oh my life...... Light Bulb moment.

julie2710

Thanks lesley_rod. It's Christmas where I've tended to over indulge them more really and definitely need to cut back so might try your idea. I try and give them experiences for their birthdays rather than gifts. Something that they will remember. Might have to cut back on those too though but for now the occasional extra special treat makes it all bearable for all of us. As far as sticking to things goes I'm pretty good at not backing down to pressure and to be fair to the boys they aren't the sort to go down the pester power route. Probably because they know it won't get them anywhere

Granariesgirl

MiMi66 -
As they say in France: "Courage ma belle!"
Have subscribed & will be cheering you all the way to your £0 Debt Day.
:T

Skinnylatte

Congrats Mimi on the sub £20000. Kids/christmas/birthday's it's so difficult isn't it? I'm still thinking how to handle that one as the birthays are all near Christmas

MiMi66

Oh you guys are so good to be with on my journey! The messages on my thread do give me such hope and a sense of solidarity especially when I need the group hug things!
Granariesgirl I love your green gremlin! That's how I feel tonight. I've had a tough evening money wise - my ex text me to say he's stopping paying maintenance for our oldest as she is 18 even though she is staying on at college for another year. So he's saying he's going to cut £150 off what he contributes. That equates to killing off my ability to keep things afloat and I am faced with tough decisions about the house. Absolutely hollowed out with anxiety. I cried. Lots. My son saw and try to console me and ended up crying too so I feel awful and guilty about that. He already suffers in regard to feeling his Dad doesn't prioritise him over his step sons. My son was really taken aback when his father introduced him to friends along with one of his stepson, and introduced them as 'my sons'. DS waited for his dad to correct what he thought was a mistake. Needless to say that didn't happen. So the cutting of money into our household from his Dad feels like another abandonment. I've never been sure how much to be open and honest with the children about how their father is with money and support. But they are old enough now to see it in action.
And yes I made it under £20000 - albeit briefly as I had to do a card balance transfer and got hit with a fee - nearly £200. But it's 0% for a year now. Ho hum. But back under £20000 in 3 weeks time! Might be the last reasonable payment I make due to the tighter household figures but I should manage the minimums plus a tiny bit more on each. I shall keep going. If the worse comes to worse it means sell our home and rent. Or if I can struggle along til pension age I can pay the remaining debt off with my lump sum. I really would rather it gone before that though.

Ah life. So tears tonight and wakefulness. It's even taken the gloss off the bike project as I am feeling guilty now about it. The extra shifts I have done just about cover it, and I'll keep doing those for the garage repairs and Christmas (amazing how we are all thinking about Christmas isn't it!!)
I did another shift last Sunday, it's great but I can feel exhaustion setting in what with working full time already.
The bike is nearly ready to go! Hopefully I will save some diesel in cutting back on little local journeys.

So one big group hug please everyone, and yes single parents rock ��we are creative, flexible, skilled in problem solving, humorous (you have to laugh at this much debt else you'd collapse!) multitaskers! So strive on everyone!

Skinnylatte

Aaw that's rubbish about your maintenance payments, what a tit. :grouphug:

MiMi66

Skinnylatte wrote: »

Aaw that's rubbish about your maintenance payments, what a tit. :grouphug:

Hi Skinnylatte - That's exactly the right word for him! Thanks

MiMi66

Well tonight I've been pondering my situation. I have looked at the figures and have to accept that I have to get tighter than I have been and I thought I was tight enough. I am going to see again if I can get remortgaged - might leave it a little bit as I got knocked back earlier this year. I just feel overwhelmed I guess with fear and worry and it might be that I have to sell to free up equity to pay off my debt. I really do not want to though. Our house is very ordinary - not really something I can downsize from.
I will do an SOA as I have been a bit shy about that so far. Maybe some ideas from other people might help.

MiMi66

SOA

INCOME.
Salary 2225
Child maintenance 260
Child benefit 80
TOTAL. 2565


OUTGOINGS


Mortgage 1. 529
Mortgage 2. 98
Water. 106
Council tax. 105
Electricity. 43
Gas. 76
Petrol. 120
Car Lease 65 + 35 tax ( both taken out of salary before tax)
Pet insurance. 35
Boiler cover. 15
Home repair insu 20
Build &contents. 28
Life insurance. 20
Mortgage life insurance. 15
Kids savings. 30
Bank account fee. 10 provides mobile ph cover and Lovefim
Mobile phones 45 am reducing this at soonest point in contract (2 phones - mine and daughters)
Home ph/Internet. 20
Pet costs 50 food and litter
Clothes shoes 60
Food & household. 400
Social 60 between kids and self
School/ work pack lunches for 3 80


Equals 2085




DEBT payments - min payment PLUS a little bit.
MBNA. 6096. 95

Halifax. 6290 62

Nat west. 7927 70

Payment for bike 50


Income. 2565
Out. 2362
Remainder 203 - ISA.


