A Thread for After Debt?

determined_new_ms

do you guys mind if I join you? I have spent the last couple of weeks reading this thread on and off (admit I haven't read all of it, there's a massive part in the middle I skipped!) Really have no idea why I didn't join it when it started?? Who knows the inner workings of DNM's mind???

I have been DF now for nearly 2 years now. Got into debt becuase I was a lone parent and didn't earn enough and used ccs to live and also spend more than I should of. It was only 5 years ago when I started to earn enough money. I thought I was dealing with it for years as I was making big payments to my debts, but I was also racking it up at the same time! In Feb 2008 my Nan died and I was left some money in her will which I used to clear *almost* all of my debts. Jan 1st 2010 I was sat around with oh, my best friend and her husband and we were chatting about our resolutions and it hit me I was in as much debt as I was when I used my nan's money to clear my debts :eek: That was a sobering moment (between me and oh we had £11k of debt) I resolved then and there it was going to change that year.

We then spent 10 months clearing it, we went without everything, sold anything and lived like hermits! It was hard but I am very proud of our achievement. I still hang around on the DFW board and every so often am very thankful for the fact that we don't have debt!

I earn a reasonable amount and am able to save about £300 pm into *pots* for various things (all in a savings account and broken down into various categories on a spreadsheet) and between £400-600 a month into long term savings, depending on expenses that month. I realise I am lucky to be able to do this and won't be able to do it always as I'm sure my wages will drop at some point. I got the shock of my life yesterday when I worked out that oh and I have £16k in savings between us :eek: when its all added up it seemed like an awful lot! (however around £4k of it is earmarked for various things. For example we have a *pot* that is for our flights for Brazil - oh is Brazilian - which has been funded totally by making extra money aside from our salaries. This has been sitting in savings for over a year now but we keep going to other destinations! So it never gets used - next year maybe!)

I am totally obsessed with saving now! But also there is security that comes with it. Although I would hate for these savings to be used up with daily living, there is a sense of security knowing if either of us lost our jobs we would be ok for up to a year while we found another job.

I get really frustrated with other people that they don't look at life the way I do I now think my lifestyle should fit with my disposable income (and not my income should/available credit should be determined by my lifestyle IYKWIM?) It does help that I have learnt skills which means I can get more for my money than some but still. I got frustrated with my DB the other week. He has had a really bad run of it lately and we lent him £500 and agreed he could pay us back £100 per month. He came round for dinner and then told me he bought his ds (he is recently separated from his family) a laptop (an early xmas present) because ds said he wants to become a doctor. I felt outraged he has spent money he can't afford while he owes us money. My DB thinks me and my oh have it really easy but we make sacrifices all the time to have savings and afford the things we do and we certainly don't go and spend several £100s on gifts 6 months early and put them on the ccs! But I guess when and if people have their LBMs it has to be theirs but still!

Sorry for such a long waffling post - thanks for reading (if you do :rotfl:) hope you don't mind me joining x

rising_from_the_ashes

Hi DNMS :wave: glad to have you aboard - funnily enough, I thought about you when the thread started and wondered if you'd join us! ..... shhhh in case Mort hears this - but :j:j to another "pot" person:D (sorry Mort;))

Well done to the savings - I totally "get" the frustration side of things as many people I know think it's easy being DF but the challenge (for me anyway) is trying to stay that way and, like many, the budget is very tight (main reason for debts in the first place ... and overspending:o) so there's certainly not loads of money to splash out on things all the time - purchases are still thought about in depth and saved for.

Still need to find a folding table to replace the kitchen table & chairs (since Christmas last year:o) ... mainly so I can get my sewing machine up & running again - have stacks of "projects" to do & literally nowhere to set the machine up:eek:) - that's next on the list but keeps being bumped downwards when things crop up!

I'd be annoyed with DB too ......

determined_new_ms

Thanks for the welcome rising! Actually after reading this thread I have now increased my monthly savings to my car fund. It was only reading it a couple of weeks ago that I thought about car ins each March I have a lean month as that is when it is due. It was only after reading this thread that I though "I should put it away throughout the year" funny how the mind works eh???

