Budgeting during the 'credit crunch'

oasisfeverish

Hi Lucy,

Just some thoughts for you.

Lucy1982 wrote: »

Pay - £1100.16

Rent - £240.00 (Although you have just put this up, have you spoken to your mum about a temporary redcution to pay off your debts first, and then explain once paid off I could then increase it above £240 as I would have no debt)
Contact lens - £10.00
RAC - £9.90 (Do you or your mum shop at Tesco? RAC is in their deals and would cost you £38.25 for the year, £3.19 per month for the same cover)
Car Insurance - £32.38 (Quido for cashback)
Car maintenance - £100.00 (Do you actually use this each month, if not transfer to a instant saving account to earn until you need it)
Petrol - £80.00 (Use www.petrolprices.com to find the cheapest petrol in your area)
Mobile - £20.00 (In a contract? How long left? Renegotiate new contract for lesser amount)
Loan - £284.34 (Do you know what your APR is? Speak to your lender, explain hardship and they may reduce your interest rate)
Xmas/Birthdays - £20.00 (Same as Car maintenance, put into instant saving account to earn interest until needed)
Internet - £12.49 (Do you or your mum have Sky / Virgin, as sometimes Broadband can be included for FREE)
Spending money - £80.00

(Pigsback, Quidco daily clicks, SliceThePie, Mystery Shopping, Ebay any unwanted or extra bits / clothes)

Total – £889.11

Leaving – £211.05

Now I know RAC will put this up because of the call out so I can shop around for that come May. My mobile isn't costing me anything at the moment as T-mobile have refunded me a repair.

Is there anything I can cut back on? My car insurance is due for renewal end of May so will shop around for that.

What I am aiming to do it pay off and extra £100 a month off my loan and I have a small amount on a credit card (£90)

Thanks I thought some general tips on getting through the next few months would be helpful to us all.

xx

Some of that may help.

oasisfeverish

floss2 wrote: »

Re your RAC - does your mum shop at Tesco? You can use deals for RAC membership - full membership for me & DF cost us 1/4 of the actual cost

Great minds, I was typing as you were posting.

Note to self: Type quicker!

Lucy1982_2

Cheers Guys.

Right let me work through them:

Rent - Mum knows about my debts, but I wont let her take any less. She earm much less than I do and it is cheaper than living alone. It may sound daft, but I am happy with this.

RAC - We don't shop at Tesco, our nearest one is about 20 miles away. But fab idea though. Do Nectar do this?

Car Insurance - will quidco if I switch and find cheaper.

Car Maintenance - It's sat in an online savings account earning interest as we speak (and can be accessed instantly should I need it)

Petrol - Already use the site, I do have a 5p off a litre from Sainsburys, btu they had run out last night and I was on vapours!

Mobile - is on a contract and has been reduced from £25 as I was a 'good' customer

Loan - this has recently been redone, so I am stuck with this for a while, APR is 9.9%

Xmas/Birthdays - As car, in savings online. I also have a holiday account that has 3p in it :rotfl:

Internet - I tried the free Sky broadband as we have Sky and couldn't get it to work. But I will have a look around. I am not tied into a contract so will see what is cheap.

I think that covers everything!

consultant31

The only other thing is your Slimming World fee.

I am a SW Consultant, so I really shouldn't say this, but if you're confident you know the plan, why not stop going to group (thus saving £18+ a month) and join up to one of the SW support groups on here. There's one on this very board (Red & Green support thread - at the top just under the stickies), and another on the Money saving in Families board.

You will get lots of support and you could continue to get weighed weekly in Boots (same scales each week, same day of the week if poss).

There's a lot to be gained from being a group member, but sometimes needs must - you could always rejoin when the finances are in better shape.

Lucy1982_2

I have tried this and I missed it so much. Although the group here is great!

I have made a decision on this sort of things though. I normally go to a Salsa class once a week and do 2 sessions = £6 a week. But I am going to start going only 2 weeks out of 4 and only do one session each time so £6 a month rather than £24.

Overthetop

Hi Lucy, have you tried walking to work, my mate has just started and has saved a fortune on fuel-sadly I travel many miles each day so can not do it myself

Lucy1982_2

Me to.

It's a good 8 miles each way in the car, so unfortunately walking isn't going to happen!!

I would love to be able to though, would cut down the cost of petrol so much!

claireabelle_2

Hi Lucy
Do you have a bike? I work 4 miles from my house through a central-ish London commute and it takes about 20 mins - might be nice on the odd day in the summer? I really enjoy it!
Claire

Lucy1982_2

I have thought about it, but I am not very fit (I know this would get me fitter) and I'm in rual Wiltshire so would be heading off into fields and the such...

I will keep it in mind if things get really bad!