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Hoping for a brighter future!

tatabubbly
tatabubbly Posts: 909 Forumite
Seventh Anniversary Combo Breaker
in Debt free diaries
Hi Guys!

This is my second DFD.. I did have a diary ages ago but thought starting a new one would definitely help!!

So I guess I'm not in much debt here compared to other people but I'm constantly up to my limit with my cc which is about €500! My main aim of my diary is to definitely help me keep track of my spending and also, to help me save for the future! I want to get over my reliance on CC and stick to my budgets!! :o


I'm tatabubbly, I live with my OH and doggie! I work full time and my OH is unfortunately unemployed but looking hard for a job! Our current situation is that we are renting for the foreseeable future and will eventually get round to saving for a house deposit! :rotfl:

Hope to hear from a lot of you and here's to MSE existance :T
094 Sealed pot member! :beer: (7) €185 (8) €138 (9) €€250
Saving for our first home!
«134567…13

Comments

  • tatabubbly
    tatabubbly Posts: 909 Forumite
    Seventh Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Here is my SOA! Hoping someone can help me here with some of it!

    Monthly Income Details
    Income from Employment (after tax). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1241.88
    State Pension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0.00
    Private Pension / Annuity Payout. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Benefits (Inc. Child Benefit/Tax Credits & Income Support). . . . . . . . . . . 752
    Income From Savings & Investments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00.00

    Monthly Expense Details

    In Your Home

    Mobile Phone(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70.00 (One phone contract up in June so it should go down after this!
    TV Licence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Internet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38.00
    Home Phone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Cleaning Products/Cleaner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.00
    Garden Maintenance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Household Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.00
    Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40.00
    Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50.00
    Gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Overdraft Cost. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Bank Account Fee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Rent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 600.00
    Food and Household Shopping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .200 ( really need to get a handle on this as it is between 2 people!)
    Drinks for Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.00

    Motoring & Public Transport

    Petrol/Diesel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80.00 per month
    Parking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0.00
    Car Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
    Car Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00 (paid off for the next two months and I don't know if we are getting a new car!)
    Car Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00
    Rail/Bus/Taxi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

    Debt Repayments

    Credit Card Repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . €500 owing on it atm :mad:
    Hire Purchase Repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Personal Loan Repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Car Loan Repayments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

    Savings & Investments

    Pension Payments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Buying Shares . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Investments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Mini Cash ISAs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Lump Sum Saving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Regular Saving. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80.00 per month

    Family

    Pet Food. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.00
    Laundry/Dry Cleaning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.33
    Pet Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Travel Insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

    Entertainment

    Satellite/Digital TV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27.00
    Cinema/Theatre Trips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.00
    Books/Music/Films/Computers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.00
    Big Days Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Shopping for Fun. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50.00
    Hobbies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    DVD Rental. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Drinking Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50.00
    Eating Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43.33

    Clothes, Health & Beauty

    Complimentary Therapies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Optical Bills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Haircuts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.00
    Dentistry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200.00 as I have braces
    Beauty Treatments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00
    Healthcare Cashplans. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Dental Insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Private Medical Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 p/mth through work
    Fitness/Sports/Gym. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Work Clothes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.67
    New Clothes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.50

    Education & Courses

    University Tuition Fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    School Fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Your Courses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

    Big One Offs

    Funeral Expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Wedding Expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00 BUT will be coming up!
    Sofa/Kitchen/TV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Birthdays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Winter Holiday. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Summer Holiday. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Christmas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

    Odds & Sods

    Newspapers & Magazines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Tax & NI Provisions (self-employed only). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Regular Charity Donations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Meals at work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00
    Smokes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
    Coffees/Sandwiches/Snacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20


    Total monthly income. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1993.88


    Total monthly expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,784.17

    So I know I'm going wrong somewhere! Here it says I'm balancing the books with some money left over but at the moment I'm not really. OH is saving his money for engagement ring so we're short atm.

    I really need to cut down on spending. I realised this weekend when I went out with my friends how much I've began to spend without noticing!

    Well, no more! Tomorrow, I'm writing down every penny me and OH are spending. I have to start saving money every month! I've a number of things like birthdays, weddings, and holidays that I want to partake in but currently are very broke!
    094 Sealed pot member! :beer: (7) €185 (8) €138 (9) €€250
    Saving for our first home!
  • Hiddenidenity
    Hiddenidenity Posts: 5,423 Forumite
    Do you always pay the card in full as you have put that at £500 a month? Is it always this?

    Keep a spending diary to see where every penny goes, it will help fill in where the amount that you should have left is going. It's a real eye opener to write down every single drink choc bar etc it makes you realise how much it does add up too.

    Good luck and I will follow *Subscribes*
  • beanielou
    beanielou Posts: 98,831 Ambassador
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Academoney Grad Mortgage-free Glee!
    Some of your expenses are very very high.
    Mobiles and internet jumped out as did 200 for dentistry~is this a typo?~200 a month?
    Your entertainment is high.
    If you cut this down even for just a couple of months you could make a dent in your CC.
    What are you saving for?
    Overall you are doing well if a CC with 500 on it is your only debt though!
    I am a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on Mortgage Free Wannabe & Local Money Saving Scotland & Disability Money Matters. If you need any help on those boards, do let me know.Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any post you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button , or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own & not the official line of Money Saving Expert.

