Let's get this paid off - diary of a trier

Moneylockdown

So long time lurker of the forums but now it is time to get my head out of the sand and get my bum into gear - I am hoping this diary will keep me focused.

I am a newly married laaaadyy wanting to get on the property lady so need this debt gone!

My signature shows my debt but will post here too:

Credit card 1 - £439.94
Credit card 2 - £781.50
Credit card 3 - £1969.90
Loan - £7753.90

Total - £10945.24

Will update as it goes down and how.

Any advice or ideas of how to make more cash other than my normal 9-5 job will be greatly appreciated.

Wish me luck
:beer:

phoenixx

Moneylockdown wrote: »

So long time lurker of the forums but now it is time to get my head out of the sand and get my bum into gear - I am hoping this diary will keep me focused.

I am a newly married laaaadyy wanting to get on the property lady so need this debt gone!

My signature shows my debt but will post here too:

Credit card 1 - £439.94
Credit card 2 - £781.50
Credit card 3 - £1969.90
Loan - £7753.90

Total - £10945.24

Will update as it goes down and how.

Any advice or ideas of how to make more cash other than my normal 9-5 job will be greatly appreciated.

Wish me luck
:beer:

Hi and welcome
There are many ways you can earn a bit of extra cash. I have 4 extra jobs on top of my main one. It's tough but we are making progress.
Consider:

eBay and FB selling (many of us have lots of items we bought on credit that we no longer use). My latest fave for selling clothes, jewellery etc. is depop

Online surveys can bring in a bit if you're patient

Dog walking and baby sitting

Secret shopper - have done a few bits for Retail Eyes but there are many others

Having an overseas English language student stay for a couple of weeks (£120 in my area)

Head over to the MSE main site for lots of ideas and links. :money:

The DFW Challenges can be very motivating too.

Good luck in your journey to debt freedom!

rockm87

You could post a SOA for some advice, or if you have money to throw at these debts, try Snowballing to find the best way to pay them off!

Moneylockdown

phoenixx wrote: »

Hi and welcome
There are many ways you can earn a bit of extra cash. I have 4 extra jobs on top of my main one. It's tough but we are making progress.
Consider:

eBay and FB selling (many of us have lots of items we bought on credit that we no longer use). My latest fave for selling clothes, jewellery etc. is depop

Online surveys can bring in a bit if you're patient

Dog walking and baby sitting

Secret shopper - have done a few bits for Retail Eyes but there are many others

Having an overseas English language student stay for a couple of weeks (£120 in my area)

Head over to the MSE main site for lots of ideas and links. :money:

The DFW Challenges can be very motivating too.

Good luck in your journey to debt freedom!

Hi Phoenixx,

Thank you for your reply - really appreciated knowing I'm not going this alone.

Took your advice and uploaded 10 items onto eBay so fingers crossed they start selling and I can load the next 10.

Will join some survey sites tonight to see what's what.

Thank you again for your all advice.

:rotfl:

Moneylockdown

rockm87 wrote: »

You could post a SOA for some advice, or if you have money to throw at these debts, try Snowballing to find the best way to pay them off!

Hi rockm87,

Ooooo yes I will post a SOA tonight and look at snowballing.

Thank you :j

Moneylockdown

Statement of Affairs & Personal Balance Sheet

Summary

Monthly Budget Summary Amount(£)
Total monthly income 2,350
Monthly expenses (incl. HP & secured loans) 1,736.14
Available for debt repayments 613.86
UNsecured debt repayments 266
Amount left after debt repayments 347.86
Personal Balance Sheet Summary Amount(£)
Total Assets (things you own) 6,800
Total Secured & HP Debt -0
Total Unsecured Debt -10,944.04
Net Assets -4,144.04
Household Information

Number of adults in household 2
Number of children in household 0
Number of cars owned 2
Income, Expense, Debt & Asset Details

