones might prefer a sleepover type party that you can spend very little on but make so much fun. When I was 11 my party was a spice girl themed sleepover. all my mum had to do was put a few union jack bits around the lounge, we made pita bread pizzas and watch the spice girls movie - my friends still talk about it today as we even dressed my little brothers up and did their make up!! But you can do this

Good luck x

Brightspark makes a really good point about the holiday. If your aim is to spend time together, then stay at home and spend time together. Go on day trips around your area. a £5k holiday is 10% of your debt; you just can't afford that right now.

Forward_thinking

Thanks everyone. Some brilliant food for thought. Determined to get this sorted somehow. If I am honest, I would prefer to go out to work and work as hard as I possibly can and get a week abroad. Not two. I was thinking we could get a cheap flight over to Majorca - just take the 5* luxury out of the equation. And I agree re the parties - we will do it cheaply this year. I also have a cupboard of presents I have already bought so that is sorted for a while. No more buying cards etc - they can make their own.

I have already cancelled two clubs today and a couple of small subscriptions.

Just had an interesting conversation with the gas/electric and water companies. Apparently, we are now only in £180 arrears on the water and will be in credit by April. Then it will just be £100 for 6 months. Much better than I thought.

Even better news re the gas and elec. Apparently we pay £200 each month and are now £1200 in credit. So they have asked me to take a reading and they will send me a cheque. Hopefully that means it won't be £200 a month from now on.

As for me, I am going to stay up tonight (all night if necessary) and get started with my new business venture. I have been studying for 8 years and could have started working ages ago. I have been procrastinating so much due to lack of time but I need to start. I could make very good money if I tried.

My 12 year old came in and I told him we were going to make changes. He screamed with delight and said "at last! You and daddy are always talking about how much money you owe. You just need to reduce what you are spending and earn more. And tell daddy to stop bringing in bags of shopping every night. Once I went with daddy and we used a scanner and it came to £200." Out of the mouths of babes.

Thanks everyone!

sourcrates

As others have said, it's about working out a balance, you don't need to cut to the bone.

There are plenty of common sense savings you can make from that budget, without going mad (5 kids and no satellite telly is a recipe for trouble, trust me !!).

Sometimes people get carried away with the cost cutting, and forget about the practicality, but all the advice is given in good faith, you just need to find which options work best for you in your everyday life.

sourcrates

Forward_thinking wrote: »

My 12 year old came in and I told him we were going to make changes. He screamed with delight and said "at last! You and daddy are always talking about how much money you owe. You just need to reduce what you are spending and earn more. And tell daddy to stop bringing in bags of shopping every night. Once I went with daddy and we used a scanner and it came to £200." Out of the mouths of babes.

Thanks everyone!

Out of the mouths of babes indeed lol !!!!!

runforlife

If it helps we cut Christmas back to presents at £15 each a couple of years back. Destroyed me at the time but looking back now absolutely no adverse reaction and we had a fab Christmas. Just save up for the turkey and all the trimmings. Family time.

As for family time? Eat at the table. Cut the tv out - maybe the odd film. You won't miss the programmes, honestly! Play board games. Go for walks. Now that will let you all bond together.

blisteringblue

Good Luck, it does sound like you have caught this at the "manageable" stage. I will stress it is really important both of you are on board with this. See it as a challenge, you can still strike a good life balance while paying off the money you owe.

From experience we were just about keeping above water with the help of a 60K credit card float, but major life change from Mrs BB to teach and we lost a salary for 2 years. Hence the walls crashed in and we ended up with the DMP. However, and I can't stress this enough, it's the best thing that ever happened. We've simply thrived at the challenge and reached a 1/3rd paid off this month. Mrs BB is working now, only a bit of agency but it works for us. We even managed a couple of weeks in Spain last year after a couple of years at home. So it really isn't all doom and gloom. But I must stress again it will need both of you to make it work.

asparagus1968

there you go,the 12year old is now your family finance manager