Have i done the right thing

calleyw

carlos700 wrote: »

HI i am on the package of 3 for £30 with virgin media but somehow i keep having to pay extra for the phone because it is only local numbers which are free.The bill always seems to be around £50-£60 per month so i will have to watch this .

I pay an extra £3.99 (as I have the 3 for £30 but husband pays his own mobile bill)and I get free local and national calls e.g 01 and 02 numbers for free all evening and weekends as well.

But on the standard package it is local and national calls at weekends only.

Of course calls to mobiles and 0845 etc are charged for.

In your food budget does that included nappies etc. I only included what can be eaten and drunk in my food budget. Alcohol etc comes from own budgets.


All the best.


Yours


Calley

chevalier

CREDIT CARDS mbna £2600 -0% FOR 6 MONTHS (LIMIT £3000)

TSB balance -£2900 -16.6 % apr -(limit £15000)

M & S-balance £2500 -apr 7.9 for life (limit £4500)


debehams store card £239 APR 26.4 %
ARGOS £221 -27.9% apr
next balance £262

You mention that you will be getting £4000 I would pay off the debenhams, argos, and next balances first (very high apr). AND THEN CUT UP THE CARDS and throw away the Next directory. (If you must buy next then there is loads of Next on ebay that is much cheaper). Also actually close the accounts.

This would leave you with £3278 left. I would then pay off the TSB balance as this is the next highest apr. And cut up the card of courseThis would leave you with £378. This I would put in a separate account to help you pay for Christmas so that it doesn't get put on the cards. Then close the TSB account. Having 4 less lines of credit (the storcards plus TSB) will start to improve your credit score, or else maintain it at a relatively high level.

Next I would look at the terms and conditions for the loans and see if you can overpay any of them without penalty. If any of them can be then I would put what you will save not paying out monthly on the store accounts/ credit card, onto the loan. This will save you a lot of interest in the long run.

I think someone else has already mentioned the snowball calculator. It is a good motivator when you see how adding a bit extra into a repayment, save you x amount in interest:D .

Other than that there are lots of sites on the web that pay you in points or money to take surveys or do searches. It builds up over time and can be a welcome addition to your bank balance.

I echo another poster about mystery shopping. Some can be done at lunch times so no little uns. And some are even to fun houses for little ones.

Best of luck
chev

PS I feed two adults 2 children and 2 cats on £250 a month, and we eat well.

carlos700

I would just like to thank everyone for your kind advice it is excellent i will pay off all my store cards ,i have not actually spent on them for years but i always just pay the min payment so i have had them ages .The next storecard i do spend on it when the sales are on i just can not help myself as i said before i am a compulsive spender but i am trying .I will then pay off TSB i did not realise the APR was so high with this one .
Thanks very much hopefully with a bit of juggling i can sort things out .