A new debt free journey

lcc86

Where has the weekend gone?! I think I walked about 6k over the course of the weekend and I did an hour's horse riding where my teacher really pushed me. Boy am I feeling it today! :eek:

Dinner on Saturday night was amazing too, didn't miss out whatsoever by not having any meat. It was an amazing meal, I've decided I want to take my parents there sometime so that's something to save for.

I've gone through my next three months' finances and will be able to save £600 for my remortgage fee fund as well as pay for my course (£500). Really pleased with that so have updated my signature to reflect my new goals.

I've also hopefully rectified the issue with my pay from my old employer, they also underpaid me this month apparently so they owe me about 60 hours so I should get a bumper payday at the end of December! Still, I'll wait until it's in my account before I get too happy!

lcc86

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2100
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2100
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 264
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 95 (goes into my savings account to be used as and when needed)
Council tax............................. 155
Electricity............................. 46
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0 (included within my management charge)
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 20 (recently changed provider and got an amazing deal)
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 39 (tied into contract for unlimited fibre, does seem pricey though)
Groceries etc. ......................... 180
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 50
Road tax................................ 3
Car Insurance........................... 0 (save up for this from a lump sum at work)
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 210 (train fare)
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills/general pet expenses................. 60
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 6
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 70 (by entertainment I mean horse riding lol)
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1210

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 140000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 4000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 144000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 67215....(264)......2.69
Total secured & HP debts...... 67215.....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
MBNA...........................183.......46........0
Sainsburys.....................6703......144.......6
Total unsecured debts..........6886......190.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,100
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,210
Available for debt repayments........... 890
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 190
Amount left after debt repayments....... 700
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 144,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -67,215
Total Unsecured debt.................... -6,886
Net Assets.............................. 69,899
Created using the SOA calculator at www.stoozing.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

The reason I have left so many boxes blank i.e. clothing, hair cut, car maintenance etc is because I genuinely don't have a set monthly budget for them, I just save up as and when things are due. Clothing I rarely buy now so when I do I just take it out of my allowance.

I just wanted to update this in a very basic fashion now that I've started my new job to give me an idea of what I have to play with. The only thing I think I could get cheaper is my internet provision, but I can't do this yet. Holidays are being saved for out of my unallocated funds as well as various other things I am currently saving for (see signature and previous posts).

Seeing it like that makes me feel very positive. Yes I probably am going to treat myself a little more having lived the majority of the last few years skint or borderline skint on a pretty much permanent basis. And for the next few months saving is taking priority over debt busting, but hey, could be worse, I could be spending frivolously! I must stress that this is only a very basic SOA and my unallocated funds go towards various bits and bobs each month.

lcc86

My train was cancelled this morning :mad: So I had to run home, grab my car keys, run round the corner to my car and drive to work to avoid being late. I have just filled out a delay repay form, I'll see if anything actually comes of it. It annoys me that I have paid for a weekly ticket and have missed out on using it for a day, but I knew this could happen. Makes me think that perhaps I may need to drive to work more than get the train. ATM I've planned for 3 weeks of train travel to one week of car travel. Perhaps I'll amend my plans to two weeks of each.

I've had two NSD's over the last two days, always good. Tomorrow should be another NSD too.

Got my fitbit through last night, looking forward to tracking what I do!

Also I have done my first sweep of pennies of the week, increased my emergency fund by a whole £1.26 :rotfl: I know it's not a fortune but it all counts somewhere along the line!

I've also booked a free consultation about getting my teeth straightened. I just want to find out if it's possible. If it's not going to work without spending loads I'll leave it, but I really want to explore my options.

crazy_cat_lady

Oh I am so pleased I don't have to get a train to work any more. I used to hate it with a passion...

lcc86

crazy_cat_lady wrote: »

Oh I am so pleased I don't have to get a train to work any more. I used to hate it with a passion...

It's quite relaxing when things run as they should! I'm lucky to have the option of driving when it doesn't run so smoothly.

lcc86

The week is almost over. I have managed 3 NSD's in a row this week, very pleased with myself for that. Me and OH treated ourselves to carvery (veggie for me) on Monday but it was a NSD apart from that. I think commuting to work and not having easy access to shops at lunch time has saved me money. I don't just 'pop in' unnecessarily.

