Not sure what to do...

LondonGirl252

anxiety wrote: »

The final embarrassing and bizarre twist is that I am a trainee accountant! **** This is only a career development of the last couple of years- my debt was accumulated before then.


So now I have written it all down and got it off my chest. I know many many people are so much worse off than me but I am at a loss and I don't seem to be getting anywhere. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.:(

I just qualified and look at the state I got into, sometimes managing other people's money is much easier than our own.

Well done for getting it off your chest, I'll let those who know what they're talking about advise you on your SOA but thought your first post sounded really similar to mine so I wanted to share with you how I took control and maybe it would help you?

1) I made a spreadsheet like I would do a cash flow at work but with my own money. Income at the top, then known monthly outgoings, then one off outgoings for that particular month (have a column for each month so you can plan ahead for birthdays etc) then that leaves you with what you have left over for the month

2) I set myself a £10 a day cash spend for everything (bear in mind I don't use petrol so jiggle for what is realistic to you) and keep a spending diary so that you know where money is being spent unnessecarily and can curb it.

3) Leave the debit card at home and chop up the credit card. This reduces unplanned spending enourmously!

4) Throw everything else at the debt.

Good luck, I also kept a diary on here and you might benefit from the continued support that that gives you, I'm a year on and couldn't live without my diary and the gang who keep encouraging me

Little_Miss_Uni-Debt

Hello anxiety!

I was in this exact situation not long ago.

The main thing that really helped for me was getting a separate current account - (NO overdraft or direct debits set up) and having my wages paid in there. Then you have full control over where the money goes.

That means you're not living in your overdraft which is frustrating, depressing and often leads to bank charges as it fluctuates each month.

Actually you can start making some significant in roads to your debt very quickly, so you're fortunate.

I've noticed you have no TV license listed - is that right? Even if you have this years paid, you should be putting some aside for next years.

From what I gather your SOA looks like this

£1293 (take home)
£552 (goes to joint expenses - rent, G&E, water, phone )
£161 (loan & card payment
£580 (remaining for your own expenses)

The £580 remaining needs to go on

Petrol
Car insurance (this year)
Car insurance (next year - so you can pay in 1 go when it's due)
Mot
Tax
Service & Potential repairs
Entertainment
Clothes
Presents (birthdays)
Presents (christmas)
Mobile Phone
Over payments to debts

As you can see when £580 filters through all of the other categories first, not much is left for over payments at the end.

Having separate envelopes for each category may help. So you draw the cash out and split it up accordingly.

It's weird but if you don't physically push your money to where you want it to be, it feels like it just disappears!

Feel free to join us over on the 1% thread, I'm currently paying off a similar total to you!

[Deleted User]

anxiety wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1293Do you have any options to increase this? Also, you have mentioned that you are an accountancy trainee - will your income increase? Any time soon?
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1320
Total monthly income.................... 2613[/b]

Monthly Expense Details
Rent.................................... 500Is this competitive for where you are living? Could you move to a cheaper area/smaller property?
Council tax............................. 120Is this over 10 or 12 months? - if 10, ask your council if you can spread over 12
Electricity............................. 20
Gas..................................... 20
Water rates............................. 30
Mobile phone............................ 15Is this PAYG or contract - Search around for a better deal for your usage - try looking at GiffGaff
TV Licence.............................. 0??
Internet Services....................... 15
Groceries etc. ......................... 400I think that you can easily reduce this, and by a lot. Easily by £100-£150 and probably more depending on how much time you can invest in it. Try batch cooking when you cook (so make one portion and freeze 3 etc), also drop brands (try own brand), also try Lidl/Aldi, write a list of what you need before you go (and stick to it), don't shop hungry, cook from sctatch (instead of semi-prepared, or prepared meals), try cutting out or down alcohol
Clothing................................ 0Put something here, so that if you do need to have something replaced you'll not have to reach for cards etc
Petrol/diesel........................... 150Is a car a necessity? A bus pass could be cheaper? Or cycle/walk either some or all of the time - are any of these realistic options?
Road tax................................ 0??Budget for this, again so you don't have to reach for credit
Car Insurance........................... 90
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0Also, budget something here.
Car parking............................. 0Is this accurate?
Other travel............................ 0Compare to see if this would be cheaper
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0never?
Contents insurance...................... 0You probably need this
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20Does this get saved somewhere for when it's needed?
Haircuts................................ 0Never? Chech to see if you have a local college that does free or trainee cuts for cheap
Entertainment........................... 30What does this cover? Is it good value?
Emergency fund.......................... 0Again, you might want to start to put (just a small amount) here, so that if something crops up that's unexpected, you can cover it
Total monthly expenses.................. 1410


Assets
Cash.................................... 0Cash for non-monthly bills?
Car(s).................................. 1000
Total Assets............................ 1000[/b]

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Credit card....................1800......36........17Have you stopped spending on this?
Bank Loan......................3025......125.......28Are you allowed to overpay this without incurring any early repayment charges? As this is the debt that's costing you the most in interest, it would make sense to overpay on this one before tackling the others
Overdraft......................1200......0.........0Is this free? If so don't worry about this one until CC is repaid. If is free, is this for a certain period only? And if that's the case, when will a charge be added to this?
Total unsecured debts..........6025......161.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,613
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,410
Available for debt repayments........... 1,203
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 161
Amount left after debt repayments....... 1,042Well, according to this, you have plenty to overpay the debts. Is all of this your disposable income, or does your OH have further expenses from this. If you keep your finances seperate, perhapse make a new SOA based on your income and expenditure only (or your income and his contribution to shared bills and expenses). This way you will know what you have available to overpay debts.If this is available for debt repayment then overpay this towards the debt that's costing you the most in interest (loan) unless there's a penalty charge. If you don't have this left at the end of the month, then keep a spending diary to see where it all goes.

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 1,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -6,025
Net Assets.............................. -5,025



All figures are approximate as I do not have my paperwork to hand for interest rates etcTry and identify these when you can.

Comments above, HTH,

D9