Ruby's Paying off Debt, Planning a Wedding, Buying a House and Everything Inbetween!

ruby_eskimo

Hi everyone! I'm Ruby, now 27 and trying once again to beat my debt. I successfully managed it 2 years ago and since then the real pressures of being an adult and more lazy attitude towards money have meant that overdrafts and credit card balances have started creeping back up again. However this time really will be the last time as there is so much more at stake!

At the beginning of the year I had a bit of a breakdown which gave me the push to leave my quite comfortable yet stressful job and move to something different. Now I'm happier than I was, working with people that appreciate the effort I put in and in a position I can see myself staying in for a couple of years (if they extend my contract).

Debt wise I have a Natwest overdraft left over from my student days and a Tesco credit card. The credit card is for emergencies (like the 2 new tyres I had to buy at the weekend) and will be paid off when I get paid on Thursday. I'd like to build up savings to cover incidentals like that so I don't have to rely on the credit, but will concentrate on paying off the overdraft first.

As well as paying off my overdraft I'm currently in the throws of wedding planning. So far we have a venue, photographers, registrar reserved and are in negotiations with a band. We're trying to pay for as much of it ourselves but our parents are making contributions too.

In addition to all that we also want to buy a house after we get married. We're currently renting in an area that is ridiculously expensive for a 1 bedroom flat. However the location is perfect (5 minute walk from the station for me, 10 minute walk into town for him) so we're cutting our commuting costs by living there. But I'd really love a place of our own (preferably with an upstairs!). We, well I, have some savings in an ISA earmarked for a house deposit and that's taking a back seat to the wedding savings at the moment.

I'm taking a fresh approach to money from Thursday (pay day) and hope that by the end of the year, the debt will be gone, the savings will have grown and I'll be one step closer to figuring out what I want to do with my life!

ruby_eskimo

So I've just drawn up my budget for next month and it looks tight but there is a bit of wiggle room. I can pay off the credit card in one swoop and pay a little bit off of the overdraft. Then if I have a bit left over at the end of the month that can come off the overdraft too.

Have a bunch of things to list on ebay at some point so that will be some extra cash in the pot too!

Feeling very enthusiastic about money saving now that I have a plan. Long may it continue!

ruby_eskimo

Hooray for pay day! Have already paid my council tax, transferred £250 to the overdraft and paid off the credit card. Have updated the sig accordingly now with the outstanding balance left on the overdraft. I should have it paid off by Christmas and the extra cash will be added to the wedding fund account. OH has given me a pass on contributing to said fund this month due to the whole needing emergency car repairs, which is nice of him.

I've started following the flylady thread as well on the Old Style board and I have to say it's not been too bad. I now have a sparkling kitchen and living room and OH is doing his bit to keep it that way. This should mean more time for relaxing at the weekends rather than spending hours cleaning and tidying.

mary_hinge

just dropping in to say Hi!

:jfor pay days


Mrs H x

ruby_eskimo

mary_hinge wrote: »

just dropping in to say Hi!

:jfor pay days


Mrs H x

Hello! Paydays are awesome. Direct Debit day is not so nice.

ViolaLass

Is the overdraft interest-free? If not, it would make a lot more sense to use savings to pay it off, reducing the interest bill. The month after that, you could take the money you would have paid into the overdraft and use it to replace the savings you used.

ruby_eskimo

ViolaLass wrote: »

Is the overdraft interest-free? If not, it would make a lot more sense to use savings to pay it off, reducing the interest bill. The month after that, you could take the money you would have paid into the overdraft and use it to replace the savings you used.

Yes it's interest free for balances under £1000 hence why I'm not rushing to pay it off. Also most of our savings (wedding / house) are in an ISA so I don't want to withdraw it as I'd then essentially lose the interest on that money for the year.

I think last month was the first month in a while that I've ended the month in credit on my current account! It was only £4.14 but it's better than eating into that account's overdraft as well.

