Here I go...

elfy1807

So, I figure it's about time I made myself accountable.

I've used forums before, and found them extremely helpful when I was losing weight last year.

So now it's time to get my money under control.

But I need some advice/opinions.

So... here's my situation.
It's not as terrible as some people's, but I still want to be able to get it sorted.

I'm 24.
I live at home with my mum and my sister.
I'm a part time Sales Assistant (working 20 hours per week) and also work at a youth club (I've been volunteering at the youth club since 2010, but was offered a paid role last summer starting September 2013 - but I'll give more details on that in a mo :undecided)

I greatly dislike owing/borrowing money.

Debts:

I went to WDW in 2011, and my mum paid a large amount of it for me. That, along with various £20 here and there for bits and pieces, have mounted up.
I don't know the exact amount anymore, but don't estimate it as being any more than £3500. I don't even think it's at high as that, but I feel better paying more than less. So that's the amount I'm aiming at.
Mum is very kind and doesn't mind when I pay it back - but I do, which is why I'm try to work on getting it back to her sooner rather than later.

I've just been out and bought myself a new (to me) car. It's fairly new - a 13 plate and cost £9999 with an £89 'delivery fee' - total cost £10088.
Because it's on finance, I put down a £500 deposit and monthly repayments are £219 pcm. After 60 months, I will be paying £13640 (including the £500 deposit). My boyfriend is planning on contributing half towards the car (around £110 pcm) but I'm able to pay the whole amount per month myself if need be (such as we split up, or he can't afford it one month etc).

Incomings:

As mentioned above, I have 2 jobs.
My main job is a 20 hour part time job as a Sales Assistant.
This brings in £504.80 every 4 weeks (£6562.40 per year).

I am also a youth worker.
This one is quite frustrating as it's all a loada ********
A complete !!!! up.
I work 2.5 hours a week.
My hourly wage is unknown as nobody has bothered to tell me.
I also went on a trip to Alton Towers in October half term, which was 12 hours working.

I have worked 15 weeks so far, along with the AT trip and therefore am owed 52.5 hours worth of wages.
That's correct - OWED. At minimum wage, that's £332.27
They still haven't correctly enrolled me onto their system because they keep screwing up and losing my details, which is making me lose patience and interest in a job I once extremely enjoyed. Now I see it as a chore. But alas, I am sticking with it because every penny helps with the debts.

Outgoings:

Phone Bill: £16pcm
WW App: £7pcm
Board: £87pcm (I pay £20 p/w - I know right?! I get away with murder with my mum!)
Petrol: £120 every 4 weeks (£130pcm) (I'm not entirely sure on this due to having the new car - this is just an estimate, but will know better next payday)
Car Insurance: £50pcm
Car Payments: £219pcm

Total outgoings pcm: £509
Total incomings pcm (at present):£546.86

I have no road tax to pay due to the low emissions of my car and it doesn't need an MOT until 2016.

So I can manage all my bills and still have a little left over for spending.
I don't spend very often, sometimes a tshirt, a book, or a tub of ice cream will catch my eye and I buy it, but I try not to spend unnecessarily too often.

My current debt free date is 12th Jan 2019.
That is when my car should be finished paying, but I plan on paying it off sooner.
I believe that if I pay chunks off, my finance will still exist over the remainder of the 60 months, but the payments will go down. It decreases around £7 for every £300 or so I pay.

I also want to pay a nice chunk of money back to my mum in 2014, as well as create a £1000 emergency starter fund (I believe it's advisable to have 3 months expenditures in an emergency fund, but I'm gonna start with £1000 first - that's 2 months at least).

Now, this is where I need the advice.
I have a few places where money is owed to me - obviously the youth club owe me previous money, and it will also increase my incomings each month when I am finally registered.
My boyfriend also owes me around £400 as I'm in a slightly better financial position than he is and I've loaned him it to help him. And then once that's sorted he'll be paying half the monthly car repayments.
I am also owed tax (I believe around £200), which I've tried chasing up before, but they never answer their blinking phones and it cost a fortune to call them in the first place. The last time I phoned, I was holding for 11 minutes before I gave up and hung up.

And then there's often the opportunity of overtime at my main job, and the money my grandma will give us for the likes of Easter or just because.

I plan on living on my regular 20 hours per week wages, so any overtime will be counted as extra. And I plan on continuing to manage the car payments myself, so my boyfriend's contributions will also be considered as extra.

What should I do with all this extra money?
I know they advise paying off the debt with the highest interest rate first - which is obviously the car (but I'm unable to tell you the rate at this moment as I don't know it off the top of my head).

