Taking control, 1 penny at a time

DFW_dee

I've been receiving the MSE email for a while now and lurking about reading forums for inspiration, but I still don't feel in control. I am hoping by keeping an online diary and actually participarting on the forums will help me take control of my money situation again.

I don't have a lot of debt. I made the mistake of renting a house with my boyfriend in February last year. It was only a few months previous to that he had moved back to this country from the canaries. He had no credit rating so wasn't passing credit checks. He had money in the bank (or so he said) and had got a job so i thought i would help him out and get a tenancy with him. Just as we got the house he suffered a personal tragedy and had a bit of a breakdown - he was never here, he worked away all the time. I tried to build a happy home but it didn't work. He never paid the rent or gave me any money towards anything so i ended up using credit cards and pay day loans to cope.

I was left in a position where i couldn't go running back to mum and dads like i'd done in the past because i've now got a mental dog.

By August last year I had hit total crisis point in the debt spiral and got some expert help in the form of a debt management plan. I know its better and cheaper to try and sort these things without one but i was on the verge of a breakdown.

The annoying thing is it isn't even a vast amount of money. Maybe about 2k left to pay off which on my current DMP will take me to June next year.

What is still getting me down is that i have everything i need to spend on rent, bills etc written down along with what i should be able to spend on food, cleaning products etc and i should have some money left over to either have some fun or save some money - but i always end up completely broke 2 weeks after pay day. I dont buy branded products, I don't even eat very healthily any more which, combined with being stressed, means i seem to always have a dreadful cold and bad skin, which makes me more miserable and stressed!! I cant remember the last time i went out to the cinema, or for a nice meal, or bought myself some clothes.

This is where the diary and the forum come into place. I start admitting every penny i spend, i join some challenges, set some goals - TAKE CONTROL!!

And after getting all that off my chest i need a brew....

DFW_dee

Still not had a brew. Done an SOA and now i am wound up!! I'm sure this has got to be all i am spending but where is this £208 i'm supposed to have left? I will find it!!! Its pay day on Thursday so i am going to keep every single receipt and write down every bit of spending and every penny i put into my little sealed tub at work.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1304.48
Other income............................ 25
Total monthly income.................... 1329.48
Monthly Expense Details

Rent.................................... 475
Council tax............................. 129
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 35
Water rates............................. 38.75
Mobile phone............................ 15
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Virgin TV+internet...................... 36
Groceries etc. ......................... 120
Clothing................................ 10
Bus..................................... 36

Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20

Total monthly expenses.................. 966.87


No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
DMP............................2156......154.......0
Total unsecured debts..........2156......154.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,329.48
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 966.87
Available for debt repayments........... 362.61
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 154
Amount left after debt repayments....... 208.61
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -2,156
Net Assets.............................. -2,156


There is no APR on the debt because it is with a management plan and the payments are fixed and they estimated it will take until June to sort out.

Upsidedown_Bear

Hello and welcome :hello:

Here you go :coffee:
You're doing really well and next June is not that far away.

Definitely keep a spending diary, it'll show you exactly where the money is going.

Have you had a look at the Old Style board?
They know everything there is to know about being thrifty and stretching the pennies.

DFW_dee

Thanks for that!

I am going to head over there now and have a toot. Thanks for the tip. I think saving money where i can will be the best way for me to get on top of things. I don't have a lot i could sell. I cant spend much time online for surveys etc. I don't like shopping online (so no cashback sites).

My problem is i am so impatient! I want to be debt free now, i want my credit rating restored now, i want 10k savings now! I want to buy a house and go on holiday and learn to drive now now NOW!

RIght, i'm off to learn how to be thrifty!

DFW_dee

Hi,

Time for a quick update.

Thursday was payday and I decided to invest in a notebook (59p), split it into 4 sections using sticky notes from work (Food, Dog, House, Other), with a little envelope glued to the inside of the back cover to keep receipts in.

I plan on spending £100 until next payday on the first 3 catagories and i am writing down everything i buy. At the end of the month i can review what was a waste of money (if its still in the cupboard) and track my "other" purchases to see what i need to be budgeting for.

£100 for a months worth of supplies doesn't seem like i'm going to have much fun but i have a freezer full of homemade soups, chilli, spag bol, curry and sausage casserole along with lots of veg, a couple of barms and some yorkshire puds so i am not buying anything other than essentials until i have eaten all this. Essentials include milk, yoghurt, fruit, bread. I think i am being fairly realistic giving myself a £60 food budget, then spending £22 on the dog (i get 15k food off amazon for £15, the rest is for treats which i mostly get from B&M, my dad gets him bones free off a local butcher).

