Mandy's savings diary and SOA...

mandy4

Hi everyone,

I have been a long time reader of this forum and have been taking alot of the tips and info into account, but now feel it's time for me to post, both to help me document my progress and savings, and also to get more suggestions from everyone here.

I am currently 25 and a postgraduate student with a scholarship and around $8000 £3200 debt.

EDITED to add: Have added most items prices also in pounds so everyone can kind of see how much everything is, and I hope it helps my thread make a bit more sense...

My SOA (in Australian dollars, £1= approx $2.50)

Monthly Incomings:

My scholarship - $2192

Total - $2192 £883


Monthly Outgoings:

Rent - $680 £273

Bills $486 £196(paid into a separate savings account each pay to save up for the large yearly bills, take money from this to pay these bills only)
Electricity - $40
Gas - $15
Phone - $74
Car registration and insurance - $88
Car maintenance and repairs - $20
Roadside assistance membership - $7
University fees - $30
Pharmacy/prescriptions - $16
Dentist - $17
Gifts - $55
Hairdresser - $70
Clothes - $30
Books/hobbies/etc - $24

Cash expenses $130 £52
Train/bus fares - $50
Entertainment/eating out - $80

Eftpos expenses $222 £89(leave this in main bank account)
Petrol/tolls - $32
Groceries - $190

Savings (10% income)
$219 £88

Debt
Credit card (12.65%) $8040 £3237.80
Currently paying 20% of my income = $438.50 £177 per month

Total monthly expenses = $2175 £876
Left over = $17 £7

I remove all money from my bank leftover before every pay and put it into savings or cc.

I am following the Richest Man in Babylon system of paying yourself 10% and debts 20% of your income. However, I have a bit of a dilemma with my savings. I am planning to move to the US in Jan 2007 for a really exciting career opportunity and really want to have paid off a large chunk of my debt by then, as well as have money saved for the move so I don't get into debt again. This is why I put money in savings. But I'm not sure whether to focus on the cc first or focus more on building savings :huh:

This budget was drawn up to incorporate realistic costs of what I was spending about a month ago. I have been keeping a diary of everything I spend and comparing it to my budget for about a month so far and will be updating my budget accordingly.

Things I have done to save/reduce expenses:

Reduced takeaway by putting into place meal plans so I know what I will cook and don’t end up getting takeaway...also good for my health.

Cutting down take-away and putting entertainment and takeaway together in my budget so can do one or the other!

Cut down groceries by meal planning, buying specials or no name, buying mostly fruit + veg on special and not buying junk.

Buying my fruit + veg at the markets, according to what's in season. (I got all my fruit+veg for the week for $6.80 on the weekend!)

Started selling things on eBay.

Do market research and mystery shopping, all income of which goes to cc.

Taking packed lunches to work everyday.

Taking dinners to work if I know I'm working late so I don't buy takeaway on the way home.

Reducing my groceries, phone usage, clothes spending, and other non-essential spending.

Something I learned here: Take what I have saved from being frugal or cutting back and paying that to cc. For example, my phone bill this month was only $48.40. Have budgeted for $74, I put the extra $25.60 onto cc. I know that if you don't do this, the money mysteriously disappears, and seeing my debt reduce keeps me motivated.

---

I gladly appreciate any suggestions anyone has to offer and also any support! I will try to update this regularly with new budgets, ways I have found to save, and my current debt situation. Please contribute if you can.

Verbatim

You seem really well organized.

It may be hard for people to offer help because,
a) all sums are in an unfamiliar currency, and
b)the costs of utilities, local situation etc will be very different too

Good luck with your money saving/debt reduction and move to the US

Ataneh

I think you got it sorted out pretty well already, just need time to see it work! Keep it up!

mandy4

Thanks for replying and for your support ...I was wondering why I was getting no replies (ie; the different currency thing)...I was beginning to feel unloved :laugh: !

