SOA - (this may get long, apologies in advance!)

nkkingston

The best way to do a SOA if with all of last month's bank statements in front of you. It can be a sobering experience, but it'll highlight what's going where. For stuff that gets lumped together, like pet food and human food, check receipts.

Check how much data and minutes you actually use on the phones. I was paying for 2GB and only using 500MB; cut my phone bill from £22 to £7.50. iPhones are notorious for being oversold on data; most people are paying for more than double what they need. Even if you're nowhere near the end of the contact, it's worth ringing up and asking what they can do for you - they'd rather you pay less than stop paying, after all, especially if you're still covering the right costs.

Ditch Sky. You can get phone and internet cheaper separately, and a subscription to Amazon Prime or Netflix will give you plenty to watch (Prime were doing a deal recently where the first 6 months were free for students, so check that out!).

If your families' teeth are basically fine and you're all just getting check ups, cancel the dental insurance for a year. You can can always restart it next year in time for your next check ups, and in the meantime you'll have saved £120+. Similarly, with the optical bills, if you wear contact consider swapping to glasses to save money - you can get them online so much cheaper than in the shops (like, hundreds of pounds cheaper).

You have nothing under fun apart from the TV, which I'm skeptical about. You never see a film, or eat out, or have any hobbies whatsoever? If you don't include them you can't budget for them, and then you'll trip yourself up further down the line.

TrushTush

I am doing a degree in my spare time, so no, no 'fun' no cinema etc, apart from swimming once a week with the kids at £5. No hobbies, used to horse ride but since moving I no longer have my ride so that's out. Used to go to choir but no time at this posting

I am a forces child myself so I know the options, my daughter is at boarding school because she needs to be there.

Sky / phone / internet is tied in to contract for 10 more months, phones are on their lowest, I use a lot of data so mine is on unlimited, I only just stay within my limit for text and calls , we are rural and thus limited on who we can go with (only O2 actually works and most expensive, currently with Three which doesn't work at home, but I have wifi at home so don't need it to) and on that note, we do also have Netflix which I am about to cancel as we have exhausted it and the kids mostly watch YouTube!

There is no NHS dentist within reasonable distance here, I have work that needs doing so cannot risk leaving it sadly. The dental plan is just for me.
Husbands contact lens scheme is non negotiable as he hates wearing his glasses (and is always doing phys so they're not practical for him) I however wear my glasses and only replace when they break or my prescription changes.

(Sorry for garbled points, I'm on my phone so scrolling up and down!)

Again, thank you for help.
I have an assignment due but if I catch up I will go through bank statements tonight.
I have done my bank statements but things aren't at 'normal' levels and sometimes were a family of 5 sometimes 4, sometimes more so I have set that as a what I want as a maximum rather than what we actually spend. If I have time tonight I will go through every expenditure.

TrushTush

I know I need to look at the 2 house insurances and find when they are due for renewal. The buildings has just been on auto renew since we bought the house... And the contents has been the same policy since I was in the forces, just added to when I got married etc.
Definitely need to get a bit proactive with that

Smodlet

Wish I could help but you seem to be way ahead of me, Tush. You already know auto-renew is a no-no. If you find it difficult to get around to things like that, maybe try thinking of them as work. You spend the time and effort (not that much, after all, for house insurance) and then you get paid, in savings.

Check out the comparison tools on here; you may well get freebies as well as saving money. Got £70 worth of Amazon vouchers last year, and the year before as the second year the insurer's customer service people (three different ones) made a mistake; I told 'em it was for new customers only, they swore blind it was not... it was but I got 'em because of the wrong info they gave me. Oh, well.

Something for you to look forward to, rather than a chore, hm?

cms-help

Whilst there aren't rules forbidding debt when you're in the armed forces (we're a serving family), it does need to be manageable and could certainly cause issues if your husband ever needed advanced security clearances (I assume on that salary he is an officer).

