Tight budget and debt free aim

indesisiv

EssexHebridean wrote: »

To be honest it's high even if that is the case - we're on storage heaters and we pay under £40 a month on electric & gas (gas for cooking only). OP may need to check the settings are correct on the Economy Seven as if the heaters are charging on the day rate this may be why. Also check your utility company have your readings the right way round if you're getting abnormally high bills on an E7 meter.

I don't know what it costs for just elec as I have gas central heating. Although I pay £40 a month in total for gas and elec.

But year it is high either way.

pjcox2005

theboakster wrote: »

Is it worth struggling through this next 2 years to be debt free? Or maybe should I accept a little slack, put in some fun money/contingency money and be debt free from mid-2019?

I would say this depends on how disciplined you are with savings (i.e. will you not touch them).


If you do have discipline, then I suggest going hard early at the debt to clear the Next given high interest, then at that point go back to minimum payments on the 0% cards making sure you are saving what you would have paid to a credit card into savings account.


Will mean you earn interest c.5% at Nationwide say, so it will mean you reduce debt quicker, gives access to money if an issue happens or you are struggling with tightness of budget and probably puts you in the habit of having an emergency fund.


If you don't have discipline and would spend any savings, then I'd probably just pay off the cards as quickly as you can.

theboakster

Thanks all - great advice!

Re the comments about Electro Hyper Sensitivity... that's a long conversation that is actually not really relevant here. It's not something I can change, so let's just focus on the money stuff that I have some control over.

I like the idea of a built in answerphone, will try that.
Losing the car and cycling is sounding more and more like a good option!
Yes, we are electric only - 3 bed semi, up on a hill, not sure how good insulation is as it's an old farm cottage (we rent). We have storage heaters (only 2), dishwasher, tumble dryer, washing machine, cooker that probably use a fair bit. I also work from home so at this time of year have lights on all day, plus use cooker/kettle/washer in day too. I've swapped provider each year. It's just gone up by about £20.... so I could swap again potentially.

I am not disciplined with savings at all, so I think maybe going hard on the cards is the best option.

Thanks everyone for your help!

nkkingston

If you have storage heaters you should be on economy 7, and if you're on economy 7 you should make the effort to only run dishwasher, washing machine etc at night (I'd normally include the tumble dryer, but with current news I can see why that's off putting - just try to avoid running it in general where you can!). If the machines don't have built in timers look for plugs with timers, or just set the running as part of your bedtime routine so at least some of the time is on the cheap rate. The only way to really save with the cooker is to get into your one pot dishes, so you don't need to have the oven and hob on at the same time!

fatbelly

nkkingston wrote: »

If you have storage heaters you should be on economy 7, and if you're on economy 7 you should make the effort to only run dishwasher, washing machine etc at night (I'd normally include the tumble dryer, but with current news I can see why that's off putting - just try to avoid running it in general where you can!). If the machines don't have built in timers look for plugs with timers, or just set the running as part of your bedtime routine so at least some of the time is on the cheap rate. The only way to really save with the cooker is to get into your one pot dishes, so you don't need to have the oven and hob on at the same time!

I agree with this.

I run washing machine, dishwasher, dehumidifiers at night and try to get up promptly and use the shower and kettle before the meter switches over!

EssexHebridean

Yep - another one here on E7 who uses everything possible overnight. Timeswitches are an ace idea - we use one on the dishwasher and another to switch the bathroom heater on and then off again before the meter switches over! MrEH has also set the kettle up on one so on weekdays that boils on the cheap rate too! :rotfl:

As and when the clocks change things like showering in the morning become that much more easy - get to know the times your meter changes as that means you know whether by getting up just 5 minutes earlier you can grab a cheap shower, for example.

Kettles are total energy guzzlers. Have you got a flask? If so, boil a full kettle first thing when you make your first cuppa of the day, and pour the remaining water into the flask. Then each subsequent drinks you make you just pour the right amount of water into the kettle from the flask and it boils in no time.

enthusiasticsaver

theboakster wrote: »

We could get an add-on answerphone, yes, but it wouldn't save much.
I will be phoning BT to find out more about packages, but I don't hold out too much hope with them... I have tried that before, but I shall try again!

