Fat, Forty and fedup - drastic action required!

judi24

The aim of this dairy to record my struggle to become debt free and fat free in 2010 - it will probaly consist of lots of incomprehensible ramblings and general moans about food and finance - but I am hoping that it helps motivate me!
It would be great to read this on New Years Day 2011 and say 'I did it!'

First some background - From the title I'm sure you have worked out that I am fat and 40!
I have been in debt since i was 18! and fat before that! I have 4 kids ranging in age from 5 to 18. I have 2 ex husbands a dog and a cat!

I am lucky now that I have a fairly well paid job and my debt is managable - but I really want it gone! I have worked hard in my career and what I want is to be able to enjoy what I earn!

As for being fat - I am around 5 stone overweight! :eek: I have dieted all my life on and off

I have decided that this is my year - I want to be debt free and 3 stone lighter by 2011!

Feel free to join me on my journey and shout at me if I fall off the rails!

I will post a SOA shortly - it seems like a good place to start

boredofbeingathome

Good luck with your diary...I can empathise with the sentiments.

Luckycharm_2

Happy New Diary! :j

Best of luck with your challenges. Have you broken down your goals into smaller manageable steps? I'm trying to do this myself at the moment with mine.

I love new year and all those resolutions...so much potential...LCx

mickey_mouse

gooooooooooooood luck with your goals and the new diary. I have a similar amount of weight to lose and have set myself 50lbs by the end of 2011.

judi24

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 4 (18, 16, 7 and 5)
Number of cars owned.................... 1 (OH has a car but finances are separate)

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2600
Partners monthly income after tax....... 200 (he earns more - but this is his contribution)
Benefits................................ 238 - family allowance
Other income............................ 546 - child maintenance
Total monthly income.................... 3584

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 730
HP for car and sofa.............. 281
Council tax............................. 266 (High as there is arrears due to ex husband not paying - will go down to £144 in April)
Electricity............................. 59
Gas..................................... 70
Water rates............................. 56
Telephone (land line, internet and TV)................... 37.5
Mobile phone............................ 90 (contracts for 2 older kids and mine - tied in til June)
TV Licence.............................. 12
Groceries etc. ......................... 400
Clothing................................ 30
Petrol/diesel........................... 60
Road tax................................ 0
Insurance........................... 56
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 30
Other child related expenses............ 40 (school lunch for son)
Buildings insurance..................... 10
Contents insurance...................... 10
Life assurance ......................... 15
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 100
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 30
Holiday................................. 150
Emergency fund.......................... 0 (should have one but don't!)
Gym........................................127 (tied in til June)
Total monthly expenses.................. 2669.5

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 230000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 11000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 241000]

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 173000...(730)......1.5
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 10000....(225)......6.9
DFS............................1700.....(56).......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 18500

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
MBNA 1.........................896.......25........16.9
MBNA 2.........................5800......35........6.9
Barclaycard....................1550......25........0
Solicitor......................800.......100.......0
OD 2...........................500.......0.........0
OD 1...........................1500......0.........0
DFS............................1300....(56).......0

Total unsecured debts..........12146.....241

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,584
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,613.5
Available for debt repayments........... 970.5
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 241
Amount left after debt repayments....... 729.5
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 241,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -184,700
Total Unsecured debt.................... -11,046
Net Assets.............................. 45,254

This looks like I should have no problem paying off the unsecured debt within the year - But realistically there is never this much left! Actually there is rarely anything left! A spending dairy is needed I think!

macgirl

Welcome to Diaryland and good luck with it.
You might want to check out Payment a Day thread. We're a friendly bunch and it's great for keeping focus!

Happy New You!

beanielou

happy shiney new diary
could your OH not contribute even a tiny wee bit more?

judi24

My OH is going through a divorce and currently still pays alot to his ex wife - this should be sorted soon and he will be able to contribute more. He does pay for other bits and pieces - for example if we go out he pays, he pays for any DIY stuff he does and decorating etc and he pays for the occasional food shop (if I can manage to get him into Asda!)

judi24

A little more info about me - I have 3 daughters and a son - I had my eldest when I was 22 quicklt followed by my second - I split with my 1st husband soon after and lived on my own with the 2 girls - I trained to be a nurse when the girls were 1 and 2 and worked part time in a bingo hall to pay for my child care!!
I met my second husband a few years later and had my 2 other children. He turned out to be a bit of a control freak and was also very bad with money - and as I am not great either we were a bad combination! we ended up with about £30,000 of debt by the time we split up a little over 2 years ago. I managed to get great mortgage deal to buy him out of the house - my interest rate is currently 1.5%!!! but this is due to run out in Dec 2010. Part of my need to get rid of my unsecured debt is that I want to be in best position to remortgage then.
Another reason is that my eldest is planning to go to university this year and I want to be able to help her financialy so she doesn't start out with enormous student debts.

I am going to look a joining some challenges and will take a look at the payment a day one right now!

I am actually looking forward to this year!

Hopefully this time next year you will all be celebrating my debt freedom with me!

Lewby

Hi Judi. I was just about to log off and spotted your diary. I have subscribed already as I am so with you on the goals, aspirations and just sheer determination that this time next year we will be in a better shape all round!!!

My DD is also off to Uni in Sept and I want to help her, have a large debt to clear and about 40lbs to lose so if you don't mind I'd like to pop in for moral support.

Happy New Year and happy new you!

Lewby x

judi24

Hi Lewby and wellcome!!! i read other peoples diaries but thought it was about time I had my own!
I am debating with myself about how to tackle the weight loss thing! I have joined slimming clubs so many times - they do help but I grudge having to pay for being weighed - as I know how to loose weight! Eat less! but I never manage to loose anything on my own! I have a VERY expensive gym membership that I am tied into til June - I joined in a moment of madness - when I was with my Ex OH 2 we were in that gym as it has loads for the kids - the kids loved it. When we split up I gave the membership up but decided that we needed to have more fun together and was feeling guilty as it was my choice to split up - so I rejoined.

Needless to say I don't use it as much as I should!

I have also read about the Cambridge diet and am half considering doing this for a while - but I am concerned that it doesn't show a good example to my teenage daughters!

Need to do something and fast!!! I cleaned out my wardrobe yesterday - I have loads of clothes but I am too fat for most of them and it really getting me down.

I started a new job in November - I had always been in uniform- but now have to wear my own clothes - and I feel so fat and frumpy!