money saving amateur, expert wannabe

financially_exposed

Looking at expenses and income again... just realized that I will soon finish paying my bike (cycle to work scheme) and that means another £25/mo added to my net income. On the other hand, I forgot to list my gym membership, which was £480/yr and is running out next month... so will have to make a decision on whether to renew at £48/month or £480/yr... or simply cancel it

rockm87

pop over to the challenge board to and join the grocery challenge.

You can shrink that big time. I've converted to Lidl and save a fortune, £50 a week for 2 adults and 2 cats, and I have a big cleaning product habit!!

Tuesday_Tenor

financially_exposed wrote: »

I don't keep receipts...

Oh yes you do, now that you're a genuine debt-buster, not just a debt free wannabe! You're changing your habits, remember!!

You're doing well at starting to get a grip.
You've acknowledged that a big part of your problem is not knowing where the money goes and will be tracking everything for a while.
The old adage 'take care of the pennies, and the pounds will take care of themselves' is SO true! As you'll find ...

If you're serious about clearing the debt, think of the next six months as a serious 'time out' from spending on things you only want, not need.

Cut right down on meals out, gym, entertainment. No clothes or holidays. It won't be forever.

You can't afford the gym membership just now. You already cycle. You know from the gym what does you good; so do more exercising at home, dancing round the kitchen, walking, running for free. If there are really things you feel you need to do on top of this , then for that allow £5 / week , 1 session, at local pool or leisure centre. So, £20/month, not £48.

Good luck, you can do it!

financially_exposed

Thank you Tuesday Tenor, I need this kind of pushing!

Yes I am seriously considering canceling my gym membership (it is at the local community center) at least for several months... and budget-save-then buy it if I manage to save for it.

I'm pretty active generally speaking anyway, I cycle or walk daily to the train station and rollerblade/cycle/walk at weekends... I was using the gym membership for yoga classes, swimming, and occasional zumba classes, I guess I could drop the luxury for a while...

No meals out (incl work lunches) - yes that's already happening - my plan is to start by limiting first, then drop it altogether. Small steps...

Clothes and shoes yes - I need to cut for myself, not so much for the child (will look at cheaper options for sure).

No holidays... this is a big one for me. My plan is the same as for the gym membership - budget, save, then go. I've been doing it the other way around...

In other small and big income news, I've just received £20 back from a work colleague, had no idea that she owed me. And was just told that we are making our fiscal year end bonus, so that's at least £2000 net income in Dec or January. Need to decide what to do with that: using all to pay debt OR using a part of it to pay debt and the rest for to start building emergency/holiday/whatever funds OR I could buy my annual travel pass (saving £20 per month if getting the annual rather than monthly) and use the rest to pay debts.

ShootForTheMoon

Looks like you're certainly on the right tracks and seem determined to bust that debt!! Good on you! Will follow with interest!

financially_exposed

Thank you ShootForTheMoon! I hope I won't abandon the ship, read so many stories like that on here..

My October dos and don'ts list (from pay date 25 Sep to 24 Oct):

1. pay Barclays overdraft in full £255
2. pay min payment on Tesco £67
3. pay at least £300 on the Santander CC
4. weekly grocery shopping not to exceed £50
5. packed lunches 4 days/week. Do not exceed £30 for work lunches for the entire month.
6. no coffee, tea etc at Paul on Sundays (bad habit I know...)
7. do NOT renew gym membership for the next year
8. TV/net/phone bundle contract ending early November, look for cheaper bundle
9. no clothes, no haircut, no paid manicure/pedicure (can do these on my own), no toiletries (checked, we're fine for one month). Child needs new shoes and jacket though.
10. b-day gifts for 2x booked on 11/10 and 18/10 - don't exceed £30 total !
11. dining/drinks out already booked 27/9, 4/10, and 10/10 - don't exceed £60 total!
12. do a 10-day NSD challenge
13. track all spending and draft first version of budget - deadline 24 October
14. keep all receipts (thanks Tuesday Tenor!)
15. do NOT use credit cards and do NOT get into ovedraft!

giblet1979

It's definitely over a few months that you get a real idea of where the money is going. I made sure that I wrote down everything, it's amazing what you forget otherwise! x

financially_exposed

So I removed all my credit cards from my purse tonight and put them away. Interestingly enough I was tempted to keep the Santander one in there "just in case"... but then I remembered the £7837 in credit card and overdraft debt. :mad:

giblet1979

Great stuff - remove the temptation!!! x

financially_exposed

Okay so I've done a SOA using estimates in some cases (most likely underestimating things ). I thought it would be good to start one now, and update it based on actual monthly spending. Any comments/critique highly appreciated. Thanks!

Notes:
* I probably missed some stuff... most notably furniture, tech gadgets etc.
* I did not include holiday spending which is quite significant and probably exceeds my annual bonus amount
* I also did not include the annual bonus (~ £2000 p.a. not guaranteed, but always got it so far)
* Medical costs are very low, I get free prescriptions because of a chronic condition. I have private dental insurance through my employer and my child is seen under NHS
* Building insurance and ground rent are included in the Management charge fee
* I contribute 2% to my pension plan but that's excluded from the net income mentioned above

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

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

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2254
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 88
Other income............................ 485
Total monthly income.................... 2827

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 1020
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 104
Council tax............................. 100
Electricity............................. 22
Gas..................................... 42
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 20
Telephone (land line)................... 20
Mobile phone............................ 25
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 20
Internet Services....................... 10
Groceries etc. ......................... 300
Clothing................................ 100
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 315
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 5
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 8
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 25
Entertainment........................... 50
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
School trips, school events, etc........ 10
Piano & swimming lessons child.......... 50
Pampering (mani, pedi, wax, etc)........ 40
Cosmetics............................... 20
Tube pass............................... 104
bank acct fee (incl mob & cam insurance) 6.5
Gym membership (planning to cancel!).... 48
Tesco delivery plan..................... 3
Web Hosting ............................ 5
Unemployment Insurance.................. 35
Total monthly expenses.................. 2539.5


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 330000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 330000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 208500...(1020).....2.64
Total secured & HP debts...... 208500....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Santander......................842.......10........0
Barclays.......................255.......20........0
Tesco..........................6740......200.......0
Total unsecured debts..........7837......230.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,827
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,539.5
Available for debt repayments........... 287.5
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 230
Amount left after debt repayments....... 57.5

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 330,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -208,500
Total Unsecured debt.................... -7,837
Net Assets.............................. 113,663