My Money Managing Ways.....

moneymanager

Hello everyone,
I am newish to the forum. I joined quite some time ago and have been popping in and out every now and again. But recently I have needed this forum more so than ever before. And the only way I will ever succeed in dealing with my debts is to keep a diary. So here it is…..

I think it is best of to start with a little bit of my background. I have been married to my lovely DH for nearly 6.5 years and we have no children but we do have a very spoilt rotten little Yorkshire Terrier. I met DH nearly 10 years ago (where do the years go?) and he has always been against being in debt. When I had met him he paid off any credit cards I had and made me promise that I will never have them again. That was all ok until 2-3years ago.

My DH worked on in the building trade and we all know how that went. DH was made redundant in April2009 and when I say redundant….there was no redundancy money but that is another story. We did not do too badly that year living on one salary. I had just finished paying off my car which was £200 per month, DH was entitled to contribution based job seekers allowance for 6 months and he was also entitled to his remaining holiday pay from the construction industry. In April 2010, he was fortunate to get some gardening work which he still does now from March through to November. But in the meantime, I managed to go into the overdraft and use a credit card to see us through the winter months.

DH has just returned to work today and after having my LBM at the end of January 2012, our goal this year is to clear the overdraft as that is costing us £1 a day and to save £3150 which we will live on during the winter months and for Christmas presents, dinners etc. We also want to clear the smaller debts like my mum, dentist and opticians and the rest we can handle until we can deal with them. In total our debt without mortgage included is £6,574.92 and I know it is not as much as some people but it is freaking me and DH out so something has to bedone. Every winter I am always stressed out because we have no money and we end robbing peter to pay paul. I vow that it will not be like this for us next winter so that’s why we need the savings. I am also on the waiting list for IVF and I could be going through treatment next winter and stress is just something I do not need to handle during it.

I have done my SOA but I need to check my spreadsheets at home to see if I have included everything. I have listed estimates for my yearly bills too but was not sure if I should add them to my SOA as monthly outgoings. Also DH’s salary is very unpredictable as his work is weather depending so the figure in my SOA is based on the amount I have budgeted for the winter months. I have just recently transferred my cc balance from an M&S card to Barclay's card with 0% interest for 24 months so I have made quite a bit of savings there too.

GOALS
· To pay off overdraft by 30 June 2012 @ £50 per week
· To pay off dental bill by 5th March 2012
· To pay off opticians by
· To pay mum by
· List renewal dates of all bills
· Shop around for best deals
· Save £900 forChristmas
· Save £2250 for winter
· Continue with challenges
· Save pension towards winter savings @ £47.85 per week – target £1,914 by end of Nov 12

CHALLENGES
VSP – Target £2,000
SP – Target £100
£2 Savers – Target £100
£366 Challenge – for January sales
Crazy Clothes Challenge: Me-£100 | DH-£100
PAD – starting with overdraft

moneymanager

Monthly Incomings:
My salary - £1,344.89
Partners salary - £750.00 (this is an estimate as work is weather depending)
Pension - £207.35
Total - £2,302.24

Monthly Outgoings:
Mortgage/Rent - £540.01
Rates - £74.06
Oil - £80
Electric - £86.67
TV License - £12.18
Credit Union - £130
Greenbelt - £9.90 (10 mths)
Mobile Phone - £21.50
Sky - £24.50
Phone - £21.50
Internet - £12.99
Food - £175
Car Insurance - £41.29
Van Insurance – £44.14
Car Payment - £114.73
Petrol - £130
Diesel – £65
Contact Lenses - £10.48
Life Insurance - £33.12
Building & Content Insurance -£27.48
Pet Insurance - £16.75
Tabaco - £71.50
Overdraft Fees - £31 (max)
Total: £1,773.80

Yearly Outgoings:
Car Tax - £135
Van Tax - £220
Pet Injections - £30
Pet License - £5
Subscription - £145
MOT - £300

Debts
Barclay Card – Balance £2264.23 (limit £7,300) APR 0% for 24 months
Credit Union Loan – Balance £2,714.54 (limit £2,714.54) APR 12% approx. Lengthof term 24 months, 24 months to go
Overdraft - £1,140.15 (limit £1,650) CHARGE £1 PER DAY
Dentist Bill - £60 (0%)
Opticians - £155 (0%)
Bank of Mum - £241 (0%)
Mortgage – ?
Total: £6,574.92

joedenise

It would be easier to see everything is use the SOA on "makesenseof cards.co.uk ". There is a sticky at the top of the first page. Format for MSE and then copy and post into your thread.

