Got to keep up the good work... solvency here I come!!

midlander81

Hi folks,


I am a fairy regular poster on DFW board after having my LBM a few months ago. At that stage we owed just over 40k ( combined debts of my wife and I). The vast majority of the debt is in my name.


I struggled to involve my wife fully in the DFW process and even though she knew that we owed 30K plus, I could never actually say the full amount. It was just too shocking!


Thankfully we have managed to become more open and whilst debt will always be a bit of a taboo conversation for us, things are more relaxed. My wife is about to inherit a small amount of money which will allow her to totally clear the few debts in her name. These debts are currently accruing interest (16.9) as the 0% period has ended so it makes sense to clear them.


As well as repaying debts we also want to build up an emergency fund as well as having another baby in the next couple of years. We struggled to conceive our first child and needed intervention so we can't leave it too long ( both mid thirties). therefore, the plan is for my wife to save the money she was currently paying on debts and I will focus on clearing the debts in my name.


The SOA below relates to my income and outgoings. I have included all of the payments that I am personally responsible for making. My CC payments are higher as I overpay however I have only included rough minimums on here.


We have managed to knock off £1300 per month over the past few months so we know that we can do it.


I really want to keep going and get rid of this debt asap. There is no excuse for me not to do it. I also need to grow up a little and realise that I don't have to have everything that I want. I am a 33 year old assistant Head teacher with the financial acumen of a 10 year old!!


My plan is to post as often as possible regardless of whether my progress is good or bad. I am determined to stay on track!!!!!




Household Information[/b]
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 2
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 3405
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 81.2
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3486.2
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 497
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 103
Electricity............................. 75
Gas..................................... 75
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 40
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 35
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 100
Clothing................................ 50
Petrol/diesel........................... 100
Road tax................................ 5
Car Insurance........................... 40
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 15
Contents insurance...................... 10
Life assurance ......................... 33
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 50
Holiday................................. 50
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1320

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 140000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 2000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 142000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 85000....(497)......1.5
Total secured & HP debts...... 85000.....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
sygma 1........................3800......68........0
Sygma 2........................2000......30........0
Barclaycard 1..................9500......217.......16.9
MBNA...........................2500......50........0
Debenhams......................250.......10........25.9
very...........................500.......20........0
Tesco loan.....................3000......364.......7.9
Tesco..........................4000......80........0
hsbc...........................2800......0.........50
barclaycard 2..................2200......55........6.9
Total unsecured debts..........30550.....894.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,486.2
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,320
Available for debt repayments........... 2,166.2
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 894
Amount left after debt repayments....... 1,272.2
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 142,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -85,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -30,550
Net Assets.............................. 26,450

midlander81

Having a rare chilled out day today so taking the opportunity to make sure that the finances for the rest of this month are sorted. Thankfully all of the 'big' presents and most of the small ones are sorted. I just need a few token things for a few support staff at who work hard to support me. I have given myself a budget of £20 to get all of these bits. I also want to put some money aside for Christmas food. My wife and I have almost a week of before Christmas arrives so we want to have some nice things to eat! We shop at Aldi so we aren't fussed about expensive brands so I think that I will put and additional £25 aside ( on top of our usual weekly food spend) to cover the luxuries. We spend Christmas day and boxing day with family so these are usually NSD's. We usually have a very 'cheap' food shop after Christmas as we enjoy eating the leftovers so the additional £25 should balance itself out! I want it all sorted before I break up next Friday as I REFUSE to spend the Christmas hols thinking about the b****y budget!!!! ho ho ho

midlander81

Decent day today. Feeling positive and managed to move 4k from a CC that was about to incur interest to a new 0% deal.


Managed to get my last few work presents online. Spent £30 so a little over what I had planned but I am pleased with what I have got for the money and it's a massive saving compared to last year!

shoe*diva79

Hey!

A couple of things that jump out at me from your SOA:

Not phone/internet/TV services?
Nothing in the MOT/Car Maintenance part but you have 2 cars?
Nothing in Medical?

You appear to have a healthy chunk of cash to repay debts each month. Are you snowballing?

midlander81

shoe*diva79 wrote: »

Hey!

A couple of things that jump out at me from your SOA:

Not phone/internet/TV services?
Nothing in the MOT/Car Maintenance part but you have 2 cars?
Nothing in Medical?

You appear to have a healthy chunk of cash to repay debts each month. Are you snowballing?

Hi


I have only included the things that I am responsible for paying as my wife Is responsible for some of our outgoings. We have learnt from experience that this is what works best for us!!


Merry Christmas!

midlander81

Christmas all sorted. Time to relax now and consume my own body weight in stilton and red wine ( 3 for £9!!)


Quite happy with the Christmas expenditure. I reckon we have spent around £100 more on food that we would in a normal month but this will balance out as we wont be doing a food shop for at least a fortnight.


I definitely WONT be logging on here tomorrow so Merry Christmas to all of my fellow debt busters!!!!

kindofagilr

Hi midlander

Pleased to see u have a diary, I hope you've had a fab christmas

I'm getting my debt busting head back on now, and looking forward to payday so I can start blasting debt away

Ive subscribed

midlander81

happy New Years Eve everyone!


Not feeling 100% today. Feel a bit crappy and anxious. I tend to have these days when my time is unstructured and I am actually looking forward to going back to work next week!


Feeling a bit overwhelmed by it all today although I know that I will be back to my positive self tomorrow. Fortunately these negative days are few are far between now!!


Hope everyone has a good night tonight, whatever you are doing. We are off to a friends house for a few drinks and food so a relatively cheap and child friendly night for us!


'see' you all next year!

midlander81

Not posted for a while. I can't quite believe that it's nearly March!


Feeling a bit deflated this month. Had a very expensive month with car repairs etc. Made me realise that we MUST budget for this so that we are not in this situation again next year.


On the plus side, my 'big loan' is coming to an end very soon so we can use that money to really hammer our credit cards! I am still working towards a debt free date of December 2016.


I had my LBM a while ago and have been totally committed ever since but I seem to have recently become even more obsessed with getting rid of debts. It still feels like our lives are on hold due to debts. We would like to move to a new house etc but it's just not possible yet.


got to be super frugal next month to recoup some of the money that we had to use on car costs. I had to use my credit card for the first time in months and that feels terrible however I have already sorted the repayments in addition to what we are already paying so at least it's not just going to build up.


onwards and upwards. must cheer up!!

PinkPoppies

Sounds like your big loan coming to an end will make a big difference!

We started with a similar amount to you and are aiming to be DF in December 2016 too, hopefully with some savings behind us too. It feels like such a long time away but the time will fly!

Keep going!!

midlander81

Hi Poppies
Yes the loan will make a real difference as I will be able to use the money to pay off even more of the CC's. You have done amazingly well to pay off over 13K in a short time. How have you done it??