Is £87 realistic to live on!?

TallulahTaboo_2 · 19 August 2013 at 7:57PM

After much consideration and inspiration from everyones posts on here, I thought I would tackle my debts and realise I do have an addiction to shopping...... :j Hooorraaay.

So I worked out that between me and hubby, we owe out around £2500 total. I know its not much, but after only having our house for under a year and planning a Wedding, its debt we really dont need.
I am very happy to admit that most, if not all that debt is down to me. Whether it was new dining room table and chairs or half price bed sheets, I bought it!

After working out a plan and spreadsheet, I found that I could pretty much clear the £2500 debt within 3 months.
Once all our bills are paid for (Mortgage, Council Tax, Gas etc.), taking into account the dog (£30 food a month and £15 groomers fees) and food shopping (£200) I could devote £500 a month to the debt and still allow money for two date nights (£60).
However, this only leaves me £87 a month to myself. Can someone live off that? I mean, it sounds like lots of money as there will be food in the fridge, date night covered.. What do I need to spend money?

My background... I am a sucker for a deal meaning if its a great deal, I will bulk buy. I live by the mantra that if you buy cheap, you buy twice. So pretty much everything is the best we can afford.

I have been sitting reading everyones inspirational blogs the last few weeks and decided to join and hope that I can too, tackle this before it becomes a problem.

Any advice/tips/criticism welcome!

Thanks

P.s...Admitting you have a problem is the first step right!? Wrong. I knew this and still spent £100 worth today on the CC.

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ilovelondontown · 19 August 2013 at 8:25PM

TallulahTaboo wrote: »

After much consideration and inspiration from everyones posts on here, I thought I would tackle my debts and realise I do have an addiction to shopping...... :j Hooorraaay.

So I worked out that between me and hubby, we owe out around £2500 total. I know its not much, but after only having our house for under a year and planning a Wedding, its debt we really dont need.
I am very happy to admit that most, if not all that debt is down to me. Whether it was new dining room table and chairs or half price bed sheets, I bought it!

After working out a plan and spreadsheet, I found that I could pretty much clear the £2500 debt within 3 months.
Once all our bills are paid for (Mortgage, Council Tax, Gas etc.), taking into account the dog (£30 food a month and £15 groomers fees) and food shopping (£200) I could devote £500 a month to the debt and still allow money for two date nights (£60).
However, this only leaves me £87 a month to myself. Can someone live off that? I mean, it sounds like lots of money as there will be food in the fridge, date night covered.. What do I need to spend money?

My background... I am a sucker for a deal meaning if its a great deal, I will bulk buy. I live by the mantra that if you buy cheap, you buy twice. So pretty much everything is the best we can afford.

I have been sitting reading everyones inspirational blogs the last few weeks and decided to join and hope that I can too, tackle this before it becomes a problem.

Any advice/tips/criticism welcome!

Thanks

P.s...Admitting you have a problem is the first step right!? Wrong. I knew this and still spent £100 worth today on the CC.

Hi TT

Welcome to the boards,

To be honest there is a difference between knowing you spend too much here there and every where and actually wanting to do something about it. I say this because although you're willing to admit you spend frivolously you don't seem to be in a place of having a light bulb moment since you admit also to spending £100 on your credit card today.

If you are serious about changing your relationship with money, the mind set has to change first, as saying you want to do something about it is easier said than done.

From what you've said, you've got a lot of wiggle room to keep on top of a budget and throw a fair amount at your debt. In answer to your question after all said and done £87 is perfectly realistic for treating yourself, but I fear your current mind set will only bend these rules when something you "need" comes up in a sale/great bargain/must have.

Please don't be offended by what I have said, I'm just offering some thoughts as they way you talk is very similar to how I did when I first joined the board.

Best of luck with the debt free busting!

[Deleted User] · 19 August 2013 at 8:28PM

£2,500 isn't a huge debt, so drastic measures aren't really needed, so long as you do tackle the debt in a reasonable period, while not letting it get bigger.

If there's no pressingly urgent reason for clearing the debt, why not extend it to say 6 months, and allow yourself a bit more money.

Any money you haven't spent, by the next pay day, can still be put to the debts.

BTW. Unless my maths has gone to pot, £500pm, for 3 months, is £1,500, not £2,500 :huh:

TallulahTaboo_2 · 19 August 2013 at 8:44PM

ilovelondontown wrote: »

Hi TT

Welcome to the boards,

To be honest there is a difference between knowing you spend too much here there and every where and actually wanting to do something about it. I say this because although you're willing to admit you spend frivolously you don't seem to be in a place of having a light bulb moment since you admit also to spending £100 on your credit card today.

If you are serious about changing your relationship with money, the mind set has to change first, as saying you want to do something about it is easier said than done.

From what you've said, you've got a lot of wiggle room to keep on top of a budget and throw a fair amount at your debt. In answer to your question after all said and done £87 is perfectly realistic for treating yourself, but I fear your current mind set will only bend these rules when something you "need" comes up in a sale/great bargain/must have.

Please don't be offended by what I have said, I'm just offering some thoughts as they way you talk is very similar to how I did when I first joined the board.

Best of luck with the debt free busting!

Hi,

Thank you for your comments. Appreciate them alot.

I know.. I fear myself that although I have a spreadsheet and my calculations all worked out, that a deal may still sway me.

I know that I think its ok to spend more money on the credit card as come to pay day, I will allow myself to be skint in order to pay it off. But I am now realising that this is a domino affect and if I continue, then it will result in a big problem.

