Please help me get on the road to a Debt Free life

lewpster

Right I have finally bitten the bullet and after lurking on and off for a while, I need your help. It has taken a lot for me to do this so please be gentle with me.

Bit of background - my parents have twice bailed me out of debt to the value of £25,000(I have paid back £5,000 before falling pregnant). I still owe them the rest of the money, but before I pay them back I have another series of debts that have crept up since I split with my partner last autumn.

I currently owe:

Virgin Credit Card - [EMAIL="£950@16.9%(but"]£950@16.9%(but[/EMAIL] to go to 29.9% in Jan :mad: )
Nationwide Visa Card - £2,600
Nationwide Overdraft - £2,000
Northern Rock Loan - £1,600
Next - £500

Here is my SOA:

OUTGOINGS:

• Rent £695.00
• Northern Rock Loan £64.09
• Pension £19.97
• Life Assurance £8.46
• TV Licence £10.50
• Contents Insurance £15.00
• Denplan £17.48
• Next £50.00
• Nursery £1,100 but due to rise to £1,400 in Jan
• BT Vision £6.00
• Powergen £60.00
• Mobile £35.00
• Southern Water £25.00
• BT Phone & Internet £40.00
• Council Tax £75.00
• Car Insurance £25.24
• Virgin Credit Card £20.00
• Nationwide Credit Card £75.00

TOTAL - £2,350 ish :eek:

INCOMINGS

• Wages £740(but moving to f/t job in Jan)
• Child Benefit £120.80
• Tax Credits £1,300 ish
• Maintenance £350.00
• Housing Benefit £196.40

TOTAL - £2,700 ish

On paper I have enough money, but I just do not know where it goes. I have not included things like petrol & food at the moment. From 1st Dec I am thinking of withdrawing say £20.00 a week and using that for food. Not sure how much I should allow myself for petrol - maybe £100 a month?

Please can someone help me...... this is really getting me down and however hard I try, I just seem to be fighting a losing battle. I hope to buy a 25% share in a house next year and need to improve my finances before I can hope to get a small mortgage. This will be cheaper in the long run & at least mean I am not paying dead money like I am renting

Thanks for reading

Lewpy xx

chevalier

my comments are in blue

lewpylew wrote: »

I currently owe:

Virgin Credit Card - £950@16.9%(but to go to 29.9% in Jan :mad: )
Nationwide Visa Card - £2,600what are the apr's on these?
Nationwide Overdraft - £2,000
Northern Rock Loan - £1,600
Next - £500

Here is my SOA:

OUTGOINGS:

• Rent £695.00
• Northern Rock Loan £64.09
• Pension £19.97
• Life Assurance £8.46
• TV Licence £10.50
• Contents Insurance £15.00
• Denplan £17.48
• Next £50.00
• Nursery £1,100 but due to rise to £1,400 in Jandoes your employer do the childcare voucher scheme? If they don't be proactive and suggest it, it doesn't cost them anything, except a bit of admin time to run. Obviously your nursery would also have to take them.
• BT Vision £6.00
• Powergen £60.00How big is where you are renting. This is pretty high. Is it the only means of heating? If so check the thermostat is set below 21 degrees centrigrade and save a bit there. Also that nothing is left on standby. I think if you get tax credits you can get 4 free lightbulbs from your energy company, this would save a bit too.
• Mobile £35.00can you down grade this to a lower tariff, or go pay as you go.
• Southern Water £25.00
• BT Phone & Internet £40.00
• Council Tax £75.00Is this with the single persons discount? Also you can apply to pay if over 12 months not 10 to spread the payments a bit.
• Car Insurance £25.24
• Virgin Credit Card £20.00
• Nationwide Credit Card £75.00

TOTAL - £2,350 ish :eek:

INCOMINGS

• Wages £740(but moving to f/t job in Jan)
• Child Benefit £120.80
• Tax Credits £1,300 ishI take it that this will down when you go full time? So you will be no better off?
• Maintenance £350.00
• Housing Benefit £196.40Will you lose this when you go full time too?

TOTAL - £2,700 ish

On paper I have enough money, but I just do not know where it goes. I have not included things like petrol & food at the moment. From 1st Dec I am thinking of withdrawing say £20.00 a week and using that for food. Not sure how much I should allow myself for petrol - maybe £100 a month? Is the £20 for food for you and one child? If yes then it might be ok. Secret is to meal plan what you are having, then make the shopping list from that and only buy this. Saves me a fortune, because to quote another dfw'er 'if its not on the list it's not in the trolley'!

Ref the difference in income and expenditure, start a spending diary where you note down every little thing you buy. You may be surprised where how much that latte habit (me:rolleyes: well it was before I stopped) or paper is costing you a month. Also look back at statments to see where you are shopping as this might point up where this money is going too.

Ref you little one, will she be 3 any time next year, as you then get the 5 free sessions at nursery a week.

Do you have clothes your child has grown out of that you could ebay, or other stuff? How about doing online surveys or click sites. They all add up. There is also pigsback.com (for which there is a whole thread in the freebies forum), where you get vouchers back for points.

hope this is food for thought
chev

Thanks for reading

Lewpy xx

floss2

lewpylew wrote: »

I currently owe:

Virgin Credit Card - £950@16.9%(but to go to 29.9% in Jan :mad: )
Nationwide Visa Card - £2,600 APR?
Nationwide Overdraft - £2,000 APR?
Northern Rock Loan - £1,600 APR?
Next - £500 APR?