But I am also wary I should have an emergency fund in case of emergency (I had started one a couple of months ago but the money in it went to replacing the windscreen on my old car).

And I'd like to be able to give some money to my mum also, as she's sitting watching me pay all my other bills and going out now and then and not saying a word - making me feel a bit guilty.

How would you do it?
Maybe in percentage terms as the amount extra per month will probably vary.

Sorry for the long post

laurag89

Hi Elfy1807,

I enjoyed reading your diary, Im the same age as you and in the same position with living with my mum still.... however my debt it much higher than yours even taking into account your car finance (whoops)

I have been having the same dilemma with deciding whether to pay extra money off debts or save an emergency fund, and you are right... its recommended you should pay debts off first because the APR you pay will be much higher than any savings rate an account will give you at the moment.
I dont know if it will help but what I have decided to do is split what is left and save half, pay half off of my debts. This way im building a safety/emergency fund but also clearing my debts as quick as possible too.

If it comes to a point where my emergency fund has built up but I dont know need it I will pay even more to my debt.

Hope this may help a little
Good luck with claiming back everything your owed, im sure it will all come back eventually..... I suppose in a positive way its kind of like saving as you cant spend it till you have it back anyway

elfy1807

Ok.
So I've been rubbish at keeping this up to date.

In the 55 days since I last posted...

My NSD days have been up and down - not really kept track, but I resolve to right now.

I have cancelled my WW app subscription (£7 a month less spend), but have taken up zumba at the gym once a week (£5.80 per week spend).

I have finally received my first payment from the youth club - however I have also quit the youth club.
I have 2 more monthly payments owed to me from the youth club.
I'm gutted I've quit, but I didn't have much other option after the problems I faced there.

I claimed back my remaining tax from my old car - £58 which went straight into my emergency fund savings account.

I also managed to get onto the taxman and he is sending me a cheque for £300+ (can't remember the exact figure now, but it was a nice one) and he has informed me I have £98 owed to me from this year as well, so if I get the correct information to them, they should be able to sort that out soon.

I currently have around £230 in my emergency fund. That, with my tax rebate and the money owed from my boyfriend (which he is working towards repaying), my £1000 emergency fund will be there. And then I can start to pay off my debt to my mum/save for the future like holidays, a mortgage etc.

In regards to my car, I'm thinking about leaving the repayments as they are for now.
Putting money towards it isn't going to drop it by much at the moment.
I might as well use my extra money towards other things. My wages cover my car repayments, and I can deal with that.

So... current challenges for this year.

Save £1000 emergency fund.
Maximum £10 per week spend.
Pay back mum (not necessarily all the money by 31st Jan 2014, but at least make a dent into it).

liltdiddylilt

Hi elfy!

Nice to see an update on your diary... aren't our mums amazing creatures the way they look after us? I moved out 10 years ago almost and my parents still always try and slip me a bit of money or treat me to something nice when I see them, not to mention the fortune they spend on my daughter!

I would suggest that your mum might sometimes need a reminder of just how much you appreciate everything she does for you. How about adding a bunch of flowers to your to do list. My mum always loves even a £1 bunch of daffodils bless her.

As for the rest of your initial post/update have you found out the terms of your agreement for the car? Maybe worth putting the money you might have spent on it into a savings account or a current account with decent interest. My ex had car finance over 5 years and about 3 years in he got a loan at a much lower rate to cover it and a new boiler. When he phoned to pay off the outstanding amount, they settled at much less than was outstanding, saving him about £2,500 on a £12k loan. Maybe that would be better??

Make sure you keep a firm idea of what is owed to you by your boyfriend. Regardless of how things are now they can change in a heartbeat as I know all too well. That ex still owes me thousands.

Excellent news on the emergency fund and especially the tax rebate good luck!!!!

elfy1807

Hi liltdiddylilt.

Thanks for taking the time to read my attempt at a diary haha.
My mum is brilliant to me. Good idea about the little presents.
I'm sure I've bought her little bits in the past, but right now nothing comes to mind, so I'm obviously not doing it often enough.
Although maybe next month as she's gonna get spoilt far too much this month (it's her birthday a week tomorrow and then mother's day at the end of the month ha).

A lower rate loan than my car sounds like a possible solution. It was a car valued at £9999 when I bought it, but with the interest over the 5 years I've worked it out to be nearly £14000. I would be saving £4000 if I pay it sooner. It's something worth looking into - thanks for the suggestion.