At a quick glance through your list the thing which stands out most is the cost of Sky, phone and internet - you should be able to get an all-in package for much less.

No idea what "Green Belt" is? Is this a necessity or a want?

HTH.

Denise

moneymanager

Thanks Denise...will take a wee look at SOA again.

The phone, internet and Sky is one of the things DH and I really want to make priority to look at. The difficulty with some of the package deals is that they don't have the available in our area. DH has recently started using more of his Playstation 3 online and last month seen the first ever time we exceed our limit which is 10GB. I have never had that before so I need to look into something with unlimited data but then again DH is back to work so he will not be using his PS as often.

Sorry, I should have explained what the Greenbelt payment is. We have an open space in our area which all of the housing have to to pay for the management and maintenance. At the moment it costs £99pa and I pay DD over 10 months with no interest. It is something we have to pay under our terms and conditions of our deeds but at the moment we are in negotiations with them as the resident do not see that they are meeting their side of the contract.

moneymanager

I hope I have done this right....it looks really scarey. :eek:
I am not sure if my asset part is right though and like I said I have put DH's salary down at the lowest but he would twice that on a good week. I also have a wee jewellery making business which I sell on FB but it is also not predictable and I may or may not make sales. A majority of the Christmas money will be used with savings so maybe I should not have included it.

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................ 1344.89
Partners monthly income after tax....... 750
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 207.35
Total monthly income.................... 2302.24
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 540
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 332.20000000000004
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 9.9
Council tax............................. 74.06
Electricity............................. 86.67
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 80
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 21.5
Mobile phone............................ 21.5
TV Licence.............................. 12.18
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 24.5
Internet Services....................... 12.99
Groceries etc. ......................... 175
Clothing................................ 200
Petrol/diesel........................... 195
Road tax................................ 30
Car Insurance........................... 85.43
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 25
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 19.75
Buildings insurance..................... 13.74
Contents insurance...................... 13.74
Life assurance ......................... 33.12
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 95
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Tabaco.................................. 71.5
Contact Lenses.......................... 10.48
(Unnamed monthly expense)............... 0
(Unnamed monthly expense)............... 0
(Unnamed monthly expense)............... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2193.26

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 125000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 4500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 129500

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(540)......0
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 0........(114.7)....0<
Opticians......................155......(77.5).....0<
Dentist........................60.......(60).......0<
Mum............................241......(80).......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 456.......-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Barclary Card..................2264.23...50.95.....0
Credit Union...................2714.54...130.......12
Overdraft......................1140.15...0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........6118.92...180.95....-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,302.24
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,193.26
Available for debt repayments........... 108.98
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 180.95
Amount short for making debt repayments. -71.97
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 129,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -456
Total Unsecured debt.................... -6,118.92
Net Assets.............................. 122,925.08
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

moneymanager

Morning, DH gets a weekly pension of £47.85 and we have decided to save this towards our winter fund for when he is back out of work again. I know I should be dealing with the debts at the moment but I need to be proactive for winter. So looking forward to DH's first pay cheque this week so I can start paying off a few things.

rafhelp

I want to ask is the value for contribution based JSA ALWAYS £67.50 for everyone regardeless of cirumstance.

for eg. if you were renting a house for £80 a weeek and getting £53.60 Housing benefit. you would have to pay £26.40 from the JSA leaving you with £41 a week to pay bills and basic expenses.

moneymanager

I am not really sure rafhelp. DH only got the contribution based JSA so I don't think any other benefit would have effected it. Although I could be wrong as we were not getting any other benefit with it. I know that the Incomed Based JSA is different and other benefits that you receive may effect it. We were not entitled to it because of my income. Can you contact Citizens Advice and see what they say?

moneymanager

It's the weekend! :j I am so looking forward to this one too, not that I have anything planned but for the fact that DH will be handing me over some funds.

