A new beginning

ShAnE

Hi,
It seems like i've spent most of the day on this board reading through various posts. So I thought it is time to tell you about my story.

After christmas, I got a nasty letter from my bank saying they were going to cut my overdraft by £1000.

Due to changing job, moving house, and buying a car (needed for work), and never really clearing my student bank account from a 12 months back, I had managed to fall into about £2100 worth of debt, and both my student/graduate account and my main bank account were always maxed out.

Luckily my family were able to bail me out, so now i'm paying them back and all my accounts are cleared and i'm starting again.

A run down of my finances each month are:
Rent + Bills £670 (my flatmate pays the bills, and deducts it from his share of the rent)
Petrol for work, work+travel. £100
Pension £75
Food £80

Leaving me £348 each month. Although it seems like a lot less - This month i've tried to put £250 into my savings for my car insurance, which is due soon.

My question is, if in my situation, would you consider moving out of your rented 2 bed house, where your share of the rent/bill is £670, and move into a room in a 3/4 bed house where your share would be £360-£400. Obviously i'd be moving in with people I don't know (sort of like uni) but it could end up saving me £300 a month.

At the moment, if I went back to my normal life style i'd only be putting away £50-£75 each month, but am living very frugally while I try to get my finances under control, and can afford to start paying my family back.

Denzel09uk

It all depends what price you would put on living with your Flatmate. if you have built up a good friendship etc.

If it was just about the money then I would consider it.

Denzel09uk

dreamdreamer

As Denzel said, only you can make that decision really. Financially it makes sense but there's a lot to be said for a good flatmate (having lived with good and bad!) and you couldn't pay me enough money to live with 3/4 other people again now!

It might be worth filling out a SOA (http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html) even if you don't post it on here, just so you can go through all the categories and check there's nothing you're not accounting for, and where your money is going. If you do post it on here I'm sure people will be able to suggest places you could save some money. £2100 is going to take a while to pay back at £50 a month (3.5 years!) so a few cuts here and then should help you to increase the repayment to your family.

Good call paying into a pension. Don't cut this!

ShAnE

Thanks guys, I do plan on drawing up a SOA. As even in my post above, i've forgotten my phone and gym membership.
The £50 a month is what I can afford, but things like any bonuses, or months where car tax, insurance or MOT payments don't come out i'm able to pay a bit more back. I made a mistake of trying to pay my Grandmother back to quickly when she gave me a couple £000s a few years back.

As for the room mate situation - My current flatmate/friend. Is just as much a slob as everyone I lived with at uni, always leaving / making a mess. So that side won't be missed - as I'm from a very clean/tidy background. Although the freedom of having a house instead of a room will be.

PS: dreamdreamer - just seen you shaved 18 months off of your DFD nicely done.

dreamdreamer

Haha not technically "done" yet as it means 8 more months of seriously frugal living - but I'm hopeful!

even in my post above, i've forgotten my phone and gym membership

It was the lack of mobile bill that made me think you might be missing a couple of things. Easily done, when I first did my SOA a few years ago I thought I had around 6 direct debits, I actually had 12! And 2 of them I wasn't even sure what they were for, other than "some kind of insurance". It's amazing what examining every penny you spend will do for your disposable income. Do you have any option for overtime with your job?

Just from the suggestions people on here gave me (things like switching utility suppliers, good phone deals etc) I saved myself £200 a month - which is half of what I'm using to overpay my loan and shave 18 mths off! People on here are amazing! :A

And if you're not particularly enamoured with your current living situation it might be worth looking at what's out there - viewings don't cost a penny!

ShAnE

dreamdreamer wrote: »

It was the lack of mobile bill that made me think you might be missing a couple of things. Easily done, when I first did my SOA a few years ago I thought I had around 6 direct debits, I actually had 12! And 2 of them I wasn't even sure what they were for, other than "some kind of insurance". It's amazing what examining every penny you spend will do for your disposable income. Do you have any option for overtime with your job?

I'm salaried so no hope for overtime. I do get paid a petrol allowance for visiting clients. Which if I did that 5 days a week instead of once a month would make me about £200. I am provided with breakfast and lunch at work. So i'm being a lot more frugal about my evening meals.

dreamdreamer wrote: »

Just from the suggestions people on here gave me (things like switching utility suppliers, good phone deals etc) I saved myself £200 a month - which is half of what I'm using to overpay my loan and shave 18 mths off! People on here are amazing! :A

Gas and Electric were changed to save about £15 a month. My phone will be changed this month from Pay monthly to PAYG as it's up for renewal and I only use it for texting. My gym membership is only £15.
So I can't see where i'm going wrong atm. But i'll have a proper look through my accounts this evening.

Doingmybest2bgoodhurrah

Hi, Just a thought.............

If you get on well with your flat mate, would it be possible for you to both move into a larger shared house? That way you would both save & you would be in a house with somebody you know, like & trust.

It might take a bit of time for the opportunity of two rooms to become available in the same property, but it might be worth suggesting to your flat mate.

DMB x

ShAnE

Household Information[/b]
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 2

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1273
Other income............................ 340
Total monthly income.................... 1613

Monthly Expense Details
Rent.................................... 950
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 30
Gas..................................... 30
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 15
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 80
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 100
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 ......................... 73
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1278


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 2200
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 2200

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Family loan....................2100......50........0
Total unsecured debts..........2100......50........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,613
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,278
Available for debt repayments........... 335
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 50
Amount left after debt repayments....... 285

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 2,200
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -2,100
Net Assets.............................. 100


You'll notice things like council tax and sky aren't included. - This is because currently my flatmate pays these. I then pay the full £950 rent and he pays £340 towards it.
I've also not included the things which don't occur monthly. Car insurance is normally paid up front, as is tax MOT etc, and these are usually paid last minute. Although I plan on saving £300 up before my MOT and car tax is due, as a starting point.

ShAnE

Just wanted to say after posting on here, I decided to save £250 this month, this means I have very little to live on, so decided to have a clear out.
Sold an old uni text book for £12 on ebay, and my old gameboy colour with a few games is already up to £31 with 3 days left. Thats my next lot of groceries paid for, and the £250 saving/debt payment untouched.