My boyfriend owes me £400. I know it's that amount, and he knows it's that amount. Perhaps worth having a little jotter just in case, having us both sign it, just in case things do go wrong. I'm sorry to hear that your ex owes you so much.

I've just been through my little jar of odds and sods and I've counted it up to be £97.49 (plus a few £2 coins I haven't counted that are upstairs. I can't bear spending £2 coins ha!)

I also have the money to one side for my mum's birthday present, the remaining of my week's £10, as well as some money to put into a wedding card for some friends next Saturday. It's payday on Friday, so mum's mother's day present will come out of some of that money. Also my Zumba money is already in my gym leggings so I know that's covered this week.
I need to really get onto it so I can be in the same position as you - debt free and ready to put myself into a "grown up" state of debt by buying a house and getting a mortgage. But that's not for a while yet. Why move out whilst I've still got it good at home?
Besides, I wouldn't want my mum to be lonely

liltdiddylilt

Haha you're welcome. It took me two diaries and a number of absences to finally get into writing in one vaguely regularly. I never had a diary I could keep as a kid either, not got the staying power!

I forgot it was mothers day at the end of the month. Better start putting some cash away for that too. And remind my other half to get me something from my little lady. He works in a card shop yet guess who was the one running around buying cards and gift wrap for his mums birthday today... lol.

I am 28 next month; my daughter will be 2 next month.... I own a house, or at least am still tied into a mortgage with my ex on a house 250 miles away that I havent even entered in 5 years :eek: and I am STILL not in a grown up state of mind. Take your time, take it easy on yourself and just remember you're 24, not 54.

You're learning the right lessons now. So long as you are accountable for what you do in life, your debts etc included, then you aren't far off the right track!

elfy1807

I'm not very good at diary keeping either.
But I find forums very helpful with keeping me accountable.
I joined weight watchers last april and using a weight loss forum helped me lose the 2.5 stone I wanted to lose in just 3 months.
So hopefully this will help me with my money saving.

I've been thinking a bit more about getting a loan to pay off my car... I could be saving myself £30-£40 a month, which could go towards paying back my debt to mum. I'd be no worse off with my wages, but I'd be better off debt wise. Will have to investigate it with the banks.
I just hate going to the banks though - they're such muppets in there -.- Haha.

Today I approached my boss about more hours.
I currently work part-time - 20 hours a week over 5 days - 4 weekdays and alternate saturday/sunday (one week sat, next week sun).
A part-time colleague at work is transferring to a different store, so I asked whether he'd be replacing her. She works on the customer service department, I work on arts & crafts, but when I first started at the company, I was on customer services, so I know how it works.
I was looking at keeping my 20 hours on A&C and going up to full time (39.5 hours) by topping it up with 19.5 hours in customer service.
He said he unfortunately doesn't have the budget to be able to replace her at the moment, but did say that when he does have the budget, he'll be replacing her with the best person in the store, and he said that's me. And if there's every any overtime/cover hours available, he'd offer them to me. Which is good to hear. Gutting that it's not now, but at least I asked. Don't ask, don't get.

I also made sure he was aware that I'm willing to take on hours whenever, wherever. I'm all about the money me.
Which is when he mentioned that at weekends, he's always short on till staff and would I be willing to work 6 hours every weekend on my non-working day. I said absolutely and start this weekend. This weekend I'm working Sunday, so I'll do till work on Saturday.
I don't think it's necessary permanent, but for now, it's ongoing.

That's 6 hours (£37.86) extra every week for now, 24 extra hours (£151.44) every payday (get paid every 4 weeks).
I think that's a bit of a result meaning I can either get to my £1000 target sooner, pay off a bit extra from my car, pay back my mum or put away for general savings like holidays, car insurance etc. We'll see come payday

liltdiddylilt

That is fabulous news on the extra hours, well done! Don't ask, don't get is very true and something my mum lives by! Im more shy about certain things but when it comes to over the phone I am a master at getting what I want for the minimum I can get it for!

Enjoy 1 weeks worth of the extra, spend it on yourself very deliberately whether it is a night out or what. The rest, mum, savings, holiday fund, whatever! Don't knock yourself down by not having any fun. You earned it! even when I was my most in debt I still had a takeaway every few weeks as a treat to keep me motivated.

Definitely look into the bank loan but depending when you took your finance out it may have negative impacts on your credit rating so be careful. If you have been with your bank a while and in good credit etc, have managed your account well then they will have internal scores which may trump the reference agencies anyway! Dont apply for loads at once

Sounds like a good day for you all around so well done you!

