SOA How do you reduce this?

SAV3R

Hi, I have been lurking for a while and recently started posting. :T

I currently owe £1000 on 0% card til Jan 2009 - thought this was the only debt then realised also;
£150 mth car loan for 2 1/2 yrs
£27 mth loan for laptop 24 mths left - yes this was stupid and includes aftercare as well as loads of interest.

Income: Mine £600 month
Husband £1100mth

Burlesque_Babe

Could you move the laptop debt to a 0% card?

SAV3R

Hi, I have been lurking for a while and recently started posting. :T

I currently owe £1000 on 0% card til Jan 2009 - thought this was the only debt then realised also;
£150 mth car loan for 2 1/2 yrs
£27 mth loan for laptop 24 mths left - yes this was stupid and includes aftercare as well as loads of interest.

Income: Mine £600 month
Husband £1100mth
Fam allow/t credit £235mth
TOTAL £1935

Outgoings:
Gas/Elec £87
Car Ins £27.50 +£17
Mobile 2x £20 recently cut down from £25 each
BT landline £14.50 hardly use now, try to use mobiles as now have lots of minutes
Dental £19 private plan - no NHS available
Car Tax £25 combined
Car Loan £150
Car Maint £25 just had service bill for £305
Petrol £105
Food, Toiletries, Cleaning £300 for 2 ad/2 ch
Mortgage + PPI £310
Internet £10
House Ins £28.65 (£343 for yr) curretly reviewing - opened up floodgate of callers after my business
Council Tax £110 already spread over 12 mths
Tv £11.75
Life Ins / Critical illness £11.90 + £24.87
Water £37
Lottery £12 you never know
Boys Life Ins £20 - the only savings we do
Partner Pension £23.40 - no where near enough
Childcare £30 average as needed only in school hols
Eldest son guitar lesson £28

The rest goes on Haircuts, Gifts, Clothes, Shoes, Hobbies(not much)Book, Schooltrips (how do you tell a 12yr old he can't go the France - you don't, we only holiday in UK caravans)Holidays, Days out, Household appliances, Diy etc

I almost always cook from scratch,
we all take lunches to school / work
we dry majority washing on line / airer

We want to cut our debt and start to save - it just seems a long way away.

MiniLaura

To reduce your soa - do you mean reduce your outgoings? if so try and make a list of everything u are paying out each month - all the bills and living expenses plus loan payments and details, then people can have a look and suggest ways to cut back on things to free up more money for debt repayment/make sure you arent overspending etc.

Good Luck!

MrsTinks

Can you cancel the aftercare part of the contract?

SAV3R

oops sorry, seem to have started a post 1/2 way through typing.

I have started 2 threads

MrsTinks

I'll merge this with the other thread you have running

deliciosa

Well done for posting your soa! Also write down everything else you spend on, when you have a mo! x x x x x x x

deliciosa

My comments:

Hi, I have been lurking for a while and recently started posting.

Income: Mine £600 month - can this be increased - overtime, second job, mystery shopping, anything?
Husband £1100mth
Fam allow/t credit £235mth
TOTAL £1935

Outgoings:
Gas/Elec £87 seems very high to me. There is an article on the main site about switching providers - check it out, it's right on the main site, on the left hand side...
Car Ins £27.50 +£17 Isn't this too high? Do you NEED two cars?
Mobile 2x £20 recently cut down from £25 each
BT landline £14.50 hardly use now, try to use mobiles as now have lots of minutes is it worth keeping it then?
Dental £19 private plan - no NHS available
Car Tax £25 combined
Car Loan £150 - for how long?
Car Maint £25 just had service bill for £305
Petrol £105 seems high, do you drive everywhere? Have you considered cycling or using just one car?
Food, Toiletries, Cleaning £300 for 2 ad/2 ch Check out the old style boards, this is very high. I am sure someone else will be along with tips how to reduce this, I can't help here as I live alone..
Mortgage + PPI £310 do you need the PPI?
Internet £10
House Ins £28.65 (£343 for yr) curretly reviewing - opened up floodgate of callers after my business
Council Tax £110 already spread over 12 mths
Tv £11.75
Life Ins / Critical illness £11.90 + £24.87 check if this is needed, ie don't you already have one with your employer?
Water £37 high. Have you considered a water meter?
Lottery £12 you never know - this has to go. It's money down the drain!
Boys Life Ins £20 - the only savings we do
Partner Pension £23.40 - no where near enough
Childcare £30 average as needed only in school hols
Eldest son guitar lesson £28 - have you checked if this can be cheaper or free somewhere else? Charities, local music schools?

phildamb

hm not sure if Ive missed something but you are pulling in about 1700 a month and spending only 1467. Is your Gas/elec dual fuel with the same provider? Can you move the laptop hp onto your credit card? I would personally scrap the lottery as a monthly and just do a few lines every now and again otherwise you may as well burn it. Can you seperate out the food, cleaning and others into something more specific, where do you shop as well? have you taken an assessment for the water to see if you would be better off on a water metre?

Looking at what you have documented you have around £230 not fully accounted for to use on your random spends.

*EDIT*

deliciosa and I were typing at the same time I think. I would also consider scrapping the bt landline and the Internet and instead opt for the Pay as you go mobile broadband from 3. £10 a month overall cost would suit casual web users just the initial cost of the modem.

SAV3R

Hi Deliciosa

thanks for your comments

I have increased my work from 3 days x5hrs to 5 days x5hrs recently. I have to work around school hours for my youngest son, during the holidays I still do 3 days due to childcare costs.

Hubbie is reluctant to let 2nd car go, he is within walking distance of work but does sometimes run errands at lunchtime / after work.

Car Loan has approx 2 1/2 yrs to go

Would consider no BT but the reception in our home for mobiles can often be dodgy.

I am trying to do menu plans to reduce the shopping, only started 2 shops ago.

Need to think carefully what can go, seems like I make too many excuses, I know.