Here goes

hayley1471

#9 The Holiday fund is also the trip away fund. I live about 300 miles from my nearest family, so we go visiting every 3 months. I drive a 10 year old car, that's why I have the full shebang on my breakdown cover. I am a single girl who has been horrified twice at the car having a flat battery outside my house in the morning.

I think I could reduce the birthday savings, and buy friends and family cheaper presents. And not be so lavish with the girl's parties. So I could reduce that down to £20 a month for starters.

hayley1471

#11 i think about £3,000 of the Lloyds debt is at 0% - I recently did one of those cheque balance transfers to my Virgin. Virgin have jsut sent me a letter offering me 0% until March 2008, but I am not sure if I will save because it cost me quite a bit to do the transfer across to Lloyds. Will the amount of interest I save be more than it cost for me to transfer it over to Lloyds in the first place. Scratches head.

hayley1471

£200 feeding five people? Does that include laundry, household stuff and pets (i have a cat). i am astonished. I don't have a freezer though.

hayley1471

I cannot afford to eat - so how do people maintain a basic minimum AND still eat?

mrsspendalot

Well if you could transfer the bit of lloyds debt that is not on 0% now to the virgin at 0% and it doesn't cost too much in fees it might save you a bit in interest, but I am not good with maths etc. so I wouldnt know whether it would be worthwhile or not. I'm sure someone else will know though

mrsspendalot

Yes £200 to feed 5 people inc. washing powder, cleaning products, nappies, toiletries etc and I shop at Sainsburys. It's all about what you buy. I buy value range products where I can and meal plan very carefully. I don't buy puddings or ready meals and cook most things from scratch. We eat fresh fish, veg, meat etc. for that too. We don't have a big freezer either, just enough for bread and chips. We don't buy frozen food generally. We have no pets.

hayley1471

OK, Lloyds:

Balance £5128.51
Limit £10,000
Minimum payment £103
Interest: Around £33 a month

From balance transfer on 12 Septemnber, £2868.63 is still on 0%

Typical APR 11.9%

hayley1471

I don't have an overdraft, but I drop into the red by about £200 every month thanks to the way bills come out and money goes in. However, the interest I earn during the month sometimes cancels this out.

hayley1471

#16 That is a good idea, but how will Looyds know which bit to pay off? don't they always credit the amount that is earning the least interest? Maybe someone could confirm.

mrsspendalot

Going overdrawn without an authorised overdraft is probably affecting your credit score as well. Can you not juggle around your payment dates to stop this happening? Most companies are happy to alter direct debit dates. Are you getting charged every month by the bank for going overdrawn?