There's this dragon I'd like to kill...

Laconic

Well some better news today. My sister calls back and after some tense conversation, she doesn't look to be getting cut off from Housing Benefits just yet.

Better: no spending on food... or anything yesterday. Finally brought lunch!

Worse... I looked at my house's power usage for February. The gas was about the same as over Christmas/January, covering six weeks, some of which there was no one home so it adds up. The electricity is double...:eek: I guess this is one of the headaches with living with people, never 100% in control of what goes out. Nevertheless, have had long conversation with housemates and hopefully, we'll get some waste stopped.

Laconic

Right, I decided to find out where exactly I was. Spent half the night entering the last 4 months of information into a piece of software called GnuCash (no, not good), then used to to build the Statement of Affairs. The truth: I should have paid off my debt by now and if I don't fix it, I will *never* be in a financially secure position. I'm torn between shame/worry right now.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 0

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1808
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 104.4
Total monthly income.................... 1912.4

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 325
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 98
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 30
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 36
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 100
Clothing................................ 100
Petrol/diesel........................... 12
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 3.5
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 1
Other travel............................ 65
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 16.8
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 16.05
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50
Haircuts................................ 15
Entertainment........................... 200 (this has a name: EATING OUT!!!! :eek:)
Holiday................................. 200
Emergency fund.......................... 50
Family Contributions.................... 250
Total monthly expenses.................. 1568.35


Assets
Cash.................................... 3600
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 3600

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Career Dev Loan................5933.34...193.......9.9
Total unsecured debts..........5933.34...193.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,912.4
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,568.35
Available for debt repayments........... 344.05
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 193
Amount left after debt repayments....... 151.05

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 3,600
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -5,933.34
Net Assets.............................. -2,333.34

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.stoozing.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

Laconic

After putting all of this down, I started to wonder why I don't have £150 spare every month. Found it: it goes onto the credit card. As I pay it off in full every month, there's no balance that shows up in my debts. I'll say this: it's cured me of wanting to eat out. I've spent £5 on groceries and not even a coffee. Nothing can taste *that* good compared with saving it.

To help me with this, I've downloaded You Need A Budget and have entered expected cash flow for the rest of the month and next. It's also sobering in its own way. Just as well -- the postman brought the water company's demand for £431.40 for this year, half due in April. Fun...


L.

Laconic

Reality check: YNAB is amazing. I'm still using Gnucash to keep track of the big picture, but the little day-to-day picture took a weight off my mind I didn't even know was there. I know exactly where each penny I spend comes from and being able to give myself sensible, flexible budgets is awesome.

Eating out: I decided that the smartest thing to do is to not eat out alone. It's cut the number of times I've paid for food or drinks from nearly every day to three times since I put up my new SOA. And one was to an amazing Lebanese place. I'd have frittered away the value of that in coffee and cake instead of truly enjoying a treat. Speaking of which, have to find the budget for drinks tomorrow and a birthday Thursday.

L.