Kayleighpea's Big Sort Out for 2010!!

Kayleighpea

Hi everyone & a Happy New Year!!

Like the majority of people I've got into the 'New Year, New Start' mindset! I joined MSE last May but can't say I really did anything to sort myself out, I was more of a casual lurker of the boards :rolleyes: I didn't even get round to posting my SOA so I've now taken a bite of the bullet & posted it below for all of you to scrutinise

I work as a finance assistant and have been at my job for 2 years as of yesterday. When I took the job on I accepted the relatively low wage for a graduate of £15,750 as they were offering to fully pay for study support for my ACCA qualifications which is worth a good few grand on top. Unfortunately, misunderstandings over exemptions for exams meant they refused to pay for the study & then the recession hit so I have been stuck there ever since Am still looking so hopefully when the jobs come back I can get out and get more dosh!!

I got into debt when I was at Uni - the first day in fact! It was the Freshers fair and there was a Barclays stand offering a Student Account. I thought it was a bank account & so I signed up, I then got a credit card through the post! :eek: I decided to hang onto it for 'emergencies' and used it really well at first, always paying off the full amount every month. That was until I couldn't afford to pay for my rent. My parents weren't able to help me out so I did the mother of all sins & took out cash on the credit card to pay my rent. I ended up having to do this a few times & then it all began to spiral - I think I was up to almost 30% apr on that card at one point! So then came the whole matter of getting other cards to pay that one off and it all just got so much worse.

Eventually, my dad could take on most of the debt for me so he opened a 0% card and once all the transfer fees were added on top I had a grand total of £11,623.55 on there :eek:. I was originally paying off £300 a month on this but as you will see from my SOA this was far too much so I cut this down to £150 & so far this card is down to £8840 so am getting there slowly but surely!

As well as this I have a Natwest card with £1k on it & 3 (yes 3!!) overdrafts! Abbey is the account I currently use which has a £300 overdraft, and I also have an A&L overdraft of £350 and my Halifax Student account overdraft of £1250. For Abbey there has been no charge for the overdraft, although I think this may be starting up soon. For A&L I pay in £10 a month to cover the fees for not paying in over £500 a month & for using the overdraft. And as Halifax have just recently changed their fees, I am paying in £32 a month to cover the overdraft fees.

Getting inspiration from MSE I started mystery shopping just over a month ago and I quite enjoy it! I'm quite limited to what I can do as I work full time and I don't drive but I'm slowly starting to see the money coming through in dribs and drabs now. I've set it up so all the mystery shopping money goes into my Halifax account as that's the one causing me the most bother & the one I'm dying to get rid of! I reckon if I set my mind to it I could probably make an extra £100 a month from mystery shopping which aint too bad in my book!

The only other thing I've really done so far is to put a whole load of stuff on Amazon - that was the start of my New Year sort out yesterday! 66 items in total! They're not on for much money and they wont exactly break the bank but every little helps & all the music is on my laptop anyway So I've already had 4 orders, & when that money comes through I am going to put that towards the A&L overdraft.

So there is my very long winded start to my diary! If anyone has any further ideas of how I can cut this debt down fast then all is appreciated!

Thanks!
Kayleighpea

Kayleighpea

SOA below for your criticism!!

Just to clear up a few things: I am currently flatsharing with 2 others. Council tax & water are included in the rent but I haven't yet had a bill for gas and electric so I'm not entirely sure how much these will be. I want to keep aside £15 a month each for these so I dont get a nasty shock when the bill arrives!

The TV License was shared between the 3 of us and this was paid in October so this doesnt really count as a monthly spend. Same with presents & haircuts, these obviously come out as a lump whenever I need to buy them - i'm not organised enough to put money aside each month!

When doing my budget I put in that I was spending £20 a week on lunches at work and also £20 a week on eating out or takeaways. This will no longer be the case!! I couldnt believe my eyes when I saw how much this amounted up to so I have joined the challenge to take lunches into work every day & I'm not going to be having takeaways any more because I'm back on weight watchers! :rolleyes:


Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 3
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 0
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1060
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1060
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 320
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 15
Gas..................................... 15
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 50
TV Licence.............................. 3.96
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 6.75
Internet Services....................... 6.75
Groceries etc. ......................... 129.9
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 64.95
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 37.5
Haircuts................................ 12.5
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
(Unnamed monthly expense)............... 0
Eating Out/Takeaway (Stop 1st Jan!)..... 86.6
Buying lunches (Stopping from 1st Jan!). 86.6
Cosmo Magazine.......................... 1
Weight Watchers Monthly Pass............ 17.95
Total monthly expenses.................. 854.46

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
Egg Card.......................8990......150.......0
Natwest Card...................1000......50........0
Halifax Overdraft..............1250......32........0
Abbey Overdraft................300.......0.........0
A&L Overdraft..................350.......10........0
Total unsecured debts..........11890.....242.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,060
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 854.46
Available for debt repayments........... 205.54
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 242
Amount short for making debt repayments. -36.46
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -11,890
Net Assets.............................. -11,890
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

Kayleighpea

Having a good start to the year so far!

