Oops I did it again, I played with my cards!

emmie26 · 21 May 2017 at 9:15PM

Well I’m back…Back in debt and back being a Debt-Free Wannabe!!

I am gutted but need to take some decisive action because at the moment every month we seem to have more going out than is coming in and that is a recipe for financial disaster.

I have been here before. 7 years ago (when I was 26 – hence the name) I grabbed the bull by the horns and knuckled down and cleared my debt. Fast forward 7 years and we are in a slightly different position than the last time. Last time we had built up loads of debt and had literally nothing to show for it. This time the debt was planned.

18 months ago, we had an extension on our home. We went from a typical 1930’s semi with 2 bedrooms and a box room to a large semi with 4 double rooms and a box room, this made good financial sense because we could not find a 4-bedroomed house that we could afford and we liked our location and neighbours.
To finance the extension, we added £40,000 to our mortgage without increasing the term. We used around £20,000 of savings and for the final finishing touches such as bathrooms and appliances we borrowed £8000 on 0% credit cards. I had read about stoozing and felt that this would save us money on the mortgage interest rates but I did not anticipate that it would stretch us quite as much as it has:eek:.

I have just finished reading through the debt-free diary that I completed in 2011 and it has inspired me to jump back into the frugal way of living. I have done it before and I can do it again.

The only difference is that I have got used to having savings in the bank and having a lot of disposable income (we were managing to save around £1000 a month in the run up to the extension). I have not had to watch the pennies for so long but I did quite enjoy it last time and hopefully I will get back into it this time.

I will post a SOA in a separate post, feel free to berate me about my spending and the amount of debt we are in. If anyone can see anywhere we can save please shout up.

emmie26 · 21 May 2017 at 9:25PM

Current debt
Car Loan £15,244.40
Credit card 1: £4,625
Credit Card 2: £2,700
Credit card 3: £694.79
Kitchen loan £1,091

Total £24,359.79:eek:

I am really disgusted by this amount we worked so hard before to get out of debt and I feel really bad that we are back to where we were 7 years ago.

Current income
Mine £1,800 p/m after deductions minimum
DH £1,700 p/m
C/ben: £137.60
Total : £3637.60

Outgoings
Mortgage: £838.33
TV/Internet: £50 ish
Kitchen loan: £108
Gas and Elec: £72
Account Fee: £15
Life Insurance: £8.65
Council Tax: £109.16
Water Rates: £32.84
TV Licence: £12.12
Cubs: £20
Piano Lessons: £136
Car Loan: 331.40
Now TV: £6.99
Netflix: £5.99
Phone x 3: £45
Petrol: £100
Hair: £60
Prescription prepayment: £10.40
Union: £15
Contact Lenses: £10.83
Credit cards: £300
Apple music: £14.99
Lottery: £20
School dinners: £20
Food: £300

Total: £2642.70

Income – Expenditure = £994.90
We definitely don’t see this extra £994.90 every month in fact at the moment I am finding that I am dipping into savings every month or adding to my credit card.

I don’t really know why this is happening but I think we have just got used to spending willy nilly. As an example this last month we have spent £665 on a mixture of school trips, music lessons, presents and clothes and we do not have a set amount for these things budgeted anymore which means when I see some clothes for the children I will go ahead and buy it without thinking. Up until 2 months ago I only had 2 credit cards on the go and then I was really short one month so I thought I would use my credit card and then pay it off in full, so that’s what I have been doing but it has got me into an even more confused mess.

I really need to develop a healthy realistic budget which we can follow and stop ourselves from going into the red every month.

At the moment we are spending £739.40 on debt repayments every month, which means it will take us 33 months to be debt free, if we could manage to reduce this at all that would be fantastic. Overall though I just want to stop us from getting into any more debt and stop the spending.

UncannyScot · 21 May 2017 at 9:26PM

Hi
Welcome
You've been here before, you know the drill
Here to help and support not judge
You've got this ;D

emmie26 · 21 May 2017 at 9:53PM

Thanks uncanny Scot, unfortunately I have been here before so I do know the drill, lets just hope I have the same motivation as I did last time. I did notice there was a direct correlation between the amount of debt I managed to pay off and the number of posts on the forum so I will try and post daily, even if its just a small one.

