New & a bit shocked!

betsy89

Have finally sat down and worked out how much I actually owe. Haven't quite worked out my budget completely yet, thats the agenda for tomorrow! Starting to feel I've had a productive week off!

I know already I can/should pay off more each month of my debts and know that I haven't been as I've been ignoring how much I've owed and been spending far too much on things I probably don't need/use.

So here's to starting afresh, I'm hoping to clear all this while also saving up to move out and manage my money better!

fatbelly

Hi Betsy

How about posting a statement of affairs?

betsy89

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 900
Total monthly income.................... 900

Monthly Expense Details
Rent.................................... 100
Mobile phone............................ 35
Groceries etc. ......................... 30
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 100
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 43
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 20
Life assurance ......................... 5
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 12
Entertainment........................... 20
Gym..................................... 50
Total monthly expenses.................. 475


Assets
Cash.................................... 350
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 1350

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
lloyds o/d.....................1496......0.........0
halifax o/d....................220.......0.........0
Vanquis cc.....................215.......10........47.8
mum & dad......................2500......0.........0
topshop........................83........4.........29.9
miss selfridge.................63........4.........29.9
barclaycard....................618.......9.........27.9
Total unsecured debts..........5195......27........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 900
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 475
Available for debt repayments........... 425
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 27
Amount left after debt repayments....... 398

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 1,350
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -5,195
Net Assets.............................. -3,845

Created using the SOA calculator at makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

I started a spending diary yesterday to find out where all this spare cash goes! I also got a "new home fund" pot of dreams for my birthday which all my £1 and £2 coins now go in!

Pollycat

Welcome, Betsy.

It sounds like you've had your LBM (Light Bulb Moment) and have decided to sort out your debt.

So that's the first step.

Use the link provided by fatbelly to do a SOA, it's in a format that regular members on here are used to and will ensure none of your income/expenditure/debts are missed.
Include the % rates on Credit cards/loans as that will help to identify where you should be over-paying.
It's good news that you say you CAN pay off more than the minimum payment, even though you haven't been doing so.

You'll almost certainly have lots of suggestions to reduce your spending, too

bluejeans53

:)Hiya Betsy, excuse me if i have this wrong but you appear to be in the same boat as I was (my boat got a whole in it at the moment but using all i can find to plug it). Its not that you do not have the cash to pay your debts, but choose to use it on none debt things. This was so me, in a big way. But this site is teaching me better.

Great start keep it up

Pollycat

Wow, that was quick, Betsy. :rotfl:

You've cut a lot of stuff out of your SOA - are you 100% sure that there is no spend against those items?

I'm assuming you live at home as you have no spend against utility bills, council tax, Tv licence etc - YES?

When is your car insurance due?
Try to get it cheaper although I'm guessing that you're probably quite young and that may be why it's over £500 pa.

Do you use the gym on a regular basis?
£50 per month is a lot, could you cancel your membership (very often a tricky thing to do with gyms) and maybe go to your local leisure centre?

You have £350 in cash but are paying a whopping 48% on a credit card that you owe only £215 on.
With that £350 savings, you could almost clear your Vanquis, Selfridges and Topshop cards.

With the almost £400 you have left over each month (more on that below), you could pay off your Barclaycard in 2 months.

A spending diary is a great idea - I'd guess that you don't really have that much left over at the end of the month.
I bet you're buying coffee, muffins, magazines etc.

Do you take sandwiches to work or buy them?

I'm sure that with a bit of cutting back and organisation of your finances, you'll soon be sorted out.

betsy89

Pollycat - thanks, soa is posted above.
Bluejeans - thanks.

Luckily am still living at home with parents which means not so many bills and much smaller rent than some people. Just looking through the forums and getting more motivated already! Although feeling a bit worried about birthdays and christmas coming up as I have a fairly large family! (Baby of 7!) Also have about 5 birthdays in the run up to christmas, and one right after so hopefully will stay on track!

betsy89

Pollycat - yes I do live at home!

My car insurance was renewed in april, although looking to buy my brothers car as mine has been in and out of the garage an awful lot recently and cost me far too much, which is smaller than my car at the moment and cheaper on petrol so that may help.

