Here goes

mrsspendalot

I don't know .... I've never balance transferred myself, but someone will know the answer. the altnerative is to see if Lloyds will give you a good deal to transfer the virgin balance over to them.

firesidemaid

just a few thoughts about your soa, with things i have learnt from this site.

breakdown can be got from autoaid for £37 a year or £3 a month(recommended by martin, there is an article in the travel/transport section) or using clubcard vouchers.

change to bt option one plus read the phone section / article by heinz - there are companies where you can get free evening/weekend calls therfore u only pay for your bt line rental.

reduce xmas saving to £40 (good that u save though) should cover food and pressies. save in an isa and then put money on eg. asda card at right time of year to get bonus payment.

discover quidco.com and when u renew insurances get cashback.

diesel - buy cheapest and use loyalty cards

endowment - how much will it pay out on death? if it is not assigned to a property, it may be a dear form of life insurance. have you thought about getting much cheaper life insurance (+ quidco) for £10 a month and either cashing in or selling it - it would clear a lot of your debt. post on the correct board and there are some great experts on here who would help you.

food - you are spending way too much. go to the old-style board, meal plan and write a list before you go. you will save loads - the same goes for cleaning products too. also most asdas/tescos will take at least 10% off your bill in coupons (you don't have to buy the item as long as they sell it). plus visit supermarket when you know they are reducing items. maybe get a freezer from freecycle or similar.

can you sell stuff on ebay also.

remember martin's mantra 'do i need it? can i afford it? can i get it cheaper anywhere else?'

good luck x

hayley1471

Sorry for the confusion, I have an overdraft limit of £1,200 but I only go £200 overdrawn in the last week of the month. What I should have said is that I don't use the overdraft facility very much.

hayley1471

#23

I am on Option 1 with BT and still tied in to an introductory rate.
I will investigate the car breakdown thing
Will reduce Xmas and b'day savings by half.
Joined Quidco yesterday, car insurance not due until next September
Diesel, get at Tescos
Tried to get life insurance, but because of my back probelm, the premium was more than £40 a month with no payout for permanent disability. My current policy covers me to £42,000.
I do my main shop at Lidl and the local organic farm. The rest I get at Tescos. I do meal plan most weeks, and we tend to eat the same 10 things over about a 2 week cycle, so I don't waste much food. i don't have space for a freezer.
I do sell stuff on ebay, but I don't have anything of any value left to sell. I can't do a boot sale selling the small stuff because I would have to take the girls, and they wouldn't let me sell anything of theirs.

the_cat

hayley1471 wrote: »

#23

ITried to get life insurance, but because of my back probelm, the premium was more than £40 a month with no payout for permanent disability. My current policy covers me to £42,000.
quote]

If you have a standard endowment policy, this would not cover any form of disability either. Not saying you should def cash it in, but worth a proper look at. You could clear a load of debt (and you could poss get extra money by selling not cashing in the policy) and halve your monthly payment even if it does come to £40ish

Have you put in a bank charges claim yet? Another thing to get started on asap.

Also it struck me that it is 'costing' you a lot to work. By that I mean parking,petrol,childcare etc and also hair/beautician and doubtless smart clothes. I could be barking up the wrong tree here but a job with less 'overheads' may give you a better overall cashflow

hayley1471

Hi Cat

Thanks for your comments. My current endowment does include critical illness and disability cover. I made enquiries about selling it, but was told I couldn't - something to do with the type of policy.

Not claimed bank charges because I have never gone over my overdraft limit. (Yes I checked and was most annoyed to discover that I wasn't due any money) Nor signed up for insurance cover on credit cards (always knew that was a scam) and got a refund of £120 when I queried my mortgage 'admin' fee when I sold my house a couple of years ago.
And you are right, it does cost me a lot to work - but I do get Working Tax Credit of £120 a month which helps, and I earn around £10 an hour, not bad for a part time job.

hayley1471

Just had another lightbulb moment - I forgot about my student loans - I defer them every year. Will hunt out the last staement and see how much I owe.

hayley1471

Can't find a student loan statement- which speaks volumes about my attitude over the past 2 years to money. I am guessing it is about £6,000. I am about to list some stuff on ebay, so hopefully any income will feed us over Christmas.

mrsspendalot

I wouldn't worry too much about your student loan at the moment as the rate of interest is minimal (assuming this is from the student loans company and not a bank). They will write to you again at some point. I have a small student loan for about £1100 from when part time OU students were entitled to loans, then we started getting a grant instead. I have never included it as I don't even have to start thinking about repaying it until I am earning over £15k and I don't have a job at the moment so it is not worth worrying about.

tyllwyd

Adding up your Christmas savings £80 plus birthday savings £40 that's £120 per month. Considering your income is so low, can you afford to be that generous?