My money saving, butt kicking, mortgage overpayment diary! 19 July 2014 at 7:56PM edited 19 July 2014 at 8:05PM in Mortgage-free wannabe 6 replies 1.2K views

nikki2804

Hi,

I'm Nikki, part-time worker, full-time mummy and full-time student.

This is my 2nd diary (I started one and didn't update it so this is a fresh start). I've fallen off the MSE bandwagon lately, mainly because I finally got a mortgage but I wanted the pretty things to go along with the pretty, new house (new kitchen etc...)

Anyway, I'm fed up of looking at my bank balance depreciate each month and wondering what on earth I've spent it on. So this diary is to get my spending in tow, concentrate on paying off my credit and reducing my mortgage down. Oh and if I could lose a stone in weight I'd be happy (and save money because I wouldn't need to buy new clothes! Nothing fits me atm)

Today didn't start well, I got up at 4, was at the Next sale at 5 and spent far to much money :eek:.

I've posted my SOA below, feel free to comment on it (grocery shopping is high because my youngest is still on formula and needs nappies etc)

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

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

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 690
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1200
Benefits................................ 462.6
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2352.6

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 301
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 160
Electricity............................. 57
Gas..................................... 57
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 32
Mobile phone............................ 55
TV Licence.............................. 13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 32
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 200
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 150
Road tax................................ 11.66
Car Insurance........................... 21
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 16
Contents insurance...................... 13
Life assurance ......................... 12
Other insurance......................... 8
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 50
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1208.66


Assets
Cash.................................... 500
House value (Gross)..................... 150000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 5000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 155500


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 90000....(301)......1.99
Total secured & HP debts...... 90000.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Very...........................827.......0.........0
Hitachi - kitchen..............4000......189.......0
Hitachi - livingroom...........648.......0.........0
Tesco..........................15000.....293.......7.4
Total unsecured debts..........20475.....482.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,352.6
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,208.66
Available for debt repayments........... 1,143.94
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 482
Amount left after debt repayments....... 661.94

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 155,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -90,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -20,475
Net Assets.............................. 45,025



Just added up my overpayments, so far (since 01/11/2013) I have OP'd by £152.16. Not amazing but better than nothing.

midnight_child

Hi Nikki & welcome to MFW :hello:

Had a quick look through your SOA.

The obvious things that jump out are:
1 - Tesco loan has a very high APR. You should pay this before making anything over minimum payments elsewhere. I wouldn't advocate consolidation as a long term solution to debts, although if you can get the rate reduced while also really going after this debt that might be an option.

2 - Phone usage is very high.
Can you switch mobile deal or go PAYG? The landline also seems excessive to me, even if this includes broadband.

3 - Personally I would ditch the sky TV. There is plenty of stuff on freeview or you could sign up to an online film site instead.

4 - You said £50 per month on haircuts. Is this a typo?

MC

nikki2804

midnight_child wrote: »

Hi Nikki & welcome to MFW :hello:

Had a quick look through your SOA.

The obvious things that jump out are:
1 - Tesco loan has a very high APR. You should pay this before making anything over minimum payments elsewhere. I wouldn't advocate consolidation as a long term solution to debts, although if you can get the rate reduced while also really going after this debt that might be an option.

I want to get rid of this debt, it was taken to pay of car finance at 15% odds and for some household things. Most of my 0% things have less than a year to run, they then jump up to extortionate rates so I'm aiming to clear them first. Oops just double checked and its actually 6.5% (Tesco that is)

2 - Phone usage is very high.
Can you switch mobile deal or go PAYG? The landline also seems excessive to me, even if this includes broadband. My mobile is only £22.50 a month and I do use the allowances, OH upgraded his without my knowledge so this bumped it up. He's only 4 months into a 2 year contract . He has been well berated for that.

Landline includes broadband and was taken because the other providers were, well cack. Plus BT is meant to be bringing fibre to the area soon (they've said this since November 2013!!)

3 - Personally I would ditch the sky TV. There is plenty of stuff on freeview or you could sign up to an online film site instead. I did get rid of Sky when we moved, lasted a week :rotfl:. Contract runs until November then I'm haggling for a discount or leaving. As sad as it sounds, I don't go out much so Sky is my treat I suppose?

4 - You said £50 per month on haircuts. Is this a typo? No typo but it is for 3 of us (me, OH and DS) They get cuts every month or they look bedraggled :rotfl:. I'm 26 and have more grey hairs than I would like so I get my hair highlighted/lowlighted. Been going to my hairdresser for years so I get a discount. Luckily DD isn't at an age that she needs haircuts (10 months)

MC

Thank you for replying. I've responded in red. I'm hoping my gas/electricity drops. I did have an issue where my hot water tank pump was continually on so used a whack of electricity. DD was updated to reflect this, I've left it as is so that I'm not worrying over Winter.

I'm hoping to batch cook this payday so that I'm not tempted to get a takeaway (another downfall of mine)

Having a clear out of the kiddies clothes tomorrow, anything decent I may try selling on the FB selling pages. Every little counts and all that.

Christmas is covered, PARK vouchers have been paid for.

I go back to college in September so I'll have to pay childcare for my DS as he goes into Primary 1, DD is in the college nursery. Thankfully DD's is automatically paid but I need to pay for DS upfront, then the college pay me in arrears. Not looking forward to that.

Sorry for the rambling...

littlegreenpeas

Hello and welcome.

Have you tried plus net they are a bt company so you keep the same phone number but are in my case much cheaper. If you have any old phones sell them on ebay they fetch a few quid.

just a suggestion but could go to 6 weeks hair cuts.

Good luck

Lgp

nikki2804

littlegreenpeas wrote: »

Hello and welcome.

Have you tried plus net they are a bt company so you keep the same phone number but are in my case much cheaper. If you have any old phones sell them on ebay they fetch a few quid.

just a suggestion but could go to 6 weeks hair cuts.

Good luck

Lgp

I'm in a 12 month contract with BT atm, ends in November so ill research plusnet a bit more, thanks. We were with o2 who were great until Sky took them over :mad:

I get my hair done on a 6 weekly rotation, one visit is just a cut, second is a cut colour. Ive tried eeking it out longer to just one appointment every 12 weeks but my hair goes really ratty looking.

The boys go once a month, normally the Saturday after payday. Any longer they look like mushroom heads :rotfl:

Anyway, today I reacquainted myself with Aldi. Forgot how good value it was although some prices have eeked up. Going to go to Lidl at some point too.

Spent the afternoon tidying up the garden and re-edging the border. Knackered and its only half done. Previous owners didn't do much right when it came to DIY and it seems that their half assed approach continued into the garden. Upended a couple of plants, tidied around and got some exercise to boot (got even more when I disturbed a massive spider :rotfl:)

Tomorrow is a day for sorting through the kiddies clothes. Most are from Next so I might sell them and put the funds towards paying the mortgage.

sweetdaisy

Hi Nikki. All the best on your MFW journey .

I can see from your SOA that you pay £32 a month for your Telephone (landline). Not sure who your landline provider is but if it's BT it's worth signing up to their BT Line Rental Saver - where you get 12 months line rental for the price of 10. My phone bill has reduce a lot and I now only use the landline in the evenings and weekends when it's free and use my mobile during the day to make calls, as it works out cheaper.

Goldiegirl

Hello, welcome to the board.

Regarding haircuts, just wondering if you'd thought of investing in a hair clipper, so you can cut your boys hair yourself. I've been cutting my husband's hair for years, and it's really easy.

However, I don't let him loose on my hair. I still go to the hairdressers every 6 weeks, but have my colour done 3 times a year, rather than 4, so I make a small saving