Here is my SOA:

OUTGOINGS:

• Rent £695.00
• Northern Rock Loan £64.09
• Pension £19.97
• Life Assurance £8.46
• TV Licence £10.50
• Contents Insurance £15.00
• Denplan £17.48 can you find an NHS dentist?
• Next £50.00
• Nursery £1,100 but due to rise to £1,400 in Jan can you buy childcare vouchers at work?
• BT Vision £6.00 what is this?
• Powergen £60.00 is this both gas & elec?
• Mobile £35.00 can you drop a tariff or go PAYG?
• Southern Water £25.00
• BT Phone & Internet £40.00 can you cut this down?
• Council Tax £75.00 over 10 or 12m?
• Car Insurance £25.24
• Virgin Credit Card £20.00
• Nationwide Credit Card £75.00

TOTAL - £2,350 ish :eek:

INCOMINGS

• Wages £740(but moving to f/t job in Jan) what will your wage be?
• Child Benefit £120.80
• Tax Credits £1,300 ish have you asked for a new figure with your full time wages?
• Maintenance £350.00
• Housing Benefit £196.40 will you still be eligible fot this when you go full time?

TOTAL - £2,700 ish

On paper I have enough money, but I just do not know where it goes. I have not included things like petrol & food at the moment. From 1st Dec I am thinking of withdrawing say £20.00 a week and using that for food. Not sure how much I should allow myself for petrol - maybe £100 a month?

Lewpy xx

Ok, start a spending diary ASAP to find the "missing" money.

Does the little one eat the same as you?
Clothes for the little one? good bundles to be had on Ebay...
Nothing for car road tax / MOT / servicing
How many miles do you do a month? And how many miles do you get to a tank of fuel? And how much does that cost?

Well done for posting..:hello:

Floss x

Dumb_Blonde_3

Your rent seems quite high - is it just you and your little one - can you find somewhere smaller/cheaper to live?

dhassen

is that really how much it costs for childcare????????????????? :O

lewpster

Thanks everyone.

At work so sneaking on quickly.

Nationwide card is at 17.9% and my overdraft is 9.9%.

My electricity is done direct debit so maybe I could see if I could reduce this a bit?

My ex already uses nursery vouchers towards the nursery so not sure if I could do it too?

My new job will be £16,500 per annum and I think the tax credits will stay the same or may go up slightly as you get a premium for working over 30 hours and yes I will lose the housing benefit so will be no better off. The sole reason for doing it is so I can buy a shared ownership house.

My daughter has only just turned 2, so will not be eligible for the nursery grant til January 2009.

Council tax is over 10 months I think but will need to check.

I did have an NHS Dentist but they were so bad I had to move. I only started Denplan as I had to have over £500 of work done on my teeth and it nearly bankrupted me and that was only for 4 fillings!

I rent a 2 bedroom property with my children.

Think I have answered most of the questions!

BT Vision is like cable tv. I pay £6.00 for the children to subscribe to children's channels. It was £18.00 but I have already cut this back.

The children will be eating at nursery so I will only need to feed myself and them at breakfast time and every other weekend.

Yep at my nursery it is £44.00 per full day per child, but going full time it becomes slightly cheaper at £196 each a week! Roll on next september when DS goes to school!

dhassen

well good luck with your moneysaving and :eek: @ childcare.... definitely not planning kids yet!!

raq

hi there

Just wanted to ask, is the £1,300.00child benefit correct. As other's have stated this will probably go down once in f.t. employment

lewpster

raq wrote: »

hi there

Just wanted to ask, is the £1,300.00child benefit correct. As other's have stated this will probably go down once in f.t. employment

Yes it should not go down much as I have already looked into this. It is based on last years wages when I was only p/t and also on maternity leave. My new salary will take effect in the tax credits award from April 2009

femalehero

CHILDCARE VOUCHERS!!!
Both parents can use the vouchers - up to a maximum of £243 each - that saves a standard rate tax payer around £80 per month!

Also - employers save money too - so if your employer doesn't run the scheme then get them in touch with a childcare voucher provider and ask them to sign up! (yes, the childcare provider will charge a commission fee, anything from 3.5% - 5.5% but because the employer doesn't pay the NI contributions on voucher amount this charge is cost-neutral and the employer saves more!!)

izzybusy23

femalehero wrote: »

CHILDCARE VOUCHERS!!!
Both parents can use the vouchers - up to a maximum of £243 each - that saves a standard rate tax payer around £80 per month!

Also - employers save money too - so if your employer doesn't run the scheme then get them in touch with a childcare voucher provider and ask them to sign up! (yes, the childcare provider will charge a commission fee, anything from 3.5% - 5.5% but because the employer doesn't pay the NI contributions on voucher amount this charge is cost-neutral and the employer saves more!!)

You can't use childcare vouchers AND get tax credits towards the nursery fees... it doesn't work like that. You can only have one or the other..

I would also check whether your partner is fully legible to be obtaining the vouchers and paying towards the nursery fees as you receive tax credits for your nursery fee's... best check as you don't want the tax credit people coming down hard on you... and then making you repay monies back etc.