Newbie here

jo1972

Hi DID and welcome :wave:

Pop on over to the Old Style board for some grocery budget tips, amazing how you can cut back without having to sacrifice too much.

Moneysaving Old Style Board

Good luck

singlemum_4

My grocery challenge includes all food so if we have a take away/meal out its comes out of that pot. It also pays for toiletries,pet food and household goods. I've just learnt (its taken a long time!!) that I don't need brands, shop carefully only buy what I need and use it!! I hate throwing things away these days!!
Good luck though your on the right track

SM xx

Deep_In_Debt

Thanks for the replies - will pop over to the old style boards and pick up some tips. I've started shopping in my local Lidl now instead of Sainsburys and I have to say I'm noticing a difference in the cost of everything.

bank_of_slate

Hi Deep!Welcome to the forum and well done for posting!
Sure the figures always look scary at first but at least you know what you're dealing with now! There's nothing scarier than the unknown!
Do you get a single person discount on the Council tax?
Can you get a package for phone, TV & internet that would be cheaper? Try another provider!
...Linda xx

Deep_In_Debt

Hi BoS - yes council tax is with single person discount and it's still a hideous amount. Will look into the phone, tv internet package.

ltm07

Deep_In_Debt wrote: »

This is even scarier than I thought. :eek: I've not included the interest rates on my cards and loans etc as these are being covered under my DMP. I've changed my bank account also as my overdraft is included in the DMP. I have to admit, it's a horrible sight to see those credit card debts.

Little bit of an explanation - I have an interest only endowment mortgage which I've never been in arrears or defaulted on in 20 years. House and contents insurance and life assurance are all included in my monthly mortgage repayment which is why I've not listed them separately. I don't have gas at home, just electricity and I have a water meter so my water rates are quite cheap. Council tax is over 12 months and that is with single persons discount but I live in a very expensive area. I am looking for part time work and currently do some ad-hoc work as and when needed and have registered on some of the survey sites here. I've started selling books on Amazon (not making a massive amount but there's hope!) and am having a clear out at home to see if there is anything I can sell on Ebay and do a car boot sale when the weather gets better. My mobile is PAYG and to be honest, £10 lasts a lot longer than a month for me as I use it for texting and have a tariff where I get free texts at weekends so use it mainly then. I tend to eat at work during the week and make use of the heavily subsidised restaurant.

I ran these debts up over a few years. My dad died and it affected me quite badly so I guess I took solace in spending. Also the break-up of my long term relationship affected me. My ex boyfriend was not part of the mortgage but had huge debts himself (he went BR last year) so we were living off my credit cards.

I'm lucky enough to have a small mortgage as my parents helped me buy the house a long time ago and invested a lot of their money in it so most of the equity belongs to my mum, so it's a bit difficult for me to release equity or take secured loans and my mum is not aware of the state I'm in.

Sorry if this is a bit long.

Monthly income after tax................ 1300
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1300

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 164
Secured loan repayments................. 47
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold flat)...... 0
Council tax............................. 110
Electricity............................. 34
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 12
Telephone (land line)................... 18 - this is mainly for line rental as I take advantage of free weekend calls and use my mobile in the evenings as I get a few free evening calls
Mobile phone............................ 10
TV Licence.............................. 11
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 21 can this go for the time being?
Internet Services....................... 13
Groceries etc. ......................... 150
Clothing................................ 10can you do without clothes for a while?
Petrol/diesel........................... 100 any way you could cut this down, through not making unneccesary journeys,checking tyre pressure?
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 21
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 30 - I have gum disease and unfortunately the treatment cannot be done on the nhs and I have to have treatment every 3 months which does cost a fortune.
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 20 - have 2 cats and £10 pm is for pet insurance for both - will cut down on their food as one of them is obese and needs to lose weight anyway!
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 10
Total monthly expenses.................. 821

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 200000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 4000
Other assets............................ 15000
Total Assets............................ 219000

Secured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR APR's need to be accurate
Mortgage...................... 20000....(164)......0
Secured Debt.................. 5000.....(47).......0
Total secured debts........... 25000.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR As Above
Barclaycard....................5900......126.......0
mBNA...........................9000......220.......0
Monument.......................4000......116.......0
Abbey Overdraft................1200......60........0
Cap One Credit Card............2000......80........0
Sainsburys Loan................2000......117.......0
First Plus Loan................2500......79........0
Halifax........................1700......57........0
Total unsecured debts..........28300.....855.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,300
Expenses (including secure debts)....... 821
Available for debt repayments........... 479
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 855
Surplus(deficit if negative)............ -376

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 219,000
Total Secured debt...................... -25,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -28,300
Personal net worth...................... 165,700

Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission.[/font]

Hi,your SOA isn't really bad but can be tweaked a little. Hope I have helped in a small way & other good people will be able to help too. It would be a massive weight off your shoulder if you told your parents too in my opinion. Without putting them on the spot would they be able to help you at all? If not financially they can probably help in other ways? Don't bottle it all up & telling your parents will more than likely be a huge relief to you. I told my Mum & she has helped us financially & we are paying her back £20 a month,which we will increase once we've cleared one of our loans in July. Good luck.

tealady

Hi again. If your council tax is high see if you are in the correct band, I appealed about mine and got a reduction which was enough to pay the bill for 12 months.
Also check all your utility bills and insurances via a cash back website. There could be savings there.
Prescriptions. Do you have a season ticket? That might be cheaper.
Also there is a website somewhere which will show you the cheapest petrol locally.
Hope theres some ideas here you can use.

Deep_In_Debt

Thanks for the replies. Re. the petrol - I don't really use my car unncessarily but I travel 30 miles a day to/from work - dont use my car much at weekends unless I have to see my mum once a month. Have looked into the cost of getting the train and the journey is horrendous and the fares even a season ticket works out more. Tend to buy my petrol at supermarkets. I don't have a big gas guzzling car - just the journey to work and sitting in traffic takes a lot of petrol.

My mum has helped me a lot financially over the years and she is looking to move house so is needing all the money that she can get at the mo. Also, not sure how she would take to my situation - she gets stressed easily and suffers from high blood pressure so I don;t want to add to that.

Prescriptions - will look into the possibility of seeing if I can get some sort of reduction - couldn't take out insurance for the dental work as pre-existing conditions are not covered unfortunately.

I have checked my council tax banding and it is correct unfortunately. Come under one of the most expensive boroughs in the land!

Will check electricity suppliers through Quidco and see if I can get that cheaper. I got my water meter fitted free last year - was paying £28 pm for water - now down to £12 so saving already. May still come down further as it's only me and I don't use that much.

Thanks for your suggestions

ltm07

That's ok & as I have said before your SOA isn't too bad,but could you cancel Sky? You will still get alot of free to air channels through your dish. It's £252 a year that you could be throwing at your debts. All the best!

Deep_In_Debt

I've been thinking of cancelling Sky for a while so I shall get onto it - just need to get my backside in gear and this has given me the kick I need! There's never anything to watch on most of the channels anyway.