A new debt free journey

lcc86

Had a fab evening out last night, caught up with so many old colleagues, and spent a grand total of £1.50 :rotfl: just proves to me that I can have fun without spending too much!

Managed to get up early enough to go and join my local parkrun, so going to chill for a bit and then get ready to go. Looking forward to it with a sense of trepidation lol.

lcc86

Parkrun completed in 39 minutes, very happy with that :beer: I've also been to a friend's house for tea and a catch up. I passed by lidl on my way home and went in to see if I could find some cheap party food and alcohol. I can't say I was very impressed, perhaps it was just the items I was looking at but it seemed no cheaper than other supermarkets . I picked up a couple of bits, but left the alcohol as I know there are better deals elsewhere. I did pick up some cheap workout clothes, but then looked on the website I brought my horse riding helmet from and could've got it all slightly cheaper....

I decided to read back through my diary today, it's been an up and down journey so far! I hadn't realised that my mental health struggles are quite evident throughout and that I was so low at one stage, but glad things seem to be improving. I was talking about mental health in general with my friend, it's definitely becoming more talked about within the mainstream, hopefully this will help to reduce some of the stigma around it.

I plan to chill and have an early night tonight (I've already had an afternoon nap ). I'm horse riding tomorrow which will probably knock me out for the rest of the day! I have some chores to do, not going to worry too much if I don't get it all done.

barnsleylass83

Just read through your diary and am inspired!! Have subscribed and look forward to seeing how your journey and career develop x

Orange_Ena

lcc86 wrote: »

Parkrun completed in 39 minutes, very happy with that :beer: I've also been to a friend's house for tea and a catch up. I passed by lidl on my way home and went in to see if I could find some cheap party food and alcohol. I can't say I was very impressed, perhaps it was just the items I was looking at but it seemed no cheaper than other supermarkets . I picked up a couple of bits, but left the alcohol as I know there are better deals elsewhere. I did pick up some cheap workout clothes, but then looked on the website I brought my horse riding helmet from and could've got it all slightly cheaper....

I decided to read back through my diary today, it's been an up and down journey so far! I hadn't realised that my mental health struggles are quite evident throughout and that I was so low at one stage, but glad things seem to be improving. I was talking about mental health in general with my friend, it's definitely becoming more talked about within the mainstream, hopefully this will help to reduce some of the stigma around it.

I plan to chill and have an early night tonight (I've already had an afternoon nap ). I'm horse riding tomorrow which will probably knock me out for the rest of the day! I have some chores to do, not going to worry too much if I don't get it all done.

Well done on doing the park run, and only spending £1.50 last night. You're doing great

It's good to keep a a diary for those exact reasons. Recording stuff helps you to see how far you've come, cause sometimes we tend to forget that.

Enjoy your horse riding

lcc86

Thank you guys for your kind words, it really does help!

I decided to do a new SOA as it's been a long time since I last posted one and things have changed since then. I haven't included my zero hours job income as a. It's not always guaranteed and b. Will differ each month so I didn't think it was worth adding. Also my OH is due to move in imminently (:eek:) so my income will go up, but as it hasn't happened yet I haven't included it. That money is definitely going towards my debt :rotfl:

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

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

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1503
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 50 (my work expenses, might be more than that but I've used a conservative estimate)
Total monthly income.................... 1553

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 264
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 95 (I put this into savings to cover costs, it doesn't actually cost that much)
Council tax............................. 109
Electricity............................. 46
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 45
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 37
Groceries etc. ......................... 150
Clothing................................ 10
Petrol/diesel........................... 50
Road tax................................ 2.5
Car Insurance........................... 25
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0 (I get a lump sum from work every April which more than covers this for the year)
Car parking............................. 15
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 50
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 5.5
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50 (averaged out over the year this is quite a lot! Will have to work on this)
Haircuts................................ 0 (I rarely get my hair cut so when I do it'll just come out of whatever money I have that month)
Entertainment........................... 40 (my unallocated £10 a week budget)
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 25
Horse riding............................ 35
Charity................................. 3
Professional membership ................ 3.5
Total monthly expenses.................. 1047.5


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 130000 (this is a real guess but I think it's about right)
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 4500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 134500


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 67668.3..(264)......2.6
Total secured & HP debts...... 67668.3...-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Loan...........................7760.88...145........8
Credit card 1..................438.59....60........0
Very...........................54........54........0
Credit card 2..................120.......30........0
Total unsecured debts..........8373.47...289.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,553
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,072.5
Available for debt repayments........... 480.5
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 289
Amount left after debt repayments....... 191.5

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 134,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -67,668.3
Total Unsecured debt.................... -8,373.47
Net Assets.............................. 58,458.23

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.stoozing.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

lcc86

Direct debits and bills have started going through this morning but has to be done :rotfl: I was quite uplifted after reading my updated SOA as I have a little more money to play with. Somehow it never quite seems enough but I feel much less desperate than I have over recent times, and I'm sure there's a tiny light way down there at the end of the tunnel hehe. Been researching thrifty things I can get people for Christmas so am going to make a start on putting my plans into action this month .

Horse riding yesterday was really good, got to do some proper hacking and loved it. Knackered today but am going to force myself to go running later to train for my 10k.

I've also been researching ways that work can potentially support me during my upcoming course, I might have the option to do a tax-free loan, but there's also another option whereby work might allow me study leave, could contribute to the cost of the course, books and travel. They have to deem the course appropriate to my role, so my task in supervision next week is to convince them that it is.

lcc86

So the majority of my direct debits have now gone through, and I have officially paid 10% of my total debt off _party_ so I've changed my signature yet again to reflect that, and I've also added a target to have paid 25% of the total off by Christmas. I worked out that with normal payments I should be able to clear 20% so it hopefully will be doable to scrape together an extra 5%.

In other news the head of service approached me yesterday to see how I was settling in so I broached the subject of the course I want to do. He said it should be okay as long as I can evidence how I'm going to use it in my day to day practice. I've spent some time thinking and listing ways I can do that ready for supervision next week when I make my request formal.

lcc86

Yesterday I spent 12p on a banana but other than that it was spend free. Today I have no spends planned. I paid £30 off my credit card so am working towards paying that additional 5% off my debt nicely. I'm hoping a small target will prove achievable and I'll get close to hitting it!

I have a new diary which I ordered a few weeks ago which has graphs to help me track my extra repayments (very sad but I love seeing physical progress).

Have a mini dilemma coming up this weekend. I'm meant to be going out to a leaving do for someone from my old work tomorrow evening. I said yes some time ago, but every single person appears to have dropped out and there is only one person confirmed. I wanted to go so that I could catch up with old colleagues but if no one's going I don't want to stand there like a lemon! Plus it's in Clapham so there are transport costs and very expensive drinks to contend with. I just can't think of a good excuse to drop out and also feel guilty if I do, but I could really do without it! Any ideas would be very welcome!

lcc86

Bought an eyeliner for £1 from my local market at lunchtime from my allowance. I lost my old one last week so I can justify it hehe. No other spends today. Small grocery shop needed tomorrow, going to try to keep costs under £10. Good day at work, had my first two proper visits and definitely feel challenged. I'm going to enjoy this job, I get a good feeling from it and I love a challenge. I hope it's somewhere I can settle.

lcc86

My grocery shop yesterday came in at just under £10, going to try and spend that amount each week until payday as I have all dinners etc.

Last night I went out, had a few drinks before I left so saved some money. Came in pretty much bang on budget so happy with that.

Today I bought my car insurance, £270 for business use for me and third party for my OH. Really happy with that as it was going to be £400+ just for me so for once he's saved me money I had £250 saved so had to pay on my credit card and will pay the final £20 next month as I'd budgeted for it anyway so not unhappy about that spend.

OH is moving in this weekend, so I'll have a little extra money each month, but he eats like a horse so there are positives and negatives!

No plans tomorrow, I need to do my chores as I've done nothing today (feeling slightly fragile ). I'll top up on sawdust and hay for my piggies, I was going to buy a plant to replace one of mine which died recently but I took a cutting of it which appears to be growing roots so I won't bother, I'll just see if I can grow the new plant instead.

No other news to report really. I've had to resend my parking fine appeal evidence again as they misplaced it, so that's still dragging on. It's been a good week overall, both moneywise and with work and social things going on. I definitely feel much more positive overall than I did three or four months ago. I feel I'm getting a handle on my issues, monetary and otherwise. Hopefully with the help of this forum it can continue! :T