Time to focus in 2014

xannie99x

I had my first LBM in 2011 and I managed to pay off a small amount of my debt. However, I lost my way a bit and we have had a year of a lot of change and subsequently have occurred more debt along the way. This year we have brought a new car, brought our first house together and got engaged. So our plan is to try and pay off as much debt as possible whilst saving for our wedding. I’m hoping this diary will help me focus and stick to the plan!!

My plan is to try and cut back as much as possible, I have joined the 20p savers challenge and virtual sealed pot challenge and I plan to make as much extra cash from overtime and selling on ebay as possible. I will also post my SOA on the next post so any feedback would be most grateful! I will also be trying to loose weight in preparation for the wedding as well so I hope to stay focused on that goal too!!

Wish me luck!

xannie99x

b]Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet[/b]

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1626
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1450
Total monthly income.................... 3076

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 911
Council tax............................. 131
Electricity............................. 25.25
Gas..................................... 20.28
Water rates............................. 32
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 56 (2 x mobile phones, contract ends dec 14)
TV Licence.............................. 12.18
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 54 (including internet and phone)
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 350 (this is 1 area I think we could cut down!)
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 150 (I drive as part of my job)
Road tax................................ 17.5 (saving to pay 12 months worth in feb, then it'll go down to 8.50)
Car Insurance........................... 62.66 (monthly instalment plus putting money aside to pay 12 months upfront in may, so will reduce to £25)
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 12.5 (only 18 months old so just needs service one a year)
Other travel............................ 5 (OH work travel)
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 14
Buildings insurance..................... 13 (including contents)
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 17.21
Other insurance......................... 28.78 (professional bodies etc)
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 38.33 (putting this money into savings every month)
Haircuts................................ 13.33
Entertainment........................... 200 (my OH needs some spending money otherwise he would go crazy!!)
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Beauty Products......................... 15
Netflix................................. 5.99
Total monthly expenses.................. 2187.01


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 220000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 7000
Other assets............................ 4000
Total Assets............................ 231000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 185270...(911)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 185270....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Halifax Credit Card............3820......38........0% for 18 months
Parents Loan...................3800......200.......0%
Tesco Loan 1...................11373.....236.......
Bank of Scotland................1417......14........0% for 12 months
Barclaycard....................4191......51........?18.9%
OH Credit Card.................1017......100.......0% for 24 months
Tesco Loan 2...................10192.....212.......
Total unsecured debts..........35810.....851.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,076
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,187.01
Available for debt repayments........... 888.99
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 851
Amount left after debt repayments....... 37.99

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 231,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -185,270
Total Unsecured debt.................... -35,810
Net Assets.............................. 9,920

Sedge123

The things that jump out to be are £350 for groceries, just for two of you? This could be cut massively. The other is the entertainment budget of £200!

xannie99x

Hi Sedge, thanks for the reply. Yes I definitely agree that our grocery budget could be cut down. I used to be very good with it and had it at £200 at one point but seem to have slipped up recently. Need to work on doing a strict meal plan.

The entertainment budget gets split between me and my OH for the month (so £100 each) and is our spending money for the month for any treats we want to buy. To be honest I struggle to stick to this amount! A cheeky take away or 2 and a few trips to coffee shops and before you know it it's gone!! Really need to work on trying to not spend this money frivolously. Ideally I would like to get this down to £50 for me. I don't think my OH would survive on any less than his £100 and I want him to have just a little something for himself as he works so hard for us!

xannie99x

Well I've not done much mse stuff today. I have found a jar and started my 20p collection and have 40p in it at the moment I also went and did a grocery shop and I've decided to set myself a target of £3000 for the year, which is £250 a month. Ideally I would like to get it to £200 a month (or £2400 and year) but I think this would be too optimistic but we'll see how it goes. I am still undecided whether its better to get deliveries or not, as I always seem to get impulse buys when I go to the shop! Today I picked up a 9.50 duvet whilst I was in there, but I also picked up some good reduced products to stock up the freezer so its swings and roundabouts I guess. I have also checked all my bank accounts today. Doing this everyday helps me keep focused!

beanielou

Sedge123 wrote: »

The things that jump out to be are £350 for groceries, just for two of you? This could be cut massively. The other is the entertainment budget of £200!

These figures really jump out at me too.
You really do need to cut them down.
Unfortunatly getting out of debt is not totally pain free!