Time to stop procrastinating!

nikki2804

Hi, I've been a member of MSE for many years (I tend to lurk in the corner though) and have picked up some fab tips along the way. In fact my fascination with consumer protection (gained from here) made me follow my dream of going back to college and studying to be a solicitor.

In short, I used to be an avid moneysaver and had a healthy amount of savings. Now I have zilch :mad: not good, and I have very little to show for it!

Anyway, my main mission is to clear the outstanding credit that I have (around £1600 not including car finance) and then live credit free. I really want a mortgage and my own house (I can accept living with this) At the moment I am renting and I hate that I have spent almost £24000 in 4 years that could have gone towards a mortgage/house deposit etc.

Anyway, a little about me, I'm 25, currently in private rented accommodation with my partner and (almost) 4 year old son. I'm due a little girl mid September. Both myself and my partner are employed (luckily my employer has a good maternity package) and I'm also a fulltime student. I struggled through my NQ with horrendous morning sickness and I'm going back to do my HNC in August.

I will post an SOA but I am mindful that it will change in September (student loan will be paid, CHB will increase and I will be entitled to some tax credits) I'm trying to cut back on non essentials and I *should* have an okay amount left each month. No idea where it goes though.

So hopefully this diary will keep me in check and see more money in my savings account than being paid out every month .

If you have managed to get through my ramblings then thank you. I can't say that this will be the most interesting of diaries however the fact that people see it will hopefully curb my spending :j

Off to post my SOA

beanielou

Happy shiney new diary
Keep posting!

nikki2804

Okay, so this is my SOA. At the moment some of what I have put isn't true (i.e. £50 for car maintenance) however as of payday I will draw out the cash and put it in an envelope for safe keeping.

I'm trying to build up a small emergency fund of £1000, cars are due MOT's soon and the impending arrival of baby no 2 means I'd rather have a little surplus cash in the bank otherwise I would throw it at my outstanding credit.

This will only really be relevant until September, after then I'll reassess and redo.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 2 One is currently SORN'd

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 682
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1220
Benefits................................ 81.2
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1983.2

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 220
Rent.................................... 500
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 86
Electricity............................. 50 I do dual fuel and DD is £100 p/m so I just split it. I'm normally in credit however EON tend to want to increase my payment rather than decrease it. They are the cheapest in my area for my usuage.
Gas..................................... 50 See above
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0 In Scotland so this is included in my Council Tax bill
Telephone (land line)................... 28 Internet is included
Mobile phone............................ 48 This is for two phones, just reduced my contract from £40p/m :eek: to £22 p/m
TV Licence.............................. 13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 31 O2 have been taken over by Sky and apparently they have a great offer for existing customers, free BB and tv, just £14.99 p/m line rental for 12 months. Going to look into this.
Internet Services....................... 0 Included with landline
Groceries etc. ......................... 200 Hopefully reduce this but I am stocking up on nappies/baby things
Clothing................................ 0 OH is trying to lose weight so refusing to buy clothes, I'm currently gaining weight like no ones business but I'm not buying anything until I pop. The tiny terror has enough clothes to last for a while.
Petrol/diesel........................... 100
Road tax................................ 20
Car Insurance........................... 28
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 50
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 23 Tiny terrors savings account
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 28 Contact lenses for both OH and myself, going to suspend mine though and will save £15 p/m
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 7
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0 Naughty I know
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50 Park vouchers, will be paid by August wage and that should be Christmas and the Nov/Dec birthdays covered
Haircuts................................ 32 I go every 6-8 weeks, OH and the tiny terror go monthly
Entertainment........................... 10 OH's pc game subscription
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 50
Total monthly expenses.................. 1624


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 8000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 8000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(0)........0
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 8000.....(220)......20
Total secured & HP debts...... 8000......-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Very...........................444.......0.........0 (BNPL but ends at different times, should be clear by November wage at latest)
Creation (PC)..................301.......13.72.....19.9
Creation (bed).................306.......51........0
Total unsecured debts..........1051......64.72.....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,983.2
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,624
Available for debt repayments........... 359.2
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 64.72
Amount left after debt repayments....... 294.48

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 8,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -8,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -1,051
Net Assets.............................. -1,051

Created using the SOA calculator at www.stoozing.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using Firefox browser.

