Blinking in the brightness of the lightbulb moment

Cat2011

I've been a lurker on this forum for a few weeks now, I've read all of the successful things that others were doing, and thought it would be good to live on a bit of a tighter budget, as I have a little loan to pay. But the more I thought about my budget, the more I realised how hugely in debt I actually am. I've had my head in the sand up to now. It wasn't until I posted by debt:income percentage (33%!) that I realised how huge my debt actually was!

I got badly into my overdraft, and wanted a newer car so I took out a loan for 7.5k. I paid off my overdraft, and never got round to buying a new car as I started furnishing a house I had bought. I then got into my overdraft again - not really sure how?! I guess it was mainly due to just spending too much, a sandwich at the petrol station, top class LoveFilm, starbucks, forgotten direct debits etc. etc. My car also gave me a whopping bill at its last service of £1200. Along with a skiing holiday in Feb that I couldn't really afford (another £1000).... it just spiralled...

I took on board the advice on MSE and took out a 0% credit card and used it to pay off my overdraft and a credit card debt, so at least I'm not paying huge interest.

I've done an SOA to see how much I have to spend on my debt - and it's a lot. I've cut down on quite a few things in the SOA, but it can still be trimmed more:

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household............ 1
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned..................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................... 1579
Partners monthly income after tax............ 0
Benefits.............................................. 0
Other income....................................... 0
Total monthly income.................... 1579

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage............................................... 0
Secured/HP loan repayments................. ....0
Rent.................................................. 200
Council tax............................................ 0
Electricity............................................. 0
Gas..................................................... 0
Oil...................................................... 0
Water rates......................................... 0
Telephone (land line)............................. 0
Mobile phone...................................... 25
TV Licence.......................................... 0
Satellite/Cable TV................................. 0
Internet Services.................................. 0
Groceries etc. .................................. 200
Clothing............................................ 20
Petrol/diesel..................................... 150
Road tax......................................... 2.92
Car Insurance.................................... 50
Car maintenance (including MOT).......... 50
Car parking........................................ 5
Other travel...................................... 10
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)...... 60
Haircuts....................................... 3.75
Entertainment............................... 130
Holiday.......................................... 30
Emergency fund............................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 936.67


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)................ 0
Shares and bonds.................. 0
Car(s)..............................3000
Other assets........................ 0
Total Assets................... 3000

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Loan...........................6482.16...240.........9.6
Credit Card..................2638.57...30...........0
Total unsecured debts...9120.73...270.......- :eek:


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income............................. 1,579
Expenses (including HP & secured debts)...... 936.67
Available for debt repayments.................... 642.33
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments........... 270
Amount left after debt repayments......... 372.33

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 3,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -9,120.73
Net Assets................................. -6,120.73



I have a house and mortgage, but haven't included it as I have tenants who pay rent which covers the mortgage and bills, bar £200 which I chip into the House Bank Account so it breaks even.

I'm thinking of using another 0% card I have to pay off the loan, to save me some of the interest, I've done the math and that works out slightly cheaper (once all BT charges etc. included) and also allows me to be much more flexible in payments.

I think I can reduce my groceries a bit more - I'm a sucker for "just popping to the shop" to buy dinner. (Un)fortunately I have a shop 100m from my front door :S . Will endeavour to shop fortnightly online to get the best deals.

Think I can reduce my petrol too, starting to drive more economically and can cycle to work on some days.


So -
I'm hoping to keep a diary to remind me that I do have a debt, and to keep my head out of the sand. Will be good to keep motivation up for not spending money too!

Any advice will be much appreciated. Hoping to be debt free by the end of 2012, then I can work on being mortgage free

Cat2011

Things I've done so far to sort out my finances:

Cheapest tariff on gas/electricity to make the most of tenant's rent (their rent incl. bills)
Cancel unused direct debits - Mobile insurance, Magazine subscription
Reduce LoveFilm subscription



Things to do:

Reduce the sky package in Aug once outside 12mth contract
Swap phone/internet to new provider in Aug
Ponder about a weekend/evening job?
Hit the surveys
Sell everything I don't use/need via eBay etc.
Sell the 2 old mobiles I have lying around
Get the jewellery I have lying around valued
Get loan debt onto 0% credit cards
Make debt payments into a high savings account until 0% period runs out


Anything else??

ZTD

Hello and welcome to the debt diaries. :wave:

Is that road tax right? It seems to imply you have a really tiny car, but £600 a year on insurance and the petrol bill seems to imply you have a one that's a bit bigger.

If you're prone to impulsive spends - then keep a spend diary for a little while and see what you're spending on.

Cat2011

Thanks for the welcome . My road tax is only £35 a year :A, my insurance was £450 something, but expecting it to go up next year due to the EU rubbish, tho might get lucky and find a bargain. It also includes my AA - which was £91 last year. Hmm. That's another thing I could sort out. I've been super lazy and not checked out competitors for recovery+rescue, bet I could get it much cheaper.... It renews in October, so I'll check it out then. Maybe Greenflag? Will have to see...

I drive quite a lot of miles, but think the petrol might be a little bit of an over estimate. I've taken to checking petrolprices.com for the cheapest petrol station when I know I need to fill up!

Spend diary is a great idea - I'll try that out

ZTD

Do you do quidco? (There are other cashback sites available)

Cat2011

I always thought I don't really spend much online so it wasn't really worth it, but just had a look on the site and there are massive offers! Def sign up - and keep it in mind when I buy ANYTHING! Thanks.

ZTD

Cat2011 wrote: »

I always thought I don't really spend much online so it wasn't really worth it, but just had a look on the site and there are massive offers! Def sign up - and keep it in mind when I buy ANYTHING! Thanks.

I have managed to get car insurance for half-price before, and house insurance for free (actually they paid me £6 for me taking it out) - so it is often worth doing.

Cat2011

Went for a swim at the lake this morning for training for my race next weekend. It went well so am pleased . It cost me a fiver, but was very good, and avoided buying breakfast on the way or a starbucks on the way home which saved me quite a bit. Just took a sports drink from home before I left, and had a big bowl of cereal when I got home.

Hoping to make it through til Wed with just the shopping in the cupboards... Off to Austria on Wed eve for my race. There's another friend of mine going to race, and we've managed to persuade 4 spectators to come too so that brings down the costs quite a bit. Going to be a long drive!

Need to cook some parsnip soup this weekend for my lunches next week, have been very bad up til now and bought lunches at work which costs a fortune . But first is the essay writing - studying part time at the mo - but this is my last essay til October :T

Cat2011

I've been trying to apply for a ruddy halifax clarity card to get my debt onto 0% cards but the apply button keeps either saying sorry there's been a problem, or sending me to the online banking log in page?! Grr!

Cat2011

Didn't do so well with the no shopping! I realised I'd left my USB stick with all my essay work on it on my desk, so had to drive all the way into work, I was starving at the time, so decided to go to Tesco on the way back. oops. Oh well, only spent £10, got lots of veg, 3 whoopsies, a half price pizza, and some laundry detergent, so not too bad.

Trying to finish my essay tonight so I can have a guilt free Sunday, but not too sure its going to happen....

ZTD

Cat2011 wrote: »

I was starving at the time, so decided to go to Tesco on the way back. oops. Oh well, only spent £10, got lots of veg, 3 whoopsies, a half price pizza, and some laundry detergent, so not too bad.

Laundry Detergent...yummy...tingles on my tongue...

Cat2011 wrote: »

Trying to finish my essay tonight so I can have a guilt free Sunday, but not too sure its going to happen....

What's your essay about?