My SOA

philwantstobedebtfree

Hi all
Well here goes i have been browsing these forums for months now but haven't placed an SOA probably due to the fact i am a very private person and not used to this kind of thing :S and also i suppose the embarrasment factor (pretty stupid considering this is anonymous but i'm sure i'm not the first person guilty of that one ) i have however been following as much of the advice that all you guys have been posting for other people as well as Martins tips (hence the fact i have some debt reductions in my sig it made me feel so good typing it in) so before i go into my SOA details i would like to thank martin and all of you guys, if it wasn't for you all i would still be panicking constantly, losing sleep and generally thinking the world was coming to an end.

Here is what i have got my outgoings to now

Bank Account Fee £14.50
Mortgage £557.62 (tied to until 2009)
Secured home loan £88.32 (came with mortgage)
Council Tax £103.00
Water Rates / Meter £20.00
Gas Bill £30.00
Electricity Bill £30.00
Mobile Phone Bill(s) £43.33 (contracted until feb 2008 then its gone)
Food & Household Shopping £200
Diesel £40pw apprx £200 apprx (car used for commute only)
Barclayloan £252
Virgin CCard 0% £107 min payment
Eggcard £95 min payment (will be transfered to Skycard @ 0% on monday)
Child maintenance £100
Virgin Media £43 (phone free evening and weekends, broadband, tv)
TV License £11.37

Total Out 1895.34

Wage £1495
Rent £300
Overtime/ebay/extra £150 (this is the lowest i have earned in the last 6 months i figured i should go with worse case it increases alot during the summer as i do alot of labouring work with my dad after my normal job)

Total In £1945

I pay my car insurance yearly so i haven't added it here its up for renewal in may. if i have forgotten anything please ask and i will add it on i know i will have somewhere.

so my green margin is around £50 as you can see its pretty damn tight however it was alot worse 6 months ago

Since my light bulb moment i have taken the following steps

worked my backside off and got a 2k payrise
taken in a lodger
began transfering cc to 0%
paying any left over cash at the end of the month off my ccards

Basically i am hoping that you experts out there could maybe pick me apart and point me in directions i haven't thought of or missed and just give me some advice

Big deep breath - i'm now an official debt free wannabe

Thankyou for your time

Phil

tealady

Hello and welcome.
Try the old style boards for cheap cleaning tips and meals.
Don't forget daily clicks, there is a thread somewhere with a list. Only pennies each time but they all help, I use my pigsback vouchers to buy toiletries from Boots (and only buy them when they are on offer!!)
Check out where your cheapest garage is for diesel (its on this site somewhere, the really clever people can find it for you)
Go via a cash back website to see if you are on cheapest gas/electricity.
Thats all I can think of for now (not had my 1st cuppa of the day yet)
hope it gives you some food for thought.
Oh and regarding feeling embarassed, I think theres not a person in the world who has not made a prat of them selves at some time or other so don't worry no one will laugh AT you only WITH you.

pippo

Hi and wecome,
Just wondering about the bank account fee - is it really worth it?
If not look at Martin's tips for abetter deal or change via Quidco for cash back.

philwantstobedebtfree

Morning all

thankyou for the tips tealady am going to check out all you have suggested now, i do get my diesel from tesco's i do my weekly shop and my fathers at the same time for him so i get the 5p off per litre coupon so am paying around 99p per litre at the moment not sure how long that offer will last though.

the reason i got my account fee was for breakdown cover (i do 110 mile commute everyday) and mobile inxurance have had a look this morning to work out if its worth it and with those two and the domestic emergancy cover it seems to be worth it i will definately be getting rid when my mobile contract ends in feb though as the phone is going so no need to insure thanks pippo

Phil

marc.faulkner

I'll be honest - you can get breakdown cover and mobile cover for a lot less.

RAC cover starts from about £30PA, when insuring my phone seperately I used to pay about £4 per month.

I also pay a monthly fee for my current account, however it is only £6.50, and also includes mobile cover, gadget insurance (cover for camera, iPod etc) 24hr legal helpline and interest free OD. And I'm sure I could probably get a better deal still if I shopped around a bit!

Reya

You don't mention a partner (or anyone else living with you, such as a lodger) but if you're living alone, make sure you're claiming the single person's council tax allowance, which chops a whopping 25% off your council tax bill. £25.75 might not sound like much, but every little helps! Start here and input your postcode, and it will take you to your local council's policies on council tax discounts.

ETA: Gah. I just re-read your post, and you have taken in a lodger. My bad! Sorry about that. Still, another suggestion is to reduce the food bill. Check out the Old Style board for help with that.

philwantstobedebtfree

hi marc

i take it you are on barclays additions i have the additions plus i will shop around but if i can't find anything similar will switch down to what your on as the gadget insurance would be a nice and look elsewhere for breakdown cover.

marc.faulkner

philwantstobedebtfree wrote: »

hi marc

i take it you are on barclays additions i have the additions plus i will shop around but if i can't find anything similar will switch down to what your on as the gadget insurance would be a nice and look elsewhere for breakdown cover.

Yeah, I'm on Additions.

I get my breakdown cover with my insurance (eCar), however even when I was with LV I was with RAC and paying only £45ish.

philwantstobedebtfree

Reya wrote: »

ETA: Gah. I just re-read your post, and you have taken in a lodger. My bad! Sorry about that. Still, another suggestion is to reduce the food bill. Check out the Old Style board for help with that.

thanks reya am going to check out the old style board i am quite lazy when it comes to food and shopping so am sure i can make some drastic savings there

Phil

firesidemaid

well done on your progress so far!

just a couple of things that stand out to me from your soa.

your food bill could be reduced much futher - see the old style board for tips, batch cooking, taking food to work etc. in theory, you only need 7 bfasts, 7 lunches and 7 dinners each week (i know, sounds obvious...)

also, you can get sky phone/tv/bband for £26 a month - you don't necessarily have to move to them, just ring virgin and threaten to.

again, re the bank account fee - there is an article in the transport section on here re. cheapest breakdown cover. best deals seem to be pay for rac with clubcard deals vouchers or autoaid at £37. have a read

good luck x

philwantstobedebtfree

Hi Sazzacat and thank you

your food bill could be reduced much futher - see the old style board for tips, batch cooking, taking food to work etc. in theory, you only need 7 bfasts, 7 lunches and 7 dinners each week (i know, sounds obvious...)

obvious you would think but something i have overlooked am going to plan a menu for myself and stick to it will be hard as my lazyness factor will come in to play so cooking everything at the weekend seems to be the way to go for me

also, you can get sky phone/tv/bband for £26 a month - you don't necessarily have to move to them, just ring virgin and threaten to.

this is something i haven't thought of i am going to be a busy boy on monday

again, re the bank account fee - there is an article in the transport section on here re. cheapest breakdown cover. best deals seem to be pay for rac with clubcard deals vouchers or autoaid at £37. have a read

looks like the account fee is getting the boot too

its funny there are things you know you should do that make perfect sense but its only when someone else says it that you actually go for it or is that just me :huh: