Focused on being frugal and achieving debt-free freedom!

savingholmes

Hi Walby - I am having to rebudget at the moment as we have been overspending again recently - not helped by reduced income following a planned operation, kids uniform shoes etc but we'll get there...

walby1993

Hi all,

Haven't been on as I have started back to school and it has been very full-on - been working till 11pm most nights!:eek: This has resulted in me being very naughty in terms of dinners - four takeaways in a week!!!! Will have to be very tough to bring this back on track as food is one of the few areas I have a reasonable amount of control over.

On a brighter note - we started decorating front room last weekend which means although we have spent money (on paints, sandpaper, curtains, cushion, throw and hiring steam cleaner) the front room looks soooo much better and tidier!!! Still have a few bits to do to "finish" it mainly canvas and photo display so should come to under £100. Seems silly to spend this when we are debt-busting but it desperately needed doing and we wouldn't have had the time to do it for about another 8 months if we hadn't have got it done now.

Oh, also heard that I don't get as much deducted from my Golden Hello as i originally thought - its for £5000 and thought I would end up with £2700 after tax/NI/pension payments/student loan repayments but someone has told me they got £4200!!! That will go straight to clearing the ccs and the remainder to our wedding loan.

Oh, and car broke but only cost £20 to fix! :T

Walby

walby1993

Woohoo - got my one-off bonus ("Golden Hello") to the tune of £3350 as a "reward" for becoming a teacher in a "shortage subject" and managing to do it for a year and not have run off into the hills screaming :rotfl:. So both CC have been paid off and both overdrafts meaning just loans are left! :j

Going to start using the £450ish a month we were paying to the credit cards to pay off the loans quicker. However, we aren't going to start doing this until January as we are going to use the money in November to pay for DH to get his business registered (which could be a very good source of extra income) and December's money will go towards Christmas.

Have also been looking at mortgages on comparison websites and the rough quotes seem to show we could reduce our mortgage by almost £200 per month!:eek: That would be brillant and extra money we could put towards debts. Going to start the process in December (can't change over until end Jan/early Feb) or else we incur a £2200 penalty!

walby1993

Just a quick update:

So our debts were at £20,000 :eek: when we came back from our honeymoon at the end of August. Three months on and they currently stand at £15,700 - thats £4,300 paid off in just three months :T:j. There was a major boost in the form of my Golden Hello but who cares, its still coming down and we have been overpaying apart from this too.

The biggest thing that has changed is that we have decided to start a family :eek::j. But this will obviously change what we can afford to pay in overpayments. Have been playing with the figures this evening and if I get pregnant this month then we can still be debt-free by May 2013 even taking into account the Mat pay :T. This is three months ahead of what I was hoping for originally and did not take into account having a baby so we will need to be strict to achieve this but I am feeling confident! Of course, it could take months for me to fall pregnant but that will not be a major problem as it will just give us extra time to achieve a debt-free status!

Will update again soon!

walby1993

So starting a family together has now been put on hold - DH was made redundant just over a week ago so money is a bit up in the air to say the least! Going to try and use this diary more regularly as we will need to be even more careful with our money until DH has a regular income again.

My plan for tomorrow is:
Finish the last of the school work tomorrow
Pick up ordered Xmas pressies from town
Wash up
Washing
Ironing (10 items)
Take out rubbish
Clean Kitchen floor
Hoover flat
Clean hamster's cage
Wrap 5 presents
Finish window lights
Clean bathroom
Tidy front room
Make dinner

Hmmm, a lot to do there but will get up bright and early to make a start!

walby1993

Finish the last of the school work tomorrow
[STRIKE]Pick up ordered Xmas pressies from town[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE] Wash up[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]Washing[/STRIKE]
Ironing (10 items)
[STRIKE]Take out rubbish[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]Clean Kitchen floor[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]Hoover flat[/STRIKE]
Clean hamster's cage
[STRIKE]Wrap 5 presents[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]Finish window lights[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]Clean bathroom[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]Tidy front room[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]Make dinner[/STRIKE]

walby1993

Right, todays to do list is to finish yesterdays plus one or two other chores:
[STRIKE]Finish the last of the school work[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]Clean the hamsters cage[/STRIKE]
Ironing (15 items)
[STRIKE]Wrap 10 presents[/STRIKE]
Make Dinner
Washing
Put away school stuff

walby1993

Whoop, whoop! Girl's night out tonight, I am v.excited! Will try to be MSE by drinking at my friends pre-going out and by getting picked up by my lovely parents (yes, they still do it for me at 25yrs old with my own home!). Been looking forward to this night out since we first organised it (about 7 weeks ago!), how sad!

Am hoping to have some spare time between xmas and new year to sit down and plan our finances as best I can for the new year. Will let you know of any brillant ideas I have... (unlikely :rotfl:)

walby1993

Hi all,

New SOA below. Will update with more info about where I am at the moment in terms of goals and life in general. Any suggestions would be appreciated
Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 2
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1390
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1470
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2860
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 545
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 85
Council tax............................. 100
Electricity............................. 56
Gas..................................... 25
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 23
Telephone (land line)................... 11
Mobile phone............................ 45
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 18
Internet Services....................... 11
Groceries etc. ......................... 180
Clothing................................ 25
Petrol/diesel........................... 240
Road tax................................ 25
Car Insurance........................... 130
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 15
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...................... 16
Life assurance ......................... 13
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50
Haircuts................................ 5
Entertainment........................... 20
Holiday................................. 75
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1725

Assets
Cash.................................... 3500
House value (Gross)..................... 118000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 122500

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 96000....(545)......3.99
Total secured & HP debts...... 96000.....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Main Loan......................10860.....290.......12.9
Wedding Loan...................4050......110.......11.9
Overdraft......................200.......0.........18
Total unsecured debts..........15110.....400.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,860
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,725
Available for debt repayments........... 1,135
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 400
Amount left after debt repayments....... 735
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 122,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -96,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -15,110
Net Assets.............................. 11,390
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.