Katy has got her financial incontinence pants on!

Katy83

Well, it's been about 6 weeks since my LBM and I think it is about time I started my DFW diary. I want to use it as a place to set goals, review my progress and try to keep myself on track.

So, the debt situation, I owe about £17,355 now, having managed to pay off £1300 since my LBM by taking money from savings and thanks to a bonus from work. The snowball calculator reckons I will be debt free by March 2012 - I want to try and bring that date closer, hopefully by August 2011, two years past my LBM.

The debts are as follows:
Virgin Card - £4650
Natwest Card - £1855
Egg Loan - £9390
Barclays Overdraft - £1000
DFS Sofa Loan - £550

A bit more about me, I'm 26 and live with my OH in his house which we have just finished renovating together and moved into 6 weeks ago. My flat is currently empty however I am replacing the bathroom and hope to have it rented out at the end of next month. That will mean I can start paying OH some money towards the mortgage for the house as the rent will cover most of the payment on the flat. I'm very lucky and have a good job with a good salary and some great earning potential for the future.

I'll post my SOA later on when I've had a chance to think what to put for household expenses, everything isn't really fixed yet because I am still paying for the flat.

So, what I am doing, well, I've become an MSE addict first of all!

I've set up a second bank account, a basic one that lets me put in an amount every month for everything that isn't a monthly direct debit. I reckon I need to put in £400/month to cover everything.

I've managed to half mine and OH's grocery spends by using the OS board and starting to cook again.

I've got a weekly cash budget of £60 for food, petrol and entertainment.

With some careful planning and budgeting I am going to try and pay off £700/month including my minimum payments, this might be a bit of a stretch but I'm going to give it a go.

It feels so good to be finally taking control of this part of my life. This website is amazing and the people here are incredible. I know that with the support of everyone here I can finally beat this and be debt free, once and for all.

Three years ago I had a bit of a different LBM, I had a deep vein thrombosis, purely caused by being too fat and smoking too much. I was 23 and told that if I didn't sort my life out I wouldn't see 25. Well I did, I lost 6 stone, stopped smoking and started embracing a healthy lifestyle. That was the hardest thing I have ever had to do and I know that if I can do that then I can manage this - especially with the support on this website.

Wish me luck everybody, I'm going to need it xx

PandaPaws_3

Hi Katy,
Well done on starting a diary and GOOD LUCK with everything, it sounds like you have already made a fantastic start, and it sounds like you have some pretty great willpower (6 stone wow!). Keep it going, chin up, etc, etc! x

Katy83

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.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2170
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2170
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 555 For flat - this will change when rented out
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 81 For flat - this will change when rented out
Electricity............................. 25 What I had to pay this month for flat, even though I told them it was empty :mad:
Gas..................................... 25 same as above
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 12 I pay this for house
Mobile phone............................ 20
TV Licence.............................. 12 I pay this for house
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 38 I pay this for house
Internet Services....................... 22 I pay this for house
Groceries etc. ......................... 140 includes toiletries/make-up
Clothing................................ 40
Petrol/diesel........................... 100
Road tax................................ 17
Car Insurance........................... 21
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 26
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 27 paying monthly this year and saving for next year to pay in one go
Contents insurance...................... 0 included above
Life assurance ......................... 7
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 25
Haircuts................................ 17
Entertainment........................... 40
Holiday................................. 62.5
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Boiler Cover............................ 17 for ancient old boiler in flat, has broken down twice and could not afford to replace if it dies
Charitable Donations.................... 8
Gym membership.......................... 42 very important to me and well used
Riding Lessons.......................... 100


Total monthly expenses.................. 1479.5



Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 95000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1700
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 96700

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Barclays Overdraft.............1000......0.........9.9
Egg Loan.......................9391......187.......9.9
Virgin Card....................4539......25........16.9
DFS............................550.......0.........0
Natwest Card...................1855......40........0 Deal ends March 2010
Total unsecured debts..........17335.....252.......-



Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,170
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,479.5
Available for debt repayments........... 690.5
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 252
Amount left after debt repayments....... 438.5


Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 96,700
Total HP & Secured debt................. -102,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -17,335
Net Assets.............................. -22,635

Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

Katy83

Right, I've posted my SOA as it stands this month, September 2009. This will change quite a lot when the flat gets rented out as OH and I will be splitting the bills and I'll be getting an income from rent, but I thought it was best to get it all down on paper now.

I've also recently started going for riding lessons, not very MSE I know but something I really and truly love doing and have been desperate to get back into for years. This is costing about £100/month which leaves me an extra £438/month to throw at my debts.

Think that is everything for now, will keep updating but in the meantime if you have any thoughts on my SOA, please let me know.

xx

BEAT_THE_DEBT

Welcome i am loving the title! If you can lose 6 stone you can do anythingx:T

EssexHebridean

BEAT_THE_DEBT wrote: »

Welcome i am loving the title! If you can lose 6 stone you can do anythingx:T

I'll say - what a phenomenal achievement!

