SOA - the end seems so far away!

Pigeongirl

gone.....................

sparky0107

Pigeongirl wrote: »

I really want to be debt free within 3 years but there are so many things that we need to pay out for! We've got to find the money to travel up north to a christening (about £100 fuel) and then we've got to go south to visit DH's family (whom we haven't seen in about a year) and then there's a friend's wedding in August and then there's the MOT in August and our old car is on her last legs and it all seems so overwhelming! I just want it all to go away! :eek:

Please, I have no idea what a sensible budget is. What is realistic for us?


Here is my SOA for my DH and myself:

Income

DH £1485
Me £380

Total/ £1865


Outgoings

£470 Rent
£15 Car Tax
£32 Car Insurance
£25 Internet (Namesco)
£25 BT Direct Debit
£15 Specsavers (My contact lenses)
£109 Council Tax Change to 12 months saving just over £18
£13 TV Licence
£85 Gas/Electric
£34 Water
£11 Contents Insurance
£30 Petrol (minimum)
£10 AA Breakdown Cover
£2 NSPCC Can you stop this til you get back on your feet
£180 AA Loan
£25 Life Insurance
£20 Gardener (We have no mower and no shed ie/ storage and figured it would cost more to buy those things than to pay a bloke a tenner every fortnight to come cut it.)
£30 Pre-School Fees
£25 Christmas Savings (total saved so far only £25 )
£380 Food/Household groceries (There is DH, myself and our son who is three) Very high take a look at the Old Style board for idaes to cut your budget

Total/ £1536

Debts

A&L Overdraft £1250
Joint Barclays Overdraft £550
Barclays Overdraft £300
Total/ £2100

Also, AA Loan £8000 to be paid off March 2013 Does this have PPI, can you cancel it?

So that leaves us with £326 every month left over to cover other things like birthdays/ extra fuel costs/days out (infrequent)/clothes etc. I would really like to pay the AA loan off as early as possible because the APR is approx 12% and we'll be paying back about £10,500 on an 8 grand loan. We did it to consolidate but then ran up a couple of grand on our overdrafts.:o

Please please help me!!!:eek:

Welcome to the forum,
I've added some comments in red, they're only suggestions, but I hope they help, some more good people will come along & give you some more help soon, you've come to the best place.

Pigeongirl

Thank you!

The loan does not have PPI :j

Yeah, I think I do spend too much on the food and household stuff. Will take a look on Old Style, thank you!

shopaholic2008

Just a couple of suggestions could you not get a lawnmower off of freecycle you can get them on there for free and with the sunny weather coming up it will be nice enough to do it yourself that will save you a bit each month.

Also are the gas electric and internet bills as cheap as possible?

Good luck and keep us posted

angeldiva

I dont have anything to add as im still learning myself but im sure that others will be along soon to really help you out. I just wanted to say hello and weclome you are in the right place,

fiddling_flower_petals

Hi,

Are you claiming CTC/WTC also Child benefit as you soa doesn't include these.

As above re: gas/electric, internet. When insurance renewals due check cash back websites, I'm sure you already do but mentioned just in case.

CLAPTON

326 per month for other things is a massive amount.
with this you could clear all your overdrafts in about 8 months
you need to budget for these items just as carefully as any other and see how much you can save from this sum.

IWantToBeFree_2

Pigeongirl wrote: »

I really want to be debt free within 3 years but there are so many things that we need to pay out for! We've got to find the money to travel up north to a christenin (about £100 fuel) and then we've got to go south to visit DH's family (whom we haven't seen in about a year) and then there's a friend's wedding in August and then there's the MOT in August and our old car is on her last legs and it all seems so overwhelming! I just want it all to go away! :eek:
With regards to fuel costs, have you looked at train tickets, can get some bargains if you book well enough in advance.

Please, I have no idea what a sensible budget is. What is realistic for us?


Here is my SOA for my DH and myself:

Income

DH £1485
Me £380

Total/ £1865


Outgoings

£470 Rent
£15 Car Tax
£32 Car Insurance
£25 Internet (Namesco) Can you switch providers? £25 is quite a lot for internet
£25 BT Direct Debit Possibly cut down on calls so its cheaper?
£15 Specsavers (My contact lenses) Cheaper online?
£109 Council Tax Change to 12 months instead of 10 if not already
£13 TV Licence
£85 Gas/Electric Is this cheapest you can get? Shop around and use Quidco to swap
£34 Water
£11 Contents Insurance
£30 Petrol (minimum)
£10 AA Breakdown Cover
£2 NSPCC Charity begains at home, until you are debt free, you shouldn't be giving money away!
£180 AA Loan
£25 Life Insurance
£20 Gardener (We have no mower and no shed ie/ storage and figured it would cost more to buy those things than to pay a bloke a tenner every fortnight to come cut it.)
£30 Pre-School Fees
£25 Christmas Savings (total saved so far only £25 )
£380 Food/Household groceries (There is DH, myself and our son who is three) You can certainly cut this back, have a look at the oldschool board for tips. I reckon you could easily halve this if not more

Total/ £1536

Debts

A&L Overdraft £1250
Joint Barclays Overdraft £550
Barclays Overdraft £300
Total/ £2100

Also, AA Loan £8000 to be paid off March 2013

So that leaves us with £326 every month left over to cover other things like birthdays/ extra fuel costs/days out (infrequent)/clothes etc. I would really like to pay the AA loan off as early as possible because the APR is approx 12% and we'll be paying back about £10,500 on an 8 grand loan. We did it to consolidate but then ran up a couple of grand on our overdrafts.:o

Please please help me!!!:eek:

With regards to the AA Loan, are there penalties for early redemption and is the interest front loaded? If so, you are not going to benefit from paying back early and you would be better stashing your extra money in a high interest savings account and earning some on it.