Gonna get there.....

hp48910

Glad I was so busy at work that my day flew by:p

DD2 had a magical surprise on her arrival home from school today.... Santa brought her a fairy letter writing kit for Christmas and she had written a letter to Tinkerbell. Wanting to post it, we spoke to MIL who said she'd happily reply if it was sent there. MIL went one better and visited while we were all out, leaving a wrapped/decorated kitchen roll tube with a letter and poem inside, some fairy dust in a bottle and sparkly stars on the carpet and window-sil. DD2 was completely overwhelmed and was on a high until she went to bed. Oh to be five again:) Money could not have bought that happiness....The only problem now is that she's planning another letter in the hope that next time Tinkerbell will bring yellow fairy dust, as apparently that's the type that makes you fly:rotfl:

Almost forgot, the Hfax card arrived today with a limit of £4050:j This means I can move a large portion of debt onto this card and despite the transfer fee, we'll save loads on interest and hopefully bring the DFD forward. One issue is that I'm not quite sure yet what to move over. I know it should be the highest interest but I'm tempted to pay off some on each of the cards so they all seem lower. Think this may just be a false economy and will just look pleasing to the eye:rotfl:The other issue is that i am not sure at what time to make the transfer as I'm sure if it was made correctly it could be classed as a payment, leaving me more of our actual money to pay off some of the balance not being transfered. Bit confusing tbh:o

Dog has had a nice walk and is now in the 'dog house', for rolling in fox poo:mad: He's now a bit stinky as it was too dark to wash him off when I got home. He only went for a bath last Sat:eek:

Dinner was chipolatas, mash, carrots and peas:) DS has made up some tuna mayo to save me time on the sandwiches in the morning. DH will have pasta from the freezer and I will have my CG soup which was on offer in Mr A. Sounds like tomorrow is sorted:)

Think that's enough rambling:), gonna go look at CC balances to see if I can make some sense of what to pay....

PinotGrigio41

hp48910 wrote: »

Glad I was so busy at work that my day flew by:p

DD2 had a magical surprise on her arrival home from school today.... Santa brought her a fairy letter writing kit for Christmas and she had written a letter to Tinkerbell. Wanting to post it, we spoke to MIL who said she'd happily reply if it was sent there. MIL went one better and visited while we were all out, leaving a wrapped/decorated kitchen roll tube with a letter and poem inside, some fairy dust in a bottle and sparkly stars on the carpet and window-sil. DD2 was completely overwhelmed and was on a high until she went to bed. Oh to be five again:) Money could not have bought that happiness....The only problem now is that she's planning another letter in the hope that next time Tinkerbell will bring yellow fairy dust, as apparently that's the type that makes you fly:rotfl:

Almost forgot, the Hfax card arrived today with a limit of £4050:j This means I can move a large portion of debt onto this card and despite the transfer fee, we'll save loads on interest and hopefully bring the DFD forward. One issue is that I'm not quite sure yet what to move over. I know it should be the highest interest but I'm tempted to pay off some on each of the cards so they all seem lower. Think this may just be a false economy and will just look pleasing to the eye:rotfl:The other issue is that i am not sure at what time to make the transfer as I'm sure if it was made correctly it could be classed as a payment, leaving me more of our actual money to pay off some of the balance not being transfered. Bit confusing tbh:o

Dog has had a nice walk and is now in the 'dog house', for rolling in fox poo:mad: He's now a bit stinky as it was too dark to wash him off when I got home. He only went for a bath last Sat:eek:

Dinner was chipolatas, mash, carrots and peas:) DS has made up some tuna mayo to save me time on the sandwiches in the morning. DH will have pasta from the freezer and I will have my CG soup which was on offer in Mr A. Sounds like tomorrow is sorted:)

Think that's enough rambling:), gonna go look at CC balances to see if I can make some sense of what to pay....

Hi HP,

Cant actually remember if I have posted on your thread or not ! Your MIL sounds wonderful !

Just read your lovely story about Tinkerbell and it brought back so many lovely memories ! I remember the girls waking up covered in fairy dust after their special fairies had visited. I still have all of their letters in boxes and they have locked tins with the fairies replies in. Sometimes we would type teeny weeny letters fromt he fairies so that the girls could only read them with a magnifying glass and rolled into scrolls tied with ribbon, so so tiny ! Once I found a tiny pair of shoes in a dolls house shop and left them under the pillow and DD2 thought the fairies had needed a rest and taken off their shoes and forgotten them !! I could write so many fairy tales and go on forever and bore you to tears !

Anyway I subscribed to your diary a while ago and will be dropping in every now and then if thats ok. Good luck with the rest of your plans this afternoon x

hp48910

Pinot, it's truly magical;) Btw, Pinot is my fave wine!

So what have I been up to today?

Not much in the way of exercise due to the weather and feeling a bit under par...but loads of good MSE stuff has been going on...

Transfered £3470 from Nwide card and £504 from the Tsco card to the new Hfax card:money:nwide was 16.62% and Tsco was 16% APR, new card is 0% for 22 months. So even with the transfer fee, we're gonna save loads.:j

Also transfered £328 from Tsco over to Bclay card which has 7.9% for the life of the balance and no transfer fee:j Again more savings made in the long term.

Not sure wherer this leaves me in terms of debt as I'm not gonna adjust my spread sheets til we get paid and get a bit more off the actual balance, cos at the mo we've just moved it to a cheaper place, the balance is still the same.

Have also been looking at the loan we have. I think it's about 12.9%. Originally took it out as a car loan for £6k. When we moved last March, we had planned to put our moving fees £6k onto a 0% cc but the provider suddenly decreased the limit by £6k just before we were about to pay so we increased the loan to cover the fees as we didn't want fees on the mortgage to repay over a long term. We also did this because we'd been told we could overpay. What we weren't told was that we had to have made 12 payments before we could do that. It didn't really matter tho because all the spare money was going towards the cards:eek:
So... this meant £12k loan at 12.9%:o Had a look in the loans section earlier and found one with Nwide which lets you know if you'll be accepted without affecting your credit score, so I went for it.....We have been approved in principle for £10159 (settlement of existing loan) pending any final checks, the money should be paid in between 3-5 days. Fingers crossed it'll all be ok and if it is the new loan will be £20 per month cheaper with the ability to overpay:T

All this has got me thinking about other savings we could be making from utilities etc, although I think we are pretty good at shopping around for the best deal. Maybe a SOA would be an idea...Haven't been keen up to now as My DFD is quite close and I don't think we need to drastically change every aspect of our lives but it may give me an indication of what I could get costs down to.

I'll most probably post up my snowball after payday too, just to keep motivation up on those tough days:p

Ps Did manage to get some washing out earlier in the blustery sunshine...for about half an hour before there was a downpour. Still, it was dry enough to finish off on the airer in front of the log burner:T

mavvymoo

I am subscribed ! Thank you for your help and I will read all of your diary and watch as you pay off those debts :T

hp48910

Right DH has gone fishing, DS upstairs on Xbox, DD1 at a friend's for a pj day and DD2 has been out with her cousin and is now playing at sis's...so that's given me the time, after completing housework, of course;), to get my SOA done.

Here goes...

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 3
Number of cars owned.......................2
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 769.7
Partners monthly income after tax.....3645.07
Benefits........................................188.4
Other income..................................200 (DH 2nd Job)
Total monthly income.......................4803.
Monthly Expense Details[/b]
Mortgage................................ 864
Secured/HP loan repayments........0
Rent........................................0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 112
Electricity................................72
Gas.........................................0
Oil..................................... ....70
Water rates..............................40
Telephone (land line)..................43
Mobile phone............................ 60 (4 x mobiles in household)
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV......................50.75
Internet Services.......................0
Groceries etc. .........................300
Clothing................................ 50 (estimated yearly /12)
Petrol/diesel........................... 120
Road tax................................ 16 (yearly x 2 cars /12)
Car Insurance...........................67.43
Car maintenance (including MOT)..33(based only on mot&service x2/12 not repairs)
Car parking............................. 103.7
Other travel............................460 (DH train season ticket)
Childcare/nursery......................10 (10 mins breakfast club each morning)
Other child related expenses........104 (drum lessons/dancing/etc)
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).38.34
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 31 Dentist & contact lenses)
Buildings insurance..................... 28.52
Contents insurance...................... 0 (one DD with above)
Life assurance ......................... 88.41 (level term index linked)
Other insurance.........................0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc).....100 (based on last year/12)
Haircuts................................ 20 (estimate for 5 people/12)
Entertainment........................... 100(inc£43 gym £57 estimate)
Holiday................................. 0 (not planned for, no figure from last year as moved house)
Emergency fund.......................0 (use o/d or cc):eek:

Total monthly expenses.................. 3004.27

Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross).................250000
Shares and bonds....................0
Car(s).................................. 8000
Other assets............................2000 (jewellery)
Total Assets............................ 260500

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 177000...(864)......
Total secured & HP debts...... 177000....-.....
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Halifax cc.....................4030......120.......0
Tesco cc.......................1500......38.......16.62
HSBC CC........................2900......79.......6.9
Nationwide cc..................1175......34......19
HSBC Loan......................10000.....329.....12.9
Barclaycard cc.................2700......60.......7.9

Total unsecured debts.........22305.....660.....

