To budget or not to budget, that is the question...

8pnoodles

Ok, when I said Ill I meant a serious attack of ulcerative colitis and related joint pains which I get under stress (on and off from the age of 12, nice!). So it meant I was rushing to the toilet every few minutes, plus I couldn't stand up straight wthout it hurting like ****. Which meant I couldn't physically do bar work any more, plus it affected my main job, and has taken me months to get over. But this isn't a competition about who is the sickest/most ill. However constant flare ups mean a greater chance of me getting bowel cancer, so I kinda want to avoid that.

Secondly... the overdose you took, that's really worrying me. I have often wondered quite how many sacrifices you have made to get out of debt, and have worried that you've maybe sacrified too much. Getting that down that you're going to do something like that, well, personally I think life IS more important than money. I'd much much rather anyone takes that much longer to pay off their debts, than even contemplates something like that. I'm a bit shocked you've posted that.

And you obviously could care and do, or you wouldn't have ranted at me so much.

I don't mean to do the martyr thing here, do I really do that? I just use here (and there) to think out loud and it helps me.

I think everyone's got their own story.

I find it such a contrast coming here, my best friend and family are all over me with the "you've had such a rough year, with the divorce, getting ill again, etc" and I'm like have I? lol And you guys are all "get a grip and grow up". So I guess it's about balance.

My best friend says life is more important than money. You'd really hate her, she is in debt, and was paying it off and decided to stick it onto her mortgage instead so she could go on holiday and go out more. She'd drive you mad. lol

8pnoodles

Right, go on then, if I'm planning to budget, what do you think I should do? Ms_London, your challenge.

Set me a budget and I'll live on it. Go on, I dare ya.

My income is currently £1042.

My outgoings are:

Rent £258
Gas & Electric £15
Water £10
Council tax £36
Mobile phone £40 (goes down to £20 in December)
Broadband £15
NTL tv and phone £4.97
TV licence £3.50

So that gives me £659.53. Out of that I have to pay off my debts (minimum £333) and pay for groceries and anything else that crops up like prescriptions.

How much should I live on for food, and how much should I save for everything else (I have no car but walk or cycle everywhere). Suggestions with as much detail as possible please.

System

Ms_London will we see you on the savings board now? Its brilliant that you have worked so hard to get debt free, but its even more rewarding to save. (Well it was in my experience anyway).

ms_london

8pnoodles wrote:

Ok, when I said Ill I meant a serious attack of ulcerative colitis and related joint pains which I get under stress (on and off from the age of 12, nice!). So it meant I was rushing to the toilet every few minutes, plus I couldn't stand up straight wthout it hurting like ****. Which meant I couldn't physically do bar work any more, plus it affected my main job, and has taken me months to get over. But this isn't a competition about who is the sickest/most ill. However constant flare ups mean a greater chance of me getting bowel cancer, so I kinda want to avoid that.

Secondly... the overdose you took, that's really worrying me. I have often wondered quite how many sacrifices you have made to get out of debt, and have worried that you've maybe sacrified too much. Getting that down that you're going to do something like that, well, personally I think life IS more important than money. I'd much much rather anyone takes that much longer to pay off their debts, than even contemplates something like that. I'm a bit shocked you've posted that.

And you obviously could care and do, or you wouldn't have ranted at me so much.

I don't mean to do the martyr thing here, do I really do that? I just use here (and there) to think out loud and it helps me.

I think everyone's got their own story.

I find it such a contrast coming here, my best friend and family are all over me with the "you've had such a rough year, with the divorce, getting ill again, etc" and I'm like have I? lol And you guys are all "get a grip and grow up". So I guess it's about balance.

My best friend says life is more important than money. You'd really hate her, she is in debt, and was paying it off and decided to stick it onto her mortgage instead so she could go on holiday and go out more. She'd drive you mad. lol

You're right, life is more important than money, definately!! I do, to a certain extent, agree with you. When I was running up the debt I agreed with you 200% (and didnt care how/when I was going to pay it back), and now I still agree (especially after April), but know that I have to think about the future (something I do want now).

To be honest, if your debts are manageable and the APR isnt crippling you, why dont you just pay the minimum payments & then use the rest of your money to spend/save as you please, and perhaps put towards buying a place with your boyfriend. Your debts arent that high, I know this is a bit of a change of tune, but it does depend on your circumstances, perhaps thats the best thing for you to do, that way you wont feel as though youre on a "restrictive" budget & then have urges to buy things on impulse.

As I keep saying, the only reason I wanted all of my debt clear within a year was so I can go travelling, if I hadnt wanted to do that I wouldve continued paying £179.88 (the minimum repayment on my loan) until December 2009, believe me.

I am sorry if I offended you.

Ms_London

ms_london

Judi wrote:

Ms_London will we see you on the savings board now? Its brilliant that you have worked so hard to get debt free, but its even more rewarding to save. (Well it was in my experience anyway).

Haha, consider me there already :0)

8pnoodles

I do agree with you completely though that I tend to go round in circles a bit. That's why I reply on/use these boards to keep me on track as much as I can.

I think you may have hit on part of the issue though. I've never been in crippling debt. I've never been able to not afford my minimum repayments and then some. I've never missed repayments, had CCJs, or anything even remotely like that. So maybe thats why I'm less focussed than some people? In theory it should be easy for me as my debt isn't scarily high. But then I have less motivation to keep my head above water as I'm not exactly that near to drowning.

The only thing that bugs me is the interest I'm paying on my debts. I only recently (this month) realised I was paying getting on for £50 a month on interest. And most of that is on my £6000 Egg loan at 7.9%.

And there's little point saving some of the excess when I can pay it off my debts and get more for my money (ie. save on interest).

I'm job hunting in London as we speak, so hopefully I might get a little more money to go towards my debts too. Gotta try and keep my cost of living the same though!

And I'm not sure having a less restrictive budget will stop me overspending every now and again. I'm scared I'll have a less restrictive budget AND still overspend occasionally, so I'll be worse off financially in the long run, if that makes sense.

PS. I think you're INSANE to keep on your second job when you are out of debt (if that's what you're still planning). You have NO idea how relieved I felt when I quit my bar work. Seriously, the feeling of just mellowing out in front of the tv or maybe going for a walk, when before you'd have been at work is better than anything money can buy. I thought it'd feel good, but not that good! You must REALLY want to go travelling!!!

skintchick

Right, I'll take up the gauntlet, as we earn a similar-ish amount - I get £1272 after tax.

8pnoodles wrote:

Right, go on then, if I'm planning to budget, what do you think I should do? Ms_London, your challenge.

Set me a budget and I'll live on it. Go on, I dare ya.

My income is currently £1042.

My outgoings are:

Rent £258 Mine is £312.41
Gas & Electric £15 Mine is £35
Water £10 Mine is £27.31
Council tax £36 Mine is £96
Mobile phone £40 (goes down to £20 in December) Mine is £8 usually
Broadband £15 Don;t have it
NTL tv and phone £4.97 My phone bill is about £20
TV licence £3.50 Mine is £10.41

£382.47 £509.13

So I reckon we are left with similar amounts - I have £762.87 'left over'

Except I currently pay £235.67 to my debts, which are 0% thankfully. And i also have gym membership and savings.

My budget is as follows:

Food £60
Petrol £80
Fruit at work £10
Cash for going out, treats, etc £60
Total £210


So that gives me £659.53. Out of that I have to pay off my debts (minimum £333) and pay for groceries and anything else that crops up like prescriptions.

How much should I live on for food, and how much should I save for everything else (I have no car but walk or cycle everywhere). Suggestions with as much detail as possible please.


So, you have £327 left after your debt payments, if you live on my budget then you will have £197 extra to put towards your debts - or save (cos you don't have a car so you get the petrol money too!)

How's that? I find it do-able although tight, but not so tight I crack and weep in a corner. :rotfl:

ms_london

8pnoodles wrote:

The only thing that bugs me is the interest I'm paying on my debts. I only recently (this month) realised I was paying getting on for £50 a month on interest. And most of that is on my £6000 Egg loan at 7.9%.

Yes, I see what you mean, however, again, it could be worse. Whats your other debt on? Whats your credit rating like? Could you shuffle them around, get a 0% card. To be honest, unless you can get a 0% card, youd be pushed to find anything much better than 7.9%. I was lucky that my loan was 2.3%, because the bank refinanced it for me.

8pnoodles wrote:

PS. I think you're INSANE to keep on your second job when you are out of debt (if that's what you're still planning). You have NO idea how relieved I felt when I quit my bar work. Seriously, the feeling of just mellowing out in front of the tv or maybe going for a walk, when before you'd have been at work is better than anything money can buy. I thought it'd feel good, but not that good! You must REALLY want to go travelling!!!

I actually gave my second job up back in July because I just couldnt do it any more, plus I found a better paid full time job (£4K higher) so could just about afford to give it up. I love my evenings & weekends to myself now, and go to the gym a lot more, however, I might take on another 2nd job after Christmas when ive decided when I want to go travelling, but then I might not (now ive got used to my freedom!!)

In terms of renting a cheapish place in London, that can definately be done. I am lucky that I pay £280 a month + bills for a double room, thats sharing with two girls in a flat. Its in Tooting (ok, so not the nicest area, but i like it), and in an ideal location (i.e right by the tube station, 2 minutes from the gym), perfect for me. Have a look on www.thegumtree.com under the flatshare section (or for your own place).

8pnoodles

I'll answer your posts in reverse order.

I'm not sure about my credit rating at the moment. I applied for a 0% card a while back and got turned down. However, my credit report and my ex husband's are still linked. I have the form to dissociate us but need to post it to him to get him to fill in his half (weird that you have to do that!).

So I don't know if it's me that is ropey or him. lol Basically, I got my credit reports a short while back and found out he'd applied for three credit cards the month I split up with him. He's since told me he's got a new motorbike and changed jobs. Now I'm not sure if he's suddenly got loads of money or working himself into more debt. But I need to un-link us asap. Must find time to do that tonight!

My Egg loan is also flexible so I can overpay easily and without penalties, it's not front loaded and can take repayment holidays in case of absolute emergencies (but haven't). That's for £5951ish now.

My Barclaycard has about £1420 left on it to pay. The majority is at 2.9% for the life of the balance (yay!) but there is about £250 that is at 5.9% for life. And the 2.9% has to be paid off in full before they'll let me pay off the 5.9% if you get that!

There's my student loan which is deferred, and is 2.6% and I owe about £1150 on it.

And finally my overdraft which I was very stupid in using over the summer and it's at £450 and being paid off. I intend to try and pay off half of it this month and half next month, in addition to my £330 minimum repayments. Hence why I am being particularly harsh on myself at the moment. Got taken on holiday paid for by my best friend over the summer and ended up spending a lot out there going out, plus my and my bloke's 30th birthdays were 5 days apart in July and it all got kind of expensive. (Stupid girl, I know.)

I was planning on renting a room from my best mate in Luton for a while. She needs the money and it means I'll have my best mate around next year (who is also broke so lots of cheap nights staying in!) as my bloke will more thasn likely be going on tour (ie. to some war or other) with the army for six months from Feb-August next year. I need my mates around so I don't fall apart completely, hence why I think it'll keep me more mentally stable being there. But it's going to cost £255 to get in by train per month.

Once my bloke is back we want to get a place together, so we're looking at somewhere I can commute to London from and he can get to Colchester from. Chelmsford is looking likely (but is expensive). But it won't be until he can afford to move in with me, because he's more in debt than I am!

HannahD_2

Chelmsford, very, very expensive. I had a one bed flat there and it cost £600/month rent. It wasn't even big enough to swing a cat!
I know the area very well if you need any advice about that area.