Fighting to be Frugal

Silly_Spender

Greetings!

A little bit about myself, I'm 23 years old, 24 next month, and have been in debt for quite a long time now. Since I was 19 in fact.

For the past year I've had a decent job and since moving into our first place together (a humble but cozy studio flat) with my OH, I've had surprisingly more free cash per month than I can remember.

My main problem I guess is there is no 'urgency' to clear my debts, it is all being managed, yet instead of throwing more money at them each month, I tend to fritter away on things I don't necessarily need.

So here's to hoping that by managing this diary and setting my targets out on paper (or a screen as it may be), I'll get that extra motivation to see myself in the green, and for good

Please do feel free to introduce yourself, any support would be incredible and some friendly chat would be brill!

Silly_Spender

Well here's my SoA!

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned....................

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 850 This is actually anywhere between 850 and 1000 but I put the lower end in as it's around this amount 'without' overtime at work. I generally do overtime whenever I can.
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0 I don't want to include my partner's salary on here as the SoA is about me personally, however for most of the bills I have put half the amount, as we each put 450 a month into the 'bill pot' which covers all of the shared bills.
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 850

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 170
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 54
Electricity............................. 25
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 11
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 55.5 Very high I know but includes both mobile and an iPad contract.
TV Licence.............................. 0 We don't watch television live or record it as it's being broadcast, just catch up on iplayers and Netflix
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 6
Internet Services....................... 12.5
Groceries etc. ......................... 120
Clothing................................ 0 Not really sure how much a month I spend, but for things like underwear for my and my partner, we generally take it out of the grocery budget.
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0 Lucky in that I live a 10 minute walk from Asda where I work, am looking to start taking driving lessons soon....maybe after I've worked off the debt a bit
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 13 Health cover through work.
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0 Honestly haven't a clue!
Haircuts................................ 0 I buzz my own head!
Entertainment........................... 25 Cineworld Unlimited Card and an online gaming subscription which pretty much covers me, although there are probably one off expenses here and there when we go out.
Holiday................................. 0 Haven't been on one since 2008! Maybe it'll change next year
Emergency fund.......................... 0 Mmm probably should put something in here.
Total monthly expenses.................. 492


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

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Overdraft......................2000......0.........0 Interest won't start until NEXT August or September, so I think I'll be working as much of this off as I can by then!
Student Finance................2500......60........0 Payment plan set up as I apparently wasn't entitled to the fees after I'd got them, and subsequently spent them, have been paying off for a year or so but recently bumped up the DD to 60 per month in order to clear quicker.
Argos..........................340.......0.........0 Have until February to pay this off and no interest will be added.
Tuition Fees...................3000......10........0 I stayed at University only for a few months, unfortunately a week or two too late to avoid being stuck with the fees for the year, so I pay them back 10 a month and this seems to be fine with them. This one is bottom of the priority list out of the four debts.
Total unsecured debts..........7840......70........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 850
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 492
Available for debt repayments........... 358
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 70
Amount left after debt repayments....... 288

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -7,840
Net Assets.............................. -7,840

Piquant_2

Hi :hello:

Welcome to the diary board! Good luck with everything. You will find the most amazing amount of support and help here.

Piq

Silly_Spender

@Piquant: Thanks for the first hi!

As a first step, I've put £150 aside to knock off my overdraft! Now there's 1850 to remove, and with the target being around 12 months, this means I need to knock it down by around £155 per month.

While this may not be possible every month, specially December, other months may be possible to do more!

A bonus is I get paid every 4 weeks as opposed to monthly, so early next year, I think it's March or April, I'll have a 4 week pay period without having to account for rent, and the two months council tax-free period too!

Feeling very motivated right now

Piquant_2

Take it one step at a time, you didn't build the debt in a week, you won't clear it in a week!

I enjoy making a rounding down payment most days. I look at my bank balance and round it down to the nearest £5. Some days I may pay off £4.99 to my chosen debt, some days is might be 55p. The small amounts soon mount up and the totals get ever nearer zero. It has the added benefit of me going online everyday to check my balance, I always know exactly what money I have available.

mum2one

Silly_Spender wrote: »

Well here's my SoA!

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned....................

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 850 This is actually anywhere between 850 and 1000 but I put the lower end in as it's around this amount 'without' overtime at work. I generally do overtime whenever I can.
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0 I don't want to include my partner's salary on here as the SoA is about me personally, however for most of the bills I have put half the amount, as we each put 450 a month into the 'bill pot' which covers all of the shared bills.
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 850

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 170
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 54
Electricity............................. 25
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 11
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 55.5 Very high I know but includes both mobile and an iPad contract. That is highm can you downgrade the contract, and also when contract uop search around
TV Licence.............................. 0 We don't watch television live or record it as it's being broadcast, just catch up on iplayers and Netflix
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 6
Internet Services....................... 12.5
Groceries etc. ......................... 120 - that seems high for 2 of you
Clothing................................ 0 Not really sure how much a month I spend, but for things like underwear for my and my partner, we generally take it out of the grocery budget. I would say £50 - even if you dont spend it one month, your looking at winter coat, that could soon eat into a budget,
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0 Lucky in that I live a 10 minute walk from Asda where I work, am looking to start taking driving lessons soon....maybe after I've worked off the debt a bit
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 13 Health cover through work.
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0 - even if rented accomadtion you need to have contents insurance, shop around you can get some really cheap deals.
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0 Honestly haven't a clue!
Haircuts................................ 0 I buzz my own head!
Entertainment........................... 25 Cineworld Unlimited Card and an online gaming subscription which pretty much covers me, although there are probably one off expenses here and there when we go out.
Holiday................................. 0 Haven't been on one since 2008! Maybe it'll change next year
Emergency fund.......................... 0 Mmm probably should put something in here. I would put £50 into the emergency fund
Total monthly expenses.................. 492


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

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Overdraft......................2000......0.........0 Interest won't start until NEXT August or September, so I think I'll be working as much of this off as I can by then!
Student Finance................2500......60........0 Payment plan set up as I apparently wasn't entitled to the fees after I'd got them, and subsequently spent them, have been paying off for a year or so but recently bumped up the DD to 60 per month in order to clear quicker.
Argos..........................340.......0.........0 Have until February to pay this off and no interest will be added.
Tuition Fees...................3000......10........0 I stayed at University only for a few months, unfortunately a week or two too late to avoid being stuck with the fees for the year, so I pay them back 10 a month and this seems to be fine with them. This one is bottom of the priority list out of the four debts.
Total unsecured debts..........7840......70........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 850
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 492
Available for debt repayments........... 358
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 70
Amount left after debt repayments....... 288

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -7,840
Net Assets.............................. -7,840

From your list you have £288 spare - if you added £50 clothes, £50 emergency fund, £5 contents - that still leaves £183 a month, you could easily put £100 to the debts.

If that was me I would clear Argos asap - as there apr is 29.9%, - then tackle the OD - you need to know what the charges will be, is the OD based on you being a student??????

Sounds like your making a good start x

Silly_Spender

@Piquant: I love the idea of that! I do generally check my online banking every day so rounding down and moving into a sub account sounds really good! Will try that out myself!

@mum2one: The phone contract isn't up until January 2015 and that's 42 per month. 13.50 is from an iPad contract that can be cancelled next June which will be happening The overdraft is currently the last year of a graduate account so as of next year interest will start to apply, at the moment there is no interest on the Argos card as its on a 'buy now pay later' scheme so if its paid off by February there won't be any interest. I agree though this should be the priority so I'll start putting money at this too

Silly_Spender

I had a shift today from 6 in the morning until 12. Now as a department at Asda me and the other guys go for breakfast together at 10 in the morning, unless it's Sunday, then it's half past 10.

Each day is pretty routine regarding what I eat. Trying to cut sugar completely out of my diet and detoxing, I happily enjoy a bowl of bran flakes, and a few spoons of flax seed sprinkled over the top with skimmed milk. Healthy huh? After the first few days of not being too keen, I actually enjoyed it, and now I really look forward to it after a few hours of lifting heavy crates of fruit and veg.

After I finish work though, generally between 12 and 2 most days, I always go to Subway, pretty much next door to Asda, and grab one of their £3 salad bowl / bottle of water meals. This may seem quite pricey but when I finish work, I will admit that after walking home, I generally don't feel like preparing food.

Having a big bowl of salad to tuck into with some healthy chicken and having it prepared how I like, with extra tomato, cucumber and olives, everything except gherkins (lovely, but not with my salad thank you) is something I really look forward to.

However, after working out the cost of 6 of these meals per week, for 4 weeks, to be £72, I'm thinking it's time to start preparing my own lunches, for much cheaper. Which would mean even more cash available to knock off the overdraft!

So instead of 6 times per week, my Subway treat lunches will be (begrudgingly but necessarily) cut down to once a week.

On a positive note though, having taken the good advice from Piquant, I've rounded my bank balance down to the nearest £5, and put £4.72 into the overdraft fund

Also out my name np for a NSD (no spend day) challenge, and I'm setting myself a target of 8 days for this first month. We'll see how it goes!

[Deleted User]

For motivation, try running your debts through the Snowball Calculator, TWICE.

First time, use the amount you currently pay toward your debts.

The second time, use the amount you would be paying, if you didn't "fritter it away on things I don't necessarily need".

I think you will be surprised, when you see how much quicker it will all be gone, with the second option.

Not only that, but there's the interest and charges you will be saving, by clearing them down, sooner rather than later.

[Deleted User]

Silly_Spender wrote: »

however for most of the bills I have put half the amount, as we each put 450 a month into the 'bill pot' which covers all of the shared bills.

I don't know which ones you class as "shared bills", but based on what I'd deem them to be, £900 isn't enough to cover them.

BTW, you say you don't watch live TV, so what's the £6 for "Satellite/Cable TV" :huh:

Horace

Hi

Rather than forking out £3 a day for salad from Subway - why not make a salad the night before and keep it in the fridge that way when you get home from work then you can get it out of the fridge and eat it. Even preparing a salad when you get home from work doesn't take much effort.