SOA, what am I missing? Anyone help?!!!

Dumb_Blonde_3

Hi there - when you do your food shopping try using the brands own label - huge savings and as we know some of the products are exactly the same - your just paying for the fancy packaging - I do this and end up with more in my trolley BUT with a smaller bill at the check out.

SarahNeedle1872

Hi Nelmer, welcome to the boards.... not much to add to whats already been said except the hippo for ur loo...... I've got 3 used shampoo bottles full of stones sat in my cistern atm as I have a v slimline (and old!) cistern. U could use anything tho, a squash bottle or two. As long as u weight it down....

Sarah x

Nelmer

Thank you so much to everybody for their help.

I did the snowball calculator last week and we are using that to pay off our debts better.
We have monthly plans for gas, elec and water.
After bleeding all the radiators on the weekend it looks like the boiler may need a service and hopefully that might reduce the gas usage as well.
I make either a packed lunch for everyone everyday or hubby and I take soup to work as we both have the luxury of a microwave.
I'm going to invest in a slow cooker this week, have worked out menu's for the whole week and ordered my shopping last night (only £70! whooo!, step in the right direction).
Been doing daily click since the beginning of Nov, have reasonable balances on the 5 I do (moneybackmadness, free fivers, topcashback, pigsback and quidco) because of christmas shopping through them and sign up bonuses. Should be able to cash most of them out after Christmas and pay some money off the egg card.

My mission for this week is to reduce our Virgin bill and work on reducing the shopping bill more!!

Thanks for all your help everyone.

itsnever2lateisit?

Did you speak to Virgin Media?

As you have Broadband with them do you really need the phone as well? IMO thats paying twice for the same thing Take a look at the phone element of your bill as Virgin are among the most expensive for call charges, VOIP would save quite a bit on this, costing not much more than £35 a year provided you calls are not all to mobiles. Check out the telephones board, posts from Heinz and BexTech are particularly enlightening

lunar

Hi nelmer, well done for posting your soa, and having your lbm. If you are posting on ebay it might be wise to get as much sone before christmas as you can, as after things dont sell as well for a couple of months.

Keep on posting on here you will get so much support, good luck in your debt free journy. you could also have a look at some of the challenges, they can be really motivating.

GeorgeUK

Nelmer - i'd have a word with a mortgage advisor at the bank.

You could probably have saved quite a bit if you got the ex off the mortgage before, but is still worth looking into a new mortgage. She is not owed half the value of the house, but half the equity value (value of house minus outstanding mortgage)
This site might help http://www.divorceuk.com/pages/calculator/costform.php

chevalier

Nelmer wrote: »

Thanks chevalier.

Mortgage is repayment, ex-wife's name is still on the house and mortgage at the moment. She was paying half the mortgage as her contribution to the kids 'up keep' but she stopped when i moved in but is refusing to remove her name from the house until we buy her out (she's not lived here for 10 years, not paid any mortgage payments or child support for 4 and wants us to give her half the current value of the house!!!!!)

Much food for thought, thanks for looking

This does not seem reasonable. I guess you can either let this carry on or else threaten her with the CSA to get her to pay some support. If you did this would she then let you change mortgage companies? She should be paying something surely for her children?

Nelmer

Thanks GeorgeUK, will take a look at that site in more detail later.

Chevalier, she should be paying something for her children but she now has 2 other children (under 5) and has been a single mum since the summer....and likes to play this card at every possible opportunity. This is why all this is taking so long (2 1/5 years to be precise) and her/her solicitors spend ages replying to our letters and every time they do something has changed and she can no longer do this or that needs to be considered etc etc etc. And some of the suggestions that her solicotrs write, I'm surprised they do it and don't just advise her to save he money and make reasonable suggestions. She doesn't realise that all she's doing is depriving her children. We are taking a decision, with our solicitor, in the new year to the best course of action....keep negotiating or take her straight to court....watch this space!!!!

Thanks for your help.

Nelmer

Grrrr:mad: took the advice given and reduced our Virgin Media package down to £30. Got the most recent bill in yesterday (still on old tarif) and my oh so lovely step-ds has spent £40 on ringing his girlfriend on her mobile as he 'ran out of credit on his mobile'. Aaarrrggghhh I could kill him.....the whole £50 I've managed to save so far in Nov is now going to mainly go on paying for that. Oooooo he better stay out of my way for the near future!

On the upside I will save £40 a month on our Virgin bill and hubby is now on a mission to find that BT line (which is probably in the wall in our newly decorated living room ) and reviewed our latest electricity bill, gave exact readings for the gas and electric and we are waaaaay in credit with the electric so have reduced the monthly amount by £10 and got £100 refund (of the £250 credit) so a bit more to go off hubby's egg card and slightly less out each month

thanks for looking

Kevicho

Nelmer wrote: »

Hi Stunty, thanks - Hubby doesn't mind...in his words "if someone else is doing it it saves me bothering"!!!!!!

Can i just point out 1 thing (before my dinner break finishes )

Your hubbie should be involved in this, if you have a partner this all becomes more easier when working as a team, and also it helps avoid arguments if one doesnt "get it".

I think you should both read through this thread, even if just to show him that this can be done, and it is in all your interests to work as a team on this one.

Also get the kids involved