SOA - Please be nice!

Debtfreein2011

Katsu - (MMM - now you've made me want a Wagamamas!) I have downloaded the past three months into Excel and it is a job I want to do to sift through them with a fine tooth comb. A lot of the money is cash so that will be hard to track but we also use our debit card willynilly so will be able to check these transactions.

Sunnylooloo

Hi if you do not have that amount left, then as everyone has said try and do a spending diary

Ugh I was a nightmare... now I know where my money has gone exactly each month - it does take a bit of getting used to but I would say the last 3 or 4 months have been great!

You can do this!

x

philgee

Well done on recognising the situation you are in and taking the first steps to sorting it out!

My number 1 tip would be to set an amount for you to spend "willy-nilly" each week - We did this back in Feb/March when we were sorting our money out. We decided that £50 a week would be enough (for a family of 4) and this amount has so far proved to be more than sufficient to cover all our cash expenditure (lunches, kids bus fares, odd bits of groceries that run out in the week, lottery syndicates at work etc). Anything left over, gets rolled over to the following week (e.g. £10 left, so only withdraw £40 the following week). My wife also leaves her credit and debit cards at home as she will readily admit her spending was the main cause of our debt creeping up! We didn't do a spending diary for this, we just bit the bullet, and we haven't felt as though we have missed out on anything.

Your other spending looks pretty much OK, but would try and ditch the mobile and satellite contracts asap - freeview is OK when you need to clear your debts! Also, can you get a better mortgage deal? I would also consider delaying any holiday plans until you have cleared your debts (£13,000 if my maths is correct!)

Try and set up a repayment plan for your debts - be realistic about what you can pay back each month, and concentrate on the non 0% debts first. If you can get another 0% card, transfer the debt onto that as the transfer fee will almost certainly be less than the interest you are paying. Make sure you have DDs set up for the minimum payments to avoid getting stung with penalties though!

I have a spreadsheet with everything set up on it for the next 12 months, which I extend forward another month every month. This allows me to plan our monthly as well as less regularly expenses (such as car servicing & tax, birthdays and Christmas etc, taking the dog for his annual boosters, DIY projects etc). Obviously there are always unexpected expenses, but at least they will be less hard to deal with when they occur. The spreadsheet allows me to plan how much and when we can save, as well as when we can pay an amount against our debts. We still have about £3000 on cards, spread over 2 0% cards - I am paying off one card next month (£2000) and the final £1000 on the other card will be cleared in January, meaning it's just the mortgage & car loan to pay... .

We also managed to get away on holiday for 2 weeks last month, for a total cost of approx £5500 incl spending money and new clothes etc. We amazed ourselves as we managed to pay it all by simply budgeting, so we have nothing added to our card debts. Our net income is about £3100pm, and our outgoings are similar to yours, except out childcare is "only" about £200pm and we have long since ditched expensive mobile & Satellite contracts, so it is possible to get your debts cleared quicker than you think!

Every cash withdrawal & debit card transaction is also recorded on my spreadsheet, along with all our groceries and most other shopping which goes on our Tesco credit card (for clubcard points) and I pay it off every month.

I also use online banking to check that the account tallies daily with my spreadsheet!

Anyway, good luck with your debts - I'm sure you can do it, you just need to plan and persevere with it! :beer:

andys15

philgee wrote: »

Well done on recognising the situation you are in and taking the first steps to sorting it out!

My number 1 tip would be to set an amount for you to spend "willy-nilly" each week - We did this back in Feb/March when we were sorting our money out. We decided that £50 a week would be enough (for a family of 4) and this amount has so far proved to be more than sufficient to cover all our cash expenditure (lunches, kids bus fares, odd bits of groceries that run out in the week, lottery syndicates at work etc). Anything left over, gets rolled over to the following week (e.g. £10 left, so only withdraw £40 the following week). My wife also leaves her credit and debit cards at home as she will readily admit her spending was the main cause of our debt creeping up! We didn't do a spending diary for this, we just bit the bullet, and we haven't felt as though we have missed out on anything.

Your other spending looks pretty much OK, but would try and ditch the mobile and satellite contracts asap - freeview is OK when you need to clear your debts! Also, can you get a better mortgage deal? I would also consider delaying any holiday plans until you have cleared your debts (£13,000 if my maths is correct!)

Try and set up a repayment plan for your debts - be realistic about what you can pay back each month, and concentrate on the non 0% debts first. If you can get another 0% card, transfer the debt onto that as the transfer fee will almost certainly be less than the interest you are paying. Make sure you have DDs set up for the minimum payments to avoid getting stung with penalties though!