You need to put that spend on the riding lessons into the SOA - under entertainment perhaps? If you don't, it's a spend which will slip under the radar, and one of the most positive things about the whole MSE/DFW process is getting to grips with your finances and keeping an accurate account of how much you spend, and on what.

What is your plan regarding the order for paying off the cards then? that 16.9% rte is a stinker - any chance of getting a balance transfer on that one onto either another 0%, or a low life of balance rate? Is your 0% overdraft long term, or does it have an expiry date? I take it the payments on the Egg loan are a structured "pay off over x-time" with the interest loaded on up front? Even if so, remember that if you can get to the stage of paying it off earlier than planned you may get a rebate on some of the interest.

Katy83

EssexHebridean wrote: »

I'll say - what a phenomenal achievement!

You need to put that spend on the riding lessons into the SOA - under entertainment perhaps? If you don't, it's a spend which will slip under the radar, and one of the most positive things about the whole MSE/DFW process is getting to grips with your finances and keeping an accurate account of how much you spend, and on what.

What is your plan regarding the order for paying off the cards then? that 16.9% rte is a stinker - any chance of getting a balance transfer on that one onto either another 0%, or a low life of balance rate? Is your 0% overdraft long term, or does it have an expiry date? I take it the payments on the Egg loan are a structured "pay off over x-time" with the interest loaded on up front? Even if so, remember that if you can get to the stage of paying it off earlier than planned you may get a rebate on some of the interest.

That's a good idea about putting the riding lessons in, I'll update it with that now.

Well, I got a letter from natwest today offering me a balance transfer for 0% up to 95% of my credit limit. That would take £1800 off the virgin card so I think I am going to do that tomorrow. Apart from that, my plan is to get the virgin card paid off as quick as possible and then hopefully find a 0% balance transfer to somewhere else for the natwest balance come March.

The overdraft is a graduate account, don't have to pay anything every month towards it but I am going to start making sure there is £5/month more every month left in it at the end of month than there was the month before, IYSWIM. Kind of like a token £5 payment.

The DFS is for my settee which I have to start paying in March next year, £15/month.

Yep, that is how the egg loan is. Didn't know I might be able to get some of the interest back though! It was over 7 years and is due to finish in 2014 so it will definitely be paid off early.

Am also going to start looking at reclaiming PPI on an old egg card and on the egg loan. I've paid the card off now bit must have paid 100s over the years I've had it and the loan I cancelled the PPI but I reckon I paid about 8 months worth so might get something.

Thanks for your responses, losing all the weight was a huge achievement and one I am very proud of. Eating healthily and making positive food choices has become second nature to me now...I'm looking forward to the day when spending becomes the same!

sortingitout1980

Wow what an amazing weight loss. I have more than that to lose so seeing someone else who has made a major achievement is an inspiration.

Riding is something i will be taking up again once i have lost weight and although i do have my own horse she is a rescue horse and can't be ridden due to arthritus - she is my sassy little madam!!!

Will be subscribing to your diary to see how you get on.

Love the title!!

Katy83

It's the day before pay day today and I am feeling quite good about things really. I think this last 6 weeks has been the first time ever I haven't been scared of checking my bank balance or of the cash machine giving me a receipt.

I've ended the month with £10.11 left in my account So I've paid an extra £5.11 off my virgin card and left £5 in there as a token overdraft payment. So that brings my new total down to £17345 - yipee :j

Also, went round to the flat this morning and my bill from Scottish Power was there telling me I am £114 in credit! Okay so I can't get the money back until after I tell them I've moved i.e. when I get a tennant in but still, I'm quite chuffed that I'll be able to pay a chunk off my card when it comes through.

The only bad thing was a letter from the DVLA saying I need to renew the picture on my licence (can't be 10 years, surely!) and it'll be £20, grrrr :mad:

The joiner was supposed to turn up at the flat this morning to fit the new living room door but he is in bed with the flu. Am a bit annoyed, I know he can't help it but it meant I was an hour and a half late for work, he could have phoned earlier. At least there is progress being made though - my dad got me some cheap basin taps from Aldi yesterday and he's coming round on Friday to start taking up the floorboards.

I've been keeping a jar in my wardrobe where I've been putting any cash that is left over from my weekly budget. I think there is about £50 in there so I am going to count it out and pay it in to the bank tomorrow - happy days!

Am quite excited about the fact that I have got to a point in life where I am excited about payday because I can pay money off my debts, rather than going out spending!!

Lemon_Tree

i love payday for the same reason, i can change my signature and the debts are coming down again. It kind of gives me a downswing just before payday though when i can do no more but it's something to deal with i guess.
don't you just hate the photo id thingie, we're made to get them and then we're bloomin charged for the privilidge. Well done for living within your means this month and having money left the day before payday, it's such a challenge even now for me, but i do remember the first month i achieved it and i had such a buzz.

BEAT_THE_DEBT

Do you have to renew photo every ten years i didnt know that! Make sense i suppose..