And that weight loss is incredible! Did you keep it off? My mum has just hit target at slimming world and she loves it. She lost over 3 stone too!

beanielou

Why don't you put your extra money towards paying off your mum?
What you haven't had you wont miss,

elfy1807

I was scared about asking, and it's taken me about 2 weeks to build up the courage, but my manager is much more approachable than the old one was. I did it step by step. I asked my department supervisor's opinion on what my department manager would say. Then I spoke to my department manager and got her opinion on me doing it and what she thought my manager would say. Then I spoke to a deputy manager about it and asked her opinion and they were all pretty positive, so I worked up the nerve today to ask my manager. He was expecting me to come and speak to him as my department manager had already spoken to him. I quite enjoy when they talk about me behind my back. Means I don't have to explain myself quite as much haha.

I've been fiddling with numbers today as to what I could put my extra wages towards.

I've come up with saving it for...
- Birthdays throughout the year
- Christmas presents at the end of the year
- My car insurance in Jan 2015 - I'm currently paying £42.99 a month for it... if I have a lump ready, I'd be an extra £42.99 a month better off next year.

Any remaining money from this will go towards paying my mum back.

I have a cheap holiday to Butlins booked in May and have decided to put my first amount of extra wages (which will only be £113 due to not being able to work the extra hours in 2 weekends time due to having the week off work to use up old holiday and don't think the holiday applies to that weekend's 6 hours) towards my petrol/food/spending money that week.

I figure that if I put these extra wages towards this, then I won't be building up any further debt with mum by borrowing it from her for presents and the like.

I only took out the car finance in January 2014, so it's still very new, and I think this will affect my chances of getting a loan. I've never intentionally been overdrawn in my bank accounts. One - my Nationwide account is where I'm keeping my emergency fund.
The other - my Lloyds account is where my wages and direct debits go in and out.
I've had a couple of payments taken out and taken me into the red, but has been rectified the same day (that pay before a certain time the same day and it'll be sorted for free thing).
But a couple of months ago I had a minor error.
I like to work in cash, otherwise I just spend spend spend. I take out everything that is not being used for my DDs and split it up accordingly - board to mum, petrol allowance, personal "pleasure" weekly money. However I was fooled into believing an "available balance" at the ATM is the correct amount available.
I took out all the leftovers after accounting for my remaining bills, but had done some shopping and used my debit card, and they hadn't shown up on my available balance. I then ended up going into an unplanned overdraft. 3 days later I received a letter from my bank notifying me. I was furious it had happened. I went up there immediately to pay it off.
I also got them to drop the unplanned overdraft fee because it had been an honest mistake and had I known I was going to go into it, I would have rectified it that day. The letter notifying me was dated the day after I went into it and I didn't receive it for another day or two after that. How could I sort it the same day if they took that long to tell me?
Now I have weekly messages telling me my balance and my last few transactions in/out.
So overall, I don't think my bank history is too bad, but still think the newness of my finance will affect it. But won't know unless I ask.

As for the weight loss... maintaining is hard.
I'm still within my 5lbs buffer weight, but am struggling to get back down to my goal weight by about 3lbs.
I quit my gym membership in October due to the gym changing the classes that I enjoyed to nights when I worked and I didn't see the point in paying £40 a month to just go to the gym - it was all about the classes for me. I used to go to Zumba twice a week, bodycombat once a week and legs, bums & tums once a week, as well as using the gym 3-4 times a week. Definitely worth it when I used it. But then I couldn't so I cancelled, and that's when maintaining started to become a struggle.

Because of this, and due to no longer working tuesday & thursday evenings (the current nights of my preferred classes), I've decided to return to the gym. But only one class per week at £5.80 a class. A bit extravagant, but it's something I need to help me personally. Even though I'm able to go to two classes a week, which would work out £50 a month, so would be cheaper to buy a monthly pass, I can't afford a gym membership as my current wages just cover my outgoings. I give myself a £10 "pleasure" budget per week, so the class comes out of that.

Brilliant news about your mum hitting her target and that she's really happy. 3 stone is a brilliant amount to lose. I haven't quite made it to 3 stone yet. I was 2lbs away about October time, but then Christmas happened (and Christmas lasted from mid november right through to mid january - but only "officially" put on 7lbs at WW - I avoided going when I was heavier than my buffer cuz they make you pay lol).

Sorry for yet another long post.
I don't do short stories.
My boyfriend's used to my 50 word replies to his one word questions lol

elfy1807

Hi beanielou

Thanks for reading my diary.
As mentioned above, some of it will go towards paying my mum back. But other savings are needed as well to help my in the long run like the car insurance.

Well done on your weight loss as well.