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 4,803.17
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 3,004.27
Available for debt repayments........... 1,798.9
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 660
Amount left after debt repayments....... 1,138.9[/b]
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 260,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -177,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -22,305
Net Assets.............................. 61,195

So there it is. Thought I'd get it down so I have one place to view everything. not sure how accurate the estimates are but they're a starting point.

Not wanting to take things to the bare minimun as we can clear the debt without it taking too much time but I am starting to wonder if some of our payments are quite high. I did a comparison in the last couple of weeks for the life cover and it was almost the same. The same for the b&C insurance. Pet insurance is for 5 animals. I would be interested in any comments though:)

By payday, things may look a little bit different. Also, DH should get a decent bonus at the end of March. Therefore I may have been slightly premature posting this but now seemed as good a time as any if I can get some suggestions from you guys:)

Ps we don't really have that amount available for repayment each month. I try to pay off around £1200 on the cards but as we are almost always near our o/d limits, money is swallowed up before we start. For now tho, I'm kinda viewing being £800 out of a £1000 o/d as the equivalent to a zero balance if that makes sense. So that each month we have the same amount available. We just had the o/d reviewd for another 12 months so know we can work like this until at least the DFD in 8 months.

MFWannabe

hp48910 wrote: »

Right DH has gone fishing, DS upstairs on Xbox, DD1 at a friend's for a pj day and DD2 has been out with her cousin and is now playing at sis's...so that's given me the time, after completing housework, of course;), to get my SOA done.

Here goes...

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 3
Number of cars owned.......................2
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 769.7
Partners monthly income after tax.....3645.07
Benefits........................................188.4
Other income..................................200 (DH 2nd Job)
Total monthly income.......................4803.
Monthly Expense Details[/b]
Mortgage................................ 864
Secured/HP loan repayments........0
Rent........................................0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 112
Electricity................................72
Gas.........................................0
Oil..................................... ....70
Water rates..............................40
Telephone (land line)..................43 - this is very high; should be able to get it cheaper combined with sat tv. If your sat tv is with Sky they are also offering a number of free months broadband at the moment; not sure about deals on telephone line
Mobile phone............................ 60 (4 x mobiles in household)
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV......................50.75 - See above in land line
Internet Services.......................0
Groceries etc. .........................300
Clothing................................ 50 (estimated yearly /12)
Petrol/diesel........................... 120
Road tax................................ 16 (yearly x 2 cars /12)
Car Insurance...........................67.43 - check comparison sites to see if you can get cheaper
Car maintenance (including MOT)..33(based only on mot&service x2/12 not repairs)
Car parking............................. 103.7
Other travel............................460 (DH train season ticket)
Childcare/nursery......................10 (10 mins breakfast club each morning)
Other child related expenses........104 (drum lessons/dancing/etc)
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).38.34
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 31 Dentist & contact lenses)
Buildings insurance..................... 28.52
Contents insurance...................... 0 (one DD with above)
Life assurance ......................... 88.41 (level term index linked)
Other insurance.........................0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc).....100 (based on last year/12) - this is very high; you could cut this in half
Haircuts................................ 20 (estimate for 5 people/12)
Entertainment........................... 100(inc£43 gym £57 estimate)
Holiday................................. 0 (not planned for, no figure from last year as moved house)
Emergency fund.......................0 (use o/d or cc):eek:

Total monthly expenses.................. 3004.27

Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross).................250000
Shares and bonds....................0
Car(s).................................. 8000
Other assets............................2000 (jewellery)
Total Assets............................ 260500

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 177000...(864)......
Total secured & HP debts...... 177000....-.....
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Halifax cc.....................4030......120.......0
Tesco cc.......................1500......38.......16.62
HSBC CC........................2900......79.......6.9
Nationwide cc..................1175......34......19
HSBC Loan......................10000.....329.....12.9
Barclaycard cc.................2700......60.......7.9

Total unsecured debts.........22305.....660.....

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 4,803.17
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 3,004.27
Available for debt repayments........... 1,798.9
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 660
Amount left after debt repayments....... 1,138.9[/b]
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 260,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -177,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -22,305
Net Assets.............................. 61,195

So there it is. Thought I'd get it down so I have one place to view everything. not sure how accurate the estimates are but they're a starting point.

