My Debt Free Challenge

lunar

thats good news, you can really see the balance coming down each month when there is no interest going out.

truCido

yeah the interest was about £20 a month so really it wasn't going down so should make a good difference

Robflh

Hi truCido

Firstly, I still need to know what the credit limits are for the credit cards and when you acquired them.

You have a couple of items missing from your SOA. Car Tax, MOT and you could also add running costs for the car, tyres, brakes, servicing, oil changes and so on.

I have had a bad year with by car. It has cost me about £1,000. New cam belt, new main water pipe, front brake pads and discs, new cam belt sensor and I still need to have the thermostat replaced.

For most ladies, their hair is very important to them and that can easily cost you £40 a month at the salon. That is another expense that needs to be in an SOA.

Depending on your age and no claims discount, £70 per month (£840 a year), seems to be on the high side for car insurance. Try the following comparison websites to see who offers the cheapest car insurance. You can cancel your current insurance at anytime and take out a new policy with another company.

www.moneysupermarket.com/c/car-insurance
www.confused.com

If Directline or Privilege car insurance does not come up go direct to their websites and get a quote for each of them.

Before you make up you mind go to Quidco to see what the money back offers are and then you can work out which one is the cheapest.
http://www.quidco.com/?search=car%20insurance&view=highest-rates-currency

Prudential car insurance looks good, £95 cash back and free breakdown cover. Unfortunately, it ends in a few days time, so it would be better to do it at the beginning of Jan. They might continue that offer.

Change your car insurer each year. That way you get a discount for being a new customer.

GAS & ELECTRIC.
I am assuming that you have gas central heating and a hot water tank. If you sit watching TV without wearing a jumper, turn down the thermostat and put on a jumper. We automatically wear move clothes outside when it gets colder but we turn up the heating indoors which costs us money but putting more clothes on indoors costs us nothing.

If when you do the washing up, you turn on the hot tap and when the sink is almost full you turn on the cold tap, otherwise it would be too hot, turn the thermostat down on the hot water tank and save money.

Have a shower instead of a bath but not everyday or it could cost you more. When I was younger, boy does that make me feel old, we all had a bath once a week and each morning we had a strip wash. That meant just washing our faces and the top half of our bodies.

We only washed our hair once a week. I think it is quite strange that our body produces oil to help keep our hair healthy and some people wash their hair every day to get rid of it. I wash mine once every few weeks, I only use the shampoo once and my hair looks great.

Change all your light bulbs for the new energy efficient ones. Homebase are selling them for 99 pence. I get 9W bulbs, which is equivalent to a 40W old type and they give me plenty of light. However, for reading you might need a brighter light.

As I understand it these bulbs cost a lot less to run but they use more electricity to get them going. If you turn them on and off several times each night, they will cost you more then an old type bulb. Once they are on, leave them on unless they will be off for a few hours.

If you are not using it, turn it off at the mains. Leaving things on Stand By can cost you almost as much as leaving them switched on all the time. Personally, I would leave anything on Stand By that you use to record programs with. Never ever, leave your mobile charger switched on when you are not charging your phone.

These days you can even buy a remote control socket. Plug a four socket extension lead in to it and you can turn off four appliances in one go. B & Q have single ones for £14.98 and a triple pack for £19.98.

truCido

ah sorry.
CC1 - £2500 - Taken out March 2005
CC2 - £4500 - Not sure on exact month towards end of 2006
CC3- £2200 - Taken out July 07

Car Insurance - This is the ABSOLUTE cheapest anyone will insure me I can guarantee I will not find it cheaper elsewhere. I spent over a month ringing every single insurer and haggling with them. And I do what you say and change every year to get the cheapest possible.
Car Tax - £220 a year
Servicing MOT etc - £300 a year

If I'm honest my car is my single greatest expense...I've recently been thinking about selling it and buying a "run around" until I clear my debt. This would save me on tax, servicing and insurance and of course clear my HP.

To be honest with the house bills they are assumptions taken from when the house was occupied by 3 of us...the house is now only occupied by myself so hopefully some of those costs will fall. However to get proper prices I do need to see what comes up next month

Batfink

Robflh wrote: »

As I understand it these bulbs cost a lot less to run but they use more electricity to get them going. If you turn them on and off several times each night, they will cost you more then an old type bulb. Once they are on, leave them on unless they will be off for a few hours.

They did some experiments on MythBusters about this and turning on an energy saving bulb (or indeed any fluorescent tube) uses as much electricity as them being on for 20 seconds, so if you're going to be out of the room for more than 20 seconds you're best turning them off.

x

Robflh

Hi Batfink

Thank you for the extra info. I love watching the Myth Busters but I have not seen that particular episode.

When the energy saving bulbs first started to appear, I am sure I read somewhere that they had to be on for an hour before you started to save any money. However, they may have improved them over the years but I would still like a bit more of a scientific test.

Robflh

Hi truCido

Ask Virgin and Sky if they do cheques at a balance transfer rate and if so what that rate they would be, some do and some do not. As you have just transferred a balance to your Sky card and have cleared your Virgin card, wait until the end of Jan before you ask Virgin.

If one or both of them will, pay off the £1,000 Shop Finance debt. If you pay it off early, you will not have to pay £1,000. It includes interest that you will not be paying, if you pay off the debt, so it will be less then £1,000.

If you can get the cheques at 0%, you will save another £24 a month. That makes a total so far of £44 a month. Unfortunately, adding in the car costs each year will add about £44 a month to your SOA.

If they both say no, apply for another credit card with a 0% offer for 12 months or more. If one of them says yes, apply for a new 0% card in May 08.

Selling the car is a big step to take. It would reduce you over all debt and it would free up enough money to kill the Halifax loan in ten months instead of 20 months.

However, if once you are debt free, you then buy a nice car you would have to take out a loan to pay for it. You would then be in debt again for another two or three years.

Unless that is, you keep using old bangers until you have saved up enough money to buy a nice car.

Someone asked this before but you never answered the question, are you paying rent or a mortgage?

If there were three people in the house, how many bedrooms and reception rooms are there?

Lastly for the time being, why is the petrol £150 a month.

truCido

thanks Robflh

ok I'll do that with Virgin...last time i tranferred my whole balance from them they rang me with a few offers anyway lol (about a year ago)

I really dont want to sell the car

I'm paying rent!

There are 3 bedrooms and 1 living room. (I am thinking about renting out a room but we'll see, again quite a big step unless its someone I know)

Petrol is £150 a month because I do 150 miles a week to and from work which is about £30 a week and then £30 for other travelling

Robflh

Hi truCido

Renting out a room was exactly what I was going to suggest. I have been doing just that for years. Depending on where you live, a double room can cost £65. Have a look in your local paper under rooms to let or accommodation to let. It should give you an idea of what you can charge.

I include the gas and electric in the rent but not the phone. I do it as a house share with use of all the facilities, cooker, washing machine and so on. Their bedroom is furnished, double bed, chest of draws, wardrobe, desk and a lamp. They are responsible for keeping their bedroom tidy and clearing up behind themselves.

I get most of mine through my local council. They claim housing benefit and I have it paid straight in to your bank account. There is a deposit scheme to cover breakages and a rent guarantee scheme to ensure you get the rent.

Go to you local council’s website and look for Housing Advise it is normally under Housing.

www.your-towns-name.gov.uk

You will need to ring them and make an appointment to see them. They will be able to tell you about it all much better then I can.

PETROL
Can you give someone else a lift to work and share the cost of the petrol or can someone pick you up on the way to work. Can you cycle to work, summertime if not wintertime. What about getting a scooter/moped? They are very cheap to run and a second hand one should not cost a lot to buy. What you would save in petrol would pay for it in no time.

Robflh

Hi truCido

Just checking to see how things are going for you.