3rd Time Around!

sortingitout1980

I can't believe i'm doing this for a third time in 10 years! :mad:

Been looking through the site and boards for a few days and have decided i need to stop my spending and clear my debt.

The problem i have is this will be the third time in 10 years i've had to do this. The first time was after uni and the amount for only small so was quite easy to do.

The second time my fiance (now hubby) made me confess and bailed me out with our joint savings which i paid back a while ago.

Now i've gone and done it again on credit cards and am certain he would never talk to me again if i told him and he would not trust me again and i can't bare to do that to him. I am determined to get myself out of this mess as it was only me that got me into it.

I'm going to do an SOA tomorrow but i think it might be quite hard as i give my hubby a lump sum each month and that pays for the mortgage, bills etc. The only things on top of that i pay for is my mobile, pension, diesel, bank account charge, charity donation and the gym.

So i need to be able to get rid of my debt and still be able to save each month towards holidays etc - i know you will all say this is silly considering the debt i have but i REALLY cannot tell him this time.

I'm already getting ready to do some selling on ebay as last time this netted me about £200, my xmas bonus from work will go straight into paying of my debt but this will only be about £125. I think my biggest problem is the trips to the shops on the way to work which i don't need to make so i think a debt diary will be good and also keeping a note of my daily spending.

Will post back tomorrow with my SOA.

Aniya

Just wanted to post and say Good Luck to you, you know you can get yourself out of it, you've done it before.

This time you know how you got back into the spending habit and you can break that and make the change permanent :j

You can do it! Will be subscribing and popping back to see how you're getting on.

sortingitout1980

Ok, here is my SOA which has some explanations about:

Monthly income after tax - £1244
Partners monthly income – N/A
Benefits - £0

Expenses
Mortgage - £339 I give my husband a lump sum each month which covers the mortgage, gas, electric, water, TV licence, council tax, landline, TV and life assurance.
Mobile Phone - £40
Petrol/Diesel - £40
Medical - £7.20 for perscription
Personal Pension - £60 (also have one through work so am currently paying into two)
Gym - £30
Laptop insurance and breakdown cover - £24
Bank account charge - £14 (pay this as i get RAC cover, holiday insurance and mobile phone insurance included and was paying more than this amount for the same things previously)
Charity donation - £4 to cancer research
Other £100 – i put this away each month to cover car tax, car insurance, buildings and contents and my football season ticket which all come in April/May each year

Expenses Total: £658.20

Unsecured Debt
Barclaycard - £1908
Mint – £780
Egg - £394
Catalogue - £845
Unsecured debt totals £3927

Assets
House Value - £120,000
Shares/Bonds - £12,000
Car - £6000
Other assets - £11,000

I’m lucky that my husband pays for all the food, internet and MOT as he earns more than me but as he doesn’t know about the debt i’ve not factored his income into the above.

CaroleM_3

Hi Sortingitout,

Based on your list of expenses you have £585 left over. How much of that will go into the joint savings for holidays that you mentioned? And is any spent on train fares, sandwichs at work, evenings out, etc. The spending diary will really help with that, with seeing where it all goes, (mine was so scary i stopped using it, but i will be starting again on payday). You really need to know exactly how much surplus you have to be able to work out how best to use it, debt busting wise.

Is it worth checking if your laptop is already covered under your normal household insurance, and if it is, cancelling that insurance? And can you get your mobile phone costs down at all? Mines £25 for more minuets and texts than I could humanly use, and even that is really expensive compared to most on this board.

Also, its going to take a while to pay your debts off, would it be better to confess and take the consequences, than have your OH find out halfway through the process and know you have been lying to him for months? (genuine question, not trying to be judgemental)

lululamb

Well done on admiting the problem even if it is for a 3rd time.

If you save half of your 'spare' money each month and put the rest towards the debt, it sounds like you should be able to clear things within a couple of years.

Definitely keep track of everything you spend as it can reveal a lot.