Right now I need some plans. Straight away I think I need to start budgeting for a few areas,

1. Christmas – We started the year in a mess this year and I don’t want the same to happen again this year, if we start saving now we might have half a chance. I think realistically £80 p/month should give us almost £600 which should get us the majority of pressies.

2. Holidays – We already have our summer holiday abroad booked and we are going away to the Lake District with extended family next week for half term. We also generally have a couple of long weekends away with friends every year. Next year I don’t think we will be able to afford the same amount as we have spent this year (Really we haven’t afforded it this year:o) however £170p/month will give us £2000 to spend across the year.

3. Birthdays - £300 a year should cover the children’s birthdays including parties. £25 p/month

4. Car Insurance - £500 for 2 cars £42 p/month

5. Car maintenance - £500 for 2 cars £42 p/month

6. Home insurance - £20 p/month would give us £240 p/year.

7. Clothes - £50 p/month this is for the children only, me and DH will have to manage with what we have.

Monthly total: £429 p/month

emmie26 · 21 May 2017 at 10:11PM

Where can I save some money???

Piano Lessons – At the moment both children have a half hour lesson weekly, this costs us £136 every 4 weeks. I love the children playing the piano and they love it too. However as a trial I am going to suggest that they have a lesson every other week instead of every week. This will save us £68 p/month

Now TV and Netflix – We really don’t need these, I never ever watch Netflix although the children do. I watch the same things over and over again on Now TV, combined this would save me £12.98 p/month

Apple music – We love this and use it lots but we will have to see how we get on without it. We do have Deezer which is on my dads code so will just have to see if this is good enough. If the worst comes to the worst and we need to get it back again we will not have lost anything. £14.99 p/month

Random spending – The biggest saving will come from the random spending every month. Odd coffees out etc. If we can just be a little more organised and less frivolous then I’m sure we can make a big difference.

emmie26 · 21 May 2017 at 10:47PM

Plans for tomorrow.

Pay a cheque into the bank, I think it is about £30.
Pay for a trip for the cubs, I am one of the leaders and I have a load of money in my current account which is just waiting to pay for a trip. I will feel better once this is done.
Take a packed lunch to work, this is made and in the fridge so just need to remember it.
Put ingredients for a curry in the slow cooker in the morning so that we have a dinner made for when I finish work. I've taken the chicken out of the fridge so just need to make sure I get up early enough to get it sorted in the morning.
I have a meeting with the cub group tomorrow at a pub so will not be able to have a NSD but will just have one soft drink to keep costs down.

Hiddenidenity · 21 May 2017 at 11:12PM

*Subscribes*

Look forward to following x

enthusiasticsaver · 21 May 2017 at 11:26PM

I would stop the lottery payment too. Very little chance of you winning anything and you can always restart it once you are debt free if you are doing it for the charitable donations. Also there are plenty of free bank accounts available. Why are you paying £15 per month and what do you get for that? Is your holiday already paid for or will you be putting that on the credit cards?

I personally would stop using credit cards as a backup for when you have overspent.

emmie26 · 22 May 2017 at 6:17PM

Thanks hiddenidentity and enthusiastic saver.

You are right lottery needs to go £240 per year could cut a month and a half from our debt free date.:T

The current account I'll look into, I get breakdown cover for me and my husband, family travel insurance, mobile phone insurance. I do get a couple of other things but not that I'm that bothered about. I'll have a look into the equivalent cost of these things and then compare. I have absolutely no idea if I am getting a good deal or not.

I definitely need to stop using the credit card, silly thing is I do have a little bit of savings I just hate dipping into it, from now I will have to just balance the books instead.:D

emmie26 · 22 May 2017 at 7:24PM

Using my time at piano lessons effectively I have just priced up mobile phone insurance, travel insurance and breakdown cover and price works out pretty much the same. My current account fees can be £12 a month if I don't go overdrawn at all during the month, so will try and stay in credit to save £3 a month.

Also forgot to answer previous question, I have paid for all holidays so these won't add anything else to the credit cards.

emmie26 · 22 May 2017 at 11:07PM

Well 1st NSD, went to the pub but got brought a drink as a thank you :T

Also paid a cheque in £32.50 :T

That should pay for my dentist appointment in Thursday

Oops I did it again, I played with my cards!

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