Here I am in debt again. 2nd time lucky

StressedSteph

Hi everyone,

Ok, so I have done it again. :mad:. We moved house three years ago and managed to virtually clear all our debts with left over cash.

Unfortunately due to a combination of the new house we bought being a total wreck, my car engine blowing up and me being TOTALLY useless with money we have managed to get ourselves back in to a large amount of debt.:(

I have done an SOA before I have really looked at the finances, so be kind to me. I havent looked through it all yet to see where I can cut back.

The SOA does'nt appear to be too bad as we have money left over each month. But heaven only knows where that money goes as we are ALWAYS broke.

I think the main problem is that because we live over 10 miles to the nearest decent shopping town, we have gotten into a bad habit of buying things we need from the internet. Where clothes and various other things are concerned I think it is more expensive as I dont see any bargains or sales etc.


Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 2
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2600
Partners monthly income after tax....... 561
Benefits................................ 135
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3296
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 701
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 189
Electricity............................. 113
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 85
Water rates............................. 75
Telephone (land line)................... 50
Mobile phone............................ 63
TV Licence.............................. 13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 65
Internet Services....................... 1.5
Groceries etc. ......................... 300
Clothing................................ 50
Petrol/diesel........................... 160
Road tax................................ 40
Car Insurance........................... 50
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 15
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 70
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 56
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 51
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 100
Haircuts................................ 47
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 50
Total monthly expenses.................. 2344.5

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 425000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 3000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 428000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
Mortgage...................... 150000...(701)......7
Total secured & HP debts...... 150000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
Littlewoods 2905 300
Next 1431 200
Tesco Credit Card..............5000......50........0
Barclay Card ..................882.......20........0
Virgin Credit Card.............3825......109.......1.87
Barclays Overdraft.............3000......100.......20
Total unsecured debts..........17043.....779.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,296
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,344.5
Available for debt repayments........... 951.5
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 779
Amount left after debt repayments....... 672.5
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 428,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -150,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -17,043
Net Assets.............................. 260,957
Created using the SOA calculator at www.stoozing.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

I desperately need to kick this Credit card habit. My husband is a self employed builder which is an unreliable income which occasionally leaves us without income for a few weeks when work goes quiet so I really need to wake up and get this debts gone and start on a savings pot.

Please be kind, I am a serial lurker but think the only way to kick me into action is to do this post and face your wrath.

My husband is much more sensible than me with money, so I think when the finances are more under control, I will hand it over to him. Then maybe when I want an impulse buy he will be the voice of reason.

I have started this diary to hope it helps me stick to getting debt free. I always start well and then give up after a few weeks.

Thanks

StressedSteph

StressedSteph

Right......My first job is to get rid of the overdraft. I dont feel like I can tackle any debts while my bank balance is £-3000.

I am off to search for anything around the house that isnt needed and can be sold on Ebay,

I am also going to use this thread as a Spending diary and am going to post everytime I am tempted to buy something so that I can hopefully, stop for a second, and not do it.:mad:

According to my SOA we have £670 free every month, and it should be more as I am not currently saving for car maintenance or birthdays etc. We are obviously frittering this away somewhere (Amazon / Ebay) so if I can stop some of that then to OD should dissappear fairly quickly.

Am also off to do the Snowball Calculator to see what year all this might have gone. :eek:

I am not expecting anyone to be interested in replying to my diary, it is mostly to keep me motivated, but if you want to offer in anything, that would be really lovely. Thanks

StressedSteph

StressedSteph

Just had to edit my SOA as had stupidly forgotten two big debts. (Littlewoods and Next) Makes everything a little tighter now and even more reason to get moving...Grrrr

elantan

Are you using a spending diary ?

StressedSteph

Hi Elantan,

I thought I would post my spending on here. Or do you think that would'nt be effective enough?.

Think I have just about scraped the Christmas presents together, kids arn't getting the big pile they usually expect but what can I do?. Just stocking fillers to be done now so only about £20 left to spend.

We are not having any visitors this Christmas so hopefully it should'nt be anymore expensive than a normal Sunday lunch.

So, there should'nt be any need for me to keep spending on misc things, although I know I will if I don't keep it in check.

