Im Starting In Jan 2008!!!!

Jeeves1983

Hi everyone again and thanks for all your replies. Here is my SOA as requested. My wife is suggesting we go extreme on our bills and see if we can afford £1000 per month. Snowball Calculator says we will be clear of debt, bar friends and family by April 2009. Anybody agree thats possible?

Money in:
My wages: £1100pm
Wife's Wages: £833.33pm
Rent from Brother: £100pm
Child Benefit: £120 every 4 weeks
Child Tax Credit: £25 pw

Money Out:

Virgin CC: £50pm
Vanquis CC: £23pm
Capital1 CC: £23pm
HSBC Managed Loan: £155pm
Provident Loan: £50pm
Fuel: £160pm
Fags: £70pm
Gas/Elec: £50pm
TV: £12
Car Insurance: £46pm
Life Insurance: £18pm
BT Phone: £60pm
BT Broadband: £18pm
Mobile Phone: £20pm PAYG
Mum: £30pm
Friends: £50pm
Food and Supplies: £300pm inc kids nappies

Thats all i think. If anybody else can think of anything ill update it asap.

Lemon_Tree

heavens how many are there of us from Ipswich or surrounding areas?

Good luck, i'm sure you will be able to manage your challenge. I a, also facing some lean times ahead but i wish i'd faced the challenge as you are before i bought my place. Looking forward to hearing more of your story

millionaire_in_training

Money in:
My wages: £1100pm
Wife's Wages: £833.33pm
Rent from Brother: £100pm
Child Benefit: £120 every 4 weeks
Child Tax Credit: £25 pw Approx £2200 per calendar month

Money Out:

Virgin CC: £50pm
Vanquis CC: £23pm
Capital1 CC: £23pm
HSBC Managed Loan: £155pm
Provident Loan: £50pm
Fuel: £160pm this is huge !! can you reduce this?
Fags: £70pm ahem!!
Gas/Elec: £50pm
TV: £12
Car Insurance: £46pm
Life Insurance: £18pm
BT Phone: £60pm Again this is high. Can you get a cheaper deal combining broadband, mobiles etc
BT Broadband: £18pm
Mobile Phone: £20pm PAYG
Mum: £30pm
Friends: £50pm
Food and Supplies: £300pm inc kids nappies get over to old style and try and cut this

[/quote]

You are in a good position to clear this lot nice and quickly. Take it from an oldie you dont want to be sitting here at 40 with a lot more debt and still struggling. Go for it and good luck x

themaccas

Hi Jeeves, welcome to MSE and DFW, my OH is in the forces too and I know what you mean about wanting to leave married quarters!

We have managed to drastically reduce our debts and hope to have it all cleared by early next year but it's not easy. You sound like you have your OH on board which is fantastic, your soa doesn't look too bad but your BT seems really high! We are with BT and get basic calls/line rental/broadband (8gb) for a monthly payment of £40, there are many other phone/broadband providers that will do it even cheaper and it may be worth looking into. The other obvious is the fags (sorry........) not sure if you want to quit or not but the savings will certainly stack up if you do.
Can you make the provi the first debt to go? 65% is a joke and they are known vultures, picking off this debt, Cap One and Vanquis will really give you a boost.

Anyhow good luck keep posting, we're all here to cheer you on!

themaccas

As regards fuel, if the OP is in a married quarter that has an old heating system and uses oil then this will be about right!!

lindsaygalaxy

Hi and welcome.

Im just wondering why your brother is only paying you rent pf £100 per month? Im not sure rental prices in your area but if this includes his rooms and bills then he is probably costing you more in food/utilities than to not have him there?

Otherwise agree with above. You sound very determind and I think you should set yourself a shorter date to push yourself more. Look at quidco for insurances to get cashback, and mystery shopping sites even if it just means a free meal out! Plus pigsback for free vouchers.

LJD1_2

Hiya Jeeves
I hope you feel a bit better now you've got it all on paper. I know when I wrote it down it felt like a weight off my shoulders. If you do want to quit smoking it might be worth putting that £70 a month into the snowball calculator to see how much quicker you could be debt free - might be the inspiration you need.

Good luck with everything xx

Jeeves1983

I will do. Actually having him here was a way of helping him recover from a bad marriage and to help him clear debts too. We are thinking of charging him more. But in all seriousness i think £1000 month is about max, depending on circumstances of course. Dont want to leave ourselves with nothing if an emergency arrises

Homework

If you are brave put the £70 cigarette money on the 'Demotivator' which is in the Step by Step guides just above the 1st post on this page.

Well done on taking your first steps to get this over with and move on. Same as everyone else's advice, increase your income where you can, decrease your expenditure where you can and try your hardest to clear the debt so that you can enjoy the rest of your lives.

Good luck

Jeeves1983

It comes to £840 per year for my fags or £37,800 during my working life. Ouch!!!
We are going to try. We will also increase how much we pay off after payrises and bonuses and such. Apparently my HSBC loan won't take a reduction in payments. the problem here is that when i max out the payment and something crops up and i can't afford it, im in the doo doo house!!!