Making my Debt Free dream a reality!

bozzy120

Thankfully I have finally had my LBM! Credit card is cut up into lots of teeny tiny pieces (I took great pleasure in doing this!) and I am determined to pay the majority of my debt off within the next 18 months.

I keep a monthly spreadsheet of all my outgoings but I just haven’t been able to keep a hold of my spending in the past. Horses have put me in a large amount of debt (much of my loan is due to bad luck with owning them) though I have now sold and given up horses due to this debt that I have to get rid of. I hate myself for doing it and really regret getting myself into this situation.

I’m trying to avoid getting a second job (I do help out in a friends shop occassionally for £45 a Saturday) but I think this is the only way I’m going to get enough extra money in order for me to pay this off as soon as possible. My aim is to get my credit card, Next and HP stuff paid off as soon as possible. I've cancelled my £17.50 gym membership andhave started running round the village. I've also given up smoking (10th day!).

Here’s my SOA, I live with my OH who pays the mortgage and bills on the house so I only pay £220 per month towards this.

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household.........
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details[
Monthly income after tax................ 1590
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1590

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Hire Purchase (HP) repayments........... 9.84
Rent.................................... 220
Mobile phone............................ 26 (OH’s, I get mine free through work)
Groceries etc. ......................... 100
Clothing................................ 15 (avg through year)
Petrol/diesel........................... 100
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 19.37
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 16
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 22
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 60 (Includes food and insurance)
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 6
Entertainment........................... 30
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 614.21

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 0


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(0)........0
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 500......(9.84).....?
Total secured & HP debts...... 500.......-.........-

Unsecured Debts (figures are £ remaining)
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Loan...........................9697.92...404.......7
Credit Card....................2650......150.......?
Next...........................326.84....40........26.49
Car............................5946......143.......6 (I’m happy just to let this run)
Total unsecured debts..........18620.76..737.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,590
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 644.21
Available for debt repayments........... 945.79
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 737
Amount left after debt repayments....... 208.79

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -500
Total Unsecured debt.................... -18,620.76
Net Assets.............................. -18,620.76

Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission.

My minimum payment on my C/C is only about £25 and I don’t think the APR is too high so I’m now thinking I should get Next and HP paid off asap as apposed to paying less on these and more on C/C?

I need to get my car serviced when I get paid at the end of the month which is £181 leaving practically nothing for the rest of the month.....arghhhh! I have started reviews on Dooyoo which has earnt me about £8 in less than a week so if I can stick with it I'm really hoping I could be at £50 within a month but it is quite time consuming.

Any help/advice on my situation is massively appreciated. My OH laughs when I say I want to get this debt paid off within 12-18 months (not including car) so I’d love to prove him wrong!

(Large piece of chocolate fudge cake for people that got this far )

Christie22

Hi I just read your post and wanted to say good luck!!!

You can do it! xxx

talana

Well done for having your LBM!!
First off, are you sure you've included all your monthly expenses? £614 seems a bit light as a total, but if that's true then that's a great start and I doubt you can shave that much further.

The good news is that even after your minimum monthly payments you have a surplus of about £200, which is not a bad starting position by any means!

Find out the APR on that credit card, it's important. Then chuck everything spare at the debt with the highest APR (Next) till that's paid off. Then move on and chuck everything at the next biggest APR.

It'll only take a month or two to pay off Next which will give you even more encouragement.

bozzy120

Thanks both!

I'm lucky in that I have a very understanding OH who pays most bills and doesn't ask for much rent. I really have tried to strip my outgoings to a minimum which can only help, it's just I feel a bit defeated now I can't see anywhere else I can save and I don't seem to be getting anywhere with the debt.

Next account will definitely be the first one to pay off. I checked my c/c, on my statement it reads;

Balance Transfers 1.5274% (Paying 0% on £1k of debt until June as I paid my overdraft off with it)
Cash Transactions 2.0751%
Card Purchases 1.3852%
Cheques & Money Transfers to bank accounts 1.6674%

It's a bit foreign to me but looks low!