I'm starting to hate overdrafts. They were brilliant when I was a student but when you're an adult and just about making enough to pay your extortionate rent, you struggle to pay them off. I was debt free at one point and then it just started creeping back up. But no more! I am a changed woman!

ViolaLass

ruby_eskimo wrote: »

Yes it's interest free for balances under £1000 hence why I'm not rushing to pay it off.

Excellent. Would therefore be worth saving the money and only paying the overdraft off when you have to (that would earn more interest, although for a mortgage it would probably look better to have the overdraft paid off).

ruby_eskimo wrote: »

Also most of our savings (wedding / house) are in an ISA so I don't want to withdraw it as I'd then essentially lose the interest on that money for the year.

Only an issue if you withdraw money AND you were both going to completely fill your ISAs this year. If you divert money from savings to overdraft one month i.e. BEFORE paying it into the savings, then it wouldn't affect your limits at all.

ruby_eskimo

ViolaLass wrote: »

Excellent. Would therefore be worth saving the money and only paying the overdraft off when you have to (that would earn more interest, although for a mortgage it would probably look better to have the overdraft paid off).



Only an issue if you withdraw money AND you were both going to completely fill your ISAs this year. If you divert money from savings to overdraft one month i.e. BEFORE paying it into the savings, then it wouldn't affect your limits at all.

I want to get it paid off ASAP, as we'll be looking to buy in 2016. Plus I have room in the budget to pay it off now whereas I might not when it gets closer to the wedding.

I'm not putting anything into savings this month in order to pay the credit card off and then start paying off the overdraft, so it's not affecting the ISA at the moment. However my parents are giving me some money in October that will make a large proportion of the ISA allowance for the year, so I'd rather keep that in there and earn the interest than have it languishing about in a regular account (hence the not wanting to withdraw). I should put a disclaimer here that they won some money on the lottery and want to give me some because they want to contribute towards my future.

My brain isn't really working in this heat so apologies if my answers make absolutely no sense!

ruby_eskimo

Oh my gosh it's been a busy few days. Went to a friend's wedding at the weekend and ended up picking up some kind of stomach bug, Tried to go into work Monday and then had to come home, Tuesday stayed at home but felt better and then yesterday went to Leeds for a conference. Back in work today and trying to ease myself back into things.

Speaking of the conference, I booked the train tickets myself (using the card that the dreaded overdraft is linked to) so will get £97.10 back from work for that in a couple of months by the time they've processed the forms. So that just leaves me with £546.87 to pay off. I can easily do that over the next 2 months, so by the end of September I'll hopefully be debt free! (again). My savings aim is to put £250 a month into the wedding fund, £80 into the car fund (to cover MOT, repairs, insurance etc) and then at least £100 into the emergency fund.

Going to do a food shop tonight but only need a few fresh bits for tonight, friday and saturday as we're going to our hometown for Saturday night / Sunday. This means we'll definitely be spending less than the £50 I've allocated for this weeks grocery budget!

ruby_eskimo

Morning everyone! Hope you all had a good weekend. We went back home to see our respective families and OH ended up with a cheque from his dad who's recently sold his flat. It's basically his inheritance and we were told to use it towards the wedding or a house, so that's £4K in the ISA as soon as it's cleared. It's not something we were expecting as we've always said we're paying for the wedding ourselves (hence the almost 5 year engagement by the time we actually tie the knot). Also we're not planning on having a massive wedding; we're keeping costs as low as possible and still want value for money for the day. It's nice to know we won't be starting our marriage in debt (well hopefully DF will have paid his credit card off in time) and we can then concentrate on building a life together.

In other news, after not eating for 2 days due to being ill, I've lost 4.5lbs this week! Quite excited about it and it's spurring me on to keep on plan. However this does mean that a lot of my clothes are starting to get too big for me. So I'm going to make a concerted effort to start listing 5 items a week and any of the extra money will go towards paying off the debt.

Almost finished my breakfast so will be cracking on with work now. Hope you all had a good weekend and you have a good Monday!