How do you all do it...

scheming_gypsy

Everybody who's had their lightbulb moment seems to have their debt breakdowns on their sig. How much are you managing to knock them down so fast each month?
I'm trying to get my debts down as well but can't understand how some of you are having sigs with drops of about £800 a month. How are you managing to cut down so much?

Alleycat

Aha!!! Well I have to admit that I don't have my debt in my sig, but thats because it is in the process of a major overhaul. OH got £1500 compensation for having his head kicked in!

A lot of it has to do with completely restructuring your spending habits. It doesn't always happen overnight and even if you have had your lightbulb moment, it can take a few months to settle down. It is a combination of increasing income as much as possible, whilst being frugal and savvy with spending.

We managed to cut back drastically on our grocery spends. I have no idea how much we used to spend but we are now comfortable at £180 per month. This may seem high to some, but we are comfortable with it and it works for us. We have also given ourselves set spends each month. OH has decided to quit smoking so we are now saving £200 per month (I got the same allowance as him, only fair!). We always have walked a lot, but now we think before we jump in the car so saving maybe £10-15 per month on diesel. No more late payment charges as my budget sheet is to the letter, so I know exactly what goes in and goes out each month (no nasty surprises).

Why don't you post a statement of affairs and see if we can help you get it sorted...go on you know you want to!!!

scheming_gypsy

haha, i would do but my mum comes on occasionally so there's no chance..

My debt repayment is manageable at about £400 a month (roughly) and i'm a high spender so i know exactly how and where to cut down. It's just the massive jumps on some peoples sigs of 800+ a month, shopping at Aldi at closing time etc can cut a chunk off your debts but there's some high drops coming off some people.

tipsychick

Definitely agree with you Alleycat.

I think once you've read through Martin's various articles, people's posts on the same topics and implemented the changes that work for you and your family, it does take two or three months for everything to take effect and your finances to settle down.

Definitely in our household the key thing is keeping a handle on how much we spend on food/booze/stupid impulse buys, etc. - the money that you just fritter away on nothing much. When you're doing it, it doesn't seem so terrible but added up over a month/year, that's the real killer!

Chortle_2

I'm aiming for a reduction of just over £1k in March - not sure if I'll manage it, but even if I don't, I know I will get damn close - already half way there, and my normal payments haven't gone out yet! Next month *should* be slightly higher again. The absolute minimum I'll budget each month is £550 though.

The £550 is basically the amount that I am comfortable with each month, and depending on any extra income from eBay/cashback sites etc, plus anything left from my 'personal spends' money each month, I normally manage to clear a fair amount more.

This months £1k reduction is largely due to having a slightly higher 'normal' income this month anyway, a tax refund of £100, eBay sales of £200, a present of £50 from my grandad, 'spare' me money of around £120 (out of the £200 I allow for each month)... stuff like that.

I've cut everything back as far as possible, and any savings I make get thrown at my debts. I'm also quite strict with myself, and normally spend less than £10 p/week anyway (and before you think I am a sad git, I have a fab social life, we just tend to go to each others houses with cheap booze and food, rather than paying bar prices).

Clearing my debt is way more important to me than anything else, I'd rather pay a couple of quid off of my debt than buy something useless that'll only make me feel good for a few minutes. Every spare penny goes towards it.
Tis why I've managed to clear over £35k in just under 2 years

tipsychick

My God, Chortle! You have done absolutely brilliantly!

Do what Chortle is doing Scheming Gypsy!

K9cuddles

I agree I can only manage to chuck £350-£400 a month at my debt and that's ensuring I do 20 hours overtime a month I've got my discretionary spending down from £330 in Dec to £170 and I still really struggle I couldn't imagine £40 being my budget!! I take lunch to work, I've been doing my OS stylee cooking and selling junk on eBay... still no enough... Roll on July and my bonus!! Only thing that keeps me going sometimes.. oh and the fact that I'll kinda be debtfree in July 07!!!

scheming_gypsy

Ebay sales is something i can't do unless i get into it in a big way. I've nothing in my house i can sell (except the TV system and that's going nowhere !!!) my house is very minimal.

To pay off the amount everybody else is paying i'd literally have to live on nothing. I draw around £1600 a month after tax (£100 goes into share save schemes at work before tax) and £50 of that goes into a savings account.
After i've paid the mortgage and bills etc etc i probably have less than £600 a month for debts and 'me'...

I do have 3k in savings though which i could pay off some of the debts but why if they're on 0%. Cap 1 is on till next January and Barclay card for 6 months. In June my Egg anniversary comes through for another 5 months so i can transfer the Barclaycard onto that and cancel that card. Get another when 0% card and transfer both the Cap 1 and Egg onto that.
In December i can remortgage and take out any equity i have and see how far it'll be to clearing all my debts. If it covers it along with the savings then clear it. If not bank it with the savings till Feb 08 when sharesave 1 matures, £50 a week buying shares at under £5 and their current price is £15.15.

So unless something drastic happens in the next 24 months i can clear off all my debts by then - which is the grand plan.. I hate having debt but it is manageable at the minute and still have a decent lifestyle when i need to..

Anyway, time for my bed, off to Glasgow tomorrow for a night out. Not very moneysaving at all but i haven't been out for well over a month.

scheming_gypsy

didn't half rattle on a bit there

Alleycat

Its all relative though isn't it? Some households may only consist of two reasonably high earners who have been spending wildly, making very poor financial decisions. They could easily be spending up to £400 per month of Tescos Finest and takeaways on a regular basis. Going to the pub three/four times a week, spending £100 on clothes each month. Not to mention the buying on credit card, paying for several holidays a year, sofas on extortionate credit etc. But once they have their lightbulb moment, realise that two people can easily eat well on £150 per month saving £250, cut down on their going out saving £200, not buying clothes as often saving £60 per month etc. Also if someone does all the moneysaving and gets a part-time evening or weekend job bringing in an extra £200 per month. It is amazing how it all adds up and those Starbucks coffees everyday don't help.

I know a woman at work who said today that she spends £68 per month on some super mocha-caramel-espresso milky thing.

I am not saying that everyone who makes sudden jumps in their debt repayments is being ludicrous in their spending, just that some are. Plus windfalls and lovely surprises happen. Check out the good news thread. Its a real heartwarmer!!

scheming_gypsy

Alleycat wrote:

It is amazing how it all adds up and those Starbucks coffees everyday don't help.

we've got a starbucks bar at work. A tea is 50p, if we used our own teabags they'd charge 20p for the water / cup / service and the milk is free.