Here I am in debt again. 2nd time lucky

rising_from_the_ashes

Hi Steph, welcome & wishing you the best on your DF journey.

Spending diary - it absolutely 100% has to go everywhere with you - whether a diary, notebook or app on your phone - as you need to write down everything (even 30p for a newspaper) for it to really work.

If it's not with you & you don't write it down straight away - you forget! (been there!)

I've made a few comments on your SOA - hope you don't mind .... things to think about / try to reduce to help towards the debt clearing

StressedSteph wrote: »

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 This is really high - shop around for a better deal. As a comparison I pay less than £20 for L/line and B/band - incl anytime calls
Mobile phone............................ 63 Try to downgrade the packages / cancel at end of contracts & find better deals - ideally wants to be about £10 / month per phone
TV Licence.............................. 13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 65 Sorry but not an essential - switch to FreeSat or at a minimum downgrade the package to the basic channels (around £22.50 / month) - another £40 - 65 towards the debts each month is quite a lot!
Internet Services....................... 1.5
Groceries etc. ......................... 300 Should be able to get around £75 off this - try the Grocery Challenge on the Old Style board. Friendly bunch, great tips & some fab recipes
Clothing................................ 50
Petrol/diesel........................... 160
Road tax................................ 40
Car Insurance........................... 50 Check comparison sites at renewal times
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 15
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 70 ??
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0 Need something in here for Hubby?
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 56 This is high - even incl contents. Try comparison sites
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 51
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 100 Ouch! 2 kids = £10 / month (total) + £10 extra so that's £20 - saving £80 / month
Haircuts................................ 47 Another ouch! Cut the kids (or get friends / relatives to do). Extra week between cuts etc & reduce to £10 to £20 / month
Entertainment........................... 0 Need something in here
Holiday................................. 0 And here - even £10
Emergency fund.......................... 50 Good!
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.

The money for annual things - car tax, maintenance & emergency fund .... do you put this somewhere?

If not, you really need to set up a separate account for these & put the money in each month & not touch it, so it's there for when needed (easier said than done, I know!).

Re the separate account for bills that Bedsit Bob has suggested, I was advised to do this (when I bought my house) and, honestly, it's the best bit of advice I've ever had.

I put a set amount in on payday and that's it - don't need to worry that a d/debit won't be paid etc ...... but you have to be strict with yourself - I don't ever touch this account for anything else!

Hope that provides a little food for thought ..... best of luck

StressedSteph

Thanks so much for your replies.

I am really interested in the 2 accounts idea. Will have to give it a little thought as hubby gets paid weekly so is a little more complicated than having 1 monthly wage.

Thanks you Rising from the Ashes for looking at my SOA.

The Telephone is higher because its a little complicated - We moved house a year ago and as hubby is Self employed we VOIPED our number to our new house and that is why it is expensive. We are slowly phasing out the old number, but still have to find the money to change sign writing, business cards etc before we can get rid of that number. :mad:

The Mobile phone costs are for two Iphones , yes I know, we are weak. We are both locked into contracts, but I will give them a call to see if this can be reduced.

Am calling Sky today to get rid of the HD package and anything else. Unfortunately I am too scared to get rid of sports as its me that has wracked up this debt, not really hubby and he would go mad if his sports went. He would probably rather not eat :mad:

Will check out the Old style board for the food, not seen that forum yet.

That car insurance is for my car and hubbys van, always use gocompare so hopefully that is a good deal.

Buildings insurance is abit high, because we live on a small farm so have alot to insure. Recently tried two other companies but its the cheapest I can get.

The £100 per month saving for birthdays & Christmas I agree is too much. That was allowing me to spend £300 each on our 2 children for Birthdays and Christmas. I agree though, in our current situation that that is way too much. In reality I am not saving that money, I just try to find it when the date comes round...Not good

Embarrassingly, the haircut costs is just for me . I currently cut my hubbys and my sons hair at home. I am not a natural blonde :rotfl:so I have roots to upkeep. Will try to add an extra 2 weeks onto my hairdos or maybe try being brown for a while.

We have no holiday fund, living on a farm makes holidays virtually impossible so thats not needed.

I do need to cover entertainment, hubby takes £10 per week to play skittles so forgot that bit.

You have given me alot to think about though, so will get on with that. Thanks so much xxx

Fae

Hi Steph,

Going to subscribe and keep you company on your debt free journey.
A spending diary is a great idea it's amazing how all those little spends soon add up.

It sounds like you are making a good start with the things that you already d and the extra things you are going to look at. Once you start looking at how much you spend and where, it's suprising how many areas you realise you can cut back and how much that can help on paying back the debts.

Good luck on your Journey

Fae

elantan

I do the two account system myself, wouldn't have it any other way tbh

StressedSteph

Fae wrote: »

Hi Steph,

Going to subscribe and keep you company on your debt free journey.
A spending diary is a great idea it's amazing how all those little spends soon add up.

It sounds like you are making a good start with the things that you already d and the extra things you are going to look at. Once you start looking at how much you spend and where, it's suprising how many areas you realise you can cut back and how much that can help on paying back the debts.

Good luck on your Journey

Fae

Thanks for joining me Fae, I need all the help i can get.
I am famous for being really enthusiastic when starting something and then forgetting/not bothering after a few weeks. unfortunately getting out of debt takes months & years so I really need to grow up and keep at it.

I think this website combined with this thread will hopefully keep me going.

We are raising 18 Turkeys for this Christmas so hoping to sell all of those which will pay a big chunk off my overdraft. I also don't get paid the money until around Christmas eve so it will be too late to dash out and spend the Turkey money on pointless Christmas stuff just because I feel the pressure to make Christmas a big event.


On the subject of turkeys I have to go out and buy some more Turkey feed today. Really annoying how they get through it so quickly. I need to make sure I charge enough for these turkeys to get my money back. .

Have a good day today xxx

elantan

oooo keeping turkeys, thats very interesting, is this something you do every year?

cymrumam

Try setting up a budget account for your oil - its great because you pay monthly interest free and no big bills !

StressedSteph

elantan wrote: »

oooo keeping turkeys, thats very interesting, is this something you do every year?

Its our 2nd year. We have 6 acres here so we try to do as many money making schemes as possible.

Going to start veg next year and try to sell veg boxes from the gate. the eggs we sell go quickly but unless you have millions of chickens theres not much profit in it.

StressedSteph

cymrumam wrote: »

Try setting up a budget account for your oil - its great because you pay monthly interest free and no big bills !

Have thought about paying our local oil supplier (Darch Oil) but am abit worried I wont get a competative rate. I def need to start a savings pot for it somewhere as its a big payment and very chilly if we don't afford it

[Deleted User]

StressedSteph wrote: »

Will try to add an extra 2 weeks onto my hairdos or maybe try being brown for a while.

There's nothing wrong with brown hair.

I prefer brunettes to blondes.

BTW. What's the going rate for turkey slaughtering?