Is it bad I am secretly hoping it will rain this weekend so I can start my sewing project? Oh is an outdoor person so if it doesn't rain you can bet your bottom dollar we will be out rambling so despite getting the material at a jumble sale a couple of weeks ago I still haven't started my cushion covers project (shhhhh don't tell oh I said that! )

LianneH

welcome DNMS! sounds like your "potty" like most of us here! Sorry Mort couldnt resist!

thanks everyone for your replies about the insurances and policies - still cant decide what to do though. think i might have a chat to my dad and see what he's got.

Only 11 days til baby arrives!

Mort

Just received an alert that "pots" are being discussed on my favourite thread.
However I must admit that I keep my £2 coin collection in a ceramic Marmite container, which came with a label that called it a jar.


Welcome to the thread DNMS.

rising_from_the_ashes

Mort wrote: »

I must admit that I keep my £2 coin collection in a ceramic Marmite container, which came with a label that called it a jar.

:j:rotfl:Knew it!:rotfl:it's a pot Mort:rotfl:

Li wow! not long to go .....:D

Mort

It's a jar!
http://www.marmiteshop.co.uk/media/AbstractArticle/image/DiscountedBundle-54930/Marmite-Marmite-Xmas-Vintage-Jar-Spoon-125g-Marmite-and-Chocolate.jpg

backinbusiness

Mort - you are in denial - that is a pot!

Hope all are well. Been in Speyside for the weekend. A really nice part of the world, but it rained the whole time

I have a spreadsheet question for you all. (Oh no!)

My one sheet comprises the following:-

1. All account balances, including cash and credit cards.

2. A simple income and expenditure account. (Not detailed just monthly income - bills - weekly spends - savings). This part is updated annually - nothing here fluctuates.

3. A list of monthly Direct Debits - checked when paid.

4. Cash balance (all cash resources adjusted for DDs still to be paid)

5. Schedule for repaying CC balance within statement period. I don't normally carry a balance, but I am just now.

6. A projected cash balance to the month end.

Is this too complicated? Not detailed enough? I don't analyse my shopping out as I am debt-free and still as tight as

I am trying to wean myself to updating my spreadsheet just once a week (or when DDs are claimed)

How do you do yours?

BiB

rising_from_the_ashes

Hi Bib - I have 4 spreadsheets now .... might seem a lot but when I combined the pots (from 12 to 3), I was worried about keeping track of what belonged to each budget IYKWIM

So, the SoW - has a totals sheet at the front and for each month there is a worksheet for:

• Regular payments (all D/debits, things like window cleaner etc)
• Groceries (incl toiletries, household cleaning stuff etc)
• Dog
• Cat
• Anything else

Every spend is logged on here.

The pots spreadsheets:

• House & car
• Pets
• Others

All have a totals page at the front and a sheet for each individual pot - these only tend to be updated once / month with a deposit in and a transfer out (to cover what I've spent on the cc that month).

Hope that makes sense - I guess it would be fairly straightforward to combine the pots ones into 1 spreadsheet & probably a better way of doing it - but ........ baby steps

LianneH

Hi Bib!!

I have one workbook with numerous different worksheets (tabs) within it to account for different things:

1. Monthly - this basically is my SOA, my budget and against it I check what I actually spent in a period.
2. Annual - this is a tracker so I know when various annual bills are due. I try to pay as much as possible with my cash back cc, which includes a lot of annual stuff like insurances
3. POTS - I have one worksheet but its broken down into numerous POTS for all my different annual bills (as well as a saving for xmas and holidays). the total of this worksheet comes to the total of my savings account that I can get easy access to.
4. credit card balance - this is where I move money from my current account to another account, the other account is where i pay my cc off in full each time.
5. birthday - tracks the mountain of birthdays i seem to have each month, what i bought and if i have actually sent it!
6. xmas - tracks who i am buying for & a rough budget per person, ideas for pressies and if i have bought it.
7. mortgage - tracks my overpayments and current payments and highlights my Mortgage Free Date!!

think thats it!! phew, didnt think i had that many! sorry Bib if I've just bored the pants off of you!!

On another note, I am going into hospital on Wednesday for my c-section so might not be on for a wee while, but hope to speak to you all soon as I will get palpitations not being near my spreadsheets and MSE!!! :rotfl:

Li x