making sense of finances so that I stop buying stuff!! SOA

Horace

You seem to be doing well Sheba.

Maybe your son can help you sort out the carboot/ebay stuff?

Have a look on the forum for cheap deals on breakdown cover and then buy it via Quidco or other cashback site.

My immersion heater is on and I am waiting for hot water so that I can do a ton of washing up, later, I will be off out to get 2 buses to the hospital to pick up my new specs. I can't see without them and I need to drive my car which has been sitting outside going nowhere for the past 3 weeks:mad:

sheba

So the debt update first,
was:
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
mbna...........................4260......10....... .0%
egg money......................2300 (clear monthly)0%
son savings....................1000......0.........0%
Total unsecured debts..........7560......10.........-

now:
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
mbna..........................4250.00...10....... .0%
egg money......................245.39 (clear monthly)0%
son savings...................2665.00......0.........0%
Total unsecured debts.........7160.39...10.........-

so... seems to have gone down by (almost) £400!!! I keep adding up and re-adding and it still seems to say the same!!
I am doing what I said with the egg card- 1st off, I pinched more from Son to clear the card without getting any interest put on and since then I am trying to balance the spend on it (unbilled as yet) with the same amount of cash held in an account to clear it- but at the moment am 245.39 short- so thats the egg debt (EGG cashback of about £183 due 'in' on 4th March- not counting that though till the chickens hatched). I am just spending as little as possible till I can offest it all the time-( then I will chuck surplus cash to Son debt- (as MBNA still interest free and should it start to be due interest I can then 'pinch' back off son- although gonna look into virgin 0% card for a BT) and then obviously hit that till gone!!

Feeling really positive about it all at the moment as my last 'hire purchase' payment is on the 20th March- then done!!, and got 2 lovely letters from the bank yesterday saying our two mortgages had gone down so now the monthly payments (combined) are 320.78- whoop whoop!! that along with no H2O or Council Tax bill this month means I should be able to quickly get into the black with egg- and start to pay my son back next week I think- Fabarooney!!!

Other stuff- did sort car breakdown cover but don't want to talk about it- gggrrr:mad: paid over the odds to 'renew' with AA,- as its in hubbys name I needed him to cancel it/see if they would reduce price, didn't get done, I hate it when things are in his name as he has no time in the day and no inclination to sort them after a long, busy week at work (and he does work hard bless him) and I can't cos of Data Protection!! We have just about moved 90% of stuff into my name or hubby has given 'clearance' for the company to deal with me- but this one slipped through cracks- gggrrr!!:mad: upside- had the money in the 'car fund' for tax/breakdown/insurance/mot/maintenance so have paid it but know we paid TOO MUCH!!

Have listed all but 1 item on ebay and sold some stuff (which is already posted and has helped this £400 drop) so all good- ebay not raising a lot as I have been ebaying for about 4 years now so have really pretty much got clear of 95% of superfulous (?) carp- but it's very cathartic to free oneself of the chattels of life- oo-er get me!!

So all in all a good week (but not on the lbs side- started on Valentines day when I 'slipped' and fell face first on a box of Lily O Briens and has been much of a muchness since then- oh well just wipe the chocolate off yer face girl and start again!!!)

to do today:

washing out/in/airer check

tidy up all check

hoover all whoops!!

make inventory of freezer/ meal plan check

Shopping (whilst being positively frugal) check

1 hr Ironing whoops!!

Slobbing in front of telly with my lovely hubby (I need something to look forward to if I'm off the nutella;) ) checkmate!!

that'll do me nicely- I'm off- byeee!!!

sheba

Condensing my other thread activity into here so that I have full 'money' diary in one place.

Signed upto the weekly spend challenge and have cut/pasted my results from that thread:
"Well the figures are in... and I did carp!!
Had a very generous budget of £45.90 and still spent £12.61 over to come in at £58.51:eek: .
In my defence;) we did do the climbing thing (£10), was my turn to pay for lunch out and my Aunty came along (1st time ever) and as she turned 65 last week (week before?) I shouted her lunch- only just over a fiver, and you only get so many Auntys don't you? Also son came as half term and now 15 he is onto adult meals so more dosh than usual there!! (£25 all in). Spent 21.51 on groceries- should of been in the grocery budget really- but pinched that to clear credit card bill, and finally 'lost' £2 to my £2 and 50p pot- so spent a blooming fortune.

Next week I will put a seperate budget aside for climbing and food- so we will see what happens there!! Will give you next weeks budget when you want it? Thinking about £10? As it's Mavas turn to shout lunch on Weds!!

Great thread again though!!- really highlights where you're spending and makes you think twice- would definately have bought more frivalous groceries in the past (pringles!!) then ate them (!!) then wonder why I am both skint and got a size 16 bottom!!!"

Also signed upto the £2 challenge board- although for me its also a sealed pot challenge as I don't take note of what I put in and I also put in 50ps.

And also need to report back to the weight loss thread although have been avoiding it since the aforementioned Lily O Brien/ nutella incident (incident- come off it girl- more like a saga!!) Will brave the scales tomorrow and give up this weeks breakfast of spoons full of nutella for last weeks more beneficial breakfast of warm weetabix with semi-skimmed milk and raisins!!! Honest!!??

sheba

Mondays inane whitterings and to do list.

So another driving lesson:eek: nearly had a heart attAck when he picked me up and gave me car keys straight away!!! Did all the driving today-crikey- amazing really, when you consider that I tried to pull off without starting car first!! But was good and if/WHEN (+ve thoughts girlie) I've passed my test I will be able to apply for my dream jobs- either Youth Offending Team officer (need car for home visits) or Teacher- need car to get to/from the school.

Talking of work I am applying for a temp post at a local secondary school as a Teaching Assistant- had an interview there before and I lost out to a guy who was a trained teacher (albeit in Africa and was hoping to 'retrain' here) but they said ANY other day I would have got it as was very impressed but had to give it to the (already) trained teacher and that I should keep on applying, so can only hope I can impress again- would do me so much good to get it (not just financially but personally- boys growing up and I am feeling a bit redundant in myself- need something that is 'mine' outside of my lovely family).

On the losing lbs front- had alpen for breakfast today instead of nutella so a good start I feel;) but really want to up my fitness levels (as I don't have any!!)- think I may start to try to walk the 10000 steps a day- got ebay parcel to post today- may walk it to the post office 2 miles away instead of the one across the road- but we will see- or might ask lovely hubby to go on a long walk with me this evening?

Ebay- slowly but surely reclaiming my dining room back from its car boot lookalikee status whilst raising a (tiny) bit of money.

So todays to do list:


washing out/in/airer done

tidy up all (dishwasher duties/ fire duties/ empty bins/ dustbin out) done

hoover half (downstairs and empty hoover) whoops

wrap/ post ebay parcel done

something to improve fitness (?) whoops

1 hr Ironing whoops

NSD- ebay parcel already budgetted for done

Fingers crossed that I do not procrastinate all day and then run around frantically in the last hr before hubby home!!??:rotfl:

sheba

just for self analysis.

updated SOA with accurate council tax and water 2009 also accurate mortgage- minus hire purchase (finished-yippee)

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 3
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 0
Partners monthly income after tax....... 2100
Benefits................................ 120
Other income............................ 120
Total monthly income.................... 2340
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 308.22
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Hire Purchase (HP) repayments........... 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 123
Electricity............................. 33
Gas..................................... 38
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 47.74
Telephone (land line)................... 35
Mobile phone............................ 55
TV Licence.............................. 11.95
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 37.5
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 400
Clothing................................ 50
Petrol/diesel........................... 35
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 55
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 55
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 14
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 48
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 10.73
Buildings insurance..................... 20
Contents insurance...................... 20
Life assurance ......................... 16.32
Other insurance......................... 25.5
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 120
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 100
Holiday................................. 200
Emergency fund.......................... 40
charitable donations.................... 16
husband work cash-mags/misc............. 2.75
husband work cash-mags/misc............. 40
childrens accounts...................... 40
driving test fees (putting away future). 88
driving test fees (putting away future). 30
Total monthly expenses.................. 2135.71

