Deep breath.....

Loomie

I've been reading these debt free wannabe threads for a while now and have finally decided to start my own to keep a record of my attempts to sort it all out. So here goes on election night when I'm staying up late anyway I thought I'd start it. Just need to work out how to do my signature...

NellyM029

Good luck with sortin it out. It's worth completing a SOA so people can offer help. I had some great advce:
http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

Cloudy456

Welcome, I'm new too and have been on here most of the evening getting things straight! A SOA is a great place to start, along with some info about what is owed where and the lovely people on here will all be along soon with helpful advice. Good luck and well done for taking the first step, if you're anything like me it makes you feel so much better just to be in control!

Happytogetdebtfree

welcome loomie and good luck with your dfw journey :-)

frugalzzz

Welcome Loomie, and good luck!

Loomie

Wow! I didn't expect so many nice messages so quickly! Hopefully sorted my signature out now so when I post this it'll come up.

It all started with borrowing money for our wedding which seemed so important to do at the time but now looking back I really wish we hadn't. It was a beautiful day but not worth the debt. Then we've just been really bad with money and continually overspent and then when a baby came along it got even harder. I think my OH and I have a really bad attitude to money in the sense of wanting things right now rather than waiting and saving up. We just keep overspending.

I now have a budget and know exactly what's coming in and out. The thing I find really hard is that you try to stick to a budget and then things come along - for example this year my OH and I had big birthdays each and it's my sisters wedding soon which involves hotels, meals out, outfit, gift etc. I know that I have £125 left til the end of the month for food and petrol (which will involve £60 for the wedding in York). The cupboards are full though so fingers crossed. In my keenness to pay as much into the debt as possible I have been guilty in making the budget too strict which means that we end up having to buy food at the end of the month on the credit card - which defeats the purpose. I have amended the budget to give more leeway so I'm hoping that it can be done.

I've only told one other person (apart from OH) the extent of our debt and I'm terrified that something will happen to my OH and that two things will happen. 1. that we won't be able to repay and 2. that I will have to admit to family the extent of trouble we're in.

It upsets me so much that we could be quite financially comfortable had we not been so stupid with money.

So am now being honest with people who understand and I can keep a record of killing this debt which should motivate me!

Pollycat

Well, Loomie - according to your signature, you've certainly made a big dent in your debt already - almost £900. :T

But, you've already identified the problem with making your budget too strict and inflexible, maybe you could allow a little leeway for those things that come along, such as weddings and birthdays.

Do work on your SOA, other posters can probably identify other ways to cut your expenses.

AND, hop over to the Old Style board.
Quite a lot of people who post SOAs spend more than they need to on groceries.
Lots of tips on the OS board on cooking in bulk, using up leftovers, menu-planning, storecupboard challenge, cheap ways of cleaning (windows etc).
You can eat well without spending a fortune.

Good luck.

MinniMe_2

well done!

the hardest bit is working out exactrly how much you owe and need to pay back etc.

the fact that you have put it all down and set yourself a target is a great start!

Have a look at some of the diarys - people have great ways of saving little things, and we really found that the little things really do add up.

My fav id PAD - Payment a day, it is basically paying something, no matter how small, to a debt every single day. Some people pay 1p some people pay £1, its whatever you have and that way no matter how much you pay, your debt is reducing every single day

Good luck and keep on the forums - they are a great source of support.

Loomie

What's SOA?

determined_new_ms

Hi Loomie! Well done for posting and taking those first steps and well done on the debt repayments in 1 month - it won't be too long before the end is in sight! This website thas helped me so much, ppl are so kind and supportive and after a while this changed my attitude to money. Be prepared that you will have set backs on the way, Rome wasn't built in a day, but each small change that is made will add up to big changes in the long run.

I have found the os board invaluable for advice on cutting back without going without., joining a few challenges to keep myself on track (makes it a personal challenge and you share it with others). Also I post on a daily thread to remind myself so what small things I do every day as well as sharing with others in the same boat/get ideas.

Good luck - I look forward to reading your journey x

Loomie

Oh and thanks for advice peeps!

With regards to birthdays I have worked out that some bills and birthdays and christmas mess up your monthly budget so I calculated the cost of all of these and divided by 12 which is almost £200 and I put that aside separately so gifts and car insurance etc come out of that budget. Usually this works but this year big birthdays meant parties. I think partly because I haven't told people I need to maintain an image of not being in debt. So it would have seemed odd not to have a party. But we have a challenge of only £10 each to spend on our anniversary!

I also have a present drawer where I've either bought things very cheaply or they are things that have been given to me but unused or still in very good nick - so that'll reduce costs.

I enjoying cooking so I think we eat really well for a very low budget - I'm been doing this for ages so sometimes I forget that we probably spend less that most people. I asked some of my friends what their grocery bill is and its double ours!

I've got a spreadsheet where I enter everything we spend and it subtracts it from my set budget - I enter things into categories so that I can see where we're spending the money.

Right then, got to run, speak later and thanks everyone x