arghh!!! sillybillyme - my (hopefully) debt free diary

sillybillyme

hi all i am in need of serious help :rolleyes:
i am a mummy to my 2 little men who are absolutly amazing so i need to be debt free to give them the life they deserve.
i currently stay at home to look after them but im also at collge doing a bookkeeping course which finishes in july.
basically my :idea: came when i realised me and oh were bother overdrawn and going to be charged AGAIN!!!:eek:

we have quite alot of debt and are struggling to keep up with it all, i have just opened a new bank account where i have transfered all our dd too. our aim was to transfer over £400 a week into this account as this would more then cover the dds and debt but as we are going over our overdrafts and getting charged on our normal account it is going to make this quite difficult. i need a good kick up the you know what and i need to stay focused so i am hoping by starting this diary i can update everyday and see how im going. oh gets paid tomorrow so it seems a good time to start my diary.

i am going to try and aim to be debt free in 500 days!!!:rolleyes: starting from May 20th 2009!!
it will be hard but nothing is impossible, so i will keep track of all my debt busting ideas and payments i have made towards my debt and (fingers crossed) we will be on my way to becoming debt free :T :T :T

Tixy

Hi SillyBilly and welcome:hello::j

Here is the SOA link http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html
An SOA is definatley a good starting point for your diary. Try and complete all the info on it (the APRs etc are really important).

Good luck

sillybillyme

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 0
Partners monthly income after tax....... 2000 this varies as he is self employed but this is an average
Benefits................................ 120 child benefit
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2120
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 587.12
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 120
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 30
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 30
Telephone (land line)................... 20
Mobile phone............................ 50
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 21
Internet Services....................... 0 this is included in the land line price through talk talk
Groceries etc. ......................... 180
Clothing................................ 10
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 19
Car Insurance........................... 55
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 60 this is my youngests pre school costs
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 5
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1329.12

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 3000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 3000

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
hsbc loan......................1200......117.......6
car loan.......................5430......127.......5.2
family loan....................3000......79.5......0
ctc overpayment................1100......50........0
asda cc........................1563......46........0
hsbc cc........................235.78....14........12
capital 1 cc...................398.07....20........22
Total unsecured debts..........12926.85..453.5.....-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,120
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,329.12
Available for debt repayments........... 790.88
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 453.5
Amount left after debt repayments....... 337.38
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 3,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -12,926.85
Net Assets.............................. -9,926.85


i hope i have got this right i have been looking through old statements to try and find out the correct figures for the loand and apr

sillybillyme

thankyou Tixy for the link:D

Tixy

That was quick!
I guess the first question to ask is do you actually have the surplus shownn of £337 per month? Do you know where this has been spent in the past - have you been paying more than the minimum on any of the debts?

If you have that amount surplus you could clear your cap 1 card (as its the highest interest rate) in just the next couple of months then you could start paying extra off the hsbc card.

If you don't know where the surplus is going then keep a spending diary - I carry a small diary round with me to write down everything I spend, other people have spreadsheets for this or even record it on their DFW diary - whichever works best for you but make sure your write down everything you spend be it 50p for one of the children or £20 on a takeaway.

Do you not have any income at all for yourself - JSA or anything? Are you entitled to any in addition to the child benefit? have you looked at the website entitledto.co.uk?

If not could you do mystery shopping / paid online reviews or surveys to bring in a little extra? The up your income board has loads of advice.

Car insurance seems quite high - do you shop around at renewal time? If you are moving insurance or utilities always check out if you can earn cashback from any of the cashback sites - I use quidco but there are others.

Others will be along soon with more advice.