He doesn't pay it against the business but he should. But I can't really ask him to give me more money because he already pays for stuff I can't afford. We work on the basis where we keep our finances separate, so basically pay for 50% of everything each, except that at the moment I don't earn as much as he does so he kindly pays for stuff like car maintenance, holiday, extra food/meals out.

You say he pays for stuff you can't afford but meals out, holidays etc are all luxuries and you seem to be paying for all essentials. That is not a fair way of sorting out bill payments especially if you earn less. You pay for half the rent, all the council tax, electric and phone and Internet. Technically he should be paying at least half of this (more of phone bill as it is for his business). Then you would have spare money to pay off your debt plus the odd fun treat and spare money to save an emergency fund. I would say your OH needs to stump up his fair share of the essentials and get rid of the car you don't use.

ani*fan

Hi there

Just a thought about the car situation. I got rid of mine at the end of 2014 after having been a car owner for more than 15 years. I thought the world would come to an end but I just wanted to give it a go on the understanding that if things were unmanageable I'd get another one.

I have never looked back or regretted it for even a moment.

Some of the things I do are:

Walk to work and other places, meetings and stuff, during my working day. I walk on average 20 miles a week. I have never been fitter in all my life.

Cycle to change it up a bit. Biking is good fun on a nice day.

Catch the occasional bus if the weather is truly dreadful and I just can't be bothered.

Use Co-wheels cars when I need to visit the relatives or take the cats to the cattery. This is a community enterprise they may have in your area, run by the council, where you sign up and receive a card. The cars are parked all over the place, you book one online (it's cheap) and then collect it using your card. Hassle free and no responsibility for maintaining the car. Perfect.

I hope to never own a car again and think I even underestimated the massive savings I have made. Also the headache of booking mots, getting insurance quotes, worrying about break downs, parking tickets etc. It really has transformed my life.

If I were you I'd give it a go. Set a time limit, if you hate it buy another car. But I suspect you won't.

theboakster

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

You say he pays for stuff you can't afford but meals out, holidays etc are all luxuries and you seem to be paying for all essentials. That is not a fair way of sorting out bill payments especially if you earn less. You pay for half the rent, all the council tax, electric and phone and Internet. Technically he should be paying at least half of this (more of phone bill as it is for his business). Then you would have spare money to pay off your debt plus the odd fun treat and spare money to save an emergency fund. I would say your OH needs to stump up his fair share of the essentials and get rid of the car you don't use.

No, we pay 50% - I pay the bills, but I take his 50% of bills off the rent payment.

But yup, getting rid of car sounds like a great idea

theboakster

ani*fan wrote: »

Hi there

Just a thought about the car situation. I got rid of mine at the end of 2014 after having been a car owner for more than 15 years. I thought the world would come to an end but I just wanted to give it a go on the understanding that if things were unmanageable I'd get another one.

I have never looked back or regretted it for even a moment.

Some of the things I do are:

Walk to work and other places, meetings and stuff, during my working day. I walk on average 20 miles a week. I have never been fitter in all my life.

Cycle to change it up a bit. Biking is good fun on a nice day.

Catch the occasional bus if the weather is truly dreadful and I just can't be bothered.

Use Co-wheels cars when I need to visit the relatives or take the cats to the cattery. This is a community enterprise they may have in your area, run by the council, where you sign up and receive a card. The cars are parked all over the place, you book one online (it's cheap) and then collect it using your card. Hassle free and no responsibility for maintaining the car. Perfect.

I hope to never own a car again and think I even underestimated the massive savings I have made. Also the headache of booking mots, getting insurance quotes, worrying about break downs, parking tickets etc. It really has transformed my life.

If I were you I'd give it a go. Set a time limit, if you hate it buy another car. But I suspect you won't.

Thank you SO much! This is exactly what I need to hear!!