Ferretts Debt Diary

ferrett

Income :

£1,800 Net. pcm

Outgoings :

£515 Rent
£225 Car loan (Bal £12,000 , 68 x £225 at 9.3%)
£400 Credit Card - Virgin (Bal £4,000, 10.9%)
£30 Credit Card - Barclaycard (Bal £1,025, 0%) (min payment)
£30 Credit Card - HBOS (Bal £180, 6.9%)

£120 Council Tax
£12 Tv Licence
£40 TV/Phone/Broadband
£50 Gas
£35 Electricity
£200 Food
£12 Cinema
£40 Bus
£50 Food @ Work

Good Points:
- £250 savings pcm in company share schemes, first of which is due to mature in March for c£4k
- Just got a new job so my wage has increased

Any tips, observations etc are very welcome.

This is really just to keep me motivated as im on a total budget drive after a holiday and far too many meals out. Obvious points to improve on are the food.

Plan:
1. Move virgin card onto a 0% one as the barclaycard is due to end its 0% operiod in a couple of months.
2. Take food to work and cut out the starbucks
3. Walk back from work every day (its only 20 mins away) saving half my current costs.

LookingAhead

I was going to mention the food at work - so you are onto that already.

Cinema - are you using Orange Wednesdays at all? Is that an option for you? You can get free Orange SIM cards and then split the cost of one ticket with a friend or partner.

£50 gas ever month seems high. Are you in big credit or overpaying for some reason?

How many people in the household? £200 a month is a lot for one person if just you.

If I were in your shoes I would get shot of the HBOS card very much ASAP by paying as much off it as possible whilst the others are on 0% (pay the minimum) then ramp up the payments on the other credit cards once it's gone.

Got dentist fees/birthdays/Christmas savings at all...?

Hope that helps - do elaborate more on how many people you are feeding though as there could be big savings there.

Good luck!

taxi73

Hi and welcome...the ones taht stick out are gas and electric have you done a price comparison?...also phone/tv/broadband seems a bit high are you stuck in a contract?..if not can you find cheaper?...food at work you're already tackling so well done and again if only one person household food is very expensive and you should get single persons council tax...so it would help to let us know how many are in your household..thanks