HELP! What do you think of my Money Diet?

MissRich

I need some advise as Im 29 have £1671 after tax and really want some suggestions over how to clear debit QUICKLY.
:money:
I brought a property over a year ago and in one year have collected a debit of £5500 (NEARLY £7000 including interest over 3 years). I want to clear this debit in a year! but need some advise over how to draw up a realistic budget.

I have used some of the money saving Experts tips and have drawn up a Budget plan and decided to consolidated my debit. My budget feels quite drastic and an financial adviser who said it was not realistic.

Morgage and bills 910
Water bill 26
Electricity 15
phone 40
Internet 12
Food 86.60
Going out 35
Travel 116
Loan 158
Saving / extra money for debit 80
Leisure 32.50
Christmas 7
Birthday 7
Clothes 20
Hair 67

Please let me know if you have any suggestions over cutting back money.

~Beanie~

MissRich wrote: »

I need some advise as Im 29 have £1671 after tax and really want some suggestions over how to clear debit QUICKLY.
:money:
I brought a property over a year ago and in one year have collected a debit of £5500 (NEARLY £7000 including interest over 3 years). I want to clear this debit in a year! but need some advise over how to draw up a realistic budget.

I have used some of the money saving Experts tips and have drawn up a Budget plan and decided to consolidated my debit. My budget feels quite drastic and an financial adviser who said it was not realistic.

Morgage and bills 910 - What bills? You have bills listed below...
Water bill 26
Electricity 15
phone 40 - Is this a mobile or land line?
Internet 12
Food 86.60
Going out 35
Travel 116
Loan 158
Saving / extra money for debit 80 - Pay it off your debt, no point saving when you owe £5.5K
Leisure 32.50
Christmas 7
Birthday 7
Clothes 20
Hair 67 - Per MONTH? Are you joking? You can definately cut this!!

Please let me know if you have any suggestions over cutting back money.

By my reckoning that lot comers to £1612.10 per month, which leaves roughly £50 spare. It looks realistic to me. Is there anyway you an increase your income? Do overtime, get a second job, sell stuff on Ebay etc?

tallyhoh

Hair £67 :eek: :eek:

Sorry but that seems such a huge amount. What is the difference between leisure & going out?
Does your mortgage & bills include house/contents/life insurance & council tax? if not you should include them.

I must say that the rest seems okay, quite good in fact.

Horace

Leisure at £32.50 and Going Out £35 - both seem a bit steep, perhaps you could cut back on these? Aren't Leisure and Going Out one and the same

£116 for travel - is this per month or annual?

It doesnt seem too bad, you just need to raise extra cash by selling on Ebay or doing some carboots as well as perhaps getting a second job.

delboypass

Lol, do you not think you should have done a budget befor eyou bought your house?? Bit late now...

But agree with comments above regarding Haircut £67 a month??
Savings, clothes, birthdays, christmas can all be cut back to zero til the bills are paid...

Take it you travel via local transport?

piglet6

Hi MissRich

I think I'm just repeating what others have already said, but the "biggies" here are obviously the hair @ £67, and leisure and going out. :eek:

Is there any way you can cut these?

How about searching for local beauty colleges or hairdressing academies (you certainly get these advertised in London...I'm not sure where you are?) to get cut-price hair rates - students are always looking for "live" heads to practice on :rotfl: , but they are heavily supervised so you won't leave looking like a complete freak (if a student really messes up, a tutor will step in and make you look "human" again...;)), but the cost will be a fraction of a "normal" haircut.

Leisure and going out... If "leisure" involves gym membership, it may be worth checking out local authority gyms - they often have equally good equipment but are much cheaper than private gyms. :rolleyes: Re: going out, this is trickier, but maybe you can start an "evening in" scheme with your friends, taking it in turns to cook/provide alcohol/watch a DVD/do cheap DIY beauty treatments (waxing/manicures/pedicures) for each other...?!

The other thing that strikes me is travel. For some reason, I suspect you live in London and this might be a travelcard. Is a bus pass a cheaper viable option for you...?! I always used to take the tube, but once I studied the buses, I realised that I could bus-hop to where I needed to be almost as quickly as taking trains/tubes and it was much cheaper - it just needed a bit of pre-planning!

Good luck!

Piglet

MissRich

Thank you soooo much for your advice
£67 on hair is expensive but I have afro hair and its long I have a hair treatment and get it relaxed once a month and I cant relax (which straigtens it ) myself I use to I get a discount because I got the hairdresser customers. I have tried having it natural but its very time constraining. Plus I look quite young and Ive noticed that people tend to presume I'm even younger with natural hair which isnt great in my profession. I previously tried a college salon but my hair fell out and I had to cut it off!
But I am ganna try natural again until I clear some of my debuts.

MissRich

Hello Beanie
Thanks for your reply. The loan payments arent flexiable unless you pay the amount in full so I though I would save up extra until I have enough pay the loan a bit earlier.
I pay £30 on my mobile and my phone bill tends to be around £15-£20
With my mogage I pay £96 on council tax and 70 on maintence.

MissRich

Hello Horance,
Thanks for your reply I work in London so travel does tend to be expensive I have been looking into gettin a part time job however I have not yet been successful but will keep trying.

MissRich

Hello delboypass
Its difficult when your stuck between renting and buy in London but this really was the cheapest property I could find . At the time I thought it would be alright because I thought I would eventually work my way up lol.

MissRich

Hello Piglet6
Thanks for your reply
I might try doing my hair myself for a bit to cut down the costs (which should by quite funny). But the local gym membership was 36 pounds a month and quite hard to get to without a car. I checked out traveling by bus but it would take 3 hours to travel ! lol so I may have to concider working a bit closer to home although it may not provide the same future career progression opportunities.