A Budgeteers Quest to be Debt Free & Mortgage Free By 40

DedicatedDFW

Morning people

So i spent many an hour awake last night thinking about 'things' - indeed i very nearly got up and posted on here at some daft o' clock early hour when even the birds were still asleep! - the freezing temperature did put me off - and the fact that i knew i needed some rest So after my very serious wibble the other day - where i came very close to doing my turtle impression and going into my shell and not posting at all i have given myself a very stern talking to - This however is one of my traits that maybe i need to address - i can't do 'a bit' of anything i either go 'all in' or not at all - for now anyways c'est la vie! Maybe some of us are just built that way - but learning to relax a bit and transferring my food motto ' a bit of what you fancy does you good / can't do any harm ' into other areas of my life could be a good thing - as in i don't need to sit down and do the accounts until they are all done - just make a start and do what i can So we'll try this eh?

Anyways i'm waffling now So back to the title - giving everything an overhaul! :think: Starting with why we're all on this board - Money!

So i have booked a few days off so i can be at home for some work to be done on the house - the work i put the money aside for at the start of the year *phew that it's covered* And nicely putting into practice the spirit of doing things in bits and not all at once i'm focusing for now on money - which will of course feed into other areas like debt etc.

Today i'm going to start by taking a new look at my SOA :cool: - inspired by the fact that we start out on the debt free journey and we do all the big things straight away which is good and has a huge impact - an example of this is when we start selling things on the bay of e etc. that we don't want / need / use - usually it's the bigger more profitable items that go first - so maybe selling 1 thing can bring in £50 in one go :T - Further down the line we are having to sell smaller things so 51 99p items to get that £50 - spending alot more time listing, packaging etc. etc. So i'm looking at it again partly as a review - have i missed anything? is there anything i can do again? partly as a nudge to make sure i'm doing all i can

So SOA - what does this cover ? For me : -

Mortgage - Takes very nearly 50% of my income :eek: i am now going to look into what position i need to be in to be offered a mortgage with a new company. I cannot get a new mortgage with my current provider and my income to mortgage and the fact i am in debt is not very good. But i can still find out where i need to be I will report back later

DedicatedDFW

That didn't take long did it? :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

At least it confirmed what i already knew really before i looked anything up anywhere but i *know* my income, i *know* my mortgage balance and i *know* the amount of equity in the house. Anyway research confirms there is no way i will qualify for a new mortgage without either a) a significant pay increase b) owning a lot more of the house - shall we say the whole of the ground floor and the stairs and landing and maybe a bit of one of the upstairs rooms? As i can only borrow less than half the remaining amount owing on the house. I am not :eek: thank goodness - as i say - i really knew i couldn't get a mortgage - didn't realise i'd be offered so little - and thats before i factored in outstanding debts.

So no surprises there then.

Plans for the mortgage are thus: -

Pay off remaining debt and overpay the mortgage. The planned mortgage overpayment is already included in my POAMYC challenge figure. But when asked about plans to overpay my mortgage on another thread i committed to overpaying by £6000 this year :eek: That is not the amount in my POAMYC figure. However if i reach debt freedom by my birthday this year i still want to be a part of a challenge and so i will aim to clear a full £6000 as an overpayment :cool: - i really had better get a move on hadn't i?

What should be next on my SOA -(and currently is not included i just really feel the squeeze when the bills come) is

Gas and Electrickery - and i've already sorted these. In january i was still with the cheapest provider. Last month i was not so i have gone via cashback and requested a change in supplier already

What an easy one to cros off my list eh? Although i should maybe think about putting a budget aside for this each month ? £20 to each sound reasonable everyone ? I shall jot that down.

And on to the next item on the agenda: -

Mobile phone contract

DedicatedDFW

Mobile phone contract is again an easy one I am still on contract for over 12 months and have no desire to change this anyways. I love my phone :smileyhea and the happy payment of £22 a month allows me as much internet access as i want :T A huge number of hours talk-time - and thousands of texts :T

Now onto the landline :cool:

PinotGrigio41

I've found you, not quite sure why I couldnt before really !!

My oh my, your brain whirring sounds just like mine, especially in the middle of the night. Its not worry that keeps me awake anymore, its more the "what else can I do to resolve this and much quicker" sort of thoughts ":D

Great idea though to review the SOA. You have been a busy bee.

I will hopefully settle down later with a cuppa and read your diary from the beginning but in the meantime, good luck with the review, oh and I will subscribe now !!

DedicatedDFW

Hi pinotgrigio lovely to see you - oh dear - doubt there's very much of interest in my wafflings Yes i do the whole this is what i owe on this account how can i raise this money this month to get rid of it ? Sometimes coming up with some creative ideas :cool: I also streamlined my sig which was all over the place and now (usually) focus on one balance at once whilst paying everyone else their minimum payment

Right i'm losing the computer access for now but a little note to remind myself that my next post is all about sharing the love :smileyhea

DedicatedDFW

Hi everyone

Ok i'm getting far too excited about this :j:j:j but then thats what this was all about re-igniting that passion for debt busting

Well my sharing the love post was with reference to me saving Mr Dedicated about £100 on one of his personal bills :j:j:j:j Well worth the 30 minutes :T Don't worry i'm allowed access to this account - poor love didn't know what was happening / had happened when i told him :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: 'Bottom line is nothing is changing, you will receive exactly the same service but will save £100 a year'

Onwards to the landline phone - i am ashamed to say i've not shopped around on this for years

An hour later i have 1 more piece of the puzzle to put in place (can only be done after other things have been done) et voila! a saving of over £120 for the year - thats £10 a month - thats saving us £5 a month each :T Ok - it may not sound loads but £120 is not to be sneezed at

What is next on my list ?

Ahh the one i've missed out - should have been after mortgage Home Insurance - ok zero shopping around to be done on this right now *phew* my ear is hot after being on the phone so long :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: I do of course shop around for this when the time is due, and i then go through cashback too so it is at the best level it can be

Currently i'm a bit embarrassed to admit that i pay this by direct debit as i could not afford to pay it in one go when the bills were due So i need to just check the paperwork to find out what is being paid and then jot down what i need to budget in my savings pot going forward. It'll be lovely not having all these direct debits coming out of my account every month - it is a job in itself to keep up with them all and of the course the running around and chasing money in there to keep everything ticking over :eek:

Ooh by the by - the savings pots are for the future - i need to have some sort of budget in place for when i am debt free - at the moment i have no spare funds to budget for anything

jwil

Wow, DDFW, I need a lie down after reading all that *phew*. Well done! You've made brilliant savings today :T :T

Great that you've got some time off too, and will be nice to have some work done on the house too!

DedicatedDFW

Aw thanks jwil It is indeed exciting times in Dedicated land - the work on the house - though hard to live in whilst its being done will be a great psychological boost once its finished - and of course i have already put the money to one side so no panicing over how to get the funds together either for once!

Rightio Chaps and Chapesses this is what i'm accounting for in my SOA please, please, please can somebody holler if i've missed something glaringly obvious -

Mortgage
Home insurance - buildings and contents
Gas
Leccy
Landline phone
Mobile Phone

Car insurance
Car tax
Car MOT

Petrol
Work Travel
Grocery

Savings account 1 (the only 1 i have *sob*)
Savings account 2 (the one i cashed in but need new savings

Pension

Personal Pocket Money = frittering money
Haircuts
Specs
Dentist :eek:
Fee for bank account - well worth it for the perks i am definitely saving money

Holiday savings

Treats budget

Joint treats budget

Investing in me budget - music lessons, OU, sewing, etc.

Prezzies budget

Although i have some of the above now as in morttgage etc. All of those little budget pots i don't have - partly why i can never afford to do anything. i also currently pay for my OU course by direct debit and i have 4 debts outstanding. Meaning i guess the above is a future SOA rather than where i'm at right now.

The household bills list seems a bit small but i can't think of anything else :think:

So please nudge me if i have missed something ta

DedicatedDFW

Home insurance budget = £20 a month - i have overcompensated on this and will of course receive the lovely cashback and due to this may have overcompensated by doubling what i need to budget - but i'd rather have the money there to pay in 1 and not have to pay more by spreading the cost And of course cashback does come later. The over calculation is actually not a worry at all as any surplus will be swept over to the mortgage as an overpayment

Ooh i have also popped down a budget of £50 a month to cover car insurance (i *did* pay this in full this year :T) car tax (think i got 12months) and MOT - surplus should really stay in this account as cars are cars and the surplus is not huge - i do also shop around for insurance and there is no way of getting MOT and tax at a different price so this is what it is.

Petrol budget £50 a month - i don't actually go far in my car now.

Public transport to work is £80 at the very least

Food budget is as low as possible - i am constantly trying to spend less on this - sometimes i achieve very frugal months but i *may* start using the 2nd purse system :eek:

Then spending money / pocket money / holiday money / treats money wow!! All this money i've not been spending all this time :eek: How much is enough ? i wonder. And i do want to have a bit more of a life going forwards - i *do* actually remember the last time i went out. Do i remember the last time i suggested a meal out ? Drinks ? The Movies ? because i could afford to go out ? sadly no And it is unfair the affect my debts have had on the things me and my fella can go to together

I had some fab advice about budgetting for frittering money - you know the odd cuppa as a luxury, then budgeting for hols - because we always go away, treat money would be for new clothes / shoes / books - basically anything my potentially £10week spends doesn't cover - AND i am not planning on spending this - its just there has to be a budget for it otherwise i'll end up in the rubbish situation i was in when my shoes completely wore away and i still had to wear them to work and couldn't afford to replace them and really damaged my poor feet

The joint treat fund is so that i don't buy said new shoes as above and then still can't go out with my man

And investing in me - i will have 1 more module of my OU to pay for after this one and there are other things i want to learn about too.

So i need to ponder all of these and the presents budget - although i'll probably work out the presents next as these are things i buy now and really should set a maximum limit for people - i don't set one now but they do get amazing gifts at budget prices and i see no reason for this to change

jwil

Do you use the soa calculator on what's the cost? That lists absolutely everything if I recall correctly. It will point out anything you've forgotten!

With regards to the holiday and treats, why not work out what you'd realistically be doing and work a budget from that.