Journey of a 'coming out' lurker! Will solve this Debt!

OlipopsMummy

After lurking this site almost religiously for longer than I can remember I have decided to 'come out' and make a diary of my journey! Mse has helped me so much already and reading others stories and the motivation people provide others is totally inspirational and I am hoping that by doing this I will keep myself on the straight and narrow, besides I would be too ashamed to not go through with it all after posting this so it is self motivation too!!

Ok so a little background. I am 20 years old, SAHM to gorgeous little buy who is 20 months old, and pregnant with baby no2 who is due in July. My OH is soon to be 23 and the love of my life, he is a great man and we got in this mess together (well most of it) and we will be getting out of it together!

So at the moment OH is averaging between £1200 and £1300 pay every 4 weeks, sometimes this can be a lot more but it depends on hours and whether he can get more or not, (he is paid hourly and is on a rota). I currently recieve Maternity Allowance at £499.88 every 4 weeks. this has just started and is running until february 2011. I will post an SOA at some point but I have just done my tax credits renewal and I am waiting to hear from them first as I am expecting my award to increase slightly. I havent worked since Nov09 so this year they will only be counting my partners income as a basis and not both of ours meaning household income has dropped by almost £5000.

Now the scary bit!
Our Debt currently stands at £9261. £2820 is with barclays partner finance for our car and is being paid at a fixed £127.43 pcm. then we have two Overdrafts with Santander, one at £1100 and one at £500. I also owe two store cards, miss selfridge at £97.99 and outfit at £288.85. We also have two cards with capital one, first at £241 and second at £314. We owe £2400 to Abbey CC, and Npower £1498.48.

Now that is scary but cant deny it feels good to see it all clearly!

Positives I have done so far:
Started to draw up a proper monthly budget on excel so i know exactly what is going out from where and when.
Been dealing with cash instead of cards by withdrawing and seperating money.
Been keeping Grocery money in a seperate purse and using that only when shopping to stop overspending.
Have just joined Grocery challenge for June so I am hoping that will help with the above!
Filling the car with petrol on pay day enough to last 4 weeks, and barely driving anywhere if we can help it. Since Christmas we have cut this by half and now put in £50.
Starting the NSD challenge, Cant find a june one yet to join officailly but will keep my eyes open!!

I am going to use this diary to record my progress and hopefully keep myself feeling positive about everything! I will record what i pay off and see my totals coming down, I dont know if anyone will read this but i will keep posting anyway for personal satifaction!!

OlipopsMummy

Ok so thought i would post where I am up to on my plans. Had bad news in that santander are taking away OH's overdraft from the 1st July, which stands at £1100 and he is always in it:mad: so thats not good. What we have done is organised with his work for him to now be paid into the joint account instead, so at least we get all his wages, otherwise overdraft would eat it all up and we would have no money. The only problem now is that when it is taken away he will be £1100 overdrawn and they will try and get him with a million charges which effectively could cripple our plans, so im off to search in a moment for a template letter on closing the account and freezing charges if one such thing exists then we will concentrate on paying it off asap.
I recently stopped using my current account as well, the overdraft is £500 but when i left work i decided not to use it for tax credits e.tc and get them in our joint account, Considering we are withdrawing cash at the beginning of the month for groceries/spends e.t.c I think it makes more sense to use the one account (without an overdraft) and then we can treat our other overdraft accounts as debts and pay money off.

Anywayy, today:
* I checked online banking and had £126.78 in joint account (spare money) so have made a PAD of £6.78 to my overdraft.
*I am going to go join the PAD thread as it seems a really good way to keep on top and motivated.
* its raining here so a day in with baby, Oh is at work untill 9pm. This is good though as stops me spending, realliy want 2 NSD's.
* must search for templates for santander re overdraft.
* plan on cleaning the house top to bottom at some point.

Determined_2b_Debt_Free

Hi Olipops Mummy! Just discovered your diary - I'm a mummy to be too!! :j Due in August, we don't know what we're having though (bubs was in wrong position to find out at 20 week scan).

Looks like you've made a good start and lurking on here certainly helps with knowing what to do - have the wages and benefits going into an account without o/d is definitely a great idea. We're the same as you, we don't know how much OH is bringing in from month to month which means I really have to be on top of everything.

I'm trying my best to work up until due date (all bar a weeks annual leave the week before) so I can keep on full pay for the next few months I hope - I just want to get the new budget going properly before I start getting less money in. Obviously our baby might have other ideas so we'll see what happens.

I wish you lots of luck with your DF journey and will pop in to see how it's all going.

:beer:

beanielou

I hope your journey goes well.

hypno06

Although it is scary, and can seem a big problem to have an overdraft withdrawn, usually after the initial panic subsides, we find that it actually focuses our mind more, and we CAN work round it, and it ends up that it is actually a good decision they have made for us!

So, although it might be yuk now, I am sure you will be able to look back and be glad that they did it!

Good luck with getting debt free and baba etc!

OlipopsMummy

Thanks for posting everyone!
D2bDF- thanks for the kind words! You are right about the accounts it helps me feel more focused and in control as i know i dont have that 'extra' buffer and so I have to budget correctly. Naughty bubs in wrong position!! How lovely for you when you get that surprise though! I would have liked the surprise but OH neeeeds to know these things so we asked, I dont mind cos it is nice knowing what we are having and picking a name e.t.c.
It is a good idea to work as long as possible with my first I left at 29 weeks though as my job was constantly on my feet running around and i couldnt do it any longer.

beanielou - thank you for the nice words.

hypno06 - I know what you mean, it is a scary thought but at the same time I know it is the kick up the backside we need to get it clear ASAP, without which I am sure It would be put off for longer. I havent been able to find any templates though so I am just going to write to them myself and see what they come back with.

Ok so today I have done pretty well with plans, made my first PAD and joined the thread!! Had a NSD, me and baby walked to my parents and stayed for a few hours which got us out and about without spending money hoorah! Just as above couldnt find any template so will give writing my own a go tomorrow and get it posted monday as i need stamps and plan on another NSD tomorrow!

This moneysaving really starts to take over once your into it doesnt it! I am constantly thinking numbers and how i can reduce debt fast, and getting more enjoyment from not spending??!! never thought possible!

OlipopsMummy

Well today seems like a nicer day than yesterday! the sun is still hiding but at least it has stopped raining! I need another NSD today so gonna have a look shortly on what me a baba can eat today, (OH is at work again and there is some chilli in the fridge for when he gets home at half 8). Shouldnt be a problem as we are well stocked.
Have just joined the weekly spend challenge with £30 for this week, i have a birthday present to get my friend and also plan on taking baba to park e.t.c if its nice so might cover a few ice creams here and there. Im really determined to stick to these challenges as i know they will keep me on track and keep as much money spare as possible. Have decided all my accounted for money i.e weeekly spend, grocery challenge will be withdrawn in cash at beginning of month/week ( already do this with grocery money) and then if i do have anything left at end of said month/week it can go in a spare change pot. Its just deciding what this will be used for! Then sensible thing would be to save it and pay it off debt but I am also thinking it should either go towards DS 2nd birthday in Sept and/or car mot/service also due in Sept of which i have no savings for! eek!
Probably the latter would be more sensible or September will be a broke month!

OlipopsMummy

Have just done my second PAD Hoorah!! Anothe £10 to my pesky overdraft, I dont use the account anymore and need to be making regular payments in there so the plan is to get it down by £100 asap then pay £10-£20 each month and concentrate on getting CC's and Ohs overdraft paid for and let mine take a back seat for a while, the main thing is getting it in by £100 so i stop getting charges.
Think next week will make small payments and then maybe a big one on the 7th (day before payday) depending on what is left in the joint account.

Determined_2b_Debt_Free

:wave:

Well done on the PAD - it must be good to see it come down.

That's funny, my OH was exactly the same and neeeded to know about the sex so I came round to it, I thought it would be nice to get organised and buy colours other than neutral. I have got used to having the surprise now though.
I'm lucky that I don't have to rush around on my feet in my job which is why I can stay on but I never would have been able to with some of the jobs I've had.

OlipopsMummy

Ok so had another positive day! PAD of £1, not much but it will all add up im sure. Also 3rd NSD in a rown so a nice way to end May. Had a good day with my mum and dad at their house and they treated to McD's so that was yum yum and i am now home and full for the night so no cooking woo!
Will have to start June with a spending day tomorrow but gonna write a list of what i think ill need for the week in terms of food and try and get it all at once, and also buy my best friends birthday present although I have no idea what that will be yet!
Keep thinking numbers and saving money allll the time but i suppose its a good thing the sooner this debt is gone the better! Also started my loose change pot by emptying my purse contents (about 85p!) into a jar, this will be my September fund! (September i have babys birthday and car mot and service due).
D2bDF - If your job is quite relaxing im sure its quite easy to stay at work, trust me its boring being at home just waiting for baby anyway!

OlipopsMummy

New month, new update! Had £20 left allocated for groceries until Tuesday when new month starts (OH gets paid four weekly so we do our groceries budget in exact four week intervals to match with this) anyway spent £19.99 :j!
Hopefully this should easy get us through till tuesday as we have a full freezer as well.
Made my PAD of £1 to overdraft.
Spent £15 of my weekly spends challenge money on a friends birthday present, got a top, bracelet and card and giftbag in this price so pretty happy with myself! That leaves £15 for rest of weej but considering the weather is carp and half term means swimming baths e.tc will be too hammerd for taking bubs it should be a quiet week now with not much spending going on!
Also added 1p to my september fund!:rotfl:and OH added £5 this morning woo:j.
Things are going well.
Also recieved letter from santander concerning my current account offering to set up plan with me for repayment of my overdraft since i dont get any money paid into this account anymore. so i will write back to them today suggesting a min of £50 pcm and overpayments whenever I can make them, and ask them not to apply any more charges to my account.