Income Amount(£)
Monthly income after tax 1150
Partners monthly income 1200
Benefits 0
Other income 0
Total monthly income 2350
Expenses Amount(£)
Mortgage 0
Secured/HP loan payments 0
Rent 525
Management charge (leasehold property) 0
Council tax 127
Electricity 40
Gas 30
Oil 0
Water Rates 39
Telephone (land line) 23
Mobile phone 80
TV Licence 12.14
Satellite/Cable TV 0
Internet services 0
Groceries etc. 160
Clothing 20
Petrol/diesel 340
Road tax 34
Car Insurance 50
Car maintenance (including MOT) 10
Car Parking 0
Other travel 0
Childcare/nursery 0
Other child related expenses 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentists, opticians etc.) 0
Pet Insurance/Vet bills 0
Buildings Insurance 0
Contents Insurance 6
Life Assurance 0
Other Insurance 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc.) 20
Haircuts 20
Entertainment 0
Holiday 0
Emergency Fund 200
Total monthly expenses 1736.14
Secured & HP Debt Description Debt(£) Monthly(£) APR(%)
Mortgage 0 (0) 0
Secured & HP Debt totals 0 - -
Unsecured Debt Description Debt(£) Monthly(£) APR(%)
Credit card 1 439.94 15 0
Credit card 2 781.5 20 0
Credit card 3 1969.6 27 0
Loan 7753 204 0
Unsecured Debt totals 10944.04 266 -
Asset Description Value (£)
Cash 1600
House Value (Gross) 0
Shares and bonds 1700
Car(s) 3500
Other assets (e.g. endowments, jewellery etc) 0
Total Assets 6800



Bit later than expected this is my SOA and feels corret based on how much I am able to pay off extra on the cc.

My plan of action is to:
Pay off cc1 by 08.05.2015 (next payday)
Start to Lump payments off cc2

Loan isn't 0% but wasn't sure how to put it in SOA as the 7753 is what owed based on the interest too.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

:beer:

andyfromotley

Moneylockdown wrote: »

Statement of Affairs & Personal Balance Sheet

Summary

Monthly Budget Summary Amount(£)
Total monthly income 2,350
Monthly expenses (incl. HP & secured loans) 1,736.14
Available for debt repayments 613.86
UNsecured debt repayments 266
Amount left after debt repayments 347.86
Personal Balance Sheet Summary Amount(£)
Total Assets (things you own) 6,800
Total Secured & HP Debt -0
Total Unsecured Debt -10,944.04
Net Assets -4,144.04
Household Information

Number of adults in household 2
Number of children in household 0
Number of cars owned 2
Income, Expense, Debt & Asset Details

Income Amount(£)
Monthly income after tax 1150
Partners monthly income 1200
Benefits 0
Other income 0
Total monthly income 2350
Expenses Amount(£)
Mortgage 0
Secured/HP loan payments 0
Rent 525
Management charge (leasehold property) 0
Council tax 127
Electricity 40
Gas 30
Oil 0
Water Rates 39
Telephone (land line) 23 I assume this includes internet? It can be shaved a bit, look out for really good deals on the main MSE site. I pay less tha £8 per month for both.
Mobile phone 80 On contract?? Sim only about £15 pm as soon as you can!!
TV Licence 12.14
Satellite/Cable TV 0
Internet services 0
Groceries etc. 160
Clothing 20
Petrol/diesel 340
Road tax 34
Car Insurance 50
Car maintenance (including MOT) 10 This is not enough to MOT and service one car let alone two. It needs increasing
Car Parking 0
Other travel 0
Childcare/nursery 0
Other child related expenses 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentists, opticians etc.) 0 You don't visit the dentist? Or get a prescription between you??
Pet Insurance/Vet bills 0
Buildings Insurance 0
Contents Insurance 6
Life Assurance 0
Other Insurance 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc.) 20
Haircuts 20
Entertainment 0
Holiday 0
Emergency Fund 200 This is a lot. How much do you have in there at the mo? Given that you have debt i wouldn't let it grow much beyond £1k until you are debt free then built it up to 3-6 months of income.
Total monthly expenses 1736.14
Secured & HP Debt Description Debt(£) Monthly(£) APR(%)
Mortgage 0 (0) 0
Secured & HP Debt totals 0 - -
Unsecured Debt Description Debt(£) