2009 - financial targets

costaerer

Thanks all.

Finding it a bit hard to work out sums at the moment because when i look at my DMP with CCCS online it only shows 3 creditors not 7!

When they are all on there i will have a better idea for targets etc....

I wouldnt want you to get frost bite to save a fiver each month on elec!!!!

whitevanwoman

costaerer wrote: »

Thanks all.

Finding it a bit hard to work out sums at the moment because when i look at my DMP with CCCS online it only shows 3 creditors not 7!

When they are all on there i will have a better idea for targets etc....

I wouldnt want you to get frost bite to save a fiver each month on elec!!!!

I don't know anything about DMPs but I'm sure that once everything is sorted, you will find it much easier to budget and make your repayments.

There's no rush to publish targets - whenever you are ready or not at all if you don't want to. Even just managing to make regular repayments is a huge achievement so make sure you give yourself a pat on the back for getting this far and another one each time you make a repayment.

I'm a very logical, organised kind of person, and I like lists, spreadsheets and written targets which is why I set my own targets but that approach doesn't always work for everyone, and it might even add to the pressure for some people.

I do get worried sometimes during the winter nights about my nose getting frost bite - usually my toes are warm as toast thanks to the dog who likes to sleep next to my feet, but my poor nose always gets cold

Any winter nose-warming MSE tips most welcome

Fire_Fox

whitevanwoman wrote: »

The downside of this is that during the summer, although I am saving money by not using as much wood and coal, I don't have hot water unless I put the immersion on but I have been surprised that the cost of putting the immersion on doesn't seem as bad as I'd thought. I have found, through monitoring my elec usage each week, that I use at least as much elec during the summer as during the winter if not more, probably due to having the immersion on and using the electric shower (which I hardly use during the winter).

The worst thing is in the mornings, having to get up and run downstairs to the kitchen hoping that the stove has stayed alight during the night. I've lived like this for about 5 winters now and I do think I have got used to it - if I go to stay with people who have central heating I find it very uncomfortable and have hot flushes, and wake up in the morning soaked in sweat.

I lived on a boat one winter, and remember the morning rush to get the woodburner roaring! I managed my first two winters in this flat with no heating, but we did heat fairly regularly this last winter. We are lucky as I found the flat never fell below 12C presumably due the neighbours, and was at 16C over several mild days in January so no need for heating. :T

I switch the shower off whilst I shampoo up, and use a leave-on conditioner which saves water/ electricity. Throwback from camping as a child and the time on the boat when water was scarce!

whitevanwoman

The last few weeks haven't been the best for me, but because of illness, I've hardly spent any money because of not going anywhere and not eating much so I've actually managed to save quite a bit. I've also had a nice little payout of about £150 from a cashback site (accumulated through utility provider and insurance switches) which has gone into my e-saver emergency fund (just as well, as a small problem with windscreen wipers on the white van is going to cost about £80 - £100 :mad:).

The latest update on my financial targets is below in red - it's so satisfying to have completely achieved target number 2, and to be well on the way to achieving target number 3. My debts aren't large (except for my mortgage - and even that isn't large in comparison to the average) as I have managed to pay off several thousand £ of credit card debt over the past few years but because my income is so low, and because of health problems I've been signed off sick since Feb, there is a very real risk of losing my job within the next few months due to incapacity so I am trying to build up as much cash reserves as possible.

Over the past few months, whilst I've been off sick, I've been trying to declutter and have sold a few bits and pieces on ebay and have just transferred £100 from paypal as a result - only about £70 of this is actually profit, after postage is deducted, but every little helps and to be honest, having less junk in the house is as valuable as having the little bit of extra cash. The other important thing that I have learned from ebaying bits of junk and clutter is to start asking myself if I really want and need something before I buy it, and so as I result, I have probably actually saved myself alot of impulsive unnecessary extra expenditure by doing this.
I also sold some CDs and DVDs on MusicMagpie - another £23 :T

whitevanwoman wrote: »

2. clear argos card - approx balance of £350 so 10 monthly payments of £35 (double the minimum payment)
Nearly done now, only 2 months payments left to make - I need to check this month's finances, but I might even be able to pay off the balance this month, a month early.
ACHIEVED :j

3. continue to pay £35 month off visa card - current balance approx £950
Have been doing this and the balance is now about £720. Once target number 2 has been achieved, I can increase the repayments to double (£70 per month) which means I should be able to achieve this target within the next 12 months.
CURRENT OUTSTANDING BALANCE APPROX £680, SHOULD BE ABLE TO CLEAR THIS COMPLETELY WITHIN 12 MONTHS, HOPEFULLY SOONER AS I CAN NOW INCREASE REPAYMENTS :j