I think I need to occupy myself in the evenings, and hopefully this will reduce my need to browse the internet. And, most importantly, hid the credit card!!

Is it sad that I look forward to coming home each day to find out what has arrived from the post man!?
I may be beyond help....

TallulahTaboo_2 · 19 August 2013 at 8:48PM

Hi BB,

Thanks for your post and advice!!

I know.. I fear it may become a problem if I dont clear it in a drastic way. Due to us wanting to official start saving for a wedding come November, I really want to reduce any debt before we agree to the wedding.

Yes, sorry. I owe around £1500 on the credit card where as my partner owes around £1000. I have managed to rack up £500 on my own....
I do have alot to show for my debt on the CC. It has all been good purchases but perhaps not all at once!?

ilovelondontown · 19 August 2013 at 8:52PM

TallulahTaboo wrote: »

Hi,

Thank you for your comments. Appreciate them alot.

I know.. I fear myself that although I have a spreadsheet and my calculations all worked out, that a deal may still sway me.

I know that I think its ok to spend more money on the credit card as come to pay day, I will allow myself to be skint in order to pay it off. But I am now realising that this is a domino affect and if I continue, then it will result in a big problem.

I think I need to occupy myself in the evenings, and hopefully this will reduce my need to browse the internet. And, most importantly, hid the credit card!!

Is it sad that I look forward to coming home each day to find out what has arrived from the post man!?
I may be beyond help....

Oh hon you are SO far from being beyond help! You just need a bit of direction.

Shopping with credit is like anything - a habit and you just need to train yourself into new ways of thinking and breaking those habits.

I had to do exactly the same. I used to get something on a buy now pay later deal and then when I'd come to the end of that deal I'd "treat" myself to a new bnpl deal. The trouble was it started getting to the point where I had so many bnpl deals running over 12/24/36 months that when I got paid I was broke before 2 weeks into my payslip and it got so frustrating that I was on a good income but had NO money.

If I were you I'd start by cutting up that card. You're only doing this spending because you can. If the bank cut you off tomorrow you'd just have to stop, no if's no but. If you want to buy something, pay for it in cash, seeing the actual money in your purse will make it a lot hard for you to want to depart from.

And if you can't use cash to pay for something then you're already on that spiral you don't want to get on....

dreamdreamer · 19 August 2013 at 9:14PM

However, this only leaves me £87 a month to myself. Can someone live off that? I mean, it sounds like lots of money as there will be food in the fridge, date night covered.. What do I need to spend money?

Yet you've not got any savings so you HAVE been spending it. Plus the other £500 you now plan to put toward your debt. This is not a criticism or judgement at all, I just think going from £587 to £87 might be going too cold turkey to make this work. Why not halve your disposable income to begin with, to say, £300 in the first month (£10 a day), put the other £287 toward your debt, and if you manage that, cut it to £250, £200 etc each month.

If you're doing really well the first month then great, any excess can be rolled over so that when you do have an unexpected splurge (we all do, just to different degrees!) it doesn't impact on your debt busting plan and make you feel like you failed.

That being said only you know what you can live with. Personally I've found £200 a month is about right for me for everything other than food, some will balk and say that's excessive, others will wonder how I manage it. Everyone is different and you have to find your comfort level.

If I were you I'd start by cutting up that card.

Or put it in a container full of water and freeze it. That way if you really do NEED it you can defrost it, but you have all the time you're doing that to think about whether you really do need whatever it is you're defrosting it for! Worked for me!

If you want to buy something, pay for it in cash, seeing the actual money in your purse will make it a lot hard for you to want to depart from.

This is so SO true. Especially if, like me (and by the sounds of it you!) are a whimsical purchaser. I never used to think twice about shoving something on the credit card, somehow an £800 purchase doesn't seem so huge when you think "Oh I can pay it back at £100 for 8 months, that's not so bad!". Now I agonize over every purchase because that £800 actually took me X number of months of going without to save up. Having to save for something makes you wonder if you really want it!

theoretica · 19 August 2013 at 10:58PM

The vast majority of offers will come round again, or very similar ones so by not buying you are not missing out, merely postponing. For the next few months you can reap the rewards of past buying and wait for the January sales!

Tahlullah · 19 August 2013 at 11:20PM

Hello TT

Sounds as if you are not in financial difficulty, but if you were left alone for much longer, it could develop into a problem, so it's great that you have decided to take action now.

Is £87 a month possible to live on? As others have said, it depends on you. If you have to fill the car with £30 of fuel a week, then no. But if everything is covered and this is purely pocket money, then yes, it is possible.

Perhaps what you could do is set yourself a challenge. Perhaps decide on something particularly nice you wish to buy yourself once a month. Set a maximum budget. If you want to spend more than that, it has to be over 2 months etc. And you can only have it if you spend within your monthly allowance. For example, new dress costing up to a maximum of £150 only if you live on £87 for the month.

This would allow you to have a quality treat, but only one a month, where I get the impression that you will buy on impulse, several times a month when a bargain shows itself. That way, you can get the best of both worlds. Still treat yourself whilst controlling your spending to one item a month.

Good luck with bringing the impulses under control.

poppasmurf_bewdley · 20 August 2013 at 9:54AM

Scrapping the £15pm 'grooming fee' will immediately bring your monthly spending allowance to more than £100. More than enough if you are careful.

tallyhoh · 20 August 2013 at 11:15AM

Do you normally pay the minimum on your card(s)? I think it would be worthwhile to pop the purchase price of one of your deals into the snowball calculator to find out the real cost on credit.

You may be shocked.

Is £87 realistic to live on!?

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