The remaining £18 if for house stuff - loo roll (got 18 for £3.49 on thurs), cleaning stuff, laundry stuff etc which i shop around to get good deals on.

I am an avon rep too which will never make me lots of money but i am getting toiletries out of my commission every 3 weeks.

I feel bad posting such a long message in one go!!

Last week I did have a good toot on the boards and found the weekly cleaning challenge thing so decided to keep myself busy with that (hence lack of smaller updates), and i've decided to grow a bit of salad in the garden for summer and get myself a bread maker (if i have stuck to my budget at the end of the month)

All in all i'd say its so far so good.

Upsidedown_Bear

All sounds good

Bread maker is a good idea. Just making some bread in ours now. I love it.

It's your diary so write as much or little as you want

DFW_dee

I used to have a bread maker a few years ago and loved it but my mum broke it. It was happily baking away nearly at the end and she accidentally switched it off at the plug, panicked, switched it back on and pressed "go" so it tried to kneed already baked bread and it burnt out the motor.

I've just checked on ebay and noticed i've actually got bids on 2 items i listed. Squealed and did a little dance round the living room! I've never sold anything on there before i'm so excited! haha

Lurker1972

Nothing much to add other than the spending diary should help you locate that lost money

Is your council tax over 10 or 12 months ? Free months are nice ( useful in my book) but reducing the payment help with budgeting.

Oh & good luck!!

DFW_dee

Its all gone wrong!! I put receipts to one side to fill in my spend diary at a more convenient time and my fella threw them away to help me tidying up!!

Also, he's moved in.

This is good because i'm not rattling around the house on my own, bad because its thrown a few little plans with my budget up in the air and i'm now going to have to get into a new routine before I can get back to budgeting for it.

He moved in because he got a job close to my house and it makes sense for him to live here, but he wont get paid for a while so now i'm panicking about feeding 2 of us for the month (and him always using the dryer) until he gets paid! He has gone working at his uncles pub this weekend to make a few quid to do some grocery shopping though.

It feel good to write down that panic. I've managed to catch a cold which i can only account to the stress of it all!!

Hopefully when he starts getting paid we will be able to work out a financial arrangement which will mean i dont have to stress about money so much anymore.

On a more positive note (sort of) i went shopping today and got a surprised myself at how little i spent whilst poorly (depleated brain power)

Ham shank (£1.99), quick soak peas (50p) bag of carrots (50p) bag of onions (90p) = 4 portions of pea and ham soup fpr 97p per portion, and will have lots of carrots left for snacking and treats for the dog (he's a bit daft) and lots of onions left over for other dishes.

Also on the local market i got some stewing steak. Normally i only get pre-packaged meat from the supermarket because i can see how much it costs up front. Anyhoo, i asked her for eough for a stew for 2 people and it was 2.25. Also picked up a bag of pot herbs (i know its lazy but im sick!) for 85p and while i was there got 2 pretty big tubs of blueberries for a quid. bargain!

In reply to the above, the council tax payments are 5 months at that amount because of a minor mistake on my part last year. I was looking forward to it halving in the new council tax year but losing out on the single person discount means it will be about £100 over 10 months.

My first few ebay items sold last week netting me £17.60 which was nice, and as its a free listing weekend again i'm ngoing to have a route around the house to see what else i can flog.

DFW_dee

I have a new obsession! Swagbucks! I read a thread about it and thought id have a look. I've been a member now for a week and hit my target every day and i'm about 60 SB off my first £5 amazon voucher :j

As far as my finances go - i have no stress this month. All bills are paid, the fridge is full, the dogs ha his nackers lobbed off (consequently wearing a cone of shame which he's using to ruin all the wallpaper in every room), i have money to one side for bus tickets and fresh food i will need. This is largely down to my new housemate! We dont have a firm financial agreement in place but we'll work it out eventually.

The plan for April, even though it isn't upon us yet, is to have enough money left at the end of the month to pay an extra £50 off my DMP.

I've kind of got a grip with the spend diary again and started to realise where the money is going that i never remember to account for - e-cig refills and packets of fags for when i'm really wound up! Also i under estimate how much i spend on birthdays, how much i fritter away on extras for lunch at work which i dont need or when i forget my lunch, extra treats fot the dog which i buy every time i go shopping. If i stopped spending money on this [EMAIL="!!!!"]!!!![/EMAIL] i could be debt free a few months quicker and maybe even, dare i say it, go clothes shopping!! I haven't done that for so long!

I'm off, there's swagbucks to be earned!

scubaangel

Well done on Swagbucking - I'm having a seriously demotivated period with it at the moment but over the last 12 months have cashed out 4x £100 to paypal.