I have a spreadsheet with everything set up on it for the next 12 months, which I extend forward another month every month. This allows me to plan our monthly as well as less regularly expenses (such as car servicing & tax, birthdays and Christmas etc, taking the dog for his annual boosters, DIY projects etc). Obviously there are always unexpected expenses, but at least they will be less hard to deal with when they occur. The spreadsheet allows me to plan how much and when we can save, as well as when we can pay an amount against our debts. We still have about £3000 on cards, spread over 2 0% cards - I am paying off one card next month (£2000) and the final £1000 on the other card will be cleared in January, meaning it's just the mortgage & car loan to pay... .

We also managed to get away on holiday for 2 weeks last month, for a total cost of approx £5500 incl spending money and new clothes etc. We amazed ourselves as we managed to pay it all by simply budgeting, so we have nothing added to our card debts. Our net income is about £3100pm, and our outgoings are similar to yours, except out childcare is "only" about £200pm and we have long since ditched expensive mobile & Satellite contracts, so it is possible to get your debts cleared quicker than you think!

Every cash withdrawal & debit card transaction is also recorded on my spreadsheet, along with all our groceries and most other shopping which goes on our Tesco credit card (for clubcard points) and I pay it off every month.

I also use online banking to check that the account tallies daily with my spreadsheet!

Anyway, good luck with your debts - I'm sure you can do it, you just need to plan and persevere with it! :beer:

Excellent advice. Could you take a look at my situation.https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2684649

persian_star

I also have a spreadsheet (my whole life is in there!) and if you're serious about getting out of debt, I can't recommend it highly enough. Apart from anything else, it will 'unhide' all your bills and debt, but it will also allow you to watch that debt come down and the feeling is fabulous!

In there is one sheet for all our bank accounts (OH and mine, and joint which pays all the bills) and all payments that go in and out of each, so we know exactly what's coming in each month, where it is going, and how much is left (this also allows for us to budget for expensive months like car insurance) - I've estimated for the next 4 years! Every year I copy the last year onto a different sheet and delete it from my 'current' sheet, so I'm always looking forward.

I also have a debt sheet (it's based on my output from https://www.whatsthecost.com) which tells me exactly where my debts are, how much interest I pay each month and how long it will take me to pay it off.

Basically, we budget for myself and OH to have a certain amount for 'unplanned' expenditure (include presents, entertainment, non-essential shopping, etc in there) per month (and when it's gone, it's gone), everything else goes into the joint account. This pays for all the bills for that month, and everything else goes to repaying debt (obviously this fluctuates month by month). The debt spreadsheet then makes sure the payments are made in the way that will pay off the most expensive first. This way, we've paid off nearly 10K since January, and will be debt free (the last 14K) by next June.

At the same time, we've really cut back on the things we spend money on. When we do spend, it's a real treat, and when we resist, we just remember how great it's going to be next year when the final debt is gone. Things like making our own lunch or taking leftovers, instead of casually shelling out up to £5 for a sandwich and drink adds up ridiculously quickly. The forums are full of wonderful ideas!

We're also not planning to go on a holiday until after our debt is cleared, our Christmas present buying is done on a very severe budget and I've completely stopped shopping for non-essentials (leaving the cards at home helps with this) as then i can't be tempted. I found it's all about changing my attitude to money and feeling the worth of every penny.

Now, our income is less than yours (but we have no small child to pay nursery fees for) and we decided enough was enough, we want to get rid of this millstone asap, so our measures have been pretty severe - for you, you may want to pay of your debts more slowly and have higher standard of life in the meantime (10p noodles are cheap, but after a while I'm getting very bored of them! We slashed our food budget to £100 a month) but I hope some of my experience will help.

In the meantime, remember, every little helps, the forums are a goldmine, and best of luck

Debtfreein2011

Thank you again to everyone and especially PhilGee and PersianStar for taking the time to reply. I have set up a spreadsheet and am hoping it will evolve over time to the sort that some of you have spoken about. It is very basic at the moment but I am planning on adding to it.

The holiday is booked for three weeks time and was booked pre-LBM so I just have to roll with it and enjoy it - it's 'paid for' apart from £200 next month as my final saving for spending money.

Love the idea of having say £30-£40 a week for ad-hoc expenses. Am trying to work only in cash now.

And re: Sky/Mobiles. I will be changing my mobile contract next month to the £6 a month Tesco contract which is perfect for me as I text a fair amount but only make the occasional call and never browse the internet on my phone. DF will have to wait some time to change his so we will have to put up with that. Likewise DF is reluctant to give up Sky Sports. If we cut out the call charges on the landline the £60 should be reduced to around £45 a month which is for line rental, sky and broadband so I don't think that's horrendous. I'd like it to be less but DF doesn't really have any other expenditure i.e. clothing/socialising so I consider his i-phone and the sky sports acceptable (plus the fact I know I won't change his mind ))