DC's journey to become debt free and saving for wedding

debt_cruncher

Originally Posted by debt cruncher
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1513.99
Partners monthly income after tax....... 60 (OH contribution to food Shopping)
Total monthly income.................... 1573.99

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 425.48
Hire Purchase (HP) repayments........... 200 (22mths left)
Council tax............................. 63.1 (rates in NI)
Gas..................................... 60
Telephone (land line)................... 15
Mobile phone............................ 22.49 Are you still on a contract? If not, can this be haggled down any? In contract til March 2010 but will look at then.
TV Licence.............................. 11.95
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 27.5 (includes broadband)
Internet Services...................... 14.68 (mobile broadband) If you have broadband at home as part of your cable package, do you need mobile broadband? Being cancelled when contract runs out in April 2009
Groceries etc. ......................... 150 (includes £30 dog food) Have you looked at the Oldstyle board for ideas on how to cut this down? This used to be £160 but we started meal planning and brought it down to £120
Clothing................................ 20 Is this for both of you? Can it be cut down? This is just mine but only go shopping when I need something and don't spend £20 every month
Petrol/diesel........................... 120
Road tax................................ 12
Car Insurance........................... 43 Is this the cheapest? Insurance expensive in NI. OH is still learning and if he passes before June will try and get insurace down
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 50 Yikes! Why so high? Car tyres cost £125 each need 2 each year. Two services last year cost £350. Car is at the age when things start needing replaced.
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 20
Buildings insurance..................... 15 (includes contents ins)
Life assurance ......................... 15.49
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 35 This seems like quite a lot. Tips on how to save on this below! Will look at this and try and get it down.
Haircuts................................ 20 £20 a month?? Can this be reduced by getting your hair cut less often? I only get my hair cut 4 times a year and costs £60 each time. This is my only luxury and I don't want to give it up if I don't have to.
Entertainment........................... 0 Increase! It's nice to have a night out every so often, even if you're just going to the movies. If you don't spend what you budget then put it towards a debt, but don't let yourself feel guilty if you spend a tenner on a night out you didn't budget for! OH pays for the odd night out usuallty 1 per month
Total monthly expenses.................. 1340.69

Assets
House value (Gross)..................... 170000
Car(s).................................. 6000
Total Assets............................ 176000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
Mortgage...................... 94204.5..(425.48)...2.75
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 4335.....(200)......3.91
Total secured & HP debts...... 98539.5...-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
Halifax CC.....................530.......5.3.......17.95
Black Horse....................534.95....26.75.....0
Creation.......................663.......55.25.... .0
Total unsecured debts..........1727.95...87.3......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,573.99
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,340.69
Available for debt repayments........... 233.3
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 87.3
Amount left after debt repayments....... 146
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 176,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -98,539.5
Total Unsecured debt.................... -1,727.95
Net Assets.............................. 80,067.55
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission.

debt_cruncher

flying_fresian wrote: »

Hello

Someone should have warned you that if you wander into my thread I tend to wander into yours :rotfl:

A couple of things below for you to maybe think about:

• Birthdays/Christmas - you can save a lot on this at this time of year as many shops are doing their final clearances. Just stockpile for later in the year. I have bought about half if not more of what I will use throughout the year for Christmas presents etc.
• Haircuts - you seem to be spending quite a bit on this. Do you feel that you could reduce this at all?
• Have you joined Quidco for your cashback?
• If you want to sell more things, also look at Ebay, Greenmetropolis (Books) and musicmagpie (CDs, DVDs, Games) You might not make a fortune, but £30 a month even makes it worthwhile.
• If you are only spending £120 on groceries for you and t'other half then you are doing pretty well, but are you sure this is all you're spending? Keep a note for a month of everything you spend including trips to the corner shop, and this will confirm/deny your budget

Hopefully some of these things will help or give you something to think about. Well done for joining the board, and good luck with the debt busting and the wedding planning

Thanks for wandering into my thread it's nice to get advice from different people. It gives me something to think about.

I am suppose to be getting £50 of M&S vouchers so I am going to use these to get some presents.

Haircuts is a luxury I don't want to give up just yet.

I have already joined Quidco and have a balance of around £115. I will be putting this of debts as of when it comes in to my account.

Thanks for the suggestions for selling more things.

I did keep a track of our grocery spending over the last 2 months and we have been keeping to our £120 budget.

Thanks again for posting.
DC

debt_cruncher

Evening all

Well today the mortgage DD came out and I have now paid just over £1000 off the mortgage in 7 months. Also the Bank of England base rate went down to 1% and as my mortgage tracks the base rate my monthly payments should go down by about £22 :T . More money to put against a debt.

I paid another £5 of the halifax card today and I am still on track to hit my £320 target by the end of the month.

The OH kindly posted my Amazon package and it did cost £6.85 so that then means a profit of £11.10 from the sale. He also posted my mobile phone to Mazuma.

Not much else has been happening today.

DC

debt_cruncher

Evening all

I have been away for the weekend to see my dad. It nice to get away to the country and all the rushing around.

I received my £17 cheque from Mazuma on Saturday and I need to get it lodged into the bank tomorrow. Once this clears I will pay if off the halifax card.

My car loan payment came out today so only 21 months to go:eek: .

I have been keeping up with my PAD's and paid £35 of the halifax card over the last few days. I only need to find another £105 to reach my £320 balance by the end of the month. So I am making good progress.

Not much else has been happening in DC's world. I am off to update my spreadsheets.

DC

debt_cruncher

loaner wrote: »

If you are going to pay it off, you may as well use the wedding fund and do it in one go, instead of wasting time with 30+ PAD's

I am keeping the wedding fund so that the money can be used to pay deposits when we start to book things. I am not wasting time with the PAD challenge. It is keeping me from wasting money on things that at the end of the month I have nothing to show for it.

debt_cruncher

Evening all

I have just realised I have got my first star.

I sold another book on amazon today and should have a profit between £6 and £7 depending on postage. :T I received the payment for the book I sold last week today and paid it straight of the halifax cc. The balance on this card in now less than £400.

I finally managed to get the cheque from mazuma paid into bank account today. So I am hoping it will clear in a few days.

Tomorrow I should be able to withdraw £10 from the scratchcards.

I can't wait for the weekend. Depending on the weather I have saved enough this week to have a day out at folk park. I have also got a voucher to get in 2 for 1 so this saves OH paying. It's also valentines day. Is anyone doing anthing exciting?

DC

debt_cruncher

Evening all

OH went to post office today and posted book which I sold yesterday. They overcharged him on the postage :mad: .

I sold another book today but I am not going to make much money on it as the posatge is going to cost a lot :eek: . So somebody has got a bargain. Well I will learn from my mistakes.

The good thing that happened today is that the boss in away on holidays so tomorrow will be an easy day.

I also managed to withdraw £10 from the scratchcards today. I am still keeping up with my PAD's and paid anther £7.00 of the halifax card. Only another £72 to find before the end of the month if I am going to succeed in reaching my target of £320. With all the little bits of money trickling in my bank account I think I might be able to get this balance even lower by the end of the month.

With all the progress I have been making I am treating myself and the OH this weekend to a day out. I am really loking forward to this as we havn't been out for a while. Roll on the weekend.

DC

debt_cruncher

Morning everyone

Well since the last time I posted I have managed to pay another £35 of the halifax credit card. The balance now stands at £357. I am still waiting for money from Amazon and scratchcards to come into my account.

Yesterday OH and I went to a folk park and we made Victorian valentines cards. It was a nice way to spend Valentines day. Last night we had a curry from the chinese instead of going out. In total £20 was spent and a lovely time was had.

Today I need to get caught up with some work so I am going to have to spend a few hours doing this this afternoon. Not what I want to do on a Sunday afternoon but needs must.

Anyway I would need to go and get out of my pyjamas and get this work started.

DC

debt_cruncher

Evening everyone.

It has been a few days since I have posted. It has been busy at work. I am still keeping up with my PAD's and if everything goes according to plan I will have a balance of £320 on my halifax card by Friday.

Got an amazon payment into my account today so that was another £2 off the debts not a lot but it all counts.

The £10 that I withdrew from the scratchcards the other day still has not reached my account but it has now been processed and should show in account in 3 or 4 days.

Also got £18.50 in clubcard vouchers today so that will be used for days out and maybe a meal or two.

Well that is hump day over only 2 more days til the weekend and it is also payday next week. :T

DC

debt_cruncher

I have just been checking out the clubcard deals website and have ordered £40 worth of days out and £30 worth for restaurants (ie Pizza Express and La Tasca). I am away every other weekend so this means that the weekends I am at home we can go out for the next 3 months just with these deals. I am totally amazed by this as before I just used the vouchers of the shopping bill. I read somewhere on the MSE forum that you should never do this so thanks. I am very easily pleased lol.

DC