SOA and "found debt"

MaggieBear

Hi everyone, here's my SOA. (current as at: 01/02/2008)

Income: Salary: £1,200 pm

Outgoings:
Dom&Gen??: £7.49 CANCELLED 28/10/08, and Feb's payment refunded YAY!
BT (BB& Phone):£47
Mortgage: £497.61
Council Tax: £102 (for the moment!)
Gas: £16
elec: £36
TV Licence: £11.37
Insurance(build&cont):£22.39
Mobile: £35
Life ins: £48.15
travel: £65.87
Barclaycard (just over min): £50
Halifax card (minimum payment): £8.15
TOTAL PM: £947.03 £939.54

Leaving £252.97 £260.46 pm to eat, live and pay debts

Currently I aim on getting £50 cash out a week, and living on that for food, travel and incidentals which I can more or less do and by doing that since October I've paid off my overdraft (20%) and I shouldn't hit it all all this month (I was in it for £29.97 on payday this month) and anything I'm in the black by NEXT payday (21st of each month) I intend to fling at my CC bill.

My barclaycard: £1,963.33 which consists of £1,548.44 which is at 0% until next month when it goes up to 19.9%, and the remainer is BT which is a 3% fee until feb 2009 (and is paid first).

My Halifax card: £404.17 (@17% apr)

My signature assumes I'm flinging a straight £58.15 at the debt every month, which I aim as a minimum as per my budget.

I have some insurance work that's being done to my building that I'm in dispute with the company over (they've offered half), and I may end up a further £1,500 in debt to my parents if I do not get the full amount paid. That's a little down the line though and I know they won't charge interest.

I'm single, live myself and work full time in the city next to my town and I have a holiday booked in May. The travel is already paid, but I will need to pay £299.61 for the hotel on check out. My intention is to save the £200 from my council tax free months to that (or put it on my credit card meantime to bring the balance down, then use that to pay the hotel, tbh).

Bagpuss741

Domestic and general offer extended warranties for household appliances/central heating systems. Do you remember ever taking one out? You may be paying for a warranty for an item you no longer have.

http://www.domgen.com/index.html

RAS

Welcome

Domestic and general? Some type of insurance?

Are you getting single peson CT allowance?

Is there room for a lodger - up to £370 per month tax free?

Anything that you can e-bay, put on Amazon, into a car boot sale (even if it is in the loft at your parents)?

Any chance of a few hours extra work, in the local pub at the supermarket over Easter?

RAS

Chevs Survey sites - you might get a few quid a month and or ome vouchers to save against.

PS As there are a couple of people on here with questions, here is my little list of sites, that I have had payments from. Please note there are NO referral links in it as that is not allowed.
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www.lightspeedpanel.com - this is a survey site, where you get points that turn into vouchers (you choose). May not help with the cash flow, but the vouchers could be saved towards birthday/xmas or given as presents.

www.ciao.co.uk - survey site that gives money. A bit fits and starts i.e. no surveys for a couple of weeks, then three or four the same day.

www.yougov.com - again paid surveys. However takes a while to get to the minimum payout level

www.mytns.com - again this is a survey site, but it pays you in points that convert into Nectar points at Sainsbury’s.

www.pigsback.co.uk - this is a points site, i.e. they give you points for buying things via their site. BUT you also get points for signing up for news letters (some of which are even interesting!), and also for clicking on adverts with pink borders. I have spent NOTHING with them but got £40 vouchers through (been registered since January). There is also a thread in the freebies section, of www.moneysavingexpert.com that gives you all the daily answers to the competitions so you can have a better chance of winning on them. I won £20 of points recently on the daily quizzes so a nice boost to the Christmas fund.

www.mutualpoints.com - another points for clicks site. You can also buy things via their site and get points too. For a long time, I just clicked the links in the emails they send you, and that gets you 5 points. At 3000 points you get £20 I think. You can do searches via their site and that gets you points too.

www.quidco.com - this is a cash back site, so very good, for checking if any potential new insurers (i.e. if you have checked your contents insurance say and found a new provider), are offering cash back. E.g. Lloyds was offering £120 cash back on new policies at one point (the offers do change). You can also get small amounts of cash again for doing searches via their site. You can earn 52p a day by doing this. Every little helps.

www.greasypalm.co.uk - another cash back site, where you can do searches and get small amounts of money. But it all adds up. I think you can get about 50p a day on there for nothing. Minimum payout is £20 I think, but you can sign up to survey sites via there, and get extra money that way for nothing.

www.topcashback.co.uk - another site where you can do daily clicks to get money for nowt.

www.britishrewards.co.uk - same as topcashback, daily clicks to do searches for pennies a time.

MaggieBear

Bagpuss741 wrote: »

Domestic and general offer extended warranties for household appliances/central heating systems. Do you remember ever taking one out? You may be paying for a warranty for an item you no longer have.

http://www.domgen.com/index.html

I don't remember ever taking one out, no, because my Dad's always been big on shouting about how much they're not worth it, but it's possible that I didn't cancel something; probably a fridge I no longer have, yes. I'm definitely going to get it sorted out as soon as I can get to the bank next week.

Thank you!

MaggieBear

RAS wrote: »

Welcome

Domestic and general? Some type of insurance?
Thinking on it, I think it has to be for a fridge I've not had for 4 years. I'm such an idiot for not spotting it coming out sooner.
Are you getting single peson CT allowance?
I am, yes, and this is cheaper CT than I had in my last place!
Is there room for a lodger - up to £370 per month tax free?
yes, there probably is, but I'm loathe to have one if I really don't have to. I'm very good with having other people in my space. It is something I'll keep in mind though, definitely. I might get to the head space where I can bear the thought!
Anything that you can e-bay, put on Amazon, into a car boot sale (even if it is in the loft at your parents)?
Definitely! Yes. That's SUCH a good idea, I've got a lot of books and CDs that I'm never going to crack again..
Any chance of a few hours extra work, in the local pub at the supermarket over Easter? How worth while is that with tax? I know there's a limit as to how much more I can earn before I'd be liable to pay back my student loans, so it's a bit of a fine line, but I can always apply and see if it's going to be economic for me, right?

Thank you for that - it's real food for thought!

MaggieBear

RAS wrote: »

Chevs Survey sites - you might get a few quid a month and or ome vouchers to save against.

PS As there are a couple of people on here with questions, here is my little list of sites, that I have had payments from. Please note there are NO referral links in it as that is not allowed.

Excellent! I waste so much time on the internet and I may as well make it useful time! I'm off to start clicking now! Thank you

RAS

Is there room for a lodger - up to £370 per month tax free?
yes, there probably is, but I'm loathe to have one if I really don't have to. I'm very good with having other people in my space. It is something I'll keep in mind though, definitely. I might get to the head space where I can bear the thought!


You could advertise for a Monday to Thursady lodger as it would give you some space at weekends. Or contact the local theatre if you have one, as they need space for touring folk for short periods.

MaggieBear

RAS wrote: »

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You could advertise for a Monday to Thursady lodger as it would give you some space at weekends. Or contact the local theatre if you have one, as they need space for touring folk for short periods.

Oh now that's an idea, or the local uni have short-term exchange students too. I'll start enquiring on Monday! Thank you:D

Sea78

My mum had lots of theatre/playhouse lodgers and htey are great! Often out performing in the evening and out in the day rehearsing.:) Great

MaggieBear

I'll pop into the local arts centre (it's a theatre as well, often with tours) and see if there's a form I can pick up!