My Debt Free Journey starts today

golddigger_3

Hi all

I am so pleased that I listen to Jeremy Vine on Radio 2 every day and therefore have been listening to Martin Lewis. I finally plucked up the courage last night to visit this website - mainly , I admit, to get the dowloaded letter to reclaim bank charges. Im hoping for a VERY large payday on thats score.
OK - so here's that the bit that bites: Worked out (with the help over the snowball calculator) http://www.whatsthecost.co.uk/snowball.aspx
that I (actually "we" as its me and hubby) owe................


£65,290.79 :eek: :eek: :eek:

It's owed on a number of credit cards (7), unsecured loans (3), secured loans 1) overdrafts (1) and arrears on mortgage.

I am determined to get this payed in 3 1/2 years (sooner if we get the charges back from the bank) and try to teach my children that this is definitely NOT the way to live. You know, not answering the phone, never opeining the post amd pretending it s not that bad.

I have a good income from my job (Sales Rep) of approximately £1000.00 a week, have a fairly big mortgage (£143,000) and 4 children. We both have a small income from being semi- pro musicians of about £15,000 pa too (joint).

I do have other outgoings to: petrol (£150 per month), nursery fees (£100 per month), dancing school (£40 per month) food (£500 per month) and ...
I gamble

There I said it.

Not huge amounts, but I play online bingo most nights and some weeks I am spending about £80 per week. I do win, but it all goes back on of course.
My hubby smokes as well.


All comments, sugestions and help would be appreciated.


Thanks for listening

golddigger

weegie-dfw

Well done Golddigger! Your on the right track, if you post you SOA then you will get some fantastic advice from the board.

You've got a great income, so you should clear you debts in no time. Good Luck with it.

Don'tskipit

Oh heck,
I can't help you, but you've made a very big first step coming here.
Loads of people to help and not to judge.
Best thing I've done in the last couple of days is to actually admit that I've got a debt problem and ask for help here.
Keep posting golddigger.
Loads of lovely people here to help us

sammiboo

i concur with the above

Post up your SOA and we can take a look and see where we can advise to better your finances.

Welcome to MSE :T

golddigger_3

Thank you weegie.


REALISED I'D MISSED A CREDIT CARD OUT, SO RECALCULATED ON THE SNOWBALL AND IT COEMS TO

£71877 - OOUCH
OK I think my SOA are:(MONTHLY)

INCOME: £5200 (approx)
BENEFITS: (CHILD & DISABILITY LIVING ALLOWANCE FOR MY SONE) £160

OUTGOINGS: MORTGAGE Northern Rock £900 @ 5.1%
GAS Atlantic £45
ELECTRIC Atlantic £95
WATER Seven Trent £45
COUNCIL TAX £95
PETROL £150 (variable)
CAR TAX (2 cars) £20
INSURANCE £80
BUILDINGS & CONTENTS £35
LIFE INSURANCE £45
FOOD £500
CHILD CARE £100
KIDS EXPENSES £100
DINNER MONEY £110
CLEANER £100 (I KNOW, I KNOW!)
BUSINESS EXPENSES £40

DEBT: MORTGAGE ARREARS £200 Northern Rock @ 5.1%
CREDIT CARDS
mint £300 @16.9
egg £200 @16.9
lloyds platinum £300 @ 15.9
halifax one £200 @ 9.9
marbles £250 @16.9
GE Money (mothercare) £45 @19.9

LOANS Northern Rock unsecured £100 @6.4
Lloyds loan 150 @6.4
Kensington Secured loan £456.56
LLoyds overdraft £50
TBI Financial (15 yr old debt) £30 @ 0%


(ALL THESE DEBT PAYMENT ARRANGEMENTS WERE MADE TODAY)

TOTAL IN: £5360
TOTAL OUT:4741.56


mmm

southern_chick

good luck golddigger, you'll find this site really helpful and very addictive!!

its_okay

Welcome to the boards, they are a great tool to help you sort out your debt, so you've made the right move by coming here!

First off, I think you know that cutting back on the cleaner should be your first port of call. I understand if you and your OH have a demanding job this might not be easy at first, but if you have any slightly older children they might be able to help you out around the house in return for a little bit of pocket money!

Also have a hunt around this site to see if theres anyway you can get better deals on your life insurance/car insurance etc. I found this article which might help you out with your childcare costs: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid1129566540,79743,

Good luck

LewisC_2

For fear of stating the obvious, you're going to need to get rid of the Bingo, cigarettes, and cleaner. I know they're nice to have, but they're non-essential items, and if you're not firm and strict with yourself from day 1, you'll never make it.

Do you need two cars as well? Would it be feasible to manage with one? Could public transport be an option? Good luck!

slowlyfading

golddigger wrote:

Thank you weegie.


REALISED I'D MISSED A CREDIT CARD OUT, SO RECALCULATED ON THE SNOWBALL AND IT COEMS TO

£71877 - OOUCH
OK I think my SOA are:(MONTHLY)

INCOME: £5200 (approx)
BENEFITS: (CHILD & DISABILITY LIVING ALLOWANCE FOR MY SONE) £160

OUTGOINGS: MORTGAGE Northern Rock £900 @ 5.1%
GAS Atlantic £45
ELECTRIC Atlantic £95
WATER Seven Trent £45
COUNCIL TAX £95Seems high, check through uswitch to see if you can get it chearper
PETROL £150 (variable) Do you need two cars? Can you cut this down at all?
CAR TAX (2 cars) £20 as above.
INSURANCE £80 Is this necessary?
BUILDINGS & CONTENTS £35
LIFE INSURANCE £45
FOOD £500 This is really high, head over to the OS board. You could cut this in half with careful planning.
CHILD CARE £100 Is this necessary?
KIDS EXPENSES £100 What are these?
DINNER MONEY £110 This is high. Take sandwichs instead?
CLEANER £100 (I KNOW, I KNOW!) An expense that you can't afford.
BUSINESS EXPENSES £40 What are these?

DEBT: MORTGAGE ARREARS £200 Northern Rock @ 5.1%
CREDIT CARDS
mint £300 @16.9
egg £200 @16.9
lloyds platinum £300 @ 15.9
halifax one £200 @ 9.9
marbles £250 @16.9
GE Money (mothercare) £45 @19.9

LOANS Northern Rock unsecured £100 @6.4
Lloyds loan 150 @6.4
Kensington Secured loan £456.56
LLoyds overdraft £50
TBI Financial (15 yr old debt) £30 @ 0%


(ALL THESE DEBT PAYMENT ARRANGEMENTS WERE MADE TODAY)

TOTAL IN: £5360
TOTAL OUT:4741.56


mmm

Had a look over your SOA.
Nicola x

golddigger_3

Hi Nicola

Thank you for your input

To answer some of your queries

OUTGOINGS: MORTGAGE Northern Rock £900 @ 5.1%
GAS Atlantic £45
ELECTRIC Atlantic £95
WATER Seven Trent £45
COUNCIL TAX £95Seems high, check through uswitch to see if you can get it chearperI have checked that I am in the right council tax band and it is correct. Coventry has a higher than average Council tax
PETROL £150 (variable) Do you need two cars? Can you cut this down at all?I am a travelling sales rep and my hubby is a singer who travels the country - we have to have 2 cars - also one is an MPV as we have 4 children
CAR TAX (2 cars) £20 as above.
INSURANCE £80 Is this necessary?car insurance that is - should have said and that is for 2 cars
BUILDINGS & CONTENTS £35
LIFE INSURANCE £45
FOOD £500 This is really high, head over to the OS board. You could cut this in half with careful planning.£125 per week for 6 of us (2 adults, 2 teenagers, 2 younger ones)
CHILD CARE £100 Is this necessary?this is with our jobs being long hours - this will end when my youngest starts school in September
KIDS EXPENSES £100 What are these?Ballet lessons, drama lessons and running club
DINNER MONEY £110 This is high. Take sandwichs instead? not sure I could do packed lunches for £7 per week per child
CLEANER £100 (I KNOW, I KNOW!) An expense that you can't afford.
BUSINESS EXPENSES £40 What are these?I am essentially self emplyed - have to post my sales deals off every week, they cost £4.50 to post


Maybe I should have said that I have 4 children at the beginning ! Sure eats into the money - especially as this doesnt include school trips, uniform, shoes and clothes.

I appreciate everyones comments and suggestions


golddigger

angchris

hiya:hello: you could definately save on the food budget and the kids lunch money, have a nosy at the os board for inspiration. for my sons packed lunches i make traybakes (homemade lemon drizzle mmmmmm!)/flapjacks etc and slice into individual portions wrap in greaseproof paper and freeze in a couple of big labelled tubs in my freezer so i always have an ongoing supply of goodies to give him and as they are frozen they are not easily accesible by my eating machine of a son (i find these are the expensive things to buy all those goodies from the shop add up) if you make a different thing every weekend and freeze then they have a good selection to choose from every day and its cheap i also make huge batches of sausage rolls cook them then wrap individually in tin foil and freeze and just take them out the night before to defrost. i also send my son to school with cold tuna pasta/salads and cous cous in tubs or homemade soup in a small flask when its cold or wraps with a small amount of grated cheese and loads of lettuce and a piece of fruit every day with a reusable bottle of squash or water. i reckon you could give all 4 of them a decent lunch for the week for well under a tenner.you could even make up the sandwiches for a week and freeze (no salad) if you cant be flaffed to make it every night. the key is to have lots of different size tubs to put lunches in but once you have those you are away! if you can get your mind into the right frameset im sure you could do it! best of luck...angchris