Good luck.

headoutthesand

sortingitout1980 wrote: »

Ok, here is my SOA which has some explanations about:


Mortgage - £339
Mobile Phone - £40 Get this down asap - see martins tips on reducing bills
Petrol/Diesel - £40 can you car share with someone or use the bus/train and get a subsidised ticket from your employer?
Medical - £7.20 for perscription I'm assuming you have more than 12 prescription in the year to make this worthwhile?
Personal Pension - £60 (also have one through work so am currently paying into two) Ask advice on pensions board re this - i don't have a clue
Gym - £30 Get rid, get a bike from freecycle or ask a friend to take up walking with you
Laptop insurance and breakdown cover - £24 Check your household insurance doesn't cover this
Bank account charge - £14 (pay this as i get RAC cover, holiday insurance and mobile phone insurance included and was paying more than this amount for the same things previously) In the light of day - do you really need the top RAC cover if you only spend £40 a month on fuel? Get RAC basic cover via quidco for £28 but with £19 cash back. Phone insurance - is your phone top of the range? Can you not do without a high spec phone if you lose the one you have?
Charity donation - £4 to cancer research Charity begins at home - ditch it till your back on your feet financially
Other £100 – i put this away each month to cover car tax, car insurance, buildings and contents and my football season ticket which all come in April/May each year

Expenses Total: £658.20

Unsecured Debt
Barclaycard - £1908
Mint – £780
Egg - £394
Catalogue - £845
Unsecured debt totals £3927 Can you 'STOOZE' your debt or do you have a bad credit rating?

Assets
House Value - £120,000
Shares/Bonds - £12,000
Car - £6000
Other assets - £11,000

I have added my comments on your outgoings above.

I hope you don't find them too harsh but if you are really serious, then you will understand what I mean.

I was in your situation 2 years ago i.e. my husband didn't know. I done everything via Quidco and got cash back. I done ebay and car boots till the cows came home.

I cut down on the household spending like nobodies business and managed to get back on my feet again.

Get a copy of your credit file (via quidco) and have a look at your history. If it's not too bad then consider getting a 0% card and transfer your most expensive debt on to it, then concentrate on clearing the others that are stil costing you.

I would certainly say the payment a day thread is a great help. Even pennies paid make a difference.

Good luck with everything - you've taken the hardest step and asked for help

missymoo81

Hey hun

I can't believe how similar our outgoings and debts are... are we one and the same lol.

I definitely think we can keep eachother going on this.

maybe we can do a get fit from home thing too rather than pay our stupid gym memberships!!!

I will keep an eye on your diary and check how you're doing and give you a little nudge if needs be.
x

sortingitout1980

headoutthesand wrote: »

I have added my comments on your outgoings above.

I hope you don't find them too harsh but if you are really serious, then you will understand what I mean.

I was in your situation 2 years ago i.e. my husband didn't know. I done everything via Quidco and got cash back. I done ebay and car boots till the cows came home.

I cut down on the household spending like nobodies business and managed to get back on my feet again.

Get a copy of your credit file (via quidco) and have a look at your history. If it's not too bad then consider getting a 0% card and transfer your most expensive debt on to it, then concentrate on clearing the others that are stil costing you.

I would certainly say the payment a day thread is a great help. Even pennies paid make a difference.

Good luck with everything - you've taken the hardest step and asked for help

Hi,
Thanks for the advice, i appreciate it and they don't seem harsh. My mission for tomorrow is to get my mobile phone bill reduced but i need to keep unlimited internet as i use it away from home.
I can't car share and the bus to work is 3 changes and not really viable.

With regards to the breakdown cover, my hubby also pays £40 a month for diesel so we do quite a bit of driving plus most of our long journeys would leave us completely stranded should anything happen, plus we have had 2/3 occassions were without we might not have made it home (normally on a Sunday).

My laptop cover is for 3 years but the cost is spread over 10 months and although i'm covered for damage under house hold the cover i have it for anything even if i download a virus. It also means my anti virus will be half price for the next three years. I can cancel it at anytime so i'm not tied in at the moment but i've only had the laptop a week and am terrified of it going wrong.

I might look at cancelling the gym as i'm on a rolling contract but at the moment my health is just as important as my debt and i'm very overweight (that's were some of the money has gone). However i will probably cancel after Xmas once i'm in better shape to be walking distances.

sortingitout1980

missymoo81 wrote: »

Hey hun

I can't believe how similar our outgoings and debts are... are we one and the same lol.

I definitely think we can keep eachother going on this.

maybe we can do a get fit from home thing too rather than pay our stupid gym memberships!!!

I will keep an eye on your diary and check how you're doing and give you a little nudge if needs be.
x

Debt twins!!

I like the idea of home exercise as i have a game on the Wii for that and a couple of Davina videos. Will have to dig them out at the weekend and get started again on them.

I've got loads of stuff ready to sell on eBay so am hoping to make at least £100 from that.

september09

Hi! :hello:

Just wanted to pop in and offer my support, I will subscribe to your diary to continue doing so!

I too kept my debt hidden for years, but finally confessed and now am finally sorting it out.

Stay positive. :money:

September x

BEAT_THE_DEBT

just to say hi.x:T