I had every intention to get some money into the bank towards the overdraft but DH is have serious problems with his teeth....to the point that his front cap has fallen out. So, I will be going straight to the dentist to clear his previous bill so that we can get him in for another appointment.

If I am not pouring money into the vehicles, I am pouring it into DH's month! :rotfl:

moneymanager

I thought it was time I started updating this diary again but just read the few posts that I did make.....5 years ago!! I can't believe it's been 5 years.

I am not sure where to start other than DH is still doing the gardening but this time it is is own business. He loves what he does which is brilliant but to be honest I really do not like him being self employed. The money is unpredictable and work still dies down over the winter period but the upside is that if there is work, he does it. When he was employed doing the gardens that guy that paid him waved cheerio at the end of November and we didn't hear tell of him until around March. The work is slow at winter but we always do get by as he does more than just gardening work.

Just looking back on what my debts were then:

[STRIKE]Barclay Card – Balance £2264.23 (limit £7,300) APR 0% for 24 months[/STRIKE] This card my been gone but I have another card with more on it
Credit Union Loan – Balance £2,714.54 (limit £2,714.54) APR 12% approx. Lengthof term 24 months, 24 months to go I still have a loan out of the credit union balance is £524.39 but the shares are £2179.53
[STRIKE]Overdraft - £1,140.15 (limit £1,650) CHARGE £1 PER DAY[/STRIKE] Gone
[STRIKE]Dentist Bill - £60 (0%)[/STRIKE] Gone
[STRIKE]Opticians - £155 (0%)[/STRIKE] Gone
Bank of Mum - £241 (0%) I think I paid this off but still owe my mum about £115
Mortgage – ? £61,490.79
Total: £6,574.92

I think I ended up remortgaging to pay of the credit card, overdraft and to also do a few home improvements. Not the greatest solution but that's what happened. I went without a credit card for a while and decided to go for a Santander card. It was one of thoses ones that you got cashback and I thought this was great as long as you pay the card in full. That was ok for a while and again it was used mainly during the winter months (without DH's knowledge). But to cut a long story short my now are as follows:

Tesco Bank Credit Card: £6,773.83
Catalogue: £104.98 This is interest free and will be gone by the end of September
Mum: £115.00

Yes, I went and tripled my credit card balance but I am not using an overdraft now. This also included a hefty vet bill after my wee dog had a few major surgeries. I have an arranged overdraft of £250 and have when into it a few times but I am keeping a close eye that I don't go into it and incur charges. I am thinking of reducing it to £100.

I owe mum the money because she paid my portion of certain things when my brother suddenly passed away like notice in the paper, flowers etc. She keeps telling me to forget about it but I can't. I do a bit of crocheting and I do personalised cushions, buntings etc. She has asked me to do a cushion and bunting for her for a cousin that is getting married. So instead of asking for any money towards materials (I obviously would not be charging labour if she was handing over money) I'll just deduct it off what I owe and will include labour then. I just need to work out how much that is.

The catalogue will be paid off by end of September so I will not be worrying about that.

Just having a look at my goals and challenges 5 years ago:

GOALS
[STRIKE]· To pay off overdraft by 30 June 2012 @ £50 per week[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]· To pay off dental bill by 5th March 2012[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]· To pay off opticians by[/STRIKE]
· To pay mum by I hope to have mum paid by the end of the year
· List renewal dates of all bills Ongoing
· Shop around for best deals Ongoing
· Save £900 forChristmas Need to review this
· Save £2250 for winter Need to review this
· Continue with challenges Ongoing
· Save pension towards winter savings @ £47.85 per week – target £1,914 by end of Nov 12 Need to review this -
this is now used for other bills

CHALLENGES
VSP – Target £2,000 On hold - using vsp for 1%
debt payment
SP – Target £100 Ongoing - I use this for Christmas
£2 Savers – Target £100 Ongoing - same as above but don't have targets
£366 Challenge – for January sales On hold
Crazy Clothes Challenge: Me-£100 | DH-£100 Need to review
PAD – starting with overdraft I actually can't remember what this was - but it is on hold as doing a pay 1%
of my debt

Sorry for the really long post. But one thing that was suggested to me was getting one deal for internet, tv and phone. I need to revisit this.

[Deleted User]

Hi MM,

Welcome back x