The gym is something I've recently joined and don't actually have to pay out until january as it's being refurbished a bit at a time, I thought about it a lot before I joined as it is a far amount to pay compared to other gyms but I've never had much self confidence and its a smaller gym in a hotel right near my house that makes me feel more comfortable and motivated to go to than some other gyms I've been too so I decided to sort of have that as my treat and paying £50 a month for it is sometimes my motivation for going when I don't always want to to make it more cost effective!!!

I have always said I don't want to save whilst still paying things off but since learning to drive I haven't had any emergency money, this £350 is in my ISA and is there for real emergencies. I was off ill last year for almost 6 months with a grumbling appendix and then finally having it removed (stupid doctors diagnosed me with everything but appendicitus until I was rushed into hospital 4 months later in agony!) which made me realise I needed something there for back up, luckily mum and dad helped hence the fairly big debts to them!

I am looking at hopefully clearing the vanquis topshop and miss selfridge cards this month as luckily pay day was yesterday and I have only one birthday between now and next payday so if I get them paid off now I won't have the money in my account to fritter away!

With my week off I've also tidied my room (a bit) and I can see in my recycling pile about four magazines I haven't even read all the way through, most of these about £2/£3 a time?!

I try my best to take things to work for lunch but don't always succeed. Most of the time I end up buying a tub of dairylea and then buying a crusty roll every day to have it on! (not the healthiest or most cost-effective lunch at all!)

The plan for today is to look through my statements and see where I definately should cut things out! Luckily my boyfriend is good with money and is trying to save more so hopefully he'll be a good influence on me also!

Pollycat

Looking positive, Betsy. :T

I'm sure you'll be gob-smacked as you work through your spending diary.
Put down EVERYTHING that is not already accounted for in your SOA.
That includes your Dairylea & roll, coffees and mags, money you put into collections at work, lottery tickets, birthday cards/wrapping paper, stamps, that new lipstick you fancy, shampoo & conditioner, stuff you've ordered from Avon........If it's not in your SOA specifically, then you need to write it down.

Let me know if you ARE gob-smacked. :eek: I was!;)

It's up to you whether you want to keep hold of your £350 in your ISA, although Martin does generally recommend that if you have debts AND savings you use use your ssvings to pay off your debts as you'll usually be apying more in interest on your debts than you get on your savings.
As your (probably cash?) ISA limit is £5,100 per year, you could always put it back when you have spare money.
That might be a good idea if you think your parents might help again if you really did need some cash for an emergency, especially if using the £350 to pay off your cards means that you can start paying back the £2500 you owe them.

If you see your gym membership as a treat and you go regularly (with the incentive that you go because it costing you a fair bit), then I can see where you're coming from on that.
You're not in dire financial straits so you don't need to pare things back to the bone.

If you've got any clothes/bags/shoes/CDs etc that you no longer want, maybe consider selling on ebay.

Good luck, keep us up-to-date with how you get on.

betsy89

Thanks pollycat!
I've only been going one day and I managed to spend £12.69 yesterday?! Admit it I did treat myself to a mcds for tea which was £4.29, and I don't feel too bad as £5 was sponsorship and £2 was a collection at work! The other £1.40 was on rolls & crisps at lunchtime!
Today hopefully the only expenditure will be about £10 for dinner out.

ISA is just a cash one, I've been trying to weigh up using it to pay things off but I just don't wanna be feeling as if I'd have to rely on mum & dad again. Luckily dads in quite a well paid job atm and so he keeps telling me to pay my bits off and get myself into a better situation first but I want to start paying them something even if it does end up being just £50 a month while I clear the rest.

I got an email this morning from ebay, free listing this weekend! So shall be putting up the stuff I've been meaning to for months! And I've decided anything I get for it will be used to pay stuff off!

Sitting down now to work out the budget and have a look where my moneys gone these past few months!

katu

It's easy to not realise how much you owe, it doesn't seem real when it's all on paper.

You are lucky that you are in the position to pay extra to them to get the debts down, I would do this while you are able so that your payments are then reduced.