Thanks for posting x

out_of_debt_at_last

I think a spend diary is a must in whatever form, it helped me realise what i was spending my money on, i thought i knew, then read the truth! Just be totally honest with yourselves and you got out of debt once so....

elantan

On here is a great idea as it may make you think, but having one with you ( I've just found a great app for my phone) will ensure you won't " forget" the odd thing

Xmas is very overrated, you have the perfect opportunity to start a new custom with your family ... One that celebrates each others company ... And I'm sure it will be those ones that will be remembered ... After all can u remember every present you ever recieved?

StressedSteph

Hi all, thanks for replying.

I think the main thing I worry about is dissappointed little faces on Christmas morning.

I have tried to explain to the children that I have to send Father Christmas the money each year for him to be able to bring the presents and as they get older their choices get more expensive (MP3 player, TV etc), so the money I send to him does'nt buy you as many toys as it used to. . I think they understand, but sooo scared of dissappointment on Christmas morning, I know unless I have iron will, I will end up buy extras :eek:.

Am pretty determined at the moment not to buy anything extra, am soooo fed up of having to pay all our spare cash to paying the debts and always worrying.

My mum has Dementia and my 8 year old son has just been diagnosed with ADD so I have enough on my plate without having to worry about how we are going to pay the bills :mad:.

I have to pop out today to get some basics (Potatoes, Cheese etc). We have lots of meat in the freezer so I just need to make sure I have the basics in the fridge, like veg and butter and we are ok for food.

Had £330 of Heating Oil delivered yesterday as we were freezing but haven't quite figured out how I will pay for it yet. Should be able to pay in in the next two or three weeks...Eeeek Hopefully they don't moan too much.

Well.....Yesterday I wrote down in a book all our Direct Debits. I am trying to figure out how much I need to leave in the bank every week to cover the DD's. I have a bad habit of seeing money in the account and thinking I can spend it, and then a large DD tries to go out and puts me over my overdraft.

I find tackling the OD really hard as it is just about NOT SPENDING, rather than paying off a bill. I have gotten so used to seeing us in the overdraft that I almost fool myself into thinking its my money.

Anyway I have gabbled enough for today......I think I will record my spending on here (Shame value) and also in a small notepad in my bag, then hopefully I will spot the signs when I start slipping.

Hope anyone that reads this has a good day.

StressedSteph

out_of_debt_at_last

Hi, the OD bit sounded like i had wrote it, it was a endless cycle never being able to get out of the overdraft!
I too write down all of our direct debits and any extra etc for the month and then leave that in the account and take any money that is left out and that then has to last us!
I found and still do dealing with real money in my grubby mitts the best way for us as a family, as we can see in real terms what we have and what we don't! it's hard and was a lot harder when we were in debt but i feel it was one of the best thing we did to help to get us out of debt and hopefully stay out!
If i had not read it on this this site though i would never have tried it so thanks again MSE!

[Deleted User]

StressedSteph wrote: »

I find tackling the OD really hard as it is just about NOT SPENDING, rather than paying off a bill. I have gotten so used to seeing us in the overdraft that I almost fool myself into thinking its my money.

Any chance you could arrange for all the DD to be paid, within a couple of days of the money going into the account?

Alternatively, could you open a separate account, into which you could transfer, by Standing Order (the day after pay day), enough money to cover all the DDs, and have the DDs paid from that account instead?

I use the 2 accounts method, and I find it works well for me.

StressedSteph

Well done for getting out of debt, it must be such a fantastic feeling.

I am the same, if I make sure I log onto here everyday and read a few posts, it gives me the strength to keep going.

I wish I did'nt have any Direct Debits, then I feel I could control my money better but thats impossible I suppose.

Keep going on your debt-free journey, It is sooooo easy to end up back in debt again, I can speak from experience.


I thought I would list for myself all the things I am already doing to save money and some new ideas:-

ALREADY DOING

Baking my own bread = Have worked out a HM loaf costs 40p
Baking my own cakes = for lunches, cheaper than Kipling.
Switch Electricity supplier - Saved £271

TO DO

Try as much as possible to hang washing on the line and not use the tumble drier.

Keep heating on low as possible during the day when only I am home to save money.

Make sure I grow loads of veg next year.

search house and sheds for Ebay items and get selling.


Have run out of ideas for the moment, will update list as they come.