The Money Makeover challenge.....

plymouthscubagirl

Well this is it. After lurking for about 6-8 years I am finally going to start a thread of my own and hold myself accountable.

I have lived beyond my means all my life but I am finally ready for the challenge to rid myself once and for all.

I have started reading the The Total Moneymakover by Dave Ramsey and I soooooo want to be in his position.

I have managed to get myself half way there in my head, as in I always source cheapest product, never impulse buy BUT I love spending beyond my means generally. I have been addicted to HotUKDeals and the Quick Grabbit boards on here for I don't know how long (i.e check several times a day) but I have gone a whole week and bit without either. I have delinked my cards from paypal/ebay/amazon so no further spending can be done.

I'm having battles trying to get my OH on board, but baby steps I guess. I can't change him but I can take control of my finances. So here goes.....

Is £400 enough for food/going out/clothes etc budget? There's just me, OH and 3 year old?

I don't have sky/virgin, mobile is only £10 a month so have possibly cut down every where else I could.

I'm lucky in that I have bought and wrapped all Xmas presents, and also lucky that OH runs a cafe so can occasionally 'borrow' food Usually milk/bread etc.

So reckon my debt free date will be Sep 2014 hopefully (I have been here before but thats another story)

plymouthscubagirl

So I get paid tomorrow and I will pay off all little spends on store cards and close them down. It is also my last payment for my loan £857.75 a month - whoo-hoo :j Been paying that for a whole year after paying off my OH's loan. The plan this time last year was that I would be debt free again but that clearly hasn't happened as I still have £12k outstanding.

I'm rather annoyed with myself as I'm actually paying interest on one of the cards at the moment on my spending card (Tesco for points). I usually pay this off each month but I'm now on £2k so this will not get cleared until January 20th payday. I'm guessing its not worth doing a balance transfer for a short period. Think next months estimated interest is £38. Annoying but no point crying and whinging after I've spent it all.

NinjaSavingKat

Hello PlymouthScubaGirl... You seem to be making great headway already! Perhaps place up an SOA so we know where all your money is going. And tell us how much you oww. Do you have a debt-free-day in mind?

Haveing a goal is the most imporant thing - something you and your OH can hold each other too. Is this your debt or shared? Are you actually in debt or are you just wanting to manage what is coming in?

So many questions but answering them will give us all a better idea of where your money is going and help you figure out what to do next. And don't worry - once you are posting on here everyday you might see those impulse buys getting less and less.

Depending on debt there should be no clothing budget unless you are desperate then hit the charity shops. It also depends on how badly you want rid of the debt and how dedicated you are!

Looking forward to some of these answers though...; - )

Save_me

Good Luck with your journey and don't beat yourself up too much.

I think you should stick with your plan to pay the Jan bill and then hide the card! I know it's £40 interest towards another debt but I think it might be best to leave it (esp over the expensive Christmas period) and leave applying for the 0% card for a more un-manageable debt.

I've hidden all of my credit cards and I thought I might panic while out shopping but I really don't. It helps not having access to mainstream tv now - no tempting adverts to show you what you're missing out on!

plymouthscubagirl

Ah thanks ladies. I've been reading alot of your posts NSK - you're very inspirational :T I did start doing SOA but lost it all after inputting figures - grrr :mad:

Saveme - I think you're right. Thats my plan too. I handed over all my cards to my ex's MIL (we're very good friends) so she's safeguarding these until I can be trusted to have them again. I may well just close all the store cards anyway, its the Tesco one that causes me thr trouble!


So my first day has been very MSE.

1. Its payday so have managed to pay off £1572 off my debt - whoo hoo
2. Ran to work, thus saving me petrol and shower as I can shower at work.
3. Brought my own breakfast rather than trudging upstairs to canteen that have a new granola bar for £1.60. Went to Aldi and have done my own version. Also drinking my fresh coffee from Aldi which is also very nice rather than getting a coffee upstairs.

So debts. Hmm where do I start. They are mainly my partners debts really, although I will admit I have since added to them. Basically last Sep time (when I'd just got debt free myself), I realised my partner was paying a ridiculous amount of interest on his loan. When he was with his ex-wife he took a £20k loan to get kitchen etc done and pay off other debts most probably. He was then in the services so he was earning a good wage anyway. He is not so financially savvy (working on him) so to him it was just £258 a month and very easy to pay off. What he never worked out was how much he was actually going to pay back! Even afetr 7 years when I was looking at it, he still had another about 8 years to go! I think i worked out they must have been applying interest daily or monthly as for the last few months for each £258 payment, £130+ was being added in interest!!! So I worked out I could maybe clear this in a year with some dedication. It was £15k loan and £1.5k o/d. BUT I've added to it with holidays and trips away, Xmas etc. So I took out a £10,000 loan over 1 year (last £857.75 payment today) and the rest went on 0% cards. Phew feel like I've wrote an essay :-)

plymouthscubagirl

So actual debts are:

Tesco C/Card £2105.82
Zero £305.00
Natwest £6862.61
First Direct £2676.55

First Direct and Natwest are both 0% until April/June 2015.