Assets
Cash.................................... 110000
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 3500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 113500

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 56000....(308.22)...0
Total secured & HP debts...... 56000.....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
MBNA...........................4240......10........0
SON SAVINGS....................2585......0.........0
EGG MONEY......................250.......25........0
Total unsecured debts..........7075......35........-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,340
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,135.71
Available for debt repayments........... 204.29
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 35
Amount left after debt repayments....... 169.29
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 113,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -56,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -7,075
Net Assets.............................. 50,425
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

I have started recording spending at spendingdiary.com (?) and it's becoming all too apparent that I grossly overspend on groceries/cleaning materials- so really gotta curb that and asap!!!!

sheba

So as per title- where to start???

Ist off an apology- I feel I may have presented this thread in a very hostile/ solitary way at some stages and for that I am sorry- I think I have been too defensive/touchy at points and this resulted in my retreating in to my shell and declaring this thread personal property- not indicitive of a true LBM I feel.

Onto that then!

I last updated my debt figures on 20.02.2009 as:

Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
mbna..........................4250.00...10....... .0%
egg money......................245.39 (clear monthly)0%
son savings...................2665.00......0.........0 %
Total unsecured debts.........7160.39...10.........-

and today these figures present as:

Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
mbna..................... ....4240...10....... .0%
egg money......................254.98 (clear monthly)0%
son savings...................2585.00......0.........0 %
next account................... 40.00
Total unsecured debts.........7119.98...10.........-

so on the face of it going in the right direction but on the whole it's not good enough/ quick enough and we (hubby and I- both of a same mind about debt- don't want it to increase but both unwilling to seriously sacrifice as long as we feel it's 'under control') need to step it up a gear- figure has dropped only nominally despite having egg cashback of £185 in (surplus to SOA INCOMING) £35 in valued opinions (again surplus to SOA INCOMING)and no water rates or council tax. I/we do know where it's gone so no worries there- it's all accounted for and not wasted in a coffees/magazine little/often way more that we can't deny ourselves the things we want/ need so has been spent on tickets to events, gardening bits(- fencing compost woodchip to the tune of £300!!) subscription to sports facilities (£250) sports insurance, tool maintainance and birthday/easter/ mothers days gifts.

So I write this just to bring it on home that we can't 'keep on keeping on' as should interest rates start to rise (as they obviously will) and should the recession carry on finacial situations could change (as job sectors not 'expected' to be affected will be affected through knock on effect of banks calling in loans etc- you all know the score there).

On the plus side because I do budget so generously for things, I do have funds in place for car insurance MOT Tax and Home contents/buildings insurance that are due in May (I think??)so might be some cash left over in those kitties (if I find good rates via quidco) but then as life goes probably not!!

So all in all- a dawning recognition that we either cut costs by reining in food/ utilities costs and stop indulging ourselves or up income by getting me a job - as financially no significant inmprovement (and though my driveway looks lovely- not gonna help me when caca hits the fan!!) and I really thought I would have gotten it down to about 6300 by now (which I would have done had we not decided to spend it).

This is probably a pointless post as covering same old ground (????) but I am just trying to solidify the thought processes going through my mind, also posting here allows me to see progress- or lack of- and I can't hide from that.

sheba

Have just created a 'signature' to quickly show me my achievements/failings, and will add to it my piggypoints, globaltestmarket , lightspeed, nectar and boots points also valued opinion rewards (and any others I can think of (???) when I compile the figures/ can be ar*ed). Who knows might incourage me to click on pigsback a bit more- but that ship seems a bit like its sunk lately!! and used to be so lucrative <sigh> ne'ermind... onwards and upwards!!

sheba

oooo- shiny lovely signature - me like (but will like it a whole lot more when it reads total £00.00!!!!)