A few questions.....I apologise if I have missed them.

Is your degree full-time?
You have a mortgage but do you not receive rent from the property?
How many children and what age as your shopping is really high? We are a family of 4, still have nappies to buy and spend around £350 a month in Tesco.
What's "home insurance kit and contents" for, as opposed to the other home insurance entry?

TrushTush

cms-help wrote: »

Whilst there aren't rules forbidding debt when you're in the armed forces (we're a serving family), it does need to be manageable and could certainly cause issues if your husband ever needed advanced security clearances (I assume on that salary he is an officer).

A few questions.....I apologise if I have missed them.

Is your degree full-time?
You have a mortgage but do you not receive rent from the property?
How many children and what age as your shopping is really high? We are a family of 4, still have nappies to buy and spend around £350 a month in Tesco.
What's "home insurance kit and contents" for, as opposed to the other home insurance entry?

As explained, is absolutely manageable debt, we are well within our limits, however due to family's circumstances we need up buy a new property and so need to free up space for a bigger mortgage.
No rent as bought house cheap off the family living in it. One insurance is buildings insurance for the mortgaged house, the kit and contents is for our quarter.

Not officer wages, I also work full time so it's both our wages combined. Hubby is already cleared up to top secret, our debt does not impact his job at all because we have never missed payments etc and are careful with what we get and from where etc. I'm an ex adminer so am very aware of it all

Degree is part time around full time work, family of 5, the budget of £500 is for all cleaning, food and pet food but sometimes we're over, sometimes we're under, to be honest that was more of a 'what I want to spend, max' kind of budget.

cms-help

TrushTush wrote: »

As explained, is absolutely manageable debt, we are well within our limits, however due to family's circumstances we need up buy a new property and so need to free up space for a bigger mortgage.
No rent as bought house cheap off the family living in it. One insurance is buildings insurance for the mortgaged house, the kit and contents is for our quarter.

Not officer wages, I also work full time so it's both our wages combined. Hubby is already cleared up to top secret, our debt does not impact his job at all because we have never missed payments etc and are careful with what we get and from where etc. I'm an ex adminer so am very aware of it all

Degree is part time around full time work, family of 5, the budget of £500 is for all cleaning, food and pet food but sometimes we're over, sometimes we're under, to be honest that was more of a 'what I want to spend, max' kind of budget.

I'm sorry, you've lost me. When you posted earlier, you said that your rent came out of husband's wages along with council tax etc so I assumed you were living in a married quarter.

Are you saying you own another property but no one lives it in so you don't receive any rental income?

I can't see how you can trim that much off your budget (it's already £200 over a month) to afford a bigger mortgage.

When will your childcare decrease? Are all children at school?

It won't make a massive difference but both your home insurances are very expensive. We pay £31 a month for buildings and contents and that's with a £400k build cost and unlimited contents insurance. It would be a lot cheaper if we didn't have unlimited contents insurance.

TrushTush

Yes, we do live in a quarter, (hence my response about the contents insurance and our rent etc coming out at source) and own a house that other members of family live in.

Smodlet

Just a thought, Tush, though you've probably already found them, Old Style Money saving thread and, if you have the time, some of the debt-free diaries have some amazing ideas for cutting your grocery bill. Downright ingenious, some of 'em.

Another thought: Money is tight largely because you help your family; if you have a family you want to help, you are rich in ways more important than money.

Cheers.

TrushTush

Smodlet wrote: »

Just a thought, Tush, though you've probably already found them, Old Style Money saving thread and, if you have the time, some of the debt-free diaries have some amazing ideas for cutting your grocery bill. Downright ingenious, some of 'em.

Another thought: Money is tight largely because you help your family; if you have a family you want to help, you are rich in ways more important than money.

Cheers.

Thank you, I will definitely have a look.

And I know, family is very important to us, which is why we want to get this sorted in order to look after them. We are very lucky, as are our children

Thank you again xx