Another new DFW - hello!

Northerness

Hello everyone!

I used MSE fleetingly a few years back - but have finally decided to take control of my finances! I really want to be debt free...and then start putting money into an ISA. I hope to use this site to get ideas and inspiration in how to be better with money and not live hand-to-mouth.

Currently, I've some debt from two credit cards (total £3388.08) and today I applied to balance transfer these onto a 0% credit card for up to 24months (as far as I'm aware I have a good credit score, so hopefully this will go through - fingers crossed). I'm confident I can pay this off at £140 per month in less than two years (hopefully quicker), as long as my job remains secure.

Bit of a backstory: When I was a student I used credit cards and had approx £4k of debt on these. After a redundancy payment in 2009 I paid these off and was debt-free for a couple of years. However from approx 2011 I put a few luxuries on credit cards again - mostly consisted of two city breaks, a festival, clothes and a new floor in my house. Had a lovely time, but I'm gutted that I'm in debt now and in the future I'll only spend money I actually have . I now want to learn how to be a saver and not do stuff like this again :A. And also, to have an emergency find/cushion for if things go wrong.

A SOA is posted below. I wonder if anyone has any suggestions on where I can save money to get debt-free more quickly? Plus, how can I actually *save* money and what quantities would you recommend. I'm a single person living alone who tends to shop for food on an almost daily basis so I will definitely start planning a weekly/fortnightly food shop and buying cheaper brands...and taking my lunch to work - as prior to doing this SOA I was spending £5 a day on lunch...plus lattes! I've also recently signed up to Sky but I'm on a half price deal and it's my main entertainment spend these days so good value, I feel. I also don't pay for landline/broadband as a kind family member insists on paying this for me (as they mostly call me) - although I would like to offer again to pay it myself soon as I realise this is a bit cushy and I should fully look after myself

Hopefully I have a good idea of what I need to do and I'm excited about the prospect of finally getting a grasp of my money. I'm here for support, to learn from others..and just to chat and see if I can offer any advice to others too. So, hi! :beer:



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

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1612
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1612

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 358
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 57
Electricity............................. 46
Gas..................................... 63
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 31.8
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 15.32
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 22
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 150
Clothing................................ 75
Petrol/diesel........................... 20
Road tax................................ 11.67
Car Insurance........................... 20.86
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 30
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 20
Contents insurance...................... 19
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 28
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1009.77


Assets
Cash.................................... 900
House value (Gross)..................... 95000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 97400


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 65500....(358)......3.94
Total secured & HP debts...... 65500.....-.........-


Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Credit Card....................3388......140.......0
Total unsecured debts..........3388......140.......

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,612
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,009.77
Available for debt repayments........... 602.23
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 140
Amount left after debt repayments....... 462.23

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 97,400
Total HP & Secured debt................. -65,500
Total Unsecured debt.................... -3,388
Net Assets.............................. 28,512

(Apologies if this form hasn't displayed properly - couldn't highlight it on an iPad so did a dubious cut and paste!)

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.stoozing.com. \
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Sedge123

Looks yo me like you are doing pretty well already. The on thing that jumps out is clothes. Do you really 'need' to spend £75 a month on clothes? You also have no emergency fund.

Even if you put £100 a month into an emergency find you still have £300 per month left that's not accounted for and could be thrown at the debt. Try keeping a spending diary to identify where this goes each month.

~Beanie~

Looks quite good to me as well, it says you have £462 left over every month so if you paid this off your credit card it would soon be gone.

Do you actually have £462 left every month though? If not, try keeping a spending diary to see where it goes, write down every penny you spend for a whole month and you may be surprised!

Also, £28 for entertainment doesn't seem much, is that correct?

Bex296

Hello and good luck!

I agree with the above commenters, try a spending diary as it's worrying where stuff goes.... Mine has been going for a little more than a week and it's an eye opener!
I'd also err towards allowing a little more for entertainment (if you're not realistic you'll either feel deprived, or spend the extra anyway) and a bit for emergencies (so you don't dip into the credit cards). Chuck the rest onto paying off credit cards if you can!

Re: your gas and electricity- while your bills aren't massively high, have you double checked you're on the cheapest plan? There's a clever MSE tool that'll do the legwork for you.