    Lou~ Debt free Wanabe No 55 DF 03/14.**Credit card debt free 30/06/10~** MFW. Finally mortgage free O2/ 2021****
    "A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of" Jane Austen in Mansfield Park.
    ***Fall down seven times,stand up eight*** ~~Japanese proverb.     ***Keep plodding*** Out of debt, out of danger.
    One debt remaining. Home improvement loan. 20 months left.
  • Callie221
    Callie221 Posts: 1 Newbie
    tatabubbly wrote: »
    Hi Guys!

    This is my second DFD.. I did have a diary ages ago but thought starting a new one would definitely help!!

    So I guess I'm not in much debt here compared to other people but I'm constantly up to my limit with my cc which is about €500! My main aim of my diary is to definitely help me keep track of my spending and also, to help me save for the future! I want to get over my reliance on CC and stick to my budgets!! :o


    I'm tatabubbly, I live with my OH and doggie! I work full time and my OH is unfortunately unemployed but looking hard for a job! Our current situation is that we are renting for the foreseeable future and will eventually get round to saving for a house deposit! :rotfl:

    Hope to hear from a lot of you and here's to MSE existance :T
    Hi there I am callie 221 and I am in a similar situation to you, except that my partner and I are both currently employed. We too are looking to save up for a deposit but it is proving difficult as we are going to be soon paying in the region of £1000+ a month and bills to rent in London I have no idea how we will save! :(
  • tatabubbly
    tatabubbly Posts: 909 Forumite
    Seventh Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Hey guys! Yep, €500 on my cc is the only debt I had, I felt like I should put it in to just balance the books so to speak!

    €200 on dentist every month isn't a typo... I got braces 2 months ago :( Badly needed but I did shop around for the lowest price, you don't get them done for free in Ireland. On the bright side, once I finish my course of treatment I get €640 back in tax!

    Internet is low as it can be in Ireland for were I live and I'm getting rid of the bill phone in june so it'll be €40 for me and my OHs two phones from then on! If I can get it lower I will ;)


    Spending diary update:

    So far this week I have spent 90c.. I bought a cuppa tea and a bar in work. I also did 1.5 hours overtime today.. I'm hoping more overtime will become available readily as I finish my probation in June!
    094 Sealed pot member! :beer: (7) €185 (8) €138 (9) €€250
    Saving for our first home!
  • beanielou
    beanielou Posts: 98,831 Ambassador
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Academoney Grad Mortgage-free Glee!
    So when you get the tax back that would pay off the CC.
    I am a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on Mortgage Free Wannabe & Local Money Saving Scotland & Disability Money Matters. If you need any help on those boards, do let me know.Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any post you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button , or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own & not the official line of Money Saving Expert.

    Lou~ Debt free Wanabe No 55 DF 03/14.**Credit card debt free 30/06/10~** MFW. Finally mortgage free O2/ 2021****
    "A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of" Jane Austen in Mansfield Park.
    ***Fall down seven times,stand up eight*** ~~Japanese proverb.     ***Keep plodding*** Out of debt, out of danger.
    One debt remaining. Home improvement loan. 20 months left.
  • tatabubbly
    tatabubbly Posts: 909 Forumite
    Seventh Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Yep beanie, but thats not for ages! LOL

    So todays massive spends was 10c on tea in work. It works out cheaper for me to pay for my milk in work by cup of tea rather than buy a small carton!!

    Spent the night at a friends house saving electricity and the oil in my house! I'm nearly tempted to start charging my phone at work!

    I've had a packed lunch all week and I guess I'm saving every day I take in my leftovers for lunch! It is cost effective and I'm lucky we have a massive canteen and 3 microwaves
    094 Sealed pot member! :beer: (7) €185 (8) €138 (9) €€250
    Saving for our first home!
  • excited_to_be_free
    excited_to_be_free Posts: 112 Forumite
    Do you not pay TV license?
    LBM March 2013 DFD August 2016 :beer:
    Total unsecured debt: [STRIKE]£11,444[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]£9,914[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]£7424[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]£6273[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]£3454[/STRIKE][STRIKE]£2934[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]£1934[/STRIKE] £0:j
    Number of creditors: [STRIKE]14[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]13[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]11[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]7[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]6[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]4[/STRIKE] 0 :j

    THIS will be the start of a new me!!!
  • excited_to_be_free
    excited_to_be_free Posts: 112 Forumite
    Forgot to add - Do you have Aldi or Lidl in Ireland? We shop there and it saves SOOO much money compared to Tesco. Produce is good.
    LBM March 2013 DFD August 2016 :beer:
    Total unsecured debt: [STRIKE]£11,444[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]£9,914[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]£7424[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]£6273[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]£3454[/STRIKE][STRIKE]£2934[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]£1934[/STRIKE] £0:j
    Number of creditors: [STRIKE]14[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]13[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]11[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]7[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]6[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]4[/STRIKE] 0 :j

    THIS will be the start of a new me!!!
  • tatabubbly
    tatabubbly Posts: 909 Forumite
    Seventh Anniversary Combo Breaker
    excited, nope I haven't paid a tv licence in years. atm actually our tv is broke so we are hoping to cancel sky this week as well when I get the chanve.

    I've been spending all over the shop when it comes to groceries so i need to rein it in
    094 Sealed pot member! :beer: (7) €185 (8) €138 (9) €€250
    Saving for our first home!
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