Spirited's SOA & Diary

scottishspendaholic

Hi Spirited,

Wow, what a week it's been for you! Well done and I'm really chuffed for you - you are doing really well.

I don't have much more advice for you as you seem to really have a handle on everything - keep posting - why not keep this thread updated regularly as a kind of diary? You could then post an updated SOA too once everything has settled down (council tax, gym, broadband etc) then you will be able to work out a debt free date.

Keep it up chick!

scottishspendaholic x

Spirited_2

Thanks SS xxx

Today I did a meal plan and from that a shopping list, we aimed to do it in £25 (for 10 days, so £75 a month) and came a little over at £29.30 but I think we were justified in going over. For once, thanks to the meal plan, we know that it will last the 10 days, and I've made sure there is enough bread (and flour) in the house to prevent those mid-week spending trips which soon add up.

We also made use of an offer or two which means that we have enough cereal for two shopping trips at least. We changed the meal plan on the spot to take advantage of there being no Quorn/Similar Chicken-style pieces and a BOGOF offer on burgers (which can be cut into pieces!) which meant it was a lot cheaper (per kilo price).

I got my first post-lightbulb freebie too! We used to spend loads on dog treats, and had decided to just make the poor thing do without (treats, not food!) --- until I saw a sign on a local butcher's shop "Free Raw Bones for Dogs" - so he's been as pleased as punch

We did spend a bit in the pet shop on Ferretvite (one of our rats is ill and needs it) but we are going to make it stretch by not giving the other ones a lick just because they look at us pleadingly. Besides, the rats are rather cheap to feed normally, so it would be daft not to try and get her well.

I don't think I have anything else to report. Ooh, yes I have, sold another Ebay item on buy it now and I have an auction ending in an hour (currently at £67!)

nadnad

you're doing really well!! well done!

do you think you are going to be able to go to work in the near future?

you're going to have to use some of those saving (or all) for paying some debt, but I need to have a think about the way to go there - maybe someone else whose brain is working at this time will post with suggestions!

just regarding the car - I assume you will probably have a final payment on the car if its a finance deal through a dealer - thats something to think about although I know its not an immediate concern as theres another year left but still, best not to forget about these things and have them sneek up on you!

i'll come back to you on what I would do re your savings.

nadnad

at a glance this is waht I would do - feel free anyone to correct me:-

1) Cut out Laptop cover and gym (done) = £44
2) Cut food by £100
3) Broadband - change to tiscali save = £9
4) You list a separate £20 for pets (not ins. or food) cut this = £20
saving = £173

5) Pay the £6000 loan off using savings (is the £6k balance or original amount?) = £198 extra p.month
6) Get a 0% card (capital 1 is the longest) transfer mastercard, marblescard and husehold bank to this(total £2630) minimum payment 3% = £78.90

this in total brings down your overspend from £733 to £362.

Can you husband get a part time job or over time? can you do anything from home? can you get a lodger in if you have a spare room?

will you have to start paying off the student loan now? or do they wait until you're earning over a certain amount? i.e. is this something you have to worry about now or can it be put on the back burner?

i hope I've worked everything out right - if I haven't am sorry but am tired! anyhow - it gives you a start!

Spirited_2

Thanks for the advice. I'll have a think on it whilst I'm working things out.

Unfortunately I seem to have underestimated a few of the debts, so I'm still working things out to come up with the exact figure. the student loan isn't something I have to pay off yet, the bank loan is nearer to £9000, and there is a similar amount left on the car (plus the £3,300 at the end of the car term). They seem to have been stuctured to pay off the interest first though, as we are more than halfway through the car loan, and less than halfway through the balance :S

I have however now made £112.48 on ebay - so far on stuff that I don't use (so effectively painless).

I have also decided to cancel my charitable donations until I can afford to be generous. Though I can't really count the saving as I forgot to put it on my SOA as an outgoing I have saved: £22.17 (was split between three charities). I do feel a bit bad about it, but the sooner I get my finances in shape, the quicker and more sustainable my giving will be.

Better get sending off those items to winning bidders.

fivemice

I'd recommend a spending diary - writing down every little minor thing you buy. I only did my post like this last week, and we waste in the region of £1000 a month of stuff that I can't account for. We knew it was bad, but not that bad!
So yes, that's my top tip for today

kar

Has hubby's share options come through yet??

You could get rid of all your other debts listed (other than Hubby's personal loan/HP on car with it).

This would leave you in a much much better position than before (leaves 550 for if you've underestimated the balances.).

You've put down that hubby's loan is fixed. I take it that means you couldn't pay it off early without paying a huge fee. Is that right? Have noticed this is more in the region of 9000 (from your previous post) but how long is there left to run on the loan?

For the car - when your trust fund matures you could save the amount in an isa and use this towards the final payment on the car (if you decide you want to keep it) - otherwise you could start a fund for early paying off of the loan (here i'm assuming overpayments is a no no)

Now all you have to do is get the monthly income/outcome to match. (if only it was that easy huh)

Have you checked out if you are entitled to any benefits (Incapacity benefit or other) Which may add a little to your income. Keep selling your things on ebay (have you tried amazon for your old text books) - let us know how things are going. Good luck

moongarden

is your laptop not covered on the house insurance policy?

that is £156 per year just to insure a laptop when you could specify it as an all risks (so it is covered for accidents and away from the home) special item on the house insurance for about £40.

that would save £116 over the year - saving £9.66 a month

also you have loads of good advice on where to cut non essential items here but you need to add car maintenence to your budget so this doesn't catch you out

actually someone suggested to me on saturday that i do the same and just open an internet savings acc with my bank and put the money in there monthly - once it reaches a certain figure (say £300) you can stop paying in and use the normal payment to blast off something else and resume the payments if you spend some of the £300.

i'm going to try it myself

Bestthingsinlifearefree

HI spirited,

I feel for you suffering from depression / agrophobia, those are tough cookies but can be overcome.

Here are a couple of links / sites that might help.


https://www.mind.org.uk

https://www.livinglifetothefull.com

https://www.nomorepanic.co.uk

https://www.depressionalliance.org

I wish you well.

Spirited_2

Thanks for the posts, I'll re-read them tonight and work out what I'm doing. Managed to get a few things done this afternoon:

* Sent off letter to gym (turns out it was ready to go but OH had forgotten to post it) by recorded delivery.
*Sent off two ebay items to people who paid instantly over the weekend (unfortunately the big payment ~£90 is coming via cheque, so I'll have to wait till that clears).
*Sent off a few letters which had been sent to our address for previous owners, they had been building up so thought it best. (One of those things that gets me down everytime I see it).
* Transferred OH's £825.63 HFC Card debt (19.9%) onto my 0% overdraft.
* Managed to walk the dog (he needs it and I need it) my legs are now a bit sore (out of shape) but I feel better for being out in the sunshine. OH came with me but didn't feel up to joining the dog and I so sat on a bench.

-
Which brings me to the bad (but not surprising) news, we were turned down for the business loan. In some ways I'm glad it's taken the decision out of our hands, as I felt we were going to need to get out of personal debt first. But it is a disappointing reality check, and DH is very depressed about it. I don't know what to do. He hates his job at the moment, and was really looking forward to getting out of it. I can't see him being able to do anything constructive tonight or tomorrow (his days off this week) and I really need the help to sort the finances out.