I am determined to do this...

kirstenc

Hi folks, I originally posted in the DFW thing but figured that this was the best place for me!
Here is my original post

'Hi guys,

I started my DFW thing in april and was doing fab, over £500 in ebay sales etc and was eating away at the debt thing.

Then I got a bit lazy...good thing is havent increased my debt since then, and have a bit of news......my partner has moved in, and we are now on track to do some serious chipping into this thing.

Here is my SOA

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 0
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1200
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1200
Benefits................................ 880
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3280
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 635
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 239.29999999999995
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 94
Electricity............................. 35
Gas..................................... 45
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 55
TV Licence.............................. 13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 70
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 300
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 70
Childcare/nursery....................... 440
Other child related expenses............ 40
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 6
Buildings insurance..................... 43.53
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 5
Other insurance......................... 13.9
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 30
Entertainment........................... 24
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 100
Total monthly expenses.................. 2258.73

Assets
Cash.................................... 2914.12
House value (Gross)..................... 100000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 102914.12

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
Mortgage...................... 100000...(635)......5
Secured Debt.................. 10000....(239.3)....7.9
Total secured & HP debts...... 110000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
tesco credit card..............1210......37........16.9
overdraft #1...................2736.29...150.......29.9
Total unsecured debts..........3946.29...187.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,280
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,258.73
Available for debt repayments........... 1,021.27
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 187
Amount left after debt repayments....... 834.27
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 102,914.12
Total HP & Secured debt................. -110,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -3,946.29
Net Assets.............................. -11,032.17
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

I missed a bunch off last time but think ive got it.
We do have a bit of excess cash but at the mo it is not accesible.

It looks like, now we have combined our wages effectively, there will be cash for the debts every month but thats on paper, he hasnt been here long enough to try it out yet!

what he would like to do, is split the money we have left before payday between us so that we have money for ourselves and dont touch the cash in the bank during the month. I'm not sure if that will work, cos ill probably end up chucking it at the debt while he buys computer games lol

havent sold on ebay for a long time, but have plenty stuff for it!

also, info about the huge overdraft...have an agreement with the bank whereby I pay £150 a month to it, but am curently moving over £50 a week just to pay it off quicker.

lost my motivation before and feel a bit scummy for it!
Teachers note...must try harder!!'

What Im looking for really is just suggestions as to making the best use of my cash. my OH has just moved in so at the moment, we are splitting any leftover cash thats in the account before payday, and using it as treat and entertainment money etc. I would like to put it all towrads repayment but i think i need to ease him in a bit to be honest! Hes all for moneysaving and the likes but hes used to living with parents with £25 a week board and all his wages for cr*p!! so the fact that he has reduced that down is really amazing of him anyway.

kirstenc

so basically, we got paid on friday...4 weekly so we have a 'spare' one in october that doesnt actually go on bills!

going shopping after work (we work in the same place) and Im hoping to spend much less than my budgeted £75, although that covers kids clothes, toiletries and bits and bobs from tesco. if I do spend less, im going to pop that on the overdraft.

will speak soon!

Fire_Fox

There's still plenty of wiggle-room in your SoA - your gas and electricity should be nearer £50 combined, buildings insurance £15, groceries should be around £250; do you really need £840 a year of satellite TV?

kirstenc

well that is the tv phone and broadband, and I would probably be thrown out if i cancelled the sports!! although I have cancelled the movie package and am getting the broadband half price just now after moaning. but the others i can definately work on, thanks for that!

I will be doing a dig around the cupboards tonight for ebay stuff cos i was doing very well before, might do me some good.

I really want to set myself a goal, so that I have something to work for. any timescales popping up? xmas seems a bit too soon, but maybe this time next year, i can pay off everything but the mortgage?? I dunno of thats setting myself up for a disappointment or not!

Fire_Fox

Well done for cancelling the movies! A lot of people downgrade Sky out of the football season then pop it back up again during. A basic landline is £10 from BT (do you even need one with a mobile?), internet can be got from a fiver on top so the sports package is still costing £660 a year. Perhaps he could pay this out of his pocket money instead of buying computer games?

Mini-goals are a good idea. How much a month to pay off, how much a month to earn extra, how much to reduce your food budget by ... there are a load of challenges around that you might fancy joining for a bit of company! :T

kirstenc

Downgrading the sky is the best idea i have ever heard!! OH is ok to do that after i challenged him to name britains number 1 ten pin bowler (allegedly his reason for watching sky sports when theres no footy lol) and he couldnt do it!!!

only spent 36.35 on the shopping today, so im popping £20 into the overdraft!!! YAY!!!!

daily_2

You'll do it faster without an emergency fund, and don't take cash out at the beginning of the month

kirstenc

thanks daily!

At the mo, I have cut the emergency fund to £100 from £200 but had a boiler emergency last month that cost £39 and hour plus vat and parts...then the washing machine died!! dont know what I would have done if i didnt have that cash available!!

We do take cash at the beginning of the month, but its the leftovers from last month if you know what I mean, so technically the less we spend, the more we have the following month for ourselves!

I just got my renewal quote for homeinsurance so im going to have a look around for like for like and see what I can get!!

kirstenc

got a quote, £20 (£23 less than im paying now!!)
then had a look on my cashback site and they have an offer for £12.50 back too!! I think I'll be doing that today!!

convincing my OH to go out on saturday so that I can list stuff on ebay, got about 50 things to go on!! and i have just remembered that I have £50 on my play.com account!! will withdraw that today and pop it into the overdraft aswell!

going well methinks so far.

Im going to pay the overdraft by xmas... thats my goal

anyone know how many days til xmas? then ill figure out how much I should pay each week to do it on top of the £50 that im budgeted for!

Fire_Fox

You are doing brilliantly, keep it up!

kirstenc

The savings is the emergency fund if you know what I mean, the £100 a month goes into that account. The funds are there as a backup incase anything happens job wise, these days noones safe and even working for a large company doesnt really mean anything so Im happy to keep it there just now at least! I know what you mean though, but id hate to pay off the OD, then have to use it when I dont have any savings, back to square one! getting around 5% on the savings at the mo.

I do use the credit card for my shopping, but I pay it exact the same day with the final total of my bill, so that I am not charged interest but I get the Clubcard points! Taking advantage lol (got £360 in CC vouchers saved up!!) but the limit on it is only £1500 so it wouldnt go far if I needed it!!

I am well over my overdraft just now so there is no money in there that isnt owed to the bank!!

thanks FireFox, I'll get there!!