Newbie - Taking the plunge!

Miss-Moneypenny_7

Hi all, I have been lurking on the site for a few days and have finally been brave and completed my SOA as all the posts I have read have been so supportive and full of great advice.

I was actually surprised once I totalled my debt because I had over estimated it by £3k so its a little less daunting, but a significant amount all the same.

I am not on a DMP as I am able to make the requested payments but I need the support of this site to keep me on track and help me stop my spending.

I would love to be debt free by the end of 2012, which should be acheivable if I stop spending. My personal loan does not end until 2013 but my two kays accounts are on two year plans which will end in 2011 so my plan is once these have finished I will use the £200 a month I pay to these to pay my loan off more quickly.

I want to start a family before I am 30 (I am 27 now) but won't even consider it while my finances are like they are, so I have a real incentive to make myself debt free for the first time in 9 years.

according to my SOA I should have over £300 left a month - this never happens and its mainly due to my habit of buying "thin air" i.e I have nothing to show for it at the end of the month. We don't smoke, have only been out once in the last six months and really have no reason for this. This is what I need to curb!

Any advice you can give would be great.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 0
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1286
Partners monthly income after tax....... 750
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2036
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 495
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 141
Electricity............................. 60
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 25
Telephone (land line)................... 15
Mobile phone............................ 70
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 30
Groceries etc. ......................... 160
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 25
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 12.26
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 3.1
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 20
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
(Unnamed monthly expense)............... 0
gym..................................... 40.7
Total monthly expenses.................. 1129.06

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

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
personal loan..................10409.....253.......0
Kays1..........................1713......75........0
Kays2..........................3074......123.......0
Overdraft......................2400......40........0
Halifax Card...................2755.38...75........0
Cap One Card...................494.86....26........0
Total unsecured debts..........20846.24..592.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,036
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,129.06
Available for debt repayments........... 906.94
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 592
Amount left after debt repayments....... 314.94
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -20,846.24
Net Assets.............................. -20,846.24
Created using the SOA calculator at
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

Miss-Moneypenny_7

I have got a little book for a spending diary - any tips on this?

lottie_no1

It is definately a good idea to keep a spending diary, you soon realise how much rubbish you buy!

Do you know the APR's on your debts? This will help work out what to throw extra money at first.

Numpty_Monkey

Miss-Moneypenny wrote: »

I have got a little book for a spending diary - any tips on this?

The only tip for a spending diary is
Write everything in it :eek: it is scarey but it does give you a big shock
I kept one for a few weeks when I first started, it really did point out a lot of wasted money
the odd choccy bar, can of pop, packet of sweets, and so on:o
The extra bottle of milk, loaf of bread, bag of spuds made me realise I wasn't allocating enough to my food budget so I changed that:cool:

:A

Numpty_Monkey

Miss-Moneypenny wrote: »

Hi all, I have been lurking on the site for a few days and have finally been brave and completed my SOA as all the posts I have read have been so supportive and full of great advice.

I was actually surprised once I totalled my debt because I had over estimated it by £3k so its a little less daunting, but a significant amount all the same.

I am not on a DMP as I am able to make the requested payments but I need the support of this site to keep me on track and help me stop my spending.

I would love to be debt free by the end of 2012, which should be acheivable if I stop spending. My personal loan does not end until 2013 but my two kays accounts are on two year plans which will end in 2011 so my plan is once these have finished I will use the £200 a month I pay to these to pay my loan off more quickly.

I want to start a family before I am 30 (I am 27 now) but won't even consider it while my finances are like they are, so I have a real incentive to make myself debt free for the first time in 9 years.

according to my SOA I should have over £300 left a month - this never happens and its mainly due to my habit of buying "thin air" i.e I have nothing to show for it at the end of the month. We don't smoke, have only been out once in the last six months and really have no reason for this. This is what I need to curb!