Tonight we're meeting up with some friends who I haven't seen pretty much all year and going to dinner. The menu isn't too expensive so I have budgeted £20 for this. :money:

Tomorrow I NEED to have a study day! I am also doing a little dog walk for about an hour at lunch time, then in the evening we're off to another friend's house for a pre-booked Christmas gathering. I'll be driving so no expense needed on my side, OH will have to buy some booze. I checked and we aren't required to bring anything else.

Sunday I'm horse riding in the morning then off to Bluewater :eek: OH wants to buy me a Xmas present, and it's either there or Oxford Street for the store we need. Neither really appeals but Bluewater is hopefully the better option.

Xmas shopping is almost all done, just need a voucher for my sister, which I will pick up on Sunday. I started a very small amount of wrapping last night, need to buy some paper and sticky bows. Aiming to get it all done bit by bit during the week.

Debt-wise, no change since earlier this week. The standing order for the cc goes out on the 12th, and that will bring me to my 25% target! I'm excited as I've worked towards that for a long time now. I've been on this forum for just over a year, and have struggled with vet bills adding to my debt and occasional frivolous spending, but ultimately have cleared £2,000 since this time last year :T. It's nothing compared to some people's achievements, but I've done the best I could with what I had available. Next year I hope to really make some progress. Yes I aim to save for the first three months of the year, but with my new increase in salary I should still be able to make some decent progress. I'll be upping my cc payment to £70 instead of £46 to clear it that little bit quicker. It should be cleared by February, and then that frees up some extra money to do something with... Although if my teeth consultation goes well, that money may be going towards that. We shall see. I'm not going to worry about it now.

I'd also like to start overpaying my mortgage next year at some point. It probably makes more sense to overpay my loan at this stage though because the interest is higher. Either way, I'm sure I can manage it at some stage during the year. Right, better do some work!

lcc86

Last night came in bang on budget. Today has been a little spendy, topped up on groceries, bought some Christmas food, hair dye,mascara, a few bits for the pets and wrapping paper. All budgeted for and nothing particularly expensive.

I've done some studying, and I've cooked a veggie tagine to go into the freezer. Just need to hoover, then have a bath ready to go out later.

Tomorrow won't be a NSD either but back on the wagon again as of Monday so no problem.

lcc86

Been tweaking my January budget as I forgot I need to get my car looked at. I'll set aside £200 (although I use a friend who's a mechanic so it's unlikely to cost that much), which means I won't be able to save towards my remortgage fee fund in earnest until February. The noise my car was making appears to have gone so I could be worrying over nothing, but I want to have it checked all the same. I'll check when the next service is due as I could lump it all together potentially.

We were talking about property and moving with friends last night. It's made me wonder whether I actually will fix my mortgage again come July as I know there's a strong chance I'll want to move to a bigger flat towards the end of next year or start of the year after. I don't want to get stuck paying fees to exit my deal if and when that happens. I'll keep saving the money obviously, and see what happens to the property market and interest rates between now and then.

Right, need to leave for horse riding in 30 minutes and I'm not even dressed!

lcc86

Really enjoyed riding yesterday, I wish I could go more regularly! Still, I can treat myself to two sessions a month now I have my new job.

OH and I went to Bluewater yesterday, I bought my final Xmas present, he bought some stuff and I found some vest tops. I desperately needed some so bought them. A total of £15 spent, it wasn't budgeted for but I have the money so no issue and it wasn't frivolous.

Drove into work today, will probably drive between now and Christmas to keep costs down as the train is much more expensive compared to my little eco-box. I just have to bear in mind the mileage.

Today has been a NSD, I've ordered my food shop to be delivered on Wednesday, £55 which should see us through until after Christmas. Being vegetarian definitely saves money I have found! Debt-wise, no change until my standing order goes through for the CC on the 11th or 12th. Money-wise things are fine though, everything is on or under budget thus far.

lcc86

I've managed 2 NSD's so far this week. So much for me complaining that 4 per week was too difficult last month eh :rotfl:been keeping up with going for a walk every lunchtime as well.

Shopping is being delivered later today, I ended up adding more stuff as ever, I always forget a few bits and bobs here and there and have to add them on before the cut off. I've still kept costs down though and bought only what needs to be bought.

My first mobile bill came through today on my new contract. Because it covers 6 weeks rather than the standard month as it was my first bill, it's a little more expensive than I'd planned. I do have the funds to cover it though.

Going to be naughty today and buy chips from the chippy for dinner. OH is watching the football at his parent's so I shall have a treat!