DFW October 7th 2010!! DFD ???

rubywhatashmoo

I always feel a bit odd posting on here as even though I am in a fair bit of debt, it's through my own stupidity in the first place, and I do earn enough to get it paid off (not all at once!) and I'm not struggling with repayments or anything like that.

I had a job working in a sandwich shop *cough*Greggs*cough* back when I was 18 and got paid weekly. The money was OK, but because I still lived at home and it was only ever 7 days until the next wage came in, there was no problem. But then I moved out, and when I left there though I moved to work in the NHS and to getting paid monthly.

For the first few months I worked there my basic monthly salary was £695 (it changed pretty soon after because of Agenda for Change stuff) but I really struggled to alter my spending habits to fit around only being paid every month, and also I didn't have any savings whatsoever to tide me over even that first month. So that was when I got my first credit card.

Over the last 6 years my debt has stayed constant at about £3150 (repaying a bit then spending it again by the end of the following month), but in the last few months I've been stressed out beyond belief with work, studying and family problems, and shopping has always acted as a crutch for me in that respect (along with food), so out came the credit cards, and I got rounder as I got poorer!!:o

So after the dust has blown away and you actually look round, assess the situation you're in and think OMG !!!!!! am I going to do?!:eek:

So I thought writing things here, and keeping a record that is visible to other people and holds me accountable would help. It's too easy to pretend there isn't a problem when it's one that only I know about! :rotfl:

My main problem is shopping. And it sounds so ridiculous!! If you don't have any money, don't spend any money!! If only it was that simple! So everyday I'm just going to put down how I've got on that day - good or bad, in the hope of being able to look back one day and see how I sorted myself out, or at the very least know where I went even more wrong!

rubywhatashmoo

Here's my current SOA just to make sense of where I'm at right now with money

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 0

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1236 should be going up about £70/month within the next month
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 265 Boyfriends contributions
Total monthly income.................... 1501

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 257.54
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 87 (10 months a year)
Electricity............................. 30 (honestly not sure about these as I'm in the middle of switching from paying quarterly British Gas, to Monthly nPower!)
Gas..................................... 30
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 22.3 (10 months a year)
Telephone (land line)................... 13
Mobile phone............................ 30
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 41
Internet Services....................... 10
Groceries etc. ......................... 135
Clothing................................ 50
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 75 (£12 a week bus fares, any extra is train fares for uni which I get reimbursed from work)
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 16 (Thinking of cancelling this Simply health plan thing!)
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 5
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30
Haircuts................................ 5
Entertainment........................... 15
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 863.84


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

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Tesco CC.......................652.75....14........0
HSBC CC........................3000......75........0
Overdraft......................1000......12........18.9
Total unsecured debts..........4652.75...101.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,501
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 863.84
Available for debt repayments........... 637.16
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 101
Amount left after debt repayments....... 536.16



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

There are definitely things that could be trimmed down, and I'm working on those - the clothes £50 a month is a new thing unfortunately - as it used to be just whatever was left in my account after bills

jwil

Hi Ruby!

Do you have that £536 left a month that your SOA says? If not, try keeping a spending diary to see where it has gone. Could you cut down on the clothing for a few months? Just that will clear your Tesco CC in 2 months. Alternatively use that to clear your overdraft as that is your most expensive debt - that again could be gone in 2 months.

Good luck with it!

rubywhatashmoo

I definitely need to start writing a spending diary - that's why I'm so annoyed with myself, as I should be able to sort myself out relatively quickly!

rubywhatashmoo

So the last day's DFW tasks are as follows!

Closed my Tesco CC account - got rid of the card AGES ago, but once you know the number it's too easy to shop online!
Sold a DVD on Amazon, paid another £20 off Tesco CC
Carried on with the big clearout - am I the only person who feels like having more stuff around the place makes you want more?! My new fun thing is seeing how much I can get rid of!
Signed up to OnePoll

jwil

Well done on closing the tesco account, that's great!

I'm the opposite to you I think - our house is so cluttered (partly because we have been clearing my MIL's house too, so it is all in our house) and I hate it! It is making me just want to get rid of everything! I don't think I could live in a minimalist house, but I would like to live in a much clearer house!

It is very satisfying seeing it all go though!

rubywhatashmoo

Been pretty busy in the last day!!

Signed up to Quidco

Got a home contents insurance quote of £69.24 (+ £10 cashback!) :T

Called Sky to cancel Movies package - got a reduction on the whole bill so will keep until after xmas!

Sorted out a better deal for pet insurance saving £45/year (that OH pays anyway!) but wasn't logged into Quidco at the time :doh:

Another £10 off the credit card from selling some shoes!

Have been spending though - bought some new xmas decorations, couple of small gifts and OH's card - came home and had a good luck at my pressie list as it stands though and knocked a load of expensive stuff that I don't need to get people off - I'm not buying gifts to top up stockings unless they are super cheap this year!! :rotfl:

rubywhatashmoo

Not done much today - typical Sunday then!

**Subscribed to Grazia (£15/quarter, buy it anyway so it saves me cash, got cashback on it and the freebie is gonna be someone's xmas pressie!)

**Found a camera I want £30 cheaper than RRP - plus persuaded my OH to get it for my xmas present so it's free to me! :T

**Only spent 70p today (twix!) and had another quiet day around the house, still not done the weekly shop though

**Spent last night watching the X Factor and entering many many comps - entered another 26 today :rotfl:

rubywhatashmoo

Popped up to the supermarket this lunchtime and got food for lunches for the rest of the week (including uni tomorrow which is a high risk spend day!) for £8.89 - not bad for 5 days lunches & snacks I don't think - will try to lower it for next week though

Listed a few things last night to make the most of the free weekend on ebay - one bid for £10 already - fingers crossed the rest gets at least one bid each as they were going to be got rid of one way or another anyway! :A

rubywhatashmoo

I am actually VERY happy this weekend

Cancelled a night out yesterday (felt too fat and bleh to go out anyway!) and sent the money I'd budgeted for that to my credit card instead! Went food shopping instead (oh the life I lead) and got LOADs of stuff, so another few quid off the credit card - along with the money I got from selling something on ebay a couple of days ago, so in the last week I've managed to pay £70 off the card!!

As it's still two weeks from payday I am getting itchy fingers about spending some money and buying my self something new and shiny - but with the credit card being cancelled I don't have a lot of option, so it's down to Primark for some snuggly new pyjamas tomorrow (WOOHOO!!) which should be under £10 for 2 sets? Anyway doubly money saving there as they're so cheap in the first place, and don't need the heating on so high when you're all wrapped up :T

Today I've changed the tariff my mobile phone is on - I'm so blind, there is a section on the Orange website (pay monthly customers keep your eyes open!) that assesses your previous usage and recommends a new plan based on that - so my standard tariff has been chopped down to £15 a month - and I still get unlimited texts which is really all I use it for anyway so I'm a happy bunny! :rotfl:

rubywhatashmoo

Went to the shopping centre today and only bought pyjamas and slippers (my feet are ALWAYS cold!! For £3 I decided to treat myself ) So grand total of £13 for 2 sets of PJs and those - gotta love Primark!! Walked there and back too so no money on buses/cabs

Going to have a look over my budget for the next two weeks until payday and see where I'm at right now. I've had letters from either British Gas or N Power everyday for the last week or two because I'm switching over and I just want it to be done now so I can find out how much they're charging me!! :mad: