Trying to clear debt and save for a house.

jenny+luke

Hi all,

so the chat with my hubby went quite well. He's calling sky tomorrow and said he will lower the package and hopefully get a better deal. I explained that paying off our debt and saving is really important to me and he seems on my wave length, but we shall see.

I've told him that every penny spent this month is going on a spreadsheet to see why we end up using the credit cards.

I usually use quidco for cashback and will have a good look before renewing my home insurance.

lol at Jon B, yes my husband is a little immature when it comes to money, I think maybe because he's never had to worry about paying bills etc. maybe if I get him more involved with how much everything costs, he might understand and not be so keen to overspend when going to the shop etc.

My husband is self employed and contacted the job center to ask if there was any help available, they said no.

Sourcrates, I don't agree that this is a 'non post' just because I have savings in the bank that could pay my debt off. I've already said several times that I don't want to do that. I have an issue and have asked for help. By posting I have had some really good replies that have helped me already. I want things to change so that I can be debt free.

thank you all for taking the time to reply, I know that I don't have a shortfall like lots of people posting SOA but I do have an issue because we keep ending up using our CCs every month. The tips have been really helpful, I feel positive about not spending on my CCs this month. I will update this thread with how things are going.

autumn2012_2

Jon_B wrote: »

I think you need to change your SOA from 2 adults and 3 kids to 1 adult and 4 kids. Cause that's about the maturity level of your other half right now.

For what it's worth, you don't have £10k in savings. You have £7.8k net, so you might as well pay off those credit cards. It's better to have £7.8k in the bank instead of £10k and over £2k of credit card debt IMO.

BTW - does anybody notice that in well over 80% of SOA's posted on this forum that there is always a common theme of a really high Sky TV bill and expensive mobile phone contracts???

If you are in contract with these things as you normally are then you cant get out of them without paying it all off. For example Im currently in contract until September with vodaphone for £31.50pm however I want to downgrade to sim only £13 per month - can I - No

jenny+luke

autumn2012 wrote: »

If you are in contract with these things as you normally are then you cant get out of them without paying it all off. For example Im currently in contract until September with vodaphone for £31.50pm however I want to downgrade to sim only £13 per month - can I - No

yeah its a bit of a pain being tied in. I wont make the same mistake again.
I know we aren't in the contract stage with sky anymore so hoping tomorrow it will be reduced.

Jon_B_2

autumn2012 wrote: »

If you are in contract with these things as you normally are then you cant get out of them without paying it all off. For example Im currently in contract until September with vodaphone for £31.50pm however I want to downgrade to sim only £13 per month - can I - No

I understand how mobile contracts work, thank you.

My point wasn't that as what has happened, happened.

My point was that I notice consequentially that a lot of SOA's on here which generally are posted because of poor monthly cash flow seem to all have massive mobile phone contracts tied in. All for the latest iPhones etc.

Debtslayer

jenny+luke wrote: »

Hi all,

so the chat with my hubby went quite well. He's calling sky tomorrow and said he will lower the package and hopefully get a better deal. I explained that paying off our debt and saving is really important to me and he seems on my wave length, but we shall see.

I've told him that every penny spent this month is going on a spreadsheet to see why we end up using the credit cards.

I usually use quidco for cashback and will have a good look before renewing my home insurance.

lol at Jon B, yes my husband is a little immature when it comes to money, I think maybe because he's never had to worry about paying bills etc. maybe if I get him more involved with how much everything costs, he might understand and not be so keen to overspend when going to the shop etc.

My husband is self employed and contacted the job center to ask if there was any help available, they said no.

Sourcrates, I don't agree that this is a 'non post' just because I have savings in the bank that could pay my debt off. I've already said several times that I don't want to do that. I have an issue and have asked for help. By posting I have had some really good replies that have helped me already. I want things to change so that I can be debt free.

thank you all for taking the time to reply, I know that I don't have a shortfall like lots of people posting SOA but I do have an issue because we keep ending up using our CCs every month. The tips have been really helpful, I feel positive about not spending on my CCs this month. I will update this thread with how things are going.

Glad talk with hubby went well, fingers crossed call to Sky does too
I understand reference the savings, it's prob taken you a while to get to 10k and it's a nice number to have saved (especially when you want your own house). Also 2 of your cards are 0% for a while yet so there's no real need to pay them off at the moment anyway
Do keep a spreadsheet and write down absolutely everything, sometimes it's amazing the things you forget to write down in your budget
You will get there with your dream of owning you own house and it will be sooo worth it
Good luck and do keep posting (ignore posters who tell you you shouldn't). Pop over to the House buying or Mortgage board (it's not just for people who currently have mortgages? if you want some more motivation and help with regards buying etc

When_the_going_gets_tough

Op if your husband has been paying his ni for the last 2or 3 years then he can make a claim for CESA. He needs to google the numbe and start the claim over the phone. He needs to be clear that he is making a claim for contribution based employment support only. He will need a fit note from his doctor. If he has not been paying his ni then he will not have an entitlement. One reason why it is really important for self employed people to keep their ni payments up to date.

asparagus1968

Hi,
so, if you stick to the SOA / budget this month you won't use the credit cards?


So, how about cutting the cards up today? You can do it!

jenny+luke

Debtslayer wrote: »

Glad talk with hubby went well, fingers crossed call to Sky does too
I understand reference the savings, it's prob taken you a while to get to 10k and it's a nice number to have saved (especially when you want your own house). Also 2 of your cards are 0% for a while yet so there's no real need to pay them off at the moment anyway
Do keep a spreadsheet and write down absolutely everything, sometimes it's amazing the things you forget to write down in your budget
You will get there with your dream of owning you own house and it will be sooo worth it
Good luck and do keep posting (ignore posters who tell you you shouldn't). Pop over to the House buying or Mortgage board (it's not just for people who currently have mortgages? if you want some more motivation and help with regards buying etc

Spreadsheet is up and running

I will have a look at the house buying and mortgage board, I can't wait to have my own house, it will be a dream come true. I watched my parents struggle renting my whole life, I don't want that. I want my own house where I'm secure, I had to move twice due to landlord selling his house and then another landlord hasn't paid his mortgage.

Thank you, I am going to keep posting. The tips received so far have been great.

I've signed up for some challenges on here that look great

have a good day

jenny+luke

When_the_going_gets_tough wrote: »

Op if your husband has been paying his ni for the last 2or 3 years then he can make a claim for CESA. He needs to google the numbe and start the claim over the phone. He needs to be clear that he is making a claim for contribution based employment support only. He will need a fit note from his doctor. If he has not been paying his ni then he will not have an entitlement. One reason why it is really important for self employed people to keep their ni payments up to date.

Hi, yes he has been paying ni. I will tell him to call today, thank you. thats really helpful

jenny+luke

asparagus1968 wrote: »

Hi,
so, if you stick to the SOA / budget this month you won't use the credit cards?


So, how about cutting the cards up today? You can do it!

yes I am going to stick to SOA as much as possible. cutting up the cards sounds scary, I know that if I'm really stuck, I have my savings. I'm going to think about it.

thanks