To update, today I was paid $15 for mystery shopping I did a month ago, and I had $22.59 in my bank account from eBay profits which both went to my cc today, as well as my regular fortnightly payment of $219.25

I also have about $100 in my Paypal account from eBay profits as well, which will also go straight to my debt, but I'm waiting to sell more as I get charged for withdrawing it if it's under $150 (I only save $1 though, how frugal am I? :laugh: )

Amount owed: was $8040 (£3238), now $7783 (£3135) :j

mandy4

Over the weekend I shopped around alot for my groceries. I went to a shop called Aldi (not sure if you have it in the UK) which basically sells only no-name brands. I then got all my fruit + veg at the fruit market, and spent time researching to get extra things at the supermarket that were on sale and cheaper than at either of the above shops. I had sat down and done my meal planning and I did a whole shop for a fortnight with what i would have usually spent in a week! I saved 50%! I'm going to keep an eye on my groceries and try not to buy any more this fortnight, so I get to put the amount I saved towards my debt! I'll update again when I know...:j

Something else I did to save over the weekend was to bring out my creativity and for my boyfriend's birthday, instead of buying an expensive gift, I bought cardboard, streamers and glitter and I'm making boards saying Happy Birthday with glitter and streamers coming off them that I'm going to put on his bed with blown up balloons. He's working night shift on his birthday so I don't get to see him on the day but I'm going to go to his house tonight (hopefully his flatmates will be home to let me in!) and put it all there so when he gets home tomorrow morning he sees it. I'm also going to make him some chocolate covered strawberries and put them in the fridge for him to find, which cost me about $2 for the strawberries. All the materials cost me only about $20 which is a saving of $80 on what I would have spent, and the effort and love I put into this gift will be more appreciated than anything I could have bought ...

Annie_Fanny

Hullo Mandy!

Love Australia - what a great country!

Was just wondering about the savings issue? How much do you have in savings and at what interest rate? Same question for debt (amount/apr?) If savings are earning less then the interest you are paying on the debt then it is best to throw it all at the debts...

Things to try:
Ring CC company and ask them to reduce your APR - call their bluff - i.e. say you have been accepted for another CC at a much lower rate. People have tried this in the UK and it has worked - not sure about Oz but worth a try?

Train/bus fares - could you cycle at all? It's free (once you have the bike - I scrounged one off a friend!) and it meant I was also getting fit at the same time!

Good luck!

Annie
Xx

ms_london

Hi Mandy.

You seem to be doing a good job and at least you are managing to make your debt repayment and save some money without spending more than you have coming in, this has got to be a good thing!!

Could you get a part time job or something around your studies?

Do you need these every month?:

Gifts - $55
Hairdresser - $70
Clothes - $30
Books/hobbies/etc - $24

Could you get rid of a car for the short term & save the money you are spending in insurance/petrol/tax?

Your phone also seems high, could you get a better tarriff?

I must admit, I have found groceries pretty expensive here (with the exchange rate), which suprised me, so I dont think your food cost is that high to be honest!!

You seem to be coming up with some good ideas - on what you are repaying to your debt now will you be debt free by the time you want to be in the USA? if not, you need to have a brainstorm as to how you CAN become debt free, it CAN be done!!

I've been in Sydney for 2 weeks now, from the UK, and was heavily in debt of 19,000 - and managed to pay it off in order to be able to come here and travel - I am pleased to know what Aldi is in Australia, shall let my friend know!!

Keep up the excellent work. xx

Annie_Fanny

Ms_london - OMG - you can't keep away? Lol!

Have you been to Paddy's market (Haymarket area)? You can buy cheap fruit/veg/clothes/everything! I used to go there with a massive rucksack - fill up and then trek back to North Sydney...

ms_london

Annie_Fanny wrote:

Ms_london - OMG - you can't keep away? Lol!

Have you been to Paddy's market (Haymarket area)? You can buy cheap fruit/veg/clothes/everything! I used to go there with a massive rucksack - fill up and then trek back to North Sydney...

I know, I cant keep away, but my friends have internet at home, so its easier to keep logging on. I like to check that you are all behaving yourselves and not getting up to mischief!

I havent been to Paddy's market yet, but heard about it - may pop there this week. Not sure if that tip was for me or the OP, but thanks hun :beer:

mandy4

Annie_Fanny wrote:

Was just wondering about the savings issue? How much do you have in savings and at what interest rate? Same question for debt (amount/apr?) If savings are earning less then the interest you are paying on the debt then it is best to throw it all at the debts...