Zero I hope to pay off next month. It was 0% but I supidly used it abroad so I now get charged on the purchase part first (dumb dumb me)

Tesco is whatever they charge for purchases. I usually pay this off in full each month so I've never paid any attention. I can clear this and Zero by January 20th payday so long as no further spends occur.

So is £400 (can only afford £330 this month) realistic for food/going out/clothes etc. Like NSK said, I don'tt actually need clothes. Lucky that my little boy is kitted out for the year, thanks to very generous hand-me-downs from my sisters boy who is 2 years older!

plymouthscubagirl

Here is my version that I do every month in Excel. Like I say I'm half way there MSE wise, just need to stop spending and start saving :j

Salary AT & Deductions 2081.87
Paul rent 300.00
Nat rent 550
Child allowance 81.20
Paul loan 200


Available Monies 3213.07



Rent 625.00
Accounts 90.00
Fuel 50.00
Trust 10.00
Pin money 330.00
Newcall 24.18
Debs pay off 101.50
Mortgage 408.06
Natwest 69.32
Life ins 14.61
M and S loan pay off 857.75
Zero c/c 302.31
New look pay off 65.16
Childcare 30.00
First direct c/c 82.78
Now tv 9.00
Sue Wills 100.00
Tesco 39.00 3rd
Paypal fees 16.32

Deductions Imminent 3208.67




Available Monies 4.40

To explain a few things. Paul is partner. I've asked that he try and pay £200 towards what would have been his loan, as he was paying £258 anyway. The £300 is towards rent. He pays the bills. I get food.

Nat is my sister who I bought a house for about 8 years ago as she was in a tiny flat with kids. The idea was, that she would buy off of me when she could but this is unlikely now. The rent was the same as the mortgage for 5yrs (horrible N Rock together mortgage) but since it has dropped to standard variable I now make a little on the interest only part. I should be putting this away really but it just goes toward my credit cards at the moment!

Lucky in that my wages are quite well paid for this part of the country. Oh and my childcare 12hrs funding kicks in January so I will be able to bring down my £243 contribution from wages.

Any advice would be welcome

NinjaSavingKat

Good Morning PG..

So from what I read that £330 is for food and entertainment basically for the month. I think you need to consider an emergency pot where that £30 can go ( next month and thereafter make is £50 ) - you never know when something might be needed for your car's or anything else.

£300 is MORE than adequate to live on. The little won't each much and it will just be a scaled down version of what you and OH eat. You have done this debt busting thing before so you know what it entails.

So am I right in thinking you won't have to pay that £875.87 payment next month - that it's done completely?

What is your total figure that you have to repay? And do you have a projected (wished for ) debt free date?

Then I shall add a little more...

plymouthscubagirl

Yes thats right - the last payment gone so that will be thrown at the Tesco now to clear that one. Actually after pasting in my SOA, I realised I'm better off paying the £300 off Tesco this month rather than the Zero card as it will mean les sinterest. I think because the Zero wasn't much balance wise I was just trying to get rid of that faster, but its better to pay less interest.

The £90 accounts is for £70 car account and £20 presents. The present one is actually quite a joke as I just worked out based on what I spent this year for Xmas, and birthdays I would actually need to put away £160 p/mth. My partner has 2 beautiful girls that come every other weekend and during the week, so they usually get £150 each for Xmas/birthdays and its usually me scrambling around trying to do all this. Partner is a very generous person but a little strapped for cash at the moment as he's running his own business. I'll work on proper budgeting come debt free date which I'm hoping will be September time I think, if I can keep to this £400 spend budget!

P.s love your Trussel trust idea from NOvember challenge. Something I intend to do this Friday as its less than half a mile away. Already hassling my colleagues to donate unwanted tins from their cupboards :T

I guess I'm in debt BUT its manageable debt so long as I have a job. And thats what I hate!!!

So total debt figure after I pay off todays £1500 is £11,699.98 :eek:

plymouthscubagirl

Oh I have started tracking how much I spend on food too. Since Nov 14th I've spent £98.58 although I did do quite a big shop at Aldi so I shoud have bits to last for a while. Chap is a meat fan and sulks if I try and cook a non-meat meal. Again working on this......

NinjaSavingKat

If you are looking to be debt free next September I think £400 is more than adequate for 2 adults and a little. Food at a push could be £200 if you were being generous although this can be done on a good budget...

I think it's a case of being sensible... no takeaways, no cinema visits, no clothes, no expensive beauty products, no holiday bookings, no expensive Christmas presents for you and OH or the little one..

I think you can do this...!!!