Any advice you can give would be great.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 0
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1286
Partners monthly income after tax....... 750
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2036
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 495
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 141
Electricity............................. 60 Are you Electric only?
Gas..................................... 0 ?
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 25 are you on a meter might save you a couple of £s you can get one fitted free to test for a year
Telephone (land line)................... 15 look at landline and internet packages you can get both for £20
Mobile phone............................ 70 is this the best tarrif, look into cancelling your contracts and getting better deals
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 30 as landline
Groceries etc. ......................... 160
Clothing................................ 0 need to budget something in here, £10 a month?
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 25 thats cheap
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 12.26
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 3.1 whats this for?
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 20
Entertainment........................... 0 need to budget something here
Holiday................................. 0 a few days out are allowed
Emergency fund.......................... 0 I'd budget £10 for this
(Unnamed monthly expense)............... 0
gym..................................... 40.7
Total monthly expenses.................. 1129.06

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

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
personal loan..................10409.....253.......0 APR's would be good to help the clever people
Kays1..........................1713......75........0 ?
Kays2..........................3074......123.......0?
Overdraft......................2400......40........0?
Halifax Card...................2755.38...75........0?
Cap One Card...................494.86....26........0?
Total unsecured debts..........20846.24..592.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,036
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,129.06
Available for debt repayments........... 906.94
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 592
Amount left after debt repayments....... 314.94 well done on the starting the spending diary
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -20,846.24
Net Assets.............................. -20,846.24
Created using the SOA calculator at
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

The APR's will be very usefull to have, and to findout where the excess cash is going maybe then we can think about doing snowballing:T

:A

BeautyandtheBeast_3

hi and welcome!!!

theoretica

How often do you actually visit the gym?

Miss-Moneypenny_7

here goes:

the gym membership runs out in Sept and I have already put a cancellation notice in place to terminate it - because like most people who have gym membership I never go! lol

the 3.10 insurance is a very small accidental death policy from my bank, had it since I was 18 but need to dig out all the paperwork to cancel it.

the travel is low because we try to walk to work most of the time, its only when it rains too heavily I get the bus, although I do allow extra for this in winter.

both mobile contracts run out in December so we will look at tariffs then, really hope to reduce this significantly. the package I took 18 months was suitable for my usage at the time but really isn't right for my usuage now.

will have to look into the APRs, I know my cap one card is most likely the highest but that also has the smallest balance - I am guessing it makes sense to clear this one quicker.

The two kays accounts were refinanced on to a fixed term and the interest was compounded at the start, therefore the balance for these includes all the interest - If I pay these off early they will refund part of the interest accordingly.

In terms of electric I only have electric but it is a small flat with storage heaters (which we rarely have on as the flats above and below help heat us! lol). I have only lived in my flat since October and have called 3 times with readings but still have not had a bill from the electric company so this amount is estimated. I know this is really bad and my priority this month is to shout at them until they send me a bill so I can bring this up to date!

I have only had one water bill which was for the first six months and was £90 (although I had a credit balance from my move so didn't have to pay anything ).

I haven't set up direct debits for my electric/water because the last two places I have lived they have seriously over estimated my usage and I end up with a credit balance which takes ages to reclaim.

its unreal what my money goes on! I cleared my wallet of credit cards etc this morning and I pulled out shed loads of receipts for utter rubbish that I did not need and have nothing to show for it! hopefully this spending diary will curb that!

QueenBeruthiel

I find it helpful to keep a monthly spreadsheet, with a column on what I have spent next to a column on what I have budgeted for. Others prefer to do this on paper.

Plan well in advance, so that you know when birthdays, etc. are coming up.

I also have a "to do" list which includes checking out car insurance, breakdown cover, etc. on the comparison sites at least two months before renewal.

Good luck!

magicdogsbrain

Isn't everyone so organised with their spreadsheets, diaries and todo's :-)

That SOA looks very good.

Be realistic on the amount you should over pay on the debt - don't use all your spare cash - otherwise you will build up inadequacies in your home etc and end up having to get another loan in a year or 3.

The SOA and admitting the issue is the biggest thing. The next (in my opinion - many DFW's may disagree) is to be realistic and not too severe in sorting it out.

Numpty_Monkey

magicdogsbrain wrote: »

Isn't everyone so organised with their spreadsheets, diaries and todo's :-)

That SOA looks very good.

Be realistic on the amount you should over pay on the debt - don't use all your spare cash - otherwise you will build up inadequacies in your home etc and end up having to get another loan in a year or 3.

The SOA and admitting the issue is the biggest thing. The next (in my opinion - many DFW's may disagree) is to be realistic and not too severe in sorting it out.

I agree with you totally, many people set unrealastic budgets that they can't keep to, and fall off the wagon:o, you get pretty good at making spreadsheets when your a DFWer:p don't cost owt anyway:rotfl: