Going it alone...

zippyfc

Hey moneysavers,

As you can see I have been a member for a long time, but I usually am just in the background. I have been reading posts for a while but I think it's time to write down my debts and finally face up to what I have been avoiding for so long.

So how did I get into this situation???
It started about 4 years ago, I was renting a room within a house, was on JSA. I found myself a full time job, I thought life was great and I was doing what most 19 years do, going out, partying and drinking. I didn't have many financial committments therefore I could afford this lifestyle. I was offered a promotion at work to become a team leader but it would mean travelling to a new place of work. It made sense to find somewhere to live nearer work. I rented a 2 bedroom flat which I can see now was too big for just me. This took up a large chunk of my wages. I also wanted to learn to drive. I got an overdraft from my bank for 1000, I thought I could pay it back, one thing led to another and I never paid it back. Everytime I had spare money I would find something to buy rather than paying my overdraft off.

I moved about to various different places about every 6 months therefore spending a lot of money on deposits and legal fees.

Me and my partner then moved in together. I went to the bank and asked to extend the limit on my overdraft to 3500 to which they agreed. We thought we both of us working full time we could pay the money back. But once again never ever got round to doing it.

We split up and went our seperate ways, I moved in with someone I knew from work. But unfortunately he left his job and decided to sell up and move away. Therefore I had to move out quiet quickly.

I managed to find a one bedroom flat for a reasonable price. But all the bills soon amount up. Within the last 6 months I have had another promotion which means in theory I get a pay rise but the downside is, I am now salaried whereas before I could work extra hours if I was tight for money one month. I am due for another payrise in about 6 months after training for my new role.

It is time to sort out my finances once and for all. I am tired of companies asking for money and worrying if I have enough money to pay all the bills this month.

Below is my SOA

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1167
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1167
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 470
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 83
Electricity............................. 50
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 31
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 75
TV Licence.............................. 24.25
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 30
Groceries etc. ......................... 50
Clothing................................ 10
Petrol/diesel........................... 90
Road tax................................ 12
Car Insurance........................... 40
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20
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......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 20
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
(Unnamed monthly expense)............... 0
Contact Lenses.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 985.25
Monthly Budget Summary[/b]
Total monthly income.................... 1167
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 985.25
Available for debt repayments........... 181.75
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 31.75

I really hope someone can help, if you can see where I can save some money I will be very grateful.

Sorry this post is sooo long...

jwil

Hi Zippy, Happy new diary!

At first glance, your mobile costs are quite high, can you get a different contract? Likewise with your internet. I assume you have just switched to DD for TV licence? If so, that should go down soon as it should be around £12 per month.

Have you checked you are on the best deal for your car insurance?

Just a few points to get you started! You might want to keep a spending diary to see where your money is going.

Good luck with it!

zippyfc

Thanks for the post jwil.

Will def start a spnding diary to keep track of my outgoings.

Mobile is so high as I have 2 phone contracts, one for me and one for my ex. One contract finished in June and I can change the tariff to 15 a month from December. The other does not run out until Feb 2012.

Internet is mobile internet, so high as it was one of these deals where you get a free laptop.

Unfortunately my car insurance was the best deal I could get at the time. I have only been driving for 2 years and I am only 23.

Referencing tv license, it is on a payment card, the first 6 months I pay for 12 months. My bank has refused to set up any more direct debits because of the amount I owe them.

Currently I owe my bank in overdrafts 4000

Thank you for your support

zippyfc

Well I feel today has been successful, a NSD!!!

I have had the day off work but decided to stay in so not spending money on petrol and also ate food from the cupboards so no spend there either.

I am at work all day tomorrow, so no spend there, it's great I work in a food place so I don't have to make lunches for work(I know prob being a bit lazy but it is also MS)

Although I think I need to fill up with petrol

Will post on here tomorrow after work of any spendings

Souk08

Hi Zippy just popping on to give you some moral support. You SOA looks very like mine did just this timje next year. I have since moved jobs twice and my money has shot up so don't despair as it WILL get better if you keep at it.

Second what jwil says about the mobile thing. Could your ex not take his contract off you?! That's very high love.

Are you saying that you have 181.75 to throw at the debt each month and you currently spend 150 on it? Is it really realistic that you only have £30 for everything else all month ie toiletries? Also do you really manage on £50 a month for food? Well done if you do, I do but that's after a lot of practice and I couldn't have managed like that a few years back.

Just wondering if this is realistic as if it's not you haven't got much room to maneouvre!

I'll be back on tonight but well done for starting with this. I'm 32 by the way so don't panic!

zippyfc

Hi Souk
Thanks for the support. The issue with the phone bill is my ex had the phone and the bill was coming to around 70.00 a month and I was not prepared to pay that and she was not prepared to pay for it either, I got the phone blocked and o2 sent me a new sim card which I don't use, this is currently 25.00 a month but on 4th Dec I can change the tariff down to 15.00 a month, the contract ends in june 2011.

50.00 a month on food is a bit tight but I work in a restaurant therefore I get food there 5 days a week, so it save some pennies

I think I will need to keep a spending diary as I never have any money left over at the end of the month. It may be because I am currently getting bank charges every month

zippyfc

Managed not to spend anything today, well that is kinda a lie had 820.00 worth of direct debits and standing orders come out of my account today, had a bit of a bonus though 18.00 worth of expenses was paid into my account which I was not expecting for another couple of weeks

A question for anyone who knows: I made a mistake and have paid my council tax twice today, one through direct debit and one through standing order. If I ring the council will they refund the money to me or will they just take it off my next bill???

beanielou

Just take it as Jan's payment I would think but phone them & check.

JayJay14

zippyfc wrote: »

A question for anyone who knows: I made a mistake and have paid my council tax twice today, one through direct debit and one through standing order. If I ring the council will they refund the money to me or will they just take it off my next bill???

They'll probably come to some arrangement about it, but I would leave it a few days to call them as it will take a few days to hit your account and (working for a council myself) if they can't see the transaction on the system it will just confuse them. Call cometime next week.

zippyfc

Thanks for the replies guy I will ring them next week.

It's times like this I am glad that I am salaried as we shut up shop early because of the weather.

Only spent 20.00 today, it was for petrol. On the up side, when we was receiving our delivery at work the driver gave us a box of apple fries which should have been delivered to Burger king. That's one of my 5 a day for the next week

Souk08

Hi Zippy, I was bank charged up to the max too at one point so getting organised and stopping that happening is a great start, and should be first priority.