Time to get cracking

And_we're_off

As the title says its time to get cracking and make some changes in my life. First thing to do is sort my finances. I bought a flat a few years ago. Fast forward a few years and the area is going down hill fast and rife with anti social behaviour. To be able to move I need to make some big changes money wise and to be honest I need some motivation because i'm guilty of feeling like i'm never going to be able to change things. I work in admin which isn't well paid but stuck in a rut - I don't have qualifications or experience in anything else and i'm not a big fan of change, been doing the same job all my life. I don't know how to post an SO....

Incomings £1,500
Outgoings
Mortgage £220
Life insurance £7
House insurance £10
Council tax £70
Water £24
Gas and elec dual fuel £80
Broadband £19
Mobile £24
Tv licence £13
Now films £10
Travel to work £120
Car insurance £40
Car mot and service £21
Car tax £11
Childcare £45 a week
Karate classes £6 a week
Food £450 - I need to meal plan to reduce this, I never come out of a supermarket with just what I went in for
Clothes, hair, christmas, birthdays, holidays - I have no idea. I don't put money away for anything
Saving - nothing (i'm ashamed to say)

Debt £3,000, no idea what rate of interest but its £30 a month interest

Chrystal

Didn't want to read and run so just to say HI and welcome

You've taken the first hard step and I'm sure you'll get lots of advice and encouragement from the lovely people on this board. Stick with it and you'll get there.

DebtFreeDuo

If you wanted to do the full SOA then go here - http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php

It will give you the option to format it for this site and then I believe you copy and paste it here (I think).

I think its very important that you either go over your last few months of bank statements or you start to keep a diary of your spends to find out where your money is going. From the above it really sounds like you're not sure where your money goes so by tracking every penny you will start to see your habits when spending.

£450 on food sounds huge, I'm not sure how many people this is for but if you could just look at halving this area then your debts could be completely paid off in less than 18 months and thats without looking at any other spending.

If you can post a full SOA then we would have more information to give better advice. Your actual bills seem quite low so it looks like that is something that you are already on top of.

Good luck with your journey.