One Step At A Time - My DFW Diary

EmptyPurse

OK, I've started going through my bills again <sigh>

This is how things stand at the moment (minus credit card payments). I've highlighted a few things in red that I think need to look at more closely:

Rent £675
Contact Lenses £24.95
TV Licence £11.75
Charity £3
BT Line Rental £11.75
Electricity £60
Broadband £18.99
Mobile £45
PruHealth £40
Council Tax £78
TalkTalk (landline) £3
Home Contents Insurance £13.28
Christmas Savings £25
Season Ticket: £109
Groceries: £100
General expenses: £150 (I know this is completely vague and far less than I actually spend; I need to keep a spending diary this month!)

I cancelled my gym membership earlier today so that's not on the list any more. The contact lenses are expensive but I've investigated them already and can't get my prescription any cheaper.

Any suggestions about any of the items I've highlighted?

Numpty_Monkey

Hi empty purse

I'm with TalkTalk and get line rental free local evening and weekend calls and broadband for £16 a month, the customer servise with the broadband isn't going to win awards but i don't many will

hth

EmptyPurse

Hurrah!

I spoke to the tax office and it turns out that I've been overpaying for the last 18 months. So they owe me money! Not only will they have to send me a cheque to refund the overpayments but I'll also get an increase in my take-home pay as from November.

The tax man wouldn't give me any exact figures but he said that my cheque would be for "quite a bit". I wonder what that means???

Today I'm going to think about my broadband & landline. I know there are some really cheap deals about but I had a very bad experience with a cheap provider a while ago so I want something that offers really good service too.

I could possibly get a combined broadband/landline/TV package with Sky for the same amount as I'm paying for my broadband at the moment. What's Sky like for reliability? Do any of the money-back websites have deals on Sky at the moment?