7. [STRIKE]reduce monthly electricity payment through reducing elec use [/STRIKE]- make better use of insulation, [STRIKE]reduce dependence on elec items[/STRIKE], investigate solar / wind power possibilities
:j monthly elec payments have reduced from £30 to £22.50 :j
I suspect they may need to go back up again in the winter to £25 but by taking weekly meter readings and keeping a graph of my usage, I have kept a careful eye on usage. I'm much better now at not wasting elec and switching things off (obsessive even? ). Sadly the "green" options are so expensive to install in the first place and much as I would love to have solar panels installed, I just can't afford it. However, achieving this target did mean that I literally froze last winter - my bedroom was regularly less than 10 degrees (during the daytime aswell as night) and I did find it very difficult.
PAYMENTS TO INCREASE TO £26/MTH FROM SEPT :mad: BUT HAD EXPECTED THIS AS ELEC CONSUMPTION IS MORE DURING SUMMER DUE TO USING IMMERSION AND ELEC SHOWER, BUT STILL LESS THAN THIS TIME LAST YEAR :T
STILL SAVING MONEY AT THE MOMENT AS BARELY USING ANY COAL & WOOD

costaerer

well done with what youve achieved so far!!!

whitevanwoman

costaerer wrote: »

well done with what youve achieved so far!!!

Thanks for the postive encouragement - it is nice to get it.

How are you getting on with your DMP?

costaerer

onlypaid one month so far!! but have managed to pay off the rest of my halifax credit card which was 185pounds.
:-)

whitevanwoman

costaerer wrote: »

onlypaid one month so far!! but have managed to pay off the rest of my halifax credit card which was 185pounds.
:-)

:T well done, isn't it a good feeling?! Good luck with the rest.

whitevanwoman

It's time to look back over the past year at my 2009 financial targets and see what I have achieved. I started the year with these targets :

1. keep paying a £400 per month to my mortgage (actual monthly repayment is £390 at present so I am accruing a little bit of additional payment each time in case I need an emergency payment holiday)

2. clear argos card - approx balance of £350 so 10 monthly payments of £35 (double the minimum payment)

3. continue to pay £35 month off visa card - current balance approx £950

4. reclaim bank & credit card charges (as per last year)

5. follow up tax credits complaint and claim expenses & compensation (as per last year)

6. open ISA, pay £10 month minimum (as per last year) to rebuild mortgage capital

7. reduce monthly electricity payment through reducing elec use - make better use of insulation, reduce dependence on elec items, investigate solar / wind power possibilities

8. apply for and follow up Warm Front Scheme - have coal fire converted to enclosed stove

9. Business plan for business idea - target start up date Easter 09, aim to be income generating by end of 2009

10. Quit smoking - save approx £1000 during the year (as per last year)

End of year update :

1. despite still being on an interest rate of 4.79% and being stuck with a Northern Rock mortgage, my repayments did go down over the year to £326 per month - I was able to pay £350 per month, therefore overpaying more per month than I had hoped, therefore ACHIEVED

2. ACHIEVED

3. ACHIEVED current balance approx £550

4. NOT ACHIEVED there doesn't seem alot of point now, just waiting to see what Martin has to say on the subject in the New Year

5. ACHIEVED I submitted a complaint and request for write off of approx £390 overpayment, appeal was successful and the overpayment was written off and I received a cheque for approx £280 in reimbursement of payments already made towards the overpayment - Whitevanwoman - 1, HMRC - nil :rotfl:My best achievement of the year

6. SORT OF ACHIEVED - I opened an esaver rather than an ISA but managed to pay £20 monthly till June and then £25 monthly since then. Will look at opening ISA next year and transferring savings to that.

7. ACHIEVED reduced monthly elec payments from £30 to £26 through more careful use of elec, new front door replacing old draughty one, DIY double glazing on windows, more insulation in loft. Will investigate solar / wind power next year.

8. UNDERWAY - warm front application submitted, need to follow up in New Year

9. NOT ACHIEVED due to illness but hope to achieve during 2010.

10. NOT ACHIEVED :mad: Still smoking but trying to reduce, will keep trying.

All in all, not a bad year, especially considering the recession, major illness and redundancy in November.

Those targets which I did not achieve will be carried forward onto next years list which I will publish in a new thread tomorrow.

I hope you all have had some kind of target achievement over the past year and wish you every success in your financial targets for next year. It would be good to hear from you with your success stories or join me on the new thread with next year's financial targets. I'll add a link here to the new thread once I've posted it.

penguin83

penguin83 wrote: »

Hi whitevan - thanks for this thread again. This years target is to have cleared all debts apart from HSBC by Dec 2009 which comes to a total of 11218.54.

Good Luck everyone x x

Well done Whitevan, they are amazing achievements for a difficult year, you should be very proud of what you have done in 2009. :T

I didnt quite make my target but have paid off a total of 15101.89 this year which I am really pleased with and have missed my target of paying everyone but HSBC by less than 3k so I am pleased with that.

Looking forward to next years thread xxxx