LBM - I'm rubbish with money, please help!

DizzyDizzy

antonia1 wrote: »

Right, with new budget, I will be repaying £430 per month, which is what I pay in rent:eek:. I do still have some flexibility, but my debt will be repaid in less than 1 year. It will be tough, but defo worth doing.

If you can pay this off in one year that will be amazing, you will able to soon move on with your life, keeping the moneysaving lessons you have learned along the way :cool:

But in case you fall off the wagon occasionally, don't beat yourself up about it, just get back on again, and keep going. x

happycamel_2

Seems a bit off that you are paying the hotel bill and the cost of the dress for being bridesmaid. Thesevare usually covered by the happy couple. Can you not at least split the cost of the dress with them? Is there a cheaper hotel nearby where you can go other than the wedding night (or even all nights).

Other than that you seem to know what you need to do. Good luck!

MonkeyMad

happycamel wrote: »

Seems a bit off that you are paying the hotel bill and the cost of the dress for being bridesmaid. Thesevare usually covered by the happy couple. Can you not at least split the cost of the dress with them? Is there a cheaper hotel nearby where you can go other than the wedding night (or even all nights).

Other than that you seem to know what you need to do. Good luck!

I was thinking exactly the same thing except I wonder why the OP isn't being asked to chip in for some of the other costs since they will be there all day!


As for £60/month on presents etc think of it this way - if everyone reciprocates (which we like to do for appearances sake) then that probably equates to £720 spent on receiving a load of 'stuff' that you wouldn't have wasted the money on if you were buying it for yourself - especially since you want to be out of debt.

dirtysexymonkey

antonia1 wrote: »

A little history - I graduated from uni in 2008 and got a job that September (very lucky indeed). I have been so enjoying having money after years of being a student that, rather than reducing my debt, I have increased from £2000 in overdraft to £2690:eek:. This has now been transferred on to a Barclaycard 0% for 2 years, but given my salary (take home just under £1500 for just me) I really think I should be paying it off MUCH quicker than that. Please see SOA below and all suggestions welcome.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

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

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1490
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1490

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 430 - move into a cheaper house share? I'm a bit concerned you don't have any savings. Do you want to ever buy a house? If not, what about a rainy day fund?
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 0
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 35 - You could easily reduce this.
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0 - Really? Is this included in rent?
Groceries etc. ......................... 140
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 100 - Could you walk more?
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 70
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 30
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0 - You should probably have this.
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 100 - FAR too high. What sort of presents are you buying people? £25 per month is sufficient for anyone.
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 150 - Cut this down to at least £50. You can barely afford that.
Holiday................................. 200 - Sorry but you can't afford a holiday now. Put it all into your debts.
Emergency fund.......................... 0 - Why not? You need to make building up a decent emergency fund a priority second only to your debts. What will happen if you lose your job? Or if your car breaks down? How will you eat if you have no money saved?
union membership........................ 15
dvd rental.............................. 12 - This should come out of your entertainment budget.
wine club............................... 30 - You can't afford this. If you feel that you can't give this up then you might want to consider asking yourself why you can't.
gym..................................... 35 - Can this be reduced at all? Move to a council leisure centre? Are you getting full usage out of it?
Total monthly expenses.................. 1347


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
Barclaycard....................2690......54........0
Total unsecured debts..........2690......54........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,490
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,347
Available for debt repayments........... 143
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 54
Amount left after debt repayments....... 89

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -2,690
Net Assets.............................. -2,690

HTH. Good luck!

loopylouc

Hi and well done on your light bulb moment.

A spending diary is a great way to go to find out where all the "spare" money disappears to.

Just a thought on the present fund is why not try surveys, some pay you cash and some vouchers which you can use to boost your present fund. I've used valued opinions for M&S and Boots vouchers and toluna for amazon vouchers for my present fund.

good luck with your debt free journey, it can get very addictive once you start.:rotfl: