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Georgiejoe · 2 December 2011 at 8:38PM

Cynical_Monkey wrote: »

You earn £1100 and pay £500 for childcare. That leaves £600 and with the fuel and a better gas, electric and phone plan, you'll only end up around £200 a month worse off by not working.

That leaves you £250 in the black when already making the minimum payments on your cards and overdraft.

That's 6 months until the CC is cleared and potentially debt free by the end of 2012 without making too many changes.

Considering that you're on a repayment mortgage and have no other debts, I'd say the future looks quite bright.

Thanks. I am probably panicking slightly. Things used to be much much worse, I worked really really hard at paying off all my debts, finally got debt free then my car died and the boiler died all in the same month. You're right though, it will be ok

rising_from_the_ashes · 2 December 2011 at 8:43PM

Re the gas & elec - try doing weekly readings for a while again and seeing what they show. Are you submitting readings or are these estimated amounts?

Also, you may be able to borrow an energy monitor for a few weeks - we can borrow them from our library (just started so need to find out more about it) but may be worth seeing if you can do this and seeing if there are certainly things that are increasing usage - eg tumble drier etc.

Re drafts - pop over to the Old Style board and have a look at the "preparing for winter" thread - it's pretty big but loads of tips on how to help reduce costs over winter in the house (draft excluders for doors, lining curtains with fleeces etc) which can make a huge difference for very little money. You won't make it all the way through the thread (trust me, I've tried!) so if you have a specific question, just ask as a really helpful friendly bunch.

Cynical_Monkey · 2 December 2011 at 9:21PM

Out of curiosity, which company is your gas and electric with and what tariff are you on? Do you know what your monthly/yearly usage for each is? I'm almost certain it can be sourced cheaper but having an idea of the usage would at the very least give me a base value to compare on.

As for the debts, have you considered a balance transfer to a 0% credit card?

cottonhead · 2 December 2011 at 10:14PM

This is interesting as your income and expenditure is very similar to mine ! What is the £500 for car upkeep etc that seems very high ? Thats a yearly figure right ? Still seems high though. Got my MOT for half price via halfords and thats about it so think you could save lots here.
On the bright side I guess if you loose your job you will could save £200 in petrol and £500 in childcare straight off.
The mobile could be reduced ( once the contract ends if there is one ) to £10 a month - tesco do £30 worth of credit for a £10 top up per month.
The gas / electric seems a little high so might be worth checking - is that an estimate ? Take a reading yourself and phone them.
Also sounds silly I know but do you check your bank statements and account for all the £10 taken out here and there ? I didnt and was shocked to see how much I took out in a month without realising ! You must be spending something on the kids - cinema, food out etc once in a while ? and clothes for the kids they grow so fast. Maybe lessen the present allowance. Thats £100 per child for each xmas and birthday. Seems too steep. £50 each would still get great presents.
Not a criticism ( I do it all the time !) , I just think maybe there is some spending happening that you havent accounted for. Keep a diary and note down everything for a month to check.
Making lunch to take to work, turning the heating on just to take the chill off and then snuggling with hot water bottles and a blanket has proved quite fun in the winter! Even spending £10 less each time you do a food shop, have a couple of nights a week where you challenge yourself to make the cheapest meal possible. Good old favourite beans on toast is a cliche but soooo cheap and really yummy - all adds up.

Georgiejoe · 2 December 2011 at 10:24PM

Cynical_Monkey wrote: »

Out of curiosity, which company is your gas and electric with and what tariff are you on? Do you know what your monthly/yearly usage for each is? I'm almost certain it can be sourced cheaper but having an idea of the usage would at the very least give me a base value to compare on.

As for the debts, have you considered a balance transfer to a 0% credit card?

I'm with NPower. No idea what tarriff as it doesn't mention it on my bill but they've predicted my next 12 months consumption as 5570KWh of elec and 21285KWh of gas.

My CC is already on 0% and I will try to get another 0% card to transfer the balance over in May. I can't use a CC to pay off my OD unfortunately as it is classed as a cash transfer and therefore attracts much higher interest rates.

Georgiejoe · 2 December 2011 at 10:33PM

cottonhead wrote: »

This is interesting as your income and expenditure is very similar to mine ! What is the £500 for car upkeep etc that seems very high ? Thats a yearly figure right ? Still seems high though. Got my MOT for half price via halfords and thats about it so think you could save lots here.
On the bright side I guess if you loose your job you will could save £200 in petrol and £500 in childcare straight off.
The mobile could be reduced ( once the contract ends if there is one ) to £10 a month - tesco do £30 worth of credit for a £10 top up per month.
The gas / electric seems a little high so might be worth checking - is that an estimate ? Take a reading yourself and phone them.
Also sounds silly I know but do you check your bank statements and account for all the £10 taken out here and there ? I didnt and was shocked to see how much I took out in a month without realising ! You must be spending something on the kids - cinema, food out etc once in a while ? and clothes for the kids they grow so fast. Maybe lessen the present allowance. Thats £100 per child for each xmas and birthday. Seems too steep. £50 each would still get great presents.
Not a criticism ( I do it all the time !) , I just think maybe there is some spending happening that you havent accounted for. Keep a diary and note down everything for a month to check.
Making lunch to take to work, turning the heating on just to take the chill off and then snuggling with hot water bottles and a blanket has proved quite fun in the winter! Even spending £10 less each time you do a food shop, have a couple of nights a week where you challenge yourself to make the cheapest meal possible. Good old favourite beans on toast is a cliche but soooo cheap and really yummy - all adds up.