Northerness

Thanks for comments. Have never really attempted to save before..this is my SOA *after* recently deciding not to be frivolous with money anymore.

My spare cash usually went on ad-hoc things such as lattes, diet cokes, expensive ready-meals, clothes, few bottles of wine, make-up, Boots Meal Deals, and new stuff for my home. I've decided I don't need all this and should start paying that card off and saving for the future. For example last month I substituted diet cokes, lattes and wine for sparkling water - which I can get in bulk cheap from the supermarket (did this mostly for health-kick reasons to start off with). I think the reason I really decided to watch my money though was because I was thinking I'd buy some new sofas for my house on 0% interest free credit - before I had a LBM and though "nooooo, what are you thinking? Only buy what you can afford".

The £28 entertainment is Sky TV and Netflix. Actually don't go out so much these days as all my friends are now married with babies and don't socialise, maybe a few beers once a month - but not always (although from 2000-2009 I'd say the majority of my income went on nights out - how we change!). I'm close to my parents so have meals out with them every Sat and Sun but dad insists on paying . My other 'entertainment' is keeping fit but I do road running and have a cross-trainer in my house - costs me nothing. I also have to go to occasional networking events with work - which can feel like a night out - and usually consist of 1-2 free glasses of wine. I have got a friends wedding coming up next month though, at the other side of the country, so will need to account for that!

Gas/electric - yes I've already compared and just switched to a 2017 fix. I've just done a reading from my old provider before they switch the account over - so hoping I'll get some £ back as I've been paying £140 per month over summer and haven't used much gas.

£75 per month for clothes would be difficult to cut right now as could do with some additional winter clothes - but hope not to spend that every month.

I will take advice and do a spending diary. I'm also thinking of getting a calendar and marking my No Spend Days. Looking forward to reading about how other people are saving money and banishing debt!

foxgloves

Hi, You sound just like I used to be with overspending, but I'm proof that it's possible to change & my husband is even bigger proof, lol.... Re winter clothes. Have a really good look through your wardrobe & prioritise what you actually need. That's as in 'I have no winter coat' or 'My boots leak', rather than things that would 'come in useful' or be nice to buy. I used to spend a lot on clothes. Since becoming debt-free, I've also successfully dieted 6 stones off, so have had to replace all my clothes. Our monthly clothing budget is £40 a month for 2 of us. We supplement this from odds & ends such as vouchers from doing online surveys, or I might sometimes receive gift vouchers for Christmas or birthdays. Spending a lot less on clothes has worked positively for me, as I no longer impulse buy, buy too much or in silly colours, which means that I choose more carefully & buy only what I both really need & love. Re spending on lunches, that is a big money hoover! We estimated that the decision to take packed lunches to work saved us an eye-watering £2,000 a year for the two of us! The other huge saver has been meal planning, reducing our grocery spend by around £100 a month. We still have the occasional latte, etc, but these now have to come out of our monthly 'Personal spends' budget of £60 each. Lots of new things you can try. Good luck with it.

Northerness

Ay, clothing has always been a vice of mine. I probably could try and sell some of my evening clothes and dresses from my nightclubbing days as I have SO MANY and some of them are really nice - but more suited to a 20 year old than a 30 year old! I'm not into backless glitzy tops these days so may as well...or maybe I would be if I was still as skinny and had a social life : )

I actually don't spend much on clothes now compared to a few years back, mostly just buy office-wear and tend to stick to my own uniform of black trousers and nice tee - could probably do with some more cardies and a new warm jacket - but I suppose I don't NEED them.

Thanks, for the tips : )

foxgloves

Well, maybe selling some of your stuff is a good idea, as you could chuck any money made at your debts & every little helps. We've sold loads of our big pre-dieting sized clothes on ebay & have probably made over £300 in total. I was surprised how many bids some of the items attracted. Starting at a low price helps, describing things very accurately & of course, make sure you wait for free listings days to maximise your profits. Re needs rather than wants......I failed to find a thick black cardi in any of the shops I looked in, there was just nothing I liked. Then, I found exactly what I was looking for in a charity shop - £5 - honestly looks like it's never been worn!