Freckles' 'Get your life in order' Diary

freckles1_2

Hi Everyone


I've lurked on this forum for far too long and decided now is the time to sign up, start a diary and get my finances in order.


Without dwelling on the why's and excuses, I am in debt to the tune of £10,000 and have zero savings.


I currently live with my siblings, but really want my own space so clearing the debt and saving up for a deposit are on my wishlist.


I will detail the exact figures and my goals etc later but for now just wanted to take the plunge and actually commit myself to doing it!


Freckles x

heartbreak_star

Good luck with your debt busting first thing to do is pop up an SOA, there's a link at the top of the DFW board.

HBS x

misstara

Hi Freckles, well done for taking the plunge. You'll find lots of inspiration and motivation on this forum. Good luck

freckles1_2

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 3
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1368
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1368
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 186.33
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 50
Electricity............................. 10
Gas..................................... 10
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 25
Telephone (land line)................... 10
Mobile phone............................ 70
TV Licence.............................. 5.75
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 0
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 200
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 2.4
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Bank Charge............................. 15
Total monthly expenses.................. 584.48

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

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Loan...........................4657.79...246.7.....0
CC1............................2563.19...57.67.....19.9
CC2............................1825......25........0
Total unsecured debts..........9045.98...329.37....-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,368
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 584.48
Available for debt repayments........... 783.52
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 329.37
Amount left after debt repayments....... 454.15
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 4,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -9,045.98
Net Assets.............................. -5,045.98

misstara

Hi Freckles, a few comments about your SOA

- mobile phone bill is very high, are you currently tied into a contract? Could you get out of it and get a sim only contract?

- you have nothing down for groceries, do you really not spend any money on food/toiletries etc

- as you have a car, you'll need something down for tax, insurance, MOT etc

- presents, haircuts and entertainment, you'll need something down for this too

I assume that you're tackling cc1 first as it's got the nasty APR, is there any chance you could do a balance transfer to get 0%?

Have you had a look at the snowball calculator? It will calculate your debt free date and I find it a great motivator to see this come down.

It looks like you have plenty of money left over each month to put towards debts. If you don't, do a spending diary for a month to see where the money is going. It's amazing how little spends which you don't think about add up.

freckles1_2

Hi Tara

Thank you for your reply, a spending diary is a very good suggestion and I will start one right away because I truly do not have that much money left over in fact I'm always in my overdraft!

I did write notes against the soa but obviously didn't do it right so will explain a few figures!

The mobile is two contracts £40 of which is my sisters. I pay by dd and she gives me cash. I included the total figure because I always fritter away the cash.

I haven't included food because atm I rarely go shopping. I eat At my boyfriends most nights, don't eat breakfast and have lunch at work.

I pay car tax and insurance annually but do need to budget for these as they're usually a big hit and I don't have money put by.

belleandthebudget

Hi Freckles, just wanted to say best of luck! I'm just starting out in this journey too and one of the big reasons for me to tackle my debt is because I'd love to get my own space one of these days without roommates!

freckles1_2

Hi belle, thanks for replying!
Yes, wouldn't it be lovely just to have your own space!!

freckles1_2

I should also point out that my min repayment on cc1 is £57.67, but my fixed monthly DD is set at £163.81


And I've also recently done a balance transfer which created CC2, it was the max I could transfer over. But yes CC1 will be the focus.

misstara

Hi Freckles, thanks for explaining. I'm very envious of your food bill - this is an area that I constantly go overbudget on

Would your sister possibly transfer the money directly to your bank account each month for her phone? That way you might be less likely to fritter it away and could save it towards car expenses.

freckles1_2

my boyfriend and his family are very generous, they often take us out or order in and refuse money from me. I always offer, but they always refuse and it's nice because they can afford to do that and know I am struggling, so I just occasionally buy them a crate of beer or bottles of wine to show my appreciation.
When I do buy food it usually goes off so it's a waste of money! I do have to buy toiletries, detergent etc. but it's adhoc, so will have to start a spending diary to really get some clarity on what I should be budgeting.

thank you for your suggestion regarding the bill, the reason we didn't do this initially was because her job was cash in hand. I have asked her to do this now she's in a monthly paid job though and have set a standing order to transfer the £40 a month into another savings account I have.

Also, I've got a cash in hand cleaning job, it's once a week and I get £12.50, it's a very small office so only takes half hour. I'm going to put this into a sealed pot so I can build up a small emergency savings.

I've sold one item on ebay making £7 and requested a small payout on TCB. Every little helps as they say.