Bubbles DFW Diary

bubblesbrian

Right then.

After being an avid reader of these boards for years now (under different names), I have finally decided to take the plunge and start my own diary.

I'm not entirely sure how often I'll post and what kind of things it'll be, but it will be a place for me to keep track of how I'm doing and to remind me to do things. As i do tend to procastinate a lot.

Hopefully the lovely forum members will keep me on track (:beer:).

About Me

My name is (obviously ) Bubblesbrian. This is taken from my firstborn 5mth old son's middle name "Brian" and the fact that for the first week of hs life my nickname for him was "bubbles" due to the fact that he blew a lot of bubbles.

I am a 30yr old Male who has lived above his means whilst younger and is now paying the price. I'm not terribly in debt (I think it's around the £3000 mark), and I do feel a bit of a fraud when you consider that many members on here have much much more than that. It's just that now I have a son to provide for and the repayments of about £200 a month could be spent on more important things like providing for my family.

Why I Need To Get Sorted

For those of you who haven't read a previous thread of mine I need to get sorted as my partner is due to lose her SMP (Statutory Maternity Pay) in December. Which would mean she would lose £120 a week. Now I have recently started to give her £50 a week (last week being the first), and I know that I cannot give her the other £70 a week she will be missing. I am hoping that a chunk of this will be made up of increase in her benefits and hopefully being able to finally claim WTC (Working Tax Credit). And the remainder (again hopefully not a lot ), shall come from me if I can afford it.

And I need to do all I can so that we can still live a comfortable (not excessive) life and not have to worry too much. Though I don't actually think this is possible at the moment.

Anyway, thats enough for now. I have to go wash pots (:mad:), then I'll be back with an SOA.

On a side note it will be just my money that gets taken into consideration here. It's MY debt so MY problem and I don't want to be burdening my partner with this (though she does know about it just keeps reminding me I was foolish).

bubblesbrian

These figures are taken from my Microsoft Money File for the last complete month (Oct '10).

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1147.08 - Thanks to 3Dogs this is actually £1242.67 (weekly salary *52/120)
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1147.08

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 425
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 91
Electricity............................. 39.5
Gas..................................... 39.5
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 20.81
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 45.49
TV Licence.............................. 12.37
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 45.24 -This is Virgin Media TV-HD-V+ and BroadBand
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 200 -This is £50 pound a week to my partner
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 4.99
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Sofa.................................... 35.43
Tobacco ................................ 40
3g - Laptop............................. 36.7
Total monthly expenses.................. 1036.03


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
Barclays Loan..................0.........130.......0
Catalouge......................0.........85........0
Total unsecured debts..........0.........215.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,147.08
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,036.03
Available for debt repayments........... 111.05
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 215
Amount short for making debt repayments. -103.95 - Taking into account the change of income above, this becomes -8.36.

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -0
Net Assets.............................. 0

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

So as you can see according to this I am short each month by £103.95. I am baffled by this as my Money File (Projected Cash Flow section) shows that in a years time sticking with just this I will have more money than I should have. I have a post about this here, and the result is that I should times my monthly bills by 12 and divide by 13.

EDIT- Thanks to 3Dogs my income has increased slightly leaving me 8.36 short a month. This is normally covered by a little overtime I occassionally do, or the difference in th Direct Debits.

As quoted in that thread

DVardysShadow wrote: »

Yes, for monthly bills. You will always have 13 paydays for every 12 bills.

.

Though which bills should I do this too? The Direct Debit bills that vary slightly and not Standing Orders (i.e Rent, Loan and Groceries), or should it apply to all regardless?

Mr_3Dogs

Not very good with this stuff myself Bubbles,but with SW on your case someone will be along to help very soon.Best of luck mate.

bubblesbrian

Mr_3Dogs wrote: »

Not very good with this stuff myself Bubbles,but with SW on your case someone will be along to help very soon.Best of luck mate.

Cheers. I must just add that I spent a while reading your's and your mrs's (I hope to god thats correct - 3dogs) diary last night and it was pretty inspirational.

3Dogs

Hiya Bubbles - nice name by the way

I am not quite sure what all this means to be honest, but are you monthly or weekly paid? If weekly, you need to multiply your weekly pay by 52 and then divide by 12 to get a true monthly figure

If your direct debits etc are paid monthly it will just be the amount you pay each month

One thing I can advise on is what your partner may receive in the way of benefits after her SMP ends. Go to www.entitledto.co.uk and enter your/her details without her SMP and it will show what benefits may be payable

Good luck with your plans to get debt free and well done for posting :T

beanielou

Great advice from 3Dogs.
Any way that you can increase your income even in short term?
Is your partner going back to work at some point?

bubblesbrian

beanielou wrote: »

Great advice from 3Dogs.
Any way that you can increase your income even in short term?
Is your partner going back to work at some point?

I am thinking of a couple things, for example listing a load of my "junk" ("some-one else's treasure") thats sitting in my cellar on E-bay.
I am toying with the Idea in my mind of trying to get on nights at work to gain the £40 a week bonus.
And also a part-time catalouge delivery job that's being advertised on a telegraph post right outside my window.

3Dogs

Another thing Bubbles, is that, although this is your debt and your problem, you do really need to show your partners income as this would have a direct effect on the advice that may be given. In any case, if it is shown as income, most of it would show against that in expenses i.e. groceries, etc. It would just show a truer picture of your position, that's all, and other solutions may become apparent in this case

bubblesbrian

3Dogs wrote: »

Another thing Bubbles, is that, although this is your debt and your problem, you do really need to show your partners income as this would have a direct effect on the advice that may be given. In any case, if it is shown as income, most of it would show against that in expenses i.e. groceries, etc. It would just show a truer picture of your position, that's all, and other solutions may become apparent in this case

Would I do it as it is now (her getting SMP) or seeing though it's about a month away do it so that it shows just her income of benefits.

And I forgot to mention that she doesn't intend to go back to work as she don't want to be paying some-one to look after our child and her miss out on the milestones (so to speak).

savingwannabe

bubblesbrian wrote: »

I am thinking of a couple things, for example listing a load of my "junk" ("some-one else's treasure") thats sitting in my cellar on E-bay.
I am toying with the Idea in my mind of trying to get on nights at work to gain the £40 a week bonus.
And also a part-time catalouge delivery job that's being advertised on a telegraph post right outside my window.

Hello petal. i would certainly recommend selling stuff on ebay. Just remember to include the true cost of postage (ie get it weighed) before you choose a price.

Pubs will be looking for staff at Christmas time and my students earn a fortune in tips so that should be considered too.

Can you ring up virgin and ask to downgrade your tv package? same for mobile phone? You might be tied into a contract but when i threatened to leave they knocked £20 off my monthly bill. Ring the dept where you say you might be leaving rather than general customer services.

I dont know how your partner will take it but consider dropping a brand or two in your weekly shop. You rarely notice the difference in taste and quality you are just paying a mark up for branding. My shopping bill is much reduced since i started to buy shop own brand things. Also is there a [EMAIL="L@dl"]L@dl[/EMAIL] or [EMAIL="A@di"]A@di[/EMAIL] by you? they sell good quality veg and fruit and other things v cheaply and you save a lot and can top up in your normal supermarket.

My advice is a bit basic i am afraid but i hope you realise you will make lots of friends on here.

PS you have a lovely name.

bubblesbrian

savingwannabe wrote: »

Hello petal. i would certainly recommend selling stuff on ebay. Just remember to include the true cost of postage (ie get it weighed) before you choose a price.

Pubs will be looking for staff at Christmas time and my students earn a fortune in tips so that should be considered too.

Can you ring up virgin and ask to downgrade your tv package? same for mobile phone? You might be tied into a contract but when i threatened to leave they knocked £20 off my monthly bill. Ring the dept where you say you might be leaving rather than general customer services.

I dont know how your partner will take it but consider dropping a brand or two in your weekly shop. You rarely notice the difference in taste and quality you are just paying a mark up for branding. My shopping bill is much reduced since i started to buy shop own brand things. Also is there a L@dl or A@di by you? they sell good quality veg and fruit and other things v cheaply and you save a lot and can top up in your normal supermarket.

My advice is a bit basic i am afraid but i hope you realise you will make lots of friends on here.

PS you have a lovely name.

Hi there.

Generally speaking our weekly shop tends to be around the £30 pound mark each week. We have recently started shopping at Sainsbury's as we find it tends to be the same price (generally speaking) as Asda. We have been to the two shops before and yes the price of veg is good but the selection of food, we find, not to be very good. Though it's probably just a case of it being named different to what we know.

We don't always go for top brands, we tend to go for own brand items unless there is a big difference in taste. People say there isn't a difference though in certain items there is definately a difference in taste.


On other news - I have spoke to my partner about my Idea of trying to get on nights for the weekly £40 bonus, and so far she isn't opposed to the idea. So tomorrow I'll be asking my boss about this, I beleive I will also be doing them a bit of a big favour.