Sell up and rent - thoughts?

quantumlobster

£75/week for fuel on the school run? It'd be cheaper to book a taxi.

csgohan4

OP if your serious about saving you need to cut back period

I knew someone who just registered at the registry for the marriage took the witnesses to pizza hut afterwards, how's that for money saving. no shame in that. You can have a grand wedding but nothing to show for it except debt.

No need for a BMW, again no shame in having an old banger, drove my ROver 400 for a few years, for something that cost around 1k.

Bossypants

getmore4less wrote: »

2 adults and 2 kids on £50pw is not bad over a year if you nclude the odd trip and a few meals a panto etc.

It's not 'bad', but in OP's position where the family are struggling with debt, it's something which can be cut back quite easily and substantially for a while, until the debt is under control. That doesn't mean nothing fun can ever happen, but some homemade fun may need to take the place of rockclimbing and pub nights for a while. Planning ahead and making use of offers, coupons, etc can make a significant difference as well.

bouicca21

CarpeDave wrote: »

Gas/electricity is on a combined tariff with British Gas, we're paying £185.35 a month and the quarterly bills say we're on track to cover the annual costs at this level. We had a new efficient combi boiler installed in January 2018, so we're not keeping a tank of hot water on standby all the time. We live in a bungalow with a loft conversion, we keep doors closed (and curtains/blinds at night), have a thermostat set to 18C in the day and 16C at night (with half a dozen programs each day of the week, 20C for a couple of hours at breakfast and dinner times), and I've insulated the cupboards surrounding the upstairs rooms with polystyrene board, mirror/bubble wrap sheets, rolls of loft insulation and draught excluders.

I don't heat my place when I'm out. I don't heat it overnight. My combined gas and electric bills are about £50 a month. Your place is obviously bigger but I think you could put a pretty big dent in those heating costs.

Applying for a council tax reassessment sounds like a really good idea; plan on changing to sim only when the contract on the 2nd phone runs out or explore a family deal (the children will be wanting mobiles soon, if they haven't already been clamouring for them).

PYou could cut down a bit on the social/entertainment activities but there's no point making life too tough when there are easier, less painful targets available.

For the next month or two, write down every single penny you both spend. You will then be able to spot just where the easiest cuts can be made.

Good luck.


PS £8k for a wedding and a honeymoon is really good going. And it proves you can budget when you put your mind to it!

AdrianC

CarpeDave wrote: »

I drive a small car transporter for work and bring it home two or three nights a week, which helps.


The mobile phone cost is for two phones: Mine is £43pm for the handset on the Apple 12 month rolling agreement thing plus £27pm with Three for unlimited calls and data. I use it all day for GPS tracking, navigation, job allocation, emails and calls so it has to be powerful and reliable.

Do you work for yourself? If so, then at least that's pre-tax expenditure.

My wife's phone is £49pm, it's halfway through a 24-month contract.

Can you wind the tariff down a bit?

Gas/electricity is on a combined tariff with British Gas, we're paying £185.35 a month

How much of each are you using? When did you last compare tariffs?

lincroft1710

CarpeDave wrote: »

Council tax is hefty, because it's an old big house so has always been one band from the highest bracket. Thinking about it, the previous owners sold half the garden to build the house next door in 2000, so I'll find out about reassessment for our property if that wasn't done at the time. Thank you.

Selling off half of the garden is unlikely to have any effect on the CT band.

CarpeDave

AdrianC wrote: »

Do you work for yourself?

I'm "self employed", as in I work for someone else but they pay me gross. I then do a tax return every April and pay the income tax/NI as required.

Every job I've had for the last 20 years has been on this basis; I haven't been employed with a contract/pay slips/holiday pay/sick pay since the mid-90s. It just seems to be standard in the road haulage industry,

Bossypants

lincroft1710 wrote: »

Selling off half of the garden is unlikely to have any effect on the CT band.

Speak for yourself, I got mine dropped (raised?) two years ago for this exact reason, didn't even have to argue for it. There's no guarantee but it's definitely worth a shot!

AdrianC

CarpeDave wrote: »

I'm "self employed", as in I work for someone else but they pay me gross. I then do a tax return every April and pay the income tax/NI as required.

Every job I've had for the last 20 years has been on this basis; I haven't been employed with a contract/pay slips/holiday pay/sick pay since the mid-90s. It just seems to be standard in the road haulage industry,

Sounds like a shoe-in for IR35...

Red-Squirrel_2

The DFW board guides can't move the thread from here, it needs to be a house buying board guide, does anybody know who they are?

TIA