Good luck

sillybillyme

i just posted a really long reply and it dissappeared!!! so i will make this one short and sweet as i really must get on with the housework.
car insurance also includes my oh motorbike insurance. car insurance is up for renewal in nov so i will shop around for the best price. i have not got a clue where the extra money is going, like i said my partners wages differ every week so maybe that is what is happening. i will keep a spending diary like you suggested Tixy and see if i can work it out from that.

i have taken oh debit card off of him as he likes to spend money on rubbish whilst he is at work and by the end of the week it all adds up.

really must go and tidy up before my little terror finishes preschool and demands anything to do with thomas the tank engine!!!
xx

sillybillyme

sorted bank accounts on internet banking inbetween housework :rolleyes:
i have transfered £400 into the bills account so we have to be careful this week as most of the money had to put us back in credit on our accounts where we were both overdrawn!!

i need to find something in the freezer for dinner as im determined not to give in to the " sod it we will just get a takeaway tonight" attitude!!
(i think we must pay the local chip shops rent every month!!!!) :eek:

oh well onwards and upwards!! :cool:

xxxx

angelpye

Hi, well done for setting a target and getting on the raod to be debt free! Like Tixy says I think keeping a spending diary is a good place to start. Just tracking what you do for as little as one month should give you great insight into where the money is going.
Just wondered whether your totals for clothes and presents were realistic as they seem a little low. I know there are lots of people out there that have great ways of keeping these costs low but does £120 cover all your costs for birthdays and christmas etc? Also does £120 cover all clothing need? Just wondered as this is where I have mostly come unstuck myself!
There is nothing in there for dentists or prescriptions, entertainment or holidays, again surely you spend some money doing these things? Even if its a regular family swim it should be included for you to see your full budget.
Also, no tax credits? Have you tried to apply and been refused or do you choose not to claim?
Wow, you got the card off your partner, well done! I have to say I am a terrible snacker at work so maybe building into your weekly shop a bigger packed lunch will help, I have and on the whole I have stopped buying the extras when at work.
Hope the feedback/suggestions help! Goodluck!

LittleEmms

Hi Sillybilly

Welcome to the boards and very well done on making a start on things... that's the hardest bit!!! I'm not the wisest in being able to help with SOA's, am sure a lot more helpful people will be along later... but I just wanted to say hi and well done for getting on here!!

As for your OH not getting paid the same every week - perhaps you could look over the last few months payslips and work out an average that he is getting paid - or to be safe - work out your weekly spends to the lowest he gets paid and anything extra put aside for emergency fund or paying debt, etc?

Definitely get into meal planning and using up the freezer stuff - there's some great advice on the Old style boards including website links for when you have food in but can't think of what to do with it...

Am going to subscribe and pop in if that's ok!!

sillybillyme

Hi angelpye and LittleEmms :beer:

thanks for your advice and support. we have not claimed child tax credit as a couple of years ago when we were claiming we recieved a letter saying that they had overpaid us by £1650 :mad:

we are currently paying that back at £50 a month and i dont want to claim again incase the same thing happens!!!

i will have a look at his past pay slips and see if i can work out a rough wage that i can base things around and any extra can go to the debt.

im going to start a spending diary on here and will try and have as many nsd as possible. also i will pop over to the os board to try and pick up some tips on how to make things go further and reduce my shopping spend!! i might even join the pad thread and see how i get on

well i have found 2 packets of fresh meatballs in the fridge so i will do them with bologneise (sp?) sauce and rice with garlic bread and salad. should fill the oh up for about an hour :rolleyes:

i have a jar of pennies that i will sort out and bank this week, not sure how much there is but every little helps!!:T

xxx

sillybillyme

list of things to do today

• [STRIKE]put washing on line[/STRIKE]
• [STRIKE]do another load and line dry[/STRIKE]
• [STRIKE]put clean washing away[/STRIKE]
• hoover
• polish
• ironing
• [STRIKE]put £10 on gas and electric[/STRIKE]
• [STRIKE]find something for dinner as we are running low but determined not to go shopping till sunday!!!![/STRIKE]
• [STRIKE]take parcel to post office[/STRIKE]

well that should keep me busy for a while today, my eldest has an after school club tonight so i dont have to pick him up till 4.30 so that gives me a bit of extra time:rolleyes:

not going to spend any more money apart from the gas and electric today, and have still got oh debit card so i dont have to worry about getting a little shock when i look at the internet banking if i have budgeted correctly this week!!!!:o

xxx