I went food shopping last night - spent £34.95 so just slightly over my budgeted £30 a week but got a few things that will last a few weeks (cereal etc). Also got plenty of stuff for taking in lunches to work in keeping with the Jan challenge!

Also had 7 orders now for Amazon so got a cool £25 on its way to me soon :cool:

Gym tonight as a last burst before I get back to Weight Watchers tomorrow & find out how much I've put on over xmas! :eek:

missymoo81

Hey hun you're doing exceptionally well, well done on taking the first step, I know what you mean about lunches and takeaways I was the worlds worst.

Will be reading with interest and offering some support along the way.

Missy x

missymoo81

Thanks for the lovely post on my thread hun, you are a star.

What are your plans for this evening, I know I really should be using my cross trainer but I really can't be bothered! Need to make my lunch for tomorrow too but am getting a bit bored of tuna sandwiches, ho hum :rolleyes:

Kayleighpea

Well I gave up on the idea of going to the gym due to the snow pelting down! Any excuse! So far have been sat on my backside watching tv - am now watching the big fat diet show for food ideas! :rotfl:

Really should be spending my time trying to make my £10 a day - am very behind so far! Praying to be snowed in so I can't go to work tomorrow & can instead start making lists & getting organised! :T

missymoo81

you sound exactly like me!!! I'm praying to be snowed in so that I can get decluttering and sorting and maybe start on my apron:D. Now if we all cross our fingers and wish for snow we're sure to get some

x

Kayleighpea

:snow_laug Well the snow came!! My usual lift into work ain't happening & there are no trains so a snow day for me!! :j

I guess I better be productive at home then :cool: Here's my list for today:

Go back to sleep for a bit!!
Washing Up
Sort out washing (if dry)
Change bedding
Do the bit of work that I did bring home with me
Put a few more things on Amazon/Ebay
Keep checking mystery shop websites
See if I can get some surveys/daily clicks or something done to earn a bit of dosh
Write letters to people/companies needing to know my new address
Tidy room
Sort through clothes & see what can be chucked/ebayed.

I have been hanging onto LOADS of clothes from my slimmer days in the hope I'll get into them one day - they're getting very old now so will need to be ruthless! :rotfl:

Kayleighpea

Well I def went back to sleep! Lol didnt get up until midday in the end And even then I didn't really get on with jobs until late!

[STRIKE]Go back to sleep for a bit!![/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]Washing Up[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]Sort out washing (if dry)[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]Change bedding[/STRIKE]
Do the bit of work that I did bring home with me
Put a few more things on Amazon/Ebay
[STRIKE]Keep checking mystery shop websites[/STRIKE]
See if I can get some surveys/daily clicks or something done to earn a bit of dosh
Write letters to people/companies needing to know my new address
[STRIKE]Tidy room[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]Sort through clothes & see what can be chucked/ebayed.[/STRIKE]

A fairly productive evening then, unfortunately none of the clothes can be sold so got a big bag for the recycling bin instead. I did find a few more books etc to go on Amazon but I just haven't got around to putting them on yet - if it's another snow day tomorrow I will do it then!:D

Kayleighpea

All trains are cancelled again so it's another snow day for me :j This weather is doing wonders for my Big Sort Out! So for today I am going to have to get on with those jobs I ignored yesterday:

Do the bit of work that I did bring home with me
Put a few more things on Amazon/Ebay
See if I can get some surveys/daily clicks or something done to earn a bit of dosh
Write letters to people/companies needing to know my new address

Plus:

Keep checking mystery shop websites
Look for a new job!
More washing up
Sort through toiletries - nicked Missymoo's idea there!
Sort paperwork I have lying around.

So a busy day by the sounds of it!! But most importantly I am going back to sleep for a bit and enjoying a lie-in :T Just have to make sure I get up before 12 this time!

missymoo81

hey hun I too have a snow day today, they are fabby aren't they :j

I'm going to start on my big declutter I think, have just found even MORE toiletries that were hiding in the bedside table, that brings my total up to about a million I'm sure Think I'm going to have to have a proper sort though. Would looooove to go back to bed but wouldn't be the best idea, so am sitting here drinking tea instead.

hope you get your list done today hun

Speak soon

Missy x