Not wanting to take things to the bare minimun as we can clear the debt without it taking too much time but I am starting to wonder if some of our payments are quite high. I did a comparison in the last couple of weeks for the life cover and it was almost the same. The same for the b&C insurance. Pet insurance is for 5 animals. I would be interested in any comments though:)

By payday, things may look a little bit different. Also, DH should get a decent bonus at the end of March. Therefore I may have been slightly premature posting this but now seemed as good a time as any if I can get some suggestions from you guys:)

Ps we don't really have that amount available for repayment each month. I try to pay off around £1200 on the cards but as we are almost always near our o/d limits, money is swallowed up before we start. For now tho, I'm kinda viewing being £800 out of a £1000 o/d as the equivalent to a zero balance if that makes sense. So that each month we have the same amount available. We just had the o/d reviewd for another 12 months so know we can work like this until at least the DFD in 8 months.

Hi
I've made some comments above where you could make some cutbacks. You currently spend nearly £100 a month on sat tv, landline and internet so you should certainly be able to cut that amount.
You spend a lot on presents; £100 per month is very high.

If you don't have that amount left over each month that your soa suggests you have you need to keep a spending diary to see where you are spending money. This way you should be able to set some money aside each month for emergencies so you don't have to use credit cards or overdraft
Also if you find out where this money is going your hubby shouldn't have to work a 2nd job. He mus work very hard.

hp48910

Thanks for the speedy response:)

We changed our utilities when we moved last March and the phone was an issue. Our previous provider, Pipex were unable to provide a line at the new address due to not having the equipment to cover that area. Sky, who we get satellite with were even more of an issue and more expensive and I doubt any of the less well known providers would have been any better. it does seem high, I agree, considering we paid the line rental up front. The average of £43 per month covers unlimited broadband and unlimited calls. will check out the other packages available.

sky is on one of the most expensive packages, minus the sport as the kids love the Disney Channels and we also have multiroom. Will check that out too tho.

I'm not convinced the £100 for presents is accurate but we spent approx £180 per child at Christmas and £100 on each other. if you add on at least £150 for the rest of the people we buy for that's £890. Then wrapping paper, cards and postage. That only leaves about £100 for everyone's presents for the rest of the year which is actually way out:eek:
By the time we've done parties etc I'd say that was another £500 at least all in:eek:

We don't have the amount left over which shows on the SOA becuase we are starting each pay period minus what has cleared the O/D. Ok when I put it like that, we must have that much available but by the end of the month it has taken us back to being as overdrawn as we were to start with, or near to it (within £200 of the limit)

Will try to see what I can do to get a better deal where possible. DH would workk the second job regardless of the money situation. When he took it on he thought it was voluntary:) he has a managerial role in London during the day and the second job is a complete contrast and his 'down time'.

kerri_dfw

If you are able to, buy wrapping paper that's not season specific when it's in the sale, buy cards when they have the mass off. Also keep a track of what and how much you spend on presents. If you're setting a limit for each person then you should be able to buy them in advance when they're in the sale. I bought all the presents for my nephews stocking this year and didn't buy anything at full price, started this in September. I've started buying presents this year already and got some lovely discounts in the sale to cover 4 family members :-) just a thought x

mavvymoo

Cant really help on your SOA as you know I am new to this and dont really know what I should be spending let alone you ! lol

But if you are not doing a spending diary please start as it has helped me loads.

I have read your diary (Full of excellent stuff BTW)
I can help you with the weight loss bit as I have lost over 7 stone since Nov 10 and got to goal Sept 11 So totally understand.
I only ever had half a stone to lose never more as that is all I ever worked in .....So when ever you think about it if you have lost 4lbs you only have 3lbs to go ! :j

The title of this diary is right on all counts :T

Good luck to you x

hp48910

Hi Kerri, I do get bits through the year, I work term time only and normally make a start on the Chrimbo shopping plans at the begining of the summer hols:rotfl:I got some lovely thick, old fashioned wrapping paper from Ebay in September! I do have a limit and normally have an idea for each person well in advance. Also get most of my bits in the sale or where I have sourced them the cheapest.

That's why I'm not sure that the SOA is that accurate. Rather than show what I actually put away, it's more of an overview of everything I anticipate spending on that category per year. Well it is for presents, hair etc.

Hi mavvymoo, Thanks for the read:) i think I will start a spending diary. I do have mainly NSDs during the week but my friend bought me a budget book for my Birthday so I'll start that this week.

I lost 1/2lb this wk, not much but I had other arrangements on the days I normally do Zumba and swimming. Has been a bit too windy for cycling too but as I've felt a bit under the weather, I didn't miss it. I am normally about 2-3lb within my ideal weight but just before/over Christmas it went up a bit more. I have 7lb left to go to get back to feeling myself again and my clothes fitting as they should:rotfl:

Well done on the 7 stone weight loss, what an achievement:T