adjustment needed to budget - help please

loobyloo1980 · 30 August 2005 at 10:12AM

I need to adjust my budget for my creditors, as we have just bought a car. It was only a cheapo one, £200, but obviously with insurance (£61 a month as hubby is only 21) and petrol it is going to affect our budget. I'm not sure how i work out how much to set aside for road tax and MOT, servicing etc. as I don't know how much it will cost us to run.

I was reluctant to get a car until next year, but I am so ill at the moment with my pregnancy I physically haven't the energy to walk anywhere without fainting. We knew we would need one once the new baby arrived in March as 3 kids means no lifts of family anymore. The final straw has come this week as my parents are away so no lifts anywhere and it has cost us a whopping £40 in transport (taxis and buses) to get around to various places which always seem to be out of town. I can't afford to keep throwing £40 a week away in fares as it only used to cost that much to put petrol in our old car for a month!!!

Anyway, car is a J reg Volvo and is a 1721CC engine, and I would be really grateful if someone could help me cost the tax and likely repair/mot/service costs for a car that age.

roversbabe · 30 August 2005 at 6:32PM

Hi

As the card is over 1.4l, you'll be paying the higher tax rate which is £170 for 12 months or £92.50 for 6 months (at the mo). As for MOT, this is usually around £30-£35 (shop around) for the test. Not sure on the repairs or service costs sorry.

Hope you're feeling better soon hun

donnalove · 30 August 2005 at 9:06PM

hi loobyloo1980
being on a budget i would have definately not choose a volvo, do you know someone who could do repairs cheap for you,ie fitting brakes, exhaust etc.... that would save you.petrol wise you would get approx 28-30 miles per gallon around town so 90 miles possibly cost you a tenner, possibly 40-45 on long trips. mot's vary in cost £25-£35 shop around. volvo parts can get quite expensive, don't buy genuine volvo parts, don't know what carpart shops are in your area, but ring a few they all vary in price. get otherhalf to do night classes in car maintenence (oil & filter changes, sparkplugs etc save a fortune) servicing varies in price main dealers most expensive,but expect to pay anywhere between £50-£200, take a look around local garages.

take a look at the AA & RAC websites they set a rate per mile they say it costs you to run a car, in your case it would probably be 37p-38p per mile, so you could use this as a guide, probably wouldn't cost you that every year but might give you a clearer picture of what you should be aiming for

hope this is some help
donnalove
xxx

loobyloo1980 · 30 August 2005 at 9:08PM

I hope so too!! People keep telling me I must be having twins as I didn't feel like this with my daughter or my son, so it puts pay to it being the opposite sex causing the problems!!! I hope they're wrong!!! Will need a big expensive people carrier then :rotfl:

Thanks for info on road tax. Will dig out my old CAB financial statement with MOT costs on I think and just update that a little as prices are bound to have gone up in 2 years. Its taxed and MOTd until Feb next year, so have a few months to save up an emergency car fund out of overtime which is always rife in the winter months.

loobyloo1980 · 30 August 2005 at 9:12PM

donnalove wrote:

hi loobyloo1980
being on a budget i would have definately not choose a volvo, do you know someone who could do repairs cheap for you,ie fitting brakes, exhaust etc.... that would save you.petrol wise you would get approx 28-30 miles per gallon around town so 90 miles possibly cost you a tenner, possibly 40-45 on long trips. mot's vary in cost £25-£35 shop around. volvo parts can get quite expensive, don't buy genuine volvo parts, don't know what carpart shops are in your area, but ring a few they all vary in price. get otherhalf to do night classes in car maintenence (oil & filter changes, sparkplugs etc save a fortune) servicing varies in price main dealers most expensive,but expect to pay anywhere between £50-£200, take a look around local garages.

take a look at the AA & RAC websites they set a rate per mile they say it costs you to run a car, in your case it would probably be 37p-38p per mile, so you could use this as a guide, probably wouldn't cost you that every year but might give you a clearer picture of what you should be aiming for

hope this is some help
donnalove
xxx

thanks Donnalove, this post is fantastic. had no idea AA/RAC did that so will check it out straight away. Didn't purposely choose a volvo to be honest, it was a choice out of mondeo which had sold, fiesta ghia which had higher insurance and would have been too small for 3 kiddies. volvo seemed the most practical for our needs. Hadn't realised it would be expensive to repair, so will bear that in mind around MOT time.

Hubby used to be a driver in the army and has some rough knowledge of servicing and doing spark plugs etc. can change tyres and bits and pieces. We have a couple of mechanic mates we will have to call on I suppose.

Right, off to check RAC & AA. Thanks again, that is very helpful. :T

loobyloo1980 · 30 August 2005 at 9:22PM

can't find anything relevant on RAC or AA, am I looking in wrong place?

klare_2 · 31 August 2005 at 3:49AM

hi there,,,fraid i dont know anything about cars but just wanted to wish you luck on your pregnancy my first one was the pregnancy from hell and i wouldnt have wished my worst enemy to have one like that so hang on in there. dont know how long you have to go but each day is one closer to D-Day ( Dropping -Day)

loobyloo1980 · 31 August 2005 at 9:48AM

klare wrote:

hi there,,,fraid i dont know anything about cars but just wanted to wish you luck on your pregnancy my first one was the pregnancy from hell and i wouldnt have wished my worst enemy to have one like that so hang on in there. dont know how long you have to go but each day is one closer to D-Day ( Dropping -Day)

My daughter was a good pregnancy but terrible labour, my son I had a few bouts of illness but wonderful labour, but nothing on this scale. Think with this being so different It'll be dreadful all the way through and I'm convinced i'll be having c section through high blood pressure LOL. My other 2 are driving me spare!!! I'm due in March, so ages yet. Having my first scan tomorrow afternoon. Thanks for your thoughts.

loobyloo1980 · 31 August 2005 at 9:53AM

Right on the subject of the car, we have worked a rough budget for time being, as anything on a budget is better than nothing, right?

We know:
car insurance £61 a month
petrol £40 - £50 a month depending on prices and hubbies overtime level
road tax £15 a month roughly going on buying it 6 monthly.

and we thought to allow about £500 a year initially for repairs, MOT, servicing, and other running costs like oil etc. this works out in total all things included about £165 a month.

Good news is, my sons nursery is moving out of the area and we are not moving with it, so his nursery fees will stop until I can find a different one and that is about the same amount a month. so initially the car will not make us any worse off.

hoping to get him into a funded playgroup which will only cost £3.50 a session until he is 3, then it is covered by government funding under the early years education scheme. that will save us a packet.

Anyway, will send revised budget to creditors and tell them will review when baby arrives in 6 months time as income and outgoings will change.

thanks everyone for your help.

adjustment needed to budget - help please

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