Hello, DFW Newbie here :)

miss-sixty_2

Just thought I'd introduce myself and my situation

I'm 24 and married, but I must stress, the debts are mine. My DH knows about them, but I don't want him to have anything to do with him. This is my problem and I have his support, but I don't want his help.

In the grand scheme of things, my debts aren't too bad. I've always struggled with money and have always spent more than I earn. Last August I took out a £1500 loan to clear my overdraft. 3 months later I extended it by another £1000, again to clear my overdraft. In January, I needed a new car. I decided that instead of running yet another rust bucket that cost me a fortune in repairs, I bought one that was only a year old. So, again, I extended my loan to a total of £7000. In April, I extended yet again by another £1000. You guessed it, to pay off my overdraft! I extended it once more, in July.

At each point that I extended my loan, I only needed £500 or so, but had to extend by a minimum of £1000. I now find myself stupidly overdrawn yet again! I refuse to extend my loan yet again as I know that it doesn't help me, yet if I am in my overdraft I am likely to spend even more as I am already overdrawn. I've spent the last few days reading this site and playing with numbers. My DH has very kindly loaned me £600 which will be paid back to him at a rate of £50 a month minimum for the next year.

Current Debt
Nationwide loan - £8261.35 @ 6.4% - 54 months remaining
Interest free DH loan - £600 - 12 months remaining

I am paid hourly @ £8.75 but work full time, so bring home around £1100 a month. My boss's husband (we're a very small company, just 2 of us) also pays me £50 a month for admin work I do for him. This isn't very reliable though, he tends to pay me in 4 month blocks when he thinks about it, so I can't really count it as regular income; it's more of a bonus.

My monthly fixed outgoings
£600 goes straight into our joint account to cover bills, food etc
£177.67 - current loan payment
£36 - gym membership (this is new - if I don't go I will cancel. I'm not tied in)
£18.99 - mobile phone
£32 - car parking

Last night I sat down and did Martin's budegt.
On average I was spending over £100 a month on clothes, as well as £100 on hobbies (scrapbooking is an expensive hobby - don't go there!). £26 on lunch at work and eating out with DH, over £60 on shopping for fun, and, most incredibly, £175 in cash withdrawal! Who knows where that money goes?!

So, I've sat down and organised a new budget, which has already gone wrong, as typing this I realised I put my weekly car park expenditure down as monthly, so that'll make a difference. I'll look at that later.

My new budget allows £30 a month for clothes, £30 a month for hobbies, £25 for lunch and eating out, putting aside £30 for car maintenance (never done that before, just panic when the bill comes), £10 haircut and £30 cash withdrawal.

It's tight compared to what I'm used to, but I think it's realistic.

Sorry, I realise that the information is all a bit jumbled, but I wanted to get things down on paper (or computer screen!). I guess I'm not really looking for help, just support . Although I would like to pay DH's loan back quicker if possible, so any money making ideas would be appreciated. I'm also wondering if it's worth moving my loan as I know there are cheaper rates available and I'm pretty sure that I'm not tied in to Nationwide.

HairyHandofDartmoor

Hi welcome to mse. You seem pretty switched on! You are realistic about the fact that you were overspending, and you know exactly where the money was being wasted. Your new budget seem fine to me. You have some allowances for treats like eating out, etc. You just need to keep up the motivation. You have done really well to realise you have a problem before it gets any worse. (I wish I had realised a few years ago!) This site is excellent for keeping people motivated so I'm glad you found it. I would consider switching the loan. If there is no penalty for switching, then you have nothing to lose. And remember, don't buy anything unless you actually have the money. No more credit. You can do it!

ollyshaw

HairyHandofDartmoor wrote:

And remember, don't buy anything unless you actually have the money. No more credit. You can do it!

Great advice, good luck miss-sixty!

Olly

bluezone

Hi miss-sixty,

Welcome to MSE. You seemed to be quite clued up on what oyu have to do. I suggest you cut out the gym for the time being and usse this as a safety net in case you slightly over on the £30 month clothes budget etc. YOU DONT HAVE TO USE IT but if you get stuck it would be there to help you out.

Keep us up to date with how you are getting on month by month orr even week by week if you prefer x

KittyKate

Sorry to be mean but if you really want to make a dent in your debt you need to be a bit harsher than that, in my opinion.

You don't need £30 a month on clothes. Why would you need new clothes every single month when you're in debt!? If you did need a new jumper etc for work, shop in Primark. If you don't need essential (ie workwear) clothes, you don't need a £30 a month clothes allowance.

Nor do I think £30 a month on hobbies is appropriate. My hobbies are free - I send off for freebies from MSE, I sell on ebay, I do Pigsback, I take walks with my OH. How about you find a hobby where you don't allocate £30 a month to it - you can make some extra in the process and lose the gym membership too.

DFW's don't eat out. Sorry but £25 for lunch and eating out? Make sandwiches. Eat before you go out. Do Pigsback and you can get sent free vouchers for TGI Friday's, Pizza Hut, Bella Italia etc for a treat.

You don't need to put aside £10 a month for hair.Hair is the least of your worries. I am now out of debt and I have my hair cut every four or five months. It is long, in good condition and I get compliments on it as a result!

£30 cash withdrawal? For what? You will have made sandwiches at home. Take a bottle of water/juice too. What else do you need? Keep a £5 note in your purse and think long and hard before you buy that glossy magazine/packet of sweets/drink at the bar.

Sorry again to be harsh but you'll feel a hell of a lot better with an extra £100+ a month to throw at your debts. Good luck!

miss-sixty_2

Thanks for your support everyone

I'm really reluctant to cut out the gym membership as it's a big step for me. I used to go regularly and stopped going and lost my confidence. I then put on a lot of weight which I have now lost. I have my confidence back now and would really like to start getting healthy again and tone up my flabby bits. But, if I show signs of not using it, I will be ruthless and cancel my membership.

rchrisp

you said you put £600 aside for bills. can you itemise how much your bills are so we can try and help you get the costs down?

miss-sixty_2

KittyKate, thanks for your advice. I appreciate your words but I must admit, I am unlikely to take them on board. I need to have a life. My debt isn't *that* bad that I need to cut out every single pleasure

miss-sixty_2

rchrisp wrote:

you said you put £600 aside for bills. can you itemise how much your bills are so we can try and help you get the costs down?

Yes, although we are happy with our joint account, advice would be appreciated - will add the info in a mo

bluezone

My budget that I even showed to the bankruptcy clerk allowed my £50 budget for clothes, cos you may need new undies etc. I could maybe understand you cutting it out if you were absolutely brassic but as you say you have not got to that point as your debt is managable for now x

miss-sixty_2

Okay, as requested, joint account info
we each put £600 a month into our joint account, giving us a total of £1200

Mortgage - £372.70 - fixed rate for 2+ more years (tied in)
Phone/internet/TV - £35 approx
Life insurance - £30
Insurance (think it's sickness cover for mortgage) - £30.87
Electric - £22 (have requested that this is reduced to £20 as DD is more than covering what we use)
Gas - £25 (have requested that this is reduced to £20 as DD is more than covering what we use)
Council Tax- £63
Contents insurance - £16.20 (we live in a flat so don't pay buildings)
Maintenance charge - £90 (no control over this one other than to move!)
Water - £10 approx (6 monthly bill so varies)
Pet Insurance - £3.83
Groceries - £230 (we know this is high and we are hoping to reduce it to £40 per week initially)
Eating Out - £17
Car Insurance - £21.70 (paid upfront this year)
Petrol - £115 (hoping to reduce this a bit too)
TV License - £10.99
Cat - has cost us on average £32 a month so far, but we've only had her since June so had start-up costs LOL, injections, chip, spay etc

Total - £1170 ish