SusieT78 Debt Free Diary

SusieT78 · 14 August 2017 at 4:24AM

Hello all,

I'm quite new to MSE. I have another thread where I was asking for debt advice on the main board, so I won't duplicate my posting, but the details are here for anybody interested:
forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5694050 (I can't link to it as I'm a new poster)

In summary, I've got myself into a mess with debts that I can no longer afford to pay the minimum payments for, so currently my debt free date is 113 years away (that's if the creditors agree to freeze interest, if not it will be even longer). But, circumstances do change and I hope in the future mine will change for the better and that a debt free date 25 to 30 years may be achievable. At the moment I'm not sure of how I'm going to clear the debt but I've decided to start a diary to record steps I'm taking to reduce outgoings and increase income so I can pay my debts off quicker.

I've been reading some of the debt free diaries and have found them inspirational with a lot of good advice for the other posters, so even if nobody replies I've decided to write one to keep myself motivated and record my day to day plans. Since I started the other thread I've found that starting to write things down is making me feel less stressed about my situation and helping me think a bit more clearly.

So far I plan to reduce outgoings by:

Sticking to my budget religiously
Meal planning / finding low cost recipes / making extra portions so we have homemade 'ready meals' in freezer (to stop the temptation to order takeaway / go to a family friendly pub for tea to eat, as I'm guilty of doing this far too much in the past)

I plan to increase my income by:

Doing surveys for Paypal vouchers - to cover the cost of birthdays/Xmas (any recommendations for good Survey companies appreciated - I've signed up to Swagbucks and MySurvey)
Getting a part time job once my youngest child starts school in September 2018, or if I could find a company that offers zero hours contracts where you don't need to agree your working hours until a few days in advance I could start work sooner (partner works fulltime unsociable hours, shifts and often doesn't find out what he's working until the week before, we have nobody that could help with childcare and paying for childcare would wipe out any wages), or if there is any genuine work from home opportunities I could do once the kids are in bed of an evening. I need to look into this once I've let all the creditors know I am in financial difficulty.

My current unsecured debt is approx £45k
I owe a relative £1k
My remaining mortgage is £39k
Total debt August 2017: £85k

Poor_Single_lady · 14 August 2017 at 7:45AM

Hi Suzie.
Welcome to diary land.
Hope your diary is helpful.
It is very friendly over here. You will get sorted even if it takes a long time. Quite a few of us are here for the long haul.
And if you don't mind me saying your mortgage is tiny so that is a major positive.
wishing you very best of luck. xx

swimminginaseaofdebt · 14 August 2017 at 9:10AM

Hi Susie,

Popping in to wish you lots of luck!

Valued opinions, yougov, onepoll, prolific academic and ipsos are some other survey sites you might want to check out.

beanielou · 14 August 2017 at 9:43PM

Happy shiny new diary

You could get in touch with one of the debt charity's for some help.
Also you could pop up a SOA/income/ expenditure.

Hayles70 · 14 August 2017 at 11:06PM

I just wanted to say hi and tell you that your not alone.:)

Have you tried catering companies, my SIL works for one and she basically says yes or no depending on when she can work. She mainly works at functions like weddings etc at weekends.
Also I used to work at my local chain pub/restaurant and it was zero hour contracts and we often had staff who needed to fit around their partner's shift work etc. Maybe worth a try.

Good luck and stick with it.

SusieT78 · 15 August 2017 at 4:54PM

Poor_Single_lady wrote: »

Hi Suzie.
Welcome to diary land.
Hope your diary is helpful.
It is very friendly over here. You will get sorted even if it takes a long time. Quite a few of us are here for the long haul.
And if you don't mind me saying your mortgage is tiny so that is a major positive.
wishing you very best of luck. xx:cool:

Yes, the mortgage will be paid off in 13 years so I'm fortunate in that respect. The house isn't in the best of areas but we like it here. I expect I'll be here (on the forum) for at least the next 25 years, but I don't mind how long it takes to clear the debt so long as it gets paid back somehow.

swimminginaseaofdebt wrote: »

Hi Susie,

Popping in to wish you lots of luck!

