Help please! SOA Included

lopsyfa

Willing2Learn wrote: »

I recommend to continue saving money in your EF. It is so important to have an EF, so that you can cope with the unknown emergencies that WILL crop up from time to time. It means you will have the money available instead of having to spend on a card...

I agree with Willing2Learn, you need the emergency fund to cope with any emergency so you are not forced to take loan at exorbitant rates.

La_escocesa

Hello,

I know it's just a minor thing but your child benefit is paid 4 weekly so you get 13 payments a year, making your monthly amount a whopping £89.70

Iwantanewlife

La_escocesa wrote: »

Hello,

I know it's just a minor thing but your child benefit is paid 4 weekly so you get 13 payments a year, making your monthly amount a whopping £89.70

Hey! My bank says £82.80? or is this me being really silly!

I got a letter from child benefit people the other month, saying that i may have this reduced due to my income being over the threshold, i had to fill in a form but haven't heard anything back yet!

La_escocesa

Sorry I wasn't clear, I just mean that you get £82.80 every 4 weeks, which is £1076.40 a year (13 payments). If you divide this by 12 to get the monthly equivalent amount it would be £89.70.

Iwantanewlife

La_escocesa wrote: »

Sorry I wasn't clear, I just mean that you get £82.80 every 4 weeks, which is £1076.40 a year (13 payments). If you divide this by 12 to get the monthly equivalent amount it would be £89.70.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Haha, of course! i'm sorry, Friday afternoon, after a long week, my mind is running particularly slow!!!

La_escocesa

:rotfl: Well there you go, Friday afternoon and an extra £7 in the soa - is going to be a good weekend.

ditty1234

Hi Iwantanewlife I am impressed with your SOA and determination, since you might be able to pay off your debt within about a year, not mentioning the interest, you might be able to cut your clothing and holiday fund for a while while you work on that 89% loan, any penny you kick on there will save you in interest. From what I can work out the interest is about £100 a month, so if you're only paying 90 you're not paying it down.
I might also call them and tell them that they are ridiculous charging 89%, and see if you can get the interest down.
Use a loan calculator to motivate you. You could even bust it for 4 month, then check your options for transfer cards/normal bank loan. Banks like when you can make a budget and stick with it.
Best of luck,

PurpleFairy26

If your total income (including company benefits like a car ) are over £50k a year your child benefit will start to reduce and you'll have to pay back at year end the difference. Once your income gets to £60k you can choose to either not be paid it or get paid it and pay it back at year end. Worth calculating and putting the money aside if this does apply so you don't have to find it down the line.

I know you have some debt on a high rate, but you are in a good place with having a reasonable SOA with a small surplus at the end. This will evolve over time as things change and you get better at budgeting so don't think you need to stick to what you've written if things change as you learn.

Iwantanewlife

Thank you all so much!

I’ve just started my diary to keep my motivated. Already realised that my £50 food budget is too high and I can actually do it comfortable, with meal planning for £40!

The loan is a nightmare, but I only have myself to blame, so I am going to have to work very hard to get it down! I’m determined to throw every bit of spare money at it, and from there, I will never be so stupid again!!

katsu

Because your loan interest rate is 89%, I would be tempted to save less into the emergency fund and throw everything at that debt.

That gets you debt free fastest.

It's a personal decision and depends what emergencies you might face and how you might deal with them. If you have a way of paying an unexpected bill like a broken washing machine and it doesn't cost 89% APR then mathematically it makes sense to focus on overpaying that loan.

Find out if you can pay it off early and what they will charge you/can you make monthly overpayments etc?

In terms of other tips....

It's small stuff but use Top Cashback or Quidco when shopping online and renewing insurance etc. For receipts from regular shops install Receipt Hog and Shoppix on your phone. Might get about £100 a year from them. Shopmium is an app that gives you free items/cashback on specific groceries. Free jar of nutella if you sign up with a referral code.

Maybe sign up for survey sites like swagbucks etc - see forum tips here - and you can get vouchers from then that can reduce your Christmas spends.

Hope these ideas help.