Here we go Lupus Lou....

Lupus_Lou

Our debts have fallen by approx £7k over recent months without any effort, just by making regular monthly payments on our mortgage and secured loan, however that 2% fall is not enough, we need to up our game.
Husband isn't really worried about debts to the degree that I am, he believes debts and credit cards are necessary if not desirable.
We have a good income but that hides £60k debt across credit cards and repayments of £1430 per month, as well as £2300 on the mortgage and secured loan.
I am thinking of doing a SOA but decided to monitor our spending for a month to see just where the money is going.
I have already made a few money saving changes
-scrapped WW subscription, I have lost 21lb and put on 18lb over the 2 year duration of my £21.50 monthly subscription
-cancelled my £22.50 monthly DD to the national lottery
- switched to metered charges on the water bills, looks like we're saving around £110 per year
- renewed the BT contract and paying £12 less each month

I need to do some work on our gas/ electricity supplier and check our monthly outgoings to look for other "shavings".
I am also not averse to cooking and think there's a money saving food board on here so will look for that and see what I can save on food expenditure.
I also need to cut down my weekly spend on wine, currently in the region of £50-60 :eek:

In the meantime, any advice or support would be appreciated.

Lou

SOA on page 2

Willing2Learn

Lupus_Lou wrote: »

I am thinking of doing a SOA BUT decided to monitor our spending for a month to see just where the money is going.

It is good that you have realised there is a problem with your budget and spending patterns. Just make sure you log every single expense (including coffee in a coffee shop or the odd chocolate bar and definitely the occasional bottle of wine). I started a spending diary where everything was logged. That made it easy to complete the SOA. Also, I suggest checking bank and credit card statement too (for the previous year) as this will help identify other additional SOA costs that need to be accounted for.


Oh yeah, and another place where funds are often leaked are on mobile phone contracts. It is much cheaper to be SIM-only than paying for a contract handset.

beanielou

Happy shiny new diary

zcrat41

Happy new diary!

Lupus_Lou

I have been looking through some other diaries and pinching ideas.

Rule #1 I leave my purse at work.
I am only 10 mins drive from work so if anything urgent comes up all I would need to do is phone OH to drop it in.

Rule #2 packed lunches all the way.
No more nipping out at lunchtime and buying a sandwich or salad, not possible anyway if the purse is at home.

Rule #3 Draft a weekly meal plan with input from the family
OH is retired and is more than happy to cook the evening meal, as long as I tell him what to cook.
When he asks I usually just tell him not to bother and I will pick up ready meals on the way home. £20+ later...I get home

Off to bed soon and will hopefully have more ideas in the morning

Lou

Lupus_Lou

Quick check in (QCI)

I have just done some quick sums and we are spending £3791 per month servicing our debt.:eek::eek::eek:
That's around 70% of our monthly income and doesn't include utilities, C tax etc
There is no real scope to increase our monthly income so we have to go on the offensive and do some radical cost cutting.
I will do some more digging around the boards today and see where some efficiencies can be made.
Sunday lunch is going to be a pre cooked chicken which was yellow stickered in M&S yesterday, reduced from £6 to £1.82. I just need to decided what to do with it

beanielou

That is a lot of every month to service your debts.
Hope you can find lots of ways to cut down in other ways.

Willing2Learn

Lupus_Lou wrote: »

There is no real scope to increase our monthly income so we have to go on the offensive and do some radical cost cutting.

An idea re extra income:

Depending on how diligent I am, I earn between £100-£200 per month doing online surveys and market research. It is easy money if you have the time...

Lupus_Lou

Willing2Learn wrote: »

An idea re extra income:

Depending on how diligent I am, I earn between £100-£200 per month doing online surveys and market research. It is easy money if you have the time...

Thanks for the suggestion, is there a thread anywhere with details?

I started doing YouGov yonks ago but only have around 1200 points even though I do every survey I am offered.

Willing2Learn

You'll find all the threads in the Boost Your Income board.

The MSE article that started me going was the Top 23 Online Survey Sites
Get paid cash for surveys & market research

I recommend PopulusLive and Prolific Academic as good places to start out. YouGov takes a lifetime to build up the points...

Buffythedebtslayer

Willing2Learn wrote: »

An idea re extra income:

Depending on how diligent I am, I earn between £100-£200 per month doing online surveys and market research. It is easy money if you have the time...

That is impressive!

Hi Lupus Lou

just saying hello and good luck

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