Valued opinions, yougov, onepoll, prolific academic and ipsos are some other survey sites you might want to check out.

Great, I'll check them out.

Hayles70 wrote: »

I just wanted to say hi and tell you that your not alone.:)

Have you tried catering companies, my SIL works for one and she basically says yes or no depending on when she can work. She mainly works at functions like weddings etc at weekends.
Also I used to work at my local chain pub/restaurant and it was zero hour contracts and we often had staff who needed to fit around their partner's shift work etc. Maybe worth a try.

Good luck and stick with it.

Catering companies or a local pub/chain restaurant would be ideal if they can be flexible. I'll have a look to see if any are recruiting for zero hours locally.

doingitanyway · 15 August 2017 at 5:02PM

'Yes, the mortgage will be paid off in 13 years so I'm fortunate in that respect. The house isn't in the best of areas but we like it here. I expect I'll be here (on the forum) for at least the next 25 years, but I don't mind how long it takes to clear the debt so long as it gets paid back somehow.'

That is a great attitude right there. I wish you well

SusieT78 · 15 August 2017 at 5:17PM

beanielou wrote: »

Happy shiny new diary

You could get in touch with one of the debt charity's for some help.
Also you could pop up a SOA/income/ expenditure.

I've been using Stepchange's online tool for help. Just deciding whether to get them to manage the DMP or to try it myself.

My budget
Housing Amount
Mortgage £420
Water £55
Council tax £116
Gas £54 (joint bill with gas/elec so have put half for each. It's an old house with old boiler/appliances so not economical to run. The direct debit is being reduced next month but they reduced it once before then put it back to this figure so I'm keeping this figure in to not kid myself )
Electricity £54
Household Services Amount
Building/contents insurance £18
Telephone/mobile/internet £68 (this is landline, internet and my mobile (PAYG £10 a month), we're tied in for another 12 months then I want to get cheaper internet preferably without a landline, Virgin Media is not an option to switch to)
TV licence £12
Repairs/maintenance £31 (contract, will cancel when it expires next May, we've had to claim on it so can't cancel before then)
Life insurance/pensions £7 (it's a condition of the mortgage to have life insurance)
Transport Amount
Spares/servicing £15 (MOT and repairs needed, this figure might be a bit optimistic but I can't afford to put a higher figure on it right now)
Road tax £16
Insurance £90 (we did shop around for this the renewal came in at £1800 :eek: so obviously we didn't go with that, it's high because of my partner who needs the car to get to work, but we're hoping it will reduce next year as it was less than half this when only I drove the car)
Breakdown cover £30 (Had to take this out when the car broke down and we needed recovering, but will cancel next year)
Fuel/parking £100 (petrol for my partner to get to work)
Food & Housekeeping Amount
Food, toiletries, cleaning £340 (includes toiletries, cleaning products and any presents we need to buy which will have to come out of the food budget)
School meals £9
School trips/activities £5 (averaged out over the year)
Medicine/prescriptions £22
Dentist/opticians £14
Hairdressing £5 (for kids not me, partner shaves his own hair)
Personal & Leisure Amount
Clothing/footwear £18 (school uniform and mostly kids clothes, we only buy for ourselves if something gets holes in)
Sports/hobbies/entertainment £25
Children's pocket money £5
Sundries & Emergencies Amount
Sundries/emergencies £25 This will be our emergency fund, currently have no savings.
Loan from family/friends Payments put on hold. Outstanding balance of £1k

Scott_Weiland_2 · 15 August 2017 at 6:02PM

Re survey websites have a look at these two

Prolific Academic

And Opinion Outpost.co.uk

There are other survey sites but these pay well.

Doris17 · 15 August 2017 at 6:23PM

Hi Susie,
Wishing you luck on you journey.
Welcome to diary land.
Doris.x

My_Own_Back_Door · 15 August 2017 at 8:09PM

Good Luck!!

SusieT78 Debt Free Diary

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