Trying to clear debt and save for a house.

Debtslayer

How has your hubby got on with Sky?

jenny+luke

getmore4less wrote: »

If you want Sky movies get a Now TV box and ad the movies every so often, find some cheap vouchers and and it does not cost a lot.

Anyway your main problem is priorities and missing money on the SOA.

Amount left after debt repayments....... 988

you clearly don't have that much left so it is going somewhere if you put £500 on the cc and are using up the other 488 and then using the cc again(you have big leaks in the SOA)

Go back over 2015 and find out what you really spent and update using that real data as minimum.

car insurance? and car maintenance need to be higher for example.

savings
regular savings standing order.......... 60(actualy 240+)
Help to but ISAs........................ 400

keep the £400 ISA and allocate the other savings on the SOA along with the surplus to emergency fund(missing off the SOA).

as the end of the month anything left goes to overpay the CC

to start budgeting properly you need to look longer term...
eg : Count up the cost of every white good you have and save 20% a year for replacement(this can drop to 10% after a year).

car will need replacing at some point but with only £40 fuel going in do you need one?


The problem you currently have is you are saving money by borrowing it,

solution pay of the debts and save whats left each month if you want to save more cut your spending don't increase your borrowing.

Thank you. I'm now listing everything spent on a spreadsheet daily, so I'll find out where the extra money is going and will then be able make cut backs etc.

We don't do many miles in the car and hopefully it will last several more years.

jenny+luke

Debtslayer wrote: »

How has your hubby got on with Sky?

went quite well with sky, they gave 2 choices, a reduction and being able to keep the package we have now, or changing the package and pay even less. my hubby said told them that he is going to look around before deciding as that means we have to sign up for another 12 months. We are looking at alternatives today.

thanks

Debtslayer

jenny+luke wrote: »

went quite well with sky, they gave 2 choices, a reduction and being able to keep the package we have now, or changing the package and pay even less. my hubby said told them that he is going to look around before deciding as that means we have to sign up for another 12 months. We are looking at alternatives today.

thanks

:T To your hubby


Be careful if you consider signing up for another 12 months. Not sure when you plan to purchase a house but all outgoings aand expenditure will be considered on your mortgage application. So really you want to reduce everything you can before applying for a mortgage so your outgoings are as low as possible

jenny+luke

Debtslayer wrote: »

:T To your hubby


Be careful if you consider signing up for another 12 months. Not sure when you plan to purchase a house but all outgoings aand expenditure will be considered on your mortgage application. So really you want to reduce everything you can before applying for a mortgage so your outgoings are as low as possible

haha thanks debtslayer

realistically we are looking at 2-3 years before we buy. As we are both self-employed, we want a large deposit. We have done well being self-employed, but things could change and we'd be left struggling. If mortgage payments are small because of paying a large deposit then things wont be such a worry.
Once my husband is back at work full time, I'm hoping to save 15-20k per year, depending on how busy we are with work. I've worked out that I could save 10k with just my normal wage if we cut back, reduce sky and figure out where the extra money is being spent. fingers crossed keeping an eye on every penny spent this month will really help

thanks

Filo25

jenny+luke wrote: »

went quite well with sky, they gave 2 choices, a reduction and being able to keep the package we have now, or changing the package and pay even less. my hubby said told them that he is going to look around before deciding as that means we have to sign up for another 12 months. We are looking at alternatives today.

thanks

I don't know how generous the reduction they offered you was, but you will sometimes find that they offer you more if you go ahead and cancel, you have to give them 1 month's notice so can always change your mind at any stage over that time period and reverse the cancellation with no loss of service.

I had to actually go through with the cancellation last year but got a very generous offer a few weeks later, was very much worth it for me as it saved a small fortune.

jenny+luke

Filo25 wrote: »

I don't know how generous the reduction they offered you was, but you will sometimes find that they offer you more if you go ahead and cancel, you have to give them 1 month's notice so can always change your mind at any stage over that time period and reverse the cancellation with no loss of service.

I had to actually go through with the cancellation last year but got a very generous offer a few weeks later, was very much worth it for me as it saved a small fortune.

Thanks, we might do that. that's great that they gave you a great offer. hopefully we'll get one too

Kitten868

Hello!
Saw you on the February eBay thread
My debt busting has taken a different turn since the new year. I have finally put the credit cards away and I'm not using them. Its been tough but it's been really great. I'm more aware of how much I actually have and how far it goes. I love it. Go for it. Any emergencies it's there but you don't. I don't have the PIN numbers for mine. When I money off my account it stays off. Plus my little eBay bits bring it down through the month.
I don't know where you live so I don't know how much deposit you'd need. But I'm guessing if it's in the save 2 buy Isa you have to close it to take money out anyway so leave it where it is.
Do your average SOA for October, November and December. X

ViolaLass

Why not just get rid of the CCs? You can't use them then.

jenny+luke

Kitten868 wrote: »

Hello!
Saw you on the February eBay thread
My debt busting has taken a different turn since the new year. I have finally put the credit cards away and I'm not using them. Its been tough but it's been really great. I'm more aware of how much I actually have and how far it goes. I love it. Go for it. Any emergencies it's there but you don't. I don't have the PIN numbers for mine. When I money off my account it stays off. Plus my little eBay bits bring it down through the month.
I don't know where you live so I don't know how much deposit you'd need. But I'm guessing if it's in the save 2 buy Isa you have to close it to take money out anyway so leave it where it is.
Do your average SOA for October, November and December. X

Hi,

that's good to hear that you are doing well not using your CCs. I've taken them out of my purse and left them in my bedroom. I'm using them unless I absolutely have to. so far so good

yeah I'm saving maximum amount in help to buy isas so don't want to withdraw it as max over 2 ISAs is £400 per month.

I'm writing everything down and can already see where money is going, will be interesting to do a new SOA at the end of Feb with the real figures

x