Things to try:
Ring CC company and ask them to reduce your APR - call their bluff - i.e. say you have been accepted for another CC at a much lower rate. People have tried this in the UK and it has worked - not sure about Oz but worth a try?

Train/bus fares - could you cycle at all? It's free (once you have the bike - I scrounged one off a friend!) and it meant I was also getting fit at the same time!

Good luck!

Annie
Xx

Hi Annie,

Thanks for your great suggestions.

My savings are currently around $100 (£40) at an interest rate of 6%, but I'm saving around $110 per fortnight on top of that. My debt is at 12% so I know it would be much more sensible to put all my money into my debts, but I am really trying to think ahead and going to the US I am thinking will cost a few thousand dollars for me and I don't want to get back into debt just doing this. I would rather pay this off slowly and save than be in debt in a year or so from moving expenses. I'm just really worried about getting into more debt from this after paying off my current debt...I think I would find it very disheartening...

I will definately look into calling my cc company to reduce their interest. I haven't heard of anyone doing that here, but it might work, as there are quite a few low interest rate credit cards around at the moment.

Thanks for the suggestion about cycling, I wish I could but it's kind of dangerous as to get to work I have to travel through a major city area and over the harbour bridge, plus I don't have anyone to borrow a bike from and the train trip takes me about 45 minutes, so I don't want to even guess how long it would take me to cycle

I appreciate your help. It keeps me thinking about ways I can save and pay off my debt.

I recently did a cleanout of my clothes and other things I don't want to get a bit of extra money, so I will be putting these up on eBay soon and will keep you updated!

mandy4

ms_london wrote:

Hi Mandy.

You seem to be doing a good job and at least you are managing to make your debt repayment and save some money without spending more than you have coming in, this has got to be a good thing!!

Could you get a part time job or something around your studies?

Do you need these every month?:

Gifts - $55
Hairdresser - $70
Clothes - $30
Books/hobbies/etc - $24

Could you get rid of a car for the short term & save the money you are spending in insurance/petrol/tax?

Your phone also seems high, could you get a better tarriff?

I must admit, I have found groceries pretty expensive here (with the exchange rate), which suprised me, so I dont think your food cost is that high to be honest!!

You seem to be coming up with some good ideas - on what you are repaying to your debt now will you be debt free by the time you want to be in the USA? if not, you need to have a brainstorm as to how you CAN become debt free, it CAN be done!!

I've been in Sydney for 2 weeks now, from the UK, and was heavily in debt of 19,000 - and managed to pay it off in order to be able to come here and travel - I am pleased to know what Aldi is in Australia, shall let my friend know!!

Keep up the excellent work. xx

Thanks for your support ms_london!

The part time job idea, I have seriuously been considering, although I am very stressed with this being my final year of my PhD which is very busy and I often start early and work late, and come in on Saturday's so I usually keep the other day to myself so I don't have a mental breakdown from work overload !! :rotfl:

All the above expenses that you mentioned are under my 'wants' list, so I'm trying to cut down these and put this money toward my debt.

I wish I could get rid of my car, as you can see it's a large set of expenses, but my family lives 1.5 hours away (by car) and we are very close so I visit them quite often, and it's difficult to go see them without it. I only actually bought the car for this purpose, as well as the convenience, and I try to keep my costs quite low as I don't use it that often. But I know what you're saying...thanks for pointing it out, I may have a think about it.

My phone is unfortunately on a 24 month plan from a year and a half ago. I have to call the company to find out when it's finished so I can go on a lower plan, thanks for reminding me

In regards to my USA savings and debt, I don't expect to have paid off my debt by the time I leave, this is my dilemma. If I pay off all my debt before I leave, I won't have saved enough to move to the US. Alternatively, I can decrease my credit card repayments and save instead, but then I'll have the debt mounting up

If anyone has any suggestions, let me know. I'm really unsure as to what to do about this problem....

I have been really trying hard to think of ideas to make money/reduce my debt, including selling things on eBay, mystery shopping, market research, etc. I may also sell my car when I leave as I'm thinking I will be in the US for about 3 years so will not really need it sitting in oz unused. This may give me more money for the trip as I bought it a year ago for $10,000 and I don't think it will go down in price, so my savings may be taken care of after all. However, this is yet to be decided as I may not decide to stay overseas for this long.