I seem to have missed out the credit card balance. Rejected the rate hike so the account is closed. Outstanding amount is £297 at 11.9%

Oh well, time for bed. Tomorrow I'll make my to do list and try to make cuts where I can.

Thanks beanielou :wave:

nikki2804

Ok, so my plan for today:

• Reply to emails and hopefully sell some items that I have listed on eBay
• Look out my iphone4 to send to o2 recycle (£95!!)
• Nesting instinct is kicking in, may gut the house and see what I can put on eBay
• Just been accepted for a couple of Facebook selling groups, going to list some make up/beauty stuff on there and see if I can flog it
• Going to look for some extremely MSE fathers day (x3 :eek:) and birthday presents

I am on annual leave from the 17th (hysterical as I only work 18 hours a week and I'm currently on reduced hours due to long term sick - extreme morning sickness - but I have over 6 weeks of leave to use before 1st September and I can't carry it over or be paid for it) Its the tiny terrors birthday on the 23rd (nephews on 26th) and we have a family gathering on the 22nd. Need to keep it as MSE as possible, bought part of the tiny terrors birthday. He is obsessed with Buzz and Woody at the moment so that was easy.



My disorgaisation is proving expensive! After all Fathers Day and birthdays are the same (ish) every year. Not making that mistake again.



At least Christmas is budgeted for :T


I also need to get my documentation ready to send to SAAS, application is in and they have confirmed my tuition will be paid plus a £6500 student loan. I think I may also be entitled to a grant so I need to send the information in to confirm. Needs done and they need to have it before the 30th!!


I don't particularly want a student loan however if I want the college to pay for my childcare (around £48 per day, 4 days a week for two kiddies) I need to take the full amount available to me. Over the academic year this works out at over £15000 :eek::eek::eek: so it seems a no brainer to take the loan and put it into a decent savings account (or if we can actually get a mortgage via shared equity then overpay the mortgage with it)


Anyway, enough rambling, I need to get my backside in gear and get started on my to do list!

Florida2016

Just popping in to say hello, your soa was quite eerie to read, it's very similar to mine, even the park vouchers

Good luck x

nikki2804

nikki2804 wrote: »

Ok, so my plan for today:

• Reply to emails and hopefully sell some items that I have listed on eBay
• Look out my iphone4 to send to o2 recycle (£95!!)
• Nesting instinct is kicking in, may gut the house and see what I can put on eBay
• Just been accepted for a couple of Facebook selling groups, going to list some make up/beauty stuff on there and see if I can flog it
• Going to look for some extremely MSE fathers day (x3 :eek:) and birthday presents

!

Okay, so I haven't responded to the emails yet will do that after tea.

Gutted the majority of the house (ironing done :T) and have a carrier bag full of clothes. Will probably 'cash for clothes' them as they're not worth selling.

Listed some make up on Gumtree and FB, no takers yet. May have to put them on eBay.

Still looking for my phone (damn 'safe' place) :rotfl:

Found the appropriate docs for SAAS so will send those tomorrow.

MS payment due this week. £51, think I'll put this towards my credit card balance. CHB payment will go towards my BNPL balance on Very. Was stuff for the tiny terror anyway so I don't feel too guilty.

Almost at the £10 limit on VO, once ut hits I will redeem for Amazon vouchers and buy another box of nappies.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

nikki2804 wrote: »

Okay, so this is my SOA.
Electricity............................. 50 I do dual fuel and DD is £100 p/m so I just split it. I'm normally in credit however EON tend to want to increase my payment rather than decrease it. They are the cheapest in my area for my usuage.
Gas..................................... 50 See above

Hi nikki

Hope you don't mind me popping on to your thread. Thought I might be able to offer a few suggestions to help you save energy.

I'd have a chat with our dedicated Energy Efficiency team. They specialise in helping people cut back. Tell them about your property and appliances. They'll be happy to advise about any potential savings.

Ask for a copy of a booklet called '100 ways to save money by saving energy.' It's free and contains lots of useful tips.

Check out our website, too. Particularly the 'Interactive House' and 'Energy Menu.' More good info here.

For instance, did you know leaving things on permanent standby means they're still sapping power and costing you money. (Sorry if you're already turning everything off and I'm trying to teach you how to suck eggs).

Hope this helps a little nikki and good luck with the money saving. Best wishes, too, when baby arrives in September.

Malc

nikki2804

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc wrote: »

Hi nikki

Hope you don't mind me popping on to your thread. Thought I might be able to offer a few suggestions to help you save energy.

I'd have a chat with our dedicated Energy Efficiency team. They specialise in helping people cut back. Tell them about your property and appliances. They'll be happy to advise about any potential savings.

Ask for a copy of a booklet called '100 ways to save money by saving energy.' It's free and contains lots of useful tips.

Check out our website, too. Particularly the 'Interactive House' and 'Energy Menu.' More good info here.

For instance, did you know leaving things on permanent standby means they're still sapping power and costing you money. (Sorry if you're already turning everything off and I'm trying to teach you how to suck eggs).

Hope this helps a little nikki and good luck with the money saving. Best wishes, too, when baby arrives in September.

Malc

Thanks

Just to put it into perspective though; on 20th March 2013 my account was £82 in credit (even after our horrible Winter). I have just submitted my meter readings for this quarter (I really should do it monthly) and I'm now £133 in credit. Last time I called to reduce the direct debit (I was actually disputing the fact that it was going to be increased to £192 per month :eek:. i was put through to the most condescending woman who told me that keeping my direct debit at £70 would not put the account in credit (it already was), only £192 per month would and after all she should know more about my usage than me!

Well I guess I showed her :rotfl::rotfl:. Never mind, at least paying £100 per month (especially in the Summer months) means that I wont be scared to put the heating on in the Winter. Silver linings and all that.

nikki2804

Not much moneymaking to report. Was suffering from morning sickness yesterday and didn't make work . Thank goodness I'm automatically paid my full wage.

Got confirmation of my maternity leave, they have me down as taking unpaid leave at the end :mad: so I will need to sort that out.

Found a 'cash 4 clothes' shop literally 1/2 mile from my house. Convenient. Will pop along with my carrier bags at some point. It won't make me rich however it will hopefully make me a few pounds to go into my piggy bank.

Meter readings submitted to Eon and I'm £133 in credit :j

£2.50 in change from yesterday (OH and tiny terrors haircuts - must be cheaper on a weekday than a Saturday) has been popped into the piggy bank.

I'm getting my hair cut tonight, sometimes I get a discounted price, sometimes not, I think it depends how busy the salon is. Fingers crossed for a cheapy tonight so that I can put the change in my piggy bank.

Mystery shopping money should clear tomorrow which will mean £57.75 can be paid off my credit card taking it from £297 to £239.25. Would rather than it was put into my savings but the evil plastic has to go!

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi nikki

Really sorry our advisor came across as condescending.

Thought you might be interested in a new facility we've just introduced on our website to give customers more control over their Direct Debits.

It's called Direct Debit Manager. It allows you to change the monthly payments by up 20 per cent up or down, provided the account is billed up to the latest meter readings. Or, up to 5 per cent up or down without readings.

This will give customers the ability to adjust their payments should their circumstances change.

Before completing the change, though, we'll let you know how much we anticipate the account will be in debit/credit by the time of the annual review if the change is confirmed but usage doesn't alter accordingly.

Hope this is of interest.

Malc

nikki2804

£50 paid off from the evil plastic. That means the balance is now £247 plus approx £3 interest. Will hopefully pay another £40 to it nearer the end of the month.

Some loose change in the terramundi pig.

Euro millions tickets purchased. Cost £4 and I probably wont win anything but I rarely buy them and 'you've got to be in it to win it'

Debating selling my 2nd car. Its just sitting there and the mot expires in September. Would possibly net around £2000. Thinking cap on.