[samoocha1991]

Hi there,

Okay so we got paid this week $980. Once our bills were taken out we had $100 left over.

Includes:

Phone/Internet
Ge money Card
Fuel - which adds up to $580 p/m as DH works out of town and cant be avoided
Water
Savings
Credit Card
Car Rego A/C
Home Loan Repayment
Rates
Electricity

This does NOT even include food, fornightly day care payments We are in credit with all our utility bills though so im wondering are we spending a lot more then we should be? ....... we seem to be left short every week.

We are single income, dont smoke nor drink, have 2 DD's (3yrs, 4 months).


WHAT IS YOUR WEEKLY BUDGET ON BILLS?????

[Rachel70]

Why if your budget is so tight are you in credit with your utilities??? That money just sits there, you don't save interest or get a discount from being in credit.
It would make more sense to have paid thar extra money into your home loan.

[ALittleBitter]

1. Do some research and see if you can cut down your phone/internet bill. It doesn't hurt to ask your current provider if they can lower it for you.
2. Depending on how far in credit you are, yes you are probably putting too much money into utilities. Go through old bills and work out the average cost per fortnight/month, and put that money aside into savings each pay. At least you are then earning interest on the amount.
3. If you only have $100 left for daycare fees and food, I think you should put savings on the backburner for a while until you have more of your debts paid down and have some money freed up that way.

[Bart.]

I've seen lots of people on this forum recommend being in credit with their utilities and I disagree with this method. Instead, I would open a high interest savings account and put the allocated money in there so YOU are earning the interest and not the utility. It's not much, but that small amount of interest is effectively a discount.

I would also continue to shop around. Don't be loyal, you don't get rewarded for that.

Rego and rates are intermittent payments so try to alter your budget to put in more at certain times of the year when they're due.

That's all I can really suggest!

All the best.

[PatG]

When you list Credit Card do you mean the full amount to get the balance to zero? If not then perhaps you should look at putting the savings towards this. Find out exactly how much in credit you are with your utilities and cut back on that - that money is much better spent in paying off the CC if you are being charged interest there, or to your home loan (again cutting down interest costs) if you have a free redraw facility.

[clairewright]

Is it a regular thing that you only have a small amount left for food and child care? Or have you just received all your bills at once.
What we did was keep note of when bills came and how much they were for. Then tried to work out a rough weekly figure to use for bills. That way we could kind of predict when we would be getting our bills.

You would be better working out if credit card Or ge money card has higher interest. Put savings off those.

We have one wage and 2 small kids. We get similar pay to yours ( bit less) and we get centrelink money too. We budget big time. We give ourselves weekly spending money ( minimal!)

I can give you a run down of what we budget for bills etc. just send me a pm.

[WinterDancesHere]

ETA: Our weekly bills are about $700 a week. This includes allowances for gas/electricity/rates/water, home loan, personal loan, insurance, car costs and childcare. I have 1 DS and we are single income as well.

I budget $100 (not included in the $700) for groceries.

My suggestion would be to stop paying your utilities in advance and put the money into your credit card. Pay the account from the card when it is due.

That way you will be reducing the interest you are paying and the extra will help you pay the card off faster.

Are you on an interest free promo with the GE card? If yes, pay what you need to clear it before it expires, if not make this your focus to get rid of (I would say above savings). If I recall correctly they have an interest rate of over 20%.

This post has been edited by WinterDancesHere: 16/02/2013, 12:06 PM

[middle]

hi, i am not sure if this is possible (depending on your state) but why dont you ring the ulities company and see if they will send you a chq for your credit balance and that way you can keep paying your ultilies each fortnight. i know that it will take a couple of weeks for the chq to come and then clear in your account but you might be able to use this for your childcare fees/home loan repayment

i also notice that you had a home loan repayment. if your home loan is in advance why dont you look at withdrawing some of your extra repayment and put it onto the credit card. if you dont need the credit card when you make the lump sump payment ring and reduce the limit that might reduce your mim payment and also help you get rid of the card quicker

[nlman]

If you have a GE Money card, a credit card debt, and a home loan, I would not be putting into savings and keeping your utilities in credit. You need to pay down your debt so that you are paying less interest.

[haras1972]

Agree, if you are paying any interest on your credit cards, scrap savings plan, scrap being in credit on your utilities, just get to the point where you can pay your credit card in full each due date.

Any advance on your home loan, pull it out and pay down credit cards. Would really suggest dropping down to one card too...

We average $750 a week, once we add up all the utilities, rates, regos, phone, daycare, bank charges etc.

Re the high petrol bill - is there any way this can be reduced? A friend of mine rides 40km each way on a bicycle to his mates house in town, and pays a small fee for a lift with a co-worker the rest of the way... Has added so many $$ back to their budget - any hope of carpooling, or you driving him part of the way etc?