Yes the £500 car exp was over the year and is only an estimate. I am expecting high MOT costs as it is an old car :think:

I've just set up a spreadsheet to track every single penny. So far, my money seems to be mostly going on Diesel!! Over the last week I have spent £75 on food, £75 on diesel and £2.44 on milk/sugar for work (we take it in turns to get supplies).

Yes I need to take account of fun stuff costs with the kids, although we often just go for countryside walks with a packed lunch, bike rides or other cheap things. I can't seem to spend less than £100 on each of them at Christmas though and there still doesn't seem much! I spend less on birthdays. I also don't buy anyone else presents as I never have the money!

I know £20 a month I have put for clothes seems low but I mostly buy from charity shops so really don't spend much at all on any of us.

With similar in/outgoings do you struggle? I always though I was sensible with money but have always been strapped :rotfl:

Cynical_Monkey · 3 December 2011 at 4:49AM

Georgiejoe wrote: »

I'm with NPower. No idea what tarriff as it doesn't mention it on my bill but they've predicted my next 12 months consumption as 5570KWh of elec and 21285KWh of gas.

My CC is already on 0% and I will try to get another 0% card to transfer the balance over in May. I can't use a CC to pay off my OD unfortunately as it is classed as a cash transfer and therefore attracts much higher interest rates.

Looking at what you're paying and your predicted usage, I'd hazard a guess and say you're on the "Dual Fuel No Standing Charge"plan with npower.

If this is the case then it's not very cost effective;
Gas: 8.941p per kWh & 3.127p per kWh above 4572 kWh p.a
Electric: 18.34p per kWh & 14.3p per kWh above 728 kWh p.a

As an example of the savings, E.On are currently offering the below prices on their Save Online Dual Fuel - It works out as being far more cost effective as the price break kicks in at a much lower rate on gas wheras the savings on the electric also make this worthwhile -

Gas: 7.673p per kWh 3.357p per kWh above 2680 kWh p.a
Electric: 22.964p per kWh 10.322p per kWh above 900 kWh p.a

Realistically, you could save about £350 per year or around £30 a month without any effort at all... If you're not up for switching companies, it might be an idea to contact npower and ask about their "Sign Online Dual Fuel 24" package as this would also save you around £300 without cutting your gas or electric usage.

One last thing you might want to consider is the more obvious issue of where the drafts are coming from. It's amazing how effective draft excluders are and if the cold air is coming through your window seals, you may want to consider a roll of draft foam to fill the gaps - Amazon (and a lot of other places) sell 2 rolls of this for under £3

katsu · 3 December 2011 at 11:16AM

GeorgieJoe - can you get some old bills or ask the company and tell us what your actual gas and elec consumption, in units, was last year? Is it very similar to their predicted usage?

Georgiejoe · 3 December 2011 at 8:32PM

Cynical_Monkey wrote: »

Looking at what you're paying and your predicted usage, I'd hazard a guess and say you're on the "Dual Fuel No Standing Charge"plan with npower.

If this is the case then it's not very cost effective;
Gas: 8.941p per kWh & 3.127p per kWh above 4572 kWh p.a
Electric: 18.34p per kWh & 14.3p per kWh above 728 kWh p.a

As an example of the savings, E.On are currently offering the below prices on their Save Online Dual Fuel - It works out as being far more cost effective as the price break kicks in at a much lower rate on gas wheras the savings on the electric also make this worthwhile -

Gas: 7.673p per kWh 3.357p per kWh above 2680 kWh p.a
Electric: 22.964p per kWh 10.322p per kWh above 900 kWh p.a

Realistically, you could save about £350 per year or around £30 a month without any effort at all... If you're not up for switching companies, it might be an idea to contact npower and ask about their "Sign Online Dual Fuel 24" package as this would also save you around £300 without cutting your gas or electric usage.

One last thing you might want to consider is the more obvious issue of where the drafts are coming from. It's amazing how effective draft excluders are and if the cold air is coming through your window seals, you may want to consider a roll of draft foam to fill the gaps - Amazon (and a lot of other places) sell 2 rolls of this for under £3

That is really helpful thank you. I did a quick uswitch comparison last night and it came up with the npower plan you mentioned, I wasn't sure though if you could switch within company. I will give them a ring on monday.

Good idea re sealing the drafts too. We have a central thermo for the heating so it switches off when the room temp goes over 18 C. If we could keep the drafts down it would keep the room warmer without the heating needing to kick in!

Georgiejoe · 3 December 2011 at 8:33PM

katsu wrote: »

GeorgieJoe - can you get some old bills or ask the company and tell us what your actual gas and elec consumption, in units, was last year? Is it very similar to their predicted usage?

I don't know how to multi quote so thought I'd reply separately.

I will ask them when I ring on Monday, thanks.

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