2008 - Will get to the end of this debt

silkglade

Right I thought I would start a new thread as it is the new year and a chance for a fresh start.

SOA as of 1st Jan 2008

Income..

Wages £1378.00 (is more than this but not had a flat month yet so unsure)
CTC £146.37
CB £169.20
EX £66.00 (towards son's activities)

Total £1759.57 (for now will amend when have actual basic amount for wages)



Expenditure..

Rent £244.37
C.Tax £122 (no payments Feb and March)
TV licence £11.61
Gas/electric £57
Phone package £35 (TV package, broadband and telephone - including calls)
Mid kent water £11
Southern water £0 (was £155 in credit so not had to pay for a year)
Cinema cards £23.98 (unlimited card for hubby and myself)
Mobiles £39.98 (both have 19.99 deals)
Food/petrol £400 (2 adults and 3 children)
Cars etc £150 (car ins, car tax, mot's services, house insurance etc) not done this yet either
Treat money £50 (only ever done this 1 month a while ago £25 each)

Total £1144.94


Credit card balance £2818.56 (0% till nov 2008)


Any advice would be greatly appreciated as we are stuck in a rut and in almost the same position now as this time last year! :mad:

Problem is we only have £100 left for this month till payday and was going to pay that off the card (payment due on 15th Jan) we have to get through the month till 24th - think this will have to go on the card too. (hope to make it as cheap as poss though.

What we really want is our credit card at a nil balance by april so that when the council tax and rent go up we do not have to worry about it.

MoneyGypsy

silkglade wrote: »

Right I thought I would start a new thread as it is the new year and a chance for a fresh start.

SOA as of 1st Jan 2008

Income..

Wages £1378.00 (is more than this but not had a flat month yet so unsure)
CTC £146.37
CB £169.20
EX £66.00 (towards son's activities)

Total £1759.57 (for now will amend when have actual basic amount for wages)



Expenditure..

Rent £244.37
C.Tax £122 (no payments Feb and March)
TV licence £11.61
Gas/electric £57
Phone package £35 (TV package, broadband and telephone - including calls)
Mid kent water £11 Why 2 water bills?
Southern water £0 (was £155 in credit so not had to pay for a year)
Cinema cards £23.98 (unlimited card for hubby and myself)
Mobiles £39.98 (both have 19.99 deals) Could you get PAYG deals and stick to £10/month each?
Food/petrol £400 (2 adults and 3 children) How much of this on petrol and how much on food? If most on food then look at the Old Style board. Lots of families on there which mange on a lot less? If petrol, are there any other options on transport like the bus or walking?
Cars etc £150 (car ins, car tax, mot's services, house insurance etc) not done this yet either
Treat money £50 (only ever done this 1 month a while ago £25 each)

Total £1144.94

Where is the extra £614.63 going - this seems to be the difference between your income and outgoings as posted?

Credit card balance £2818.56 (0% till nov 2008)


Any advice would be greatly appreciated as we are stuck in a rut and in almost the same position now as this time last year! :mad:

Problem is we only have £100 left for this month till payday and was going to pay that off the card (payment due on 15th Jan) we have to get through the month till 24th - think this will have to go on the card too. (hope to make it as cheap as poss though.

What we really want is our credit card at a nil balance by april so that when the council tax and rent go up we do not have to worry about it.

It seems that money is leaking somewhere as there is a diff between your income and outgoings. How about keeping a spending diary to see what is happenin? This might help you.

All the best,

Lol.

silkglade

All the additional money will go straight off the credit card.. as it did last year too. That is why I have not written down the minimum payment in the outgoings as EVERYTHING spare goes to this.

We do keep a spending diary (though I have to confess not done it this month) and the only thing that ever gets put in it is the food and petrol as we don't have any non essential spends and if we do have to pay out for anything then we take it out of the food and petrol budget.

We did get to our debt free date last year, but then had to but all the essential big spends that we had been putting off for ages.

Things like a new cooker and hob, a shed (didn't have one at all since we moved)

Due to all of those we have ended up with this balance on thi credit card + made the last payment this month off our amazon credit card of over £1000 as the 0% ran out on christmas eve.

Where we live we have to pay 1 water company to supply the water and the other is the wasteage costs.

We changed to the moble's that we have now as I did have one that was more expensive than this for less mins and texts. I use this alot for the landline and mobiles so that the home phone stays at almost nothing.

I work shift work and would spend alot more than this on PAYG cos that was where we started.

approx £80 - £100 per month is spent on petrol and the rest is on food. We still have to buy growing up milk (youngest is allergic to cow's milk) and pull ups. We also have a dog, gerbil and a goldfish.

silkglade

Not able to walk to work, if i did it would take about an hr each way and is down narrow unlit country lanes. And i work 12 hr shifts, would never see the kids if i did that!

No public transport at the time i either travel to or from work, pluss round here it would cost an absolute fortune.

MoneyGypsy

Hi,

you reached your debt free date last year so you know that you can do it again.

Sometimes big things crop up - don't beat yourself up over it.

If everything extra is going on the card then in the 2 months until april you might be able to pay:

£614 x 2
£122 x2 (normally your council tax)

That would be £1472, only £1346.56 (which might then be gone in another couple of months)

How much is you rent and council tax going up by? How much spare will you have left each month when they go up?

I still think you can reduce your food spend on food from £300. I didn't think that it was possible but the OS board has really helped (Lots of veggie stews as meat is really expensive and we don't need it everyday). I also like to go shopping in the evening when the supermarkets reduce there fresh veg to up to 75% off. One week I got 20 items for £8 and a few pence. It kept us going for nearly 2 weeks. See Martins shopping page for more on this.

I hope it all works out.

Lol.