Baby coming - 7 months to be debt free please!

Deloria87

It seems to be helpful for other people so thought I'd try as I really need a kick up the bum

Last May me and my boyfriend decided we were sick of being in debt and wanted to get rid of it. Slowly but surely we're getting there but now with a baby coming I want it ALL gone before then so we can start being sensible, parent hood is going to be stressful enough without adding debt stress. Most of them have been outstanding bills from moving house, we thought we'd settled up but then old bills would appear with nice big fees added on top....

This is where we were this time last year (28 debts)
Orange £679
NPower £98.23
British Gas £92.29
Natwest £60
TV License £550
Friend £265
Council Tax # 1 £820
Council Tax # 2 £670.18
Orange £112
Nan £150
PDL £190
Sister £490
Southern Water£123.69
British Gas £180
Mum £1040
Car Fine £350
Brother £450
Rent £1950
Provident # 1 £493.50
Provident #2 £420
Capital 1 # 1 £318
Capital 1 # 2 £284
South West Water # 1 £208
McKenzie Hall £387
Catalogue £300
Loan £795
Council Tax # 3 £1,296
South West Water # 2 £500.10

Total
£13,276.99

The following months we paid -
May - £999.52
June - £386.00
July - £0
August - £550
September - £320
October - £1,415
November - £1,346
December - £160
January - £1,438
February - £1,001
March - £320
April - £460

Total paid - £8,395.52
To go - £4,881.29 (13 debts)

My plan is pay day this month pay off some of the smaller ones (total £478.69) and start payment plans for everything else, it looks like the most I can afford to each of them is £30 a month. Council tax # 3 (£30 p/w) and south west water (£100 p/m least they'd accept) are on payment plans already so that's organised so in the next 2 weeks that means I should have £9,489.39 paid off with £3,787.60 to go and the remainder to be cleared in December (when I'm due)....hopefully!

Wish me luck!!

Deloria87

Made £50 on Saturday selling old mobile bar glassware to a budding new mobile bar and £60 paid off council tax today and the deposit from our last house has just been returned so £510 paid in ready for rent on Friday.

Oh! Also, had a little spend at tesco yesterday and received a price promise voucher of £2.08 to go with the voucher of £2.86 we received with our shopping last week so our weekly food shop will be almost £5 cheaper, which can go in the savings pot

Deloria87

SOA

Income 1 £1356

Income 2 £1,600 (s/employed so changes week to week if less hours are worked etc)

Income 3 £380 + tips (straight to savings)

Total Income £3,336

Outgoings

Sky £68.75

Phone 1 £46

Phone 2 £46

Tv license £11

Rent £695

Furniture (pay weekly) £35.50 (£142 p/m)

Pet insurance £23.65

Overdraft 1 (£2,700 not in use, payment plan) £200

Overdraft 2 (£2,000 student overdraft 75% interest free) £200

Council tax 3 (pay weekly) £30 (120 p/m)

Water (THIS month) £155 (regularly) £100

Gas/electric £50

Debt (THIS month) £788.69 (regularly) £310

Loan £100

Savings £380

NVQ £250 this month and then no further payments

Driving lessons £150 this month (possibly £160 the following months till I pass – before the baby!)

Travel £150

Food £200

Laptop - £200 (we are both studying at the moment and can't use the laptop at the same time!)



This month we are over paying a few things as our deposit has just been returned so it means there are fewer outgoings from our earned income.



Starting next month now that my OH’s NVQ will be finished we will have £293 left while still paying debts off so I will be over paying on our furniture (this is currently over 3 years but I’d like this paid off before the baby as well) so will pay an extra £100 on this p/m. Then we’ll be lookingto see if I can overpay on any other debts (smaller ones so we have less outgoings). I also promised my boss that the loan (interest free for the deposit to move house) that if I have anything left I will over pay the loan as well so might bump that up.



Not really sure looking at that anything else we can cut down on, we have the minimum package with sky (tv, phone, broadband and just set up multi room now that my OH has moved back in – he commuted for work), pet insurance is a must have – ferrets get sick really easily and eat anything in sight...cue blockages J phones are fairly new contracts so can’t do best plan reviews yet. Savings may not seem urgent but saving that for the next 7 months (£2,660) affords all of the baby stuff we’ll need any for my OH to have a few weeks off as he’s self employed if we don’t do that it’ll be a huge loss in income.

Deloria87

Thank you It's been a long year, I grew up in a family with debt though (although they've beat it now and even managed to buy their house which is huge for my parents) and I don't want to do that when I'm the one in charge of it! It doesn't seem as much as other people's but I'd really like this all cleared, I'm not even 100% sure the total of what is re-payable for my furniture...I should probably find that out!!

Deloria87

Counted up our savings pot... £49 wasn't expecting that

kittybangbang

Well done, you're heading in the right direction.

I noticed you pay a huge subscription to SKY, you creally should consider cancelling this altogether until you have paid off all your debts. (this will be a huge boost to your debt payments) Also, Freeview and FreeSat are so good these days (maybe you could borrow a box from someone, or check Freecycle etc.), not as flashy as SKY, but while you've got these debts to pay, you can't afford such luxuries.

Failing that, call SKY, tell them you're leaving, and they may offer you half-price payments for a while.

Think about it, if you cancel it, you'll have saved £414 in 6 months!! I know a lot of people who will not cancel their packages because it's their only treat, they watch the sports instead of going to the pub etc. but realistically, you're paying nearly £70 a month for TV, it's not a life essential. You can always subscribe again when you're debt free.

OneLife_OneShot

I would never pay for Sky or that, a good internet connection is all thats required for TV these days!

Deloria87

The payment for sky doesn't just cover the tv package, its our telephone (as we have poor signal where we live) broadband and tv. We have to pay an extra £10 in the new house so our subscription has gone up slightly but that is due to how far we are from the exchange (and very poor connection because of it!) so we wouldn't be able to reduce it. I was considering threatening to leave to see what happens but I've not gotten around to it yet, but I'm sure the only thing that will happen will be half price broadband bringing it to around £57 which for what it includes I think isn't that bad...

OneLife_OneShot

Fair enough I would still say ring them and threaten to leave or say Virgin has set up in your area and you are thinking they are better value for money.

Deloria87

conisme wrote: »

Fair enough I would still say ring them and threaten to leave or say Virgin has set up in your area and you are thinking they are better value for money.

I'll try that this evening and see how I get on

kittybangbang

OK, fair enough. But definitely something to look into!!

As a comparison, I pay Primus £10.19 for Line Rental, O2 Broadband £4.75. I'm just thinking that with your deadline of 7 months, any cuts you can make will be an awesome boost. (it's only for 7 months, once your debt is paid off you can go back to SKY!)

By my calculation, you need to be paying £396 per month (that's assuming no charges/interest is added) to hit your target. By getting rid of non-essentials for the time being, you're only helping yourself.

As a side note, I've only picked on SKY as it's one of those things that is cancellable (is that a word?!) Your mobiles cost you £92 a month, but I'm guessing you're locked into contracts, so no leeway there.

The point I'm trying to make, is that by making a small sacrifice for only 6 months, you can reap the rewards of being debt free much sooner. You've got a lot of high-priority debt to pay, e.g. Council Tax/Utility Bills, Sky really needs to go...