Spend Nowt, Buy Nowt, Owe Nowt

How do I start what feels like yet another diary?

After being on the MFW board I have come back to the DFW board to shift the debt we have run up in the last 12 months.

A quick back story….DH and I are classic impulsive over spenders who went pop back in late 2008 and managed to climb out of the pit of debt we were in by me losing my job and a big redundancy pay out in early 2010. We avoided debt until 12 months ago when we found our dream house about 4 months before we had planned to start looking which we could afford but were short on the deposit. If we had only ended up borrowing the bit we needed to top up the deposit we would be have been debt free by now. :mad:

We have run up debt on buying the house, having some work done in the house and some furniture and soft furnishings and impulsive spending on holidays, meals out and the odd high ticket item. We thought we were past making these kinds of stupid decisions and are both worried and angry with ourselves at the level of debt we are in once again.

The one thing we are agreed on is that we will live on fresh air to keep this house and we need to sort our finances out to give us the security that this could never happen. One day I will get to be a MFW again!

To make matters worse 6 months after we moved DH has had some issues at work and has taken a job (same company) at a different location which has resulted in a reduction in the bonus he is paid monthly effectively reducing his monthly take home pay and his travel costs have gone up significantly. It hasn’t done much to reduce his stress levels either!

Worrying about money and our financial security has started to get to me and I don’t want to feel like that again, I thought I had left that behind in 2010. It makes me worry about losing my job and I then start to doubt my ability to do my job. I also worry it will impact on our ability to re-mortgage at a good rate in 12 months’ time.

I manage the finances but DH has (finally) got on board and has been writing his own plan about how we can stop spending and stop buying so we can owe nowt. Our good friends are also pulling in the purse strings as they have a family holiday to pay for so we have agreed to entertain each other at home rather than go out for meals with the kids which we did at least twice a month.

Current Debts

Bank of Mum and Dad - £4336.66 (17 payments left)
Bank Loan - £12,114.51 (49 payments left)
Bank CC - £9019.51 (1% payment to come off for May) – all at 0%
DH CC - £5500 approx. – all at 0% until August
My CC – £5782.31 – mostly 0% but some spending at standard rate
BNPL – £400 – due 21st December 2017
Owed to DS – £1296.79 – 0%
Balance of trip to New York - £1098 due October 2017

TOTAL £39,547.78

Our plan is to drastically cut our spending and cancel the trip to New York for a start. There is not much we can do about our bills until June/July when they will all be up for renewal and I will hit the comparison sites. It is our spending on food and booze and stuff that needs to be reigned in hence the title of this diary.

If we can stop adding to the debt by paying the minimum payments each month as well as clearing the BNPL we will knock £6000 off the balance by the end of this year. My goal is to be under £30,000 owed by the end of the year and then have cleared all CCs by June 2018 which is a massive challenge. We both get performance related bonuses, DH quarterly and me twice a year but none of these are guaranteed.

Wish us luck and control over our spending urges.