Dare I ask what other people think?

Weird_Nev

I think you're doing brilliantly, and the below is just what jumps out at me.

MiMi66 wrote: »

SOA

INCOME.
Salary 2225
Child maintenance 260
Child benefit 80
TOTAL. 2565


OUTGOINGS


Mortgage 1. 529
Mortgage 2. 98
Water. 106 Seems very high - monthly? Is this metered? Can it be reduced?
Council tax. 105
Electricity. 43
Gas. 76
Petrol. 120
Car Lease 65 + 35 tax ( both taken out of salary before tax)
Pet insurance. 35
Boiler cover. 15 Do you really need this boiler cover? does it actually cover what you need it to cover? Will it pay for a new boiler if the worst happens? We ran a 20 year old boiler for 5 years with £180 in repairs.
Home repair insu 20 What is home repairs insurance? Do you need it over and above buildings and content insurance
Build &contents. 28
Life insurance. 20
Mortgage life insurance. 15 What overlap is there between the life insurance and mortgage life insurance? Will they both pay out in the event of death? What is their actual benefit? Do you need both or is there a single product which meets your needs better?
Kids savings. 30
Bank account fee. 10 provides mobile ph cover and Lovefim
Mobile phones 45 am reducing this at soonest point in contract (2 phones - mine and daughters)
Home ph/Internet. 20
Pet costs 50 food and litter
Clothes shoes 60
Food & household. 400
Social 60 between kids and self
School/ work pack lunches for 3 80


Equals 2085




DEBT payments - min payment PLUS a little bit.
MBNA. 6096. 95

Halifax. 6290 62

Nat west. 7927 70

Payment for bike 50


Income. 2565
Out. 2362
Remainder 203 - ISA.


Dare I ask what other people think?

Orange_Ena

MiMi66 wrote: »

SOA

INCOME.
Salary 2225
Child maintenance 260
Child benefit 80
TOTAL. 2565


OUTGOINGS


Mortgage 1. 529
Mortgage 2. 98
Water. 106
Council tax. 105
Electricity. 43 I'm not sure how big your house is and I know you don't live alone but I pay £45 a month for gas AND electric. I am on my own in a 2 bed. Have you checked uSwitch? I've just moved to a new tarriff with EDF (not a full switch) through topcashback and uSwitch and I should be getting £22 cashback and 6 bottles of wine. Nice little incentives!!
Gas. 76
Petrol. 120 I get emails from petrolprices.com telling me where the cheapest nearest petrol is. I usually go to the supermarkets anyway for the points personally but may be of use to you!
Car Lease 65 + 35 tax ( both taken out of salary before tax)
Pet insurance. 35
Boiler cover. 15 With this and the home repair insurance you're paying £420 a year. Is it worth it? Can you shop around for cheaper?
Home repair insu 20
Build &contents. 28 Have you shopped around for cheaper? I just used to get Swint0ns to do mine and acepted for years what they said about price increases. When I actually bothered to check myself online, I was :eek:. I was paying £28 a month (£336 a year) 2 years ago, but when I checked a year ago I got it for £96. More than adequate cover. I've just had my renewal and its £109 this year but I'm still going to check for something cheaper
Life insurance. 20
Mortgage life insurance. 15
Kids savings. 30
Bank account fee. 10 provides mobile ph cover and Lovefim
Mobile phones 45 am reducing this at soonest point in contract (2 phones - mine and daughters)
Home ph/Internet. 20
Pet costs 50 food and litter
Clothes shoes 60
Food & household. 400 Have you looked on the Old Style boards? You may be able to save something here. With school and work lunches you're spending £480 a month. I don't have a family to feed but I've seen people commenting on other peoples SOA's and they seem to think its doable for less than that!
Social 60 between kids and self
School/ work pack lunches for 3 80


Equals 2085




DEBT payments - min payment PLUS a little bit.
MBNA. 6096. 95

Halifax. 6290 62

Nat west. 7927 70

Payment for bike 50


Income. 2565
Out. 2362
Remainder 203 - ISA.


Dare I ask what other people think?

Hey there, just delurking to say hi and to comment what is hopefully helpful above. Been following your thread a little while and you are doing so well, despite you're ex being a tit! I haven't used that expression about someone for ages and that other poster reminded me I must use it more! :rotfl:

You mentioned potato dauphinoise a little while ago and I've made it twice since then! Yummy yummy, but curse you! Its no good for my diet! ;)

All the best