It's not just about debt anymore. It's about living better too.

PiggyBankShaker

I joined MSE in April 2011 and with the help of my diary (Backfilling the hole I dug with my credit cards ) and my hubby (AllThatStuffIsJustStuff) I paid off over £10,000 of credit card debt :j

I had a call from one of those debt consolidation companies the other day and it was one of my proudest moments when I said "No, I haven't got any credits cards. I paid them all off. Ha ha!" (I think I did actually laugh a bit manically at the end)

But I'm still here. I don't have credit card debt anymore but I do owe £2650 for our french doors and ATSIJS has about £3000 on his credit card. It is on 0% until April 2015.

My first diary taught me that I can do with less, so much less. We decluttered a lot. I embraced a frugal, simple life and I love it. It's a good job too, as we currently have NO MONEY!

ATSIJS earns about £1300 a month, I currently get about £300 a month JSA (until August) We will get some Tax Credits too but we're not sure how much yet.

I'll post a full SOA in the next post, although it is bleak reading.

I need a diary to help keep me focused, yes on the financial aspect of our life, but also on the small victories. The simple things that bring happiness and quality to our daily lives. I have re-embraced my love of gardening, it brings me pleasure everyday. I found a love of sewing, can I use it to make extra money? And the big question occupying my mind at the moment - just how much jam and wine will I be able to make with foraged fruit?:rotfl:

PiggyBankShaker

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.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 0
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1326
Benefits................................ 330.88
Total monthly income.................... 1656.88

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 452.21
Council tax............................. 92.50
Gas & Electricity............................. 100
Water rates............................. 39
Land line and internet................... 10
Mobile phones............................ 45
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Groceries etc. ......................... 200
Clothing................................ 15
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 38
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 65
Childcare/nursery....................... 139
Other child related expenses............ 40
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 5
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 5
Buildings & Contents insurance.....................13.71
Life assurance ......................... 31.72
Other insurance (Boiler cover)......................... 6
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 5
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1416.71


Assets
Cash.................................... 3200
House value (Gross)..................... 95,000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 2000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 100,200


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
Mortgage...................... 82829....(452)......2.5
Total secured & HP debts...... 82829.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
Barclaycard.....................3218......70.......0%

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... ........1,656.88
Expenses (including HP & secured debts)...1416.71
Available for debt repayments.................240.17
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments........ 70.00
Amount left after debt repayments........... 170.17

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 100,200
Total HP & Secured debt................. -82829
Total Unsecured debt.................... -3,218
Net Assets.............................. 14,153

never_too_old

Good luck with your journey,im still on the debt busting one and find it very hard to live life as well.:)

PiggyBankShaker

never_too_old wrote: »

Good luck with your journey,im still on the debt busting one and find it very hard to live life as well.:)

Thanks never too old. I don't think I will ever go back to being as bad with money as I was before I paid off the credit cards. I feel the need to 'treat' myself a lot less, and if I do now I sit down with my book for a hour. Far more enjoyable than shopping.

Good luck on your debt busting quest. How far through are you?

PiggyBankShaker

Today I rang tax credits. I was waiting until they sent our renewal notice but I took the bull by the horns and rang them first. I *think* they may award us about £4,500 but also take £1,700 off for last year's overpayment. We'll have to wait until the award notice comes to find out.

I need to work out exactly how much is left to pay on the windows as I know the figure in my signature and SOA are wrong.

I need to get ebaying again. We have some things to sell, but not much. I also have a small bit of gold to sell.

Last night I found a gardening job to apply for so I think I'll do that over the weekend.

--

In other news I had a lovely morning with DS, a friend and her son. We walked to meet them and there were some pretty bluebells under a tree that I stopped to admire. DS admired a forklift truck unloading paper from a lorry.

I spent about £10 on a propagator, 3 packs of seeds, 3 packs of boubon biscuits and a magazine

ATSIJS also went to the shop and bough some veg and bread, but I'm not sure how much he spent.

beanielou

Happy shiney new diary
Great news on no credit cards

never_too_old

PiggyBankShaker wrote: »

Good luck on your debt busting quest. How far through are you?[/QUOTE
Hopefully this year but then want to get rid of the mortgage.
I blog so if you are ever stuck for something to read.....
I think i put a link where you click on my name or if not
google
never too old to learn from your mistakes:)

PiggyBankShaker

beanielou wrote: »

Happy shiney new diary
Great news on no credit cards

Thanks beanilou! I'm looking forward to the day we have NO debt. Hopefully the diary will help again.

PiggyBankShaker

A very quiet weekend. I was tired so I slept a lot. The tiredness is a symptom of my depression or a side effect of the meds I'm on. One way or the other its a pain.

I baked a loaf of six seed bread. It was a specialty flour that I bought for ATSIJS two years ago. The flour itself seems fine, but the loaf didn't rise very well. I think it was the yeast. It tasted nice but was a bit doughy on the inside. I have enough for one more loaf so I'll try again this week.

I also have two other out of date specialty flours to use. I'm loathed to just throw them away. I think that counts as MSE?

PiggyBankShaker

Our tax credit award came and we are entitled to £200 a month - this will help us tremendously and we should be able to build our savings pot up a little bit again. I breathed a huge sigh of relief when it arrived.

Our car broke down and needed repairing. Despite paying £50 a month for a warranty the problem wasn't covered and we had to pay £300 to get it fixed. It needed to come out of savings Hopefully nothing else will go wrong with it any time soon.

I applied for a part time gardening job with a charity that supports older people and I have got an interview next Thursday. I'm very excited about it. The money is not great and it won't make a huge difference to our finances but I think it will be good for me and useful experience.

Not much else to report. ATSIJS and I gave blood on Thursday. Number 10 for me, 2 for him.

ATSIJS is ridiculously excited for Eurovision tonight. I'm not at all fussed tbh but I'm going to watch it with him.

I'll try and update again tomorrow.

pennywisepoundstupid

Hi PBS, good to see you back, good luck with the job interview, I know what you mean about it being good for you, sometimes its just getting out of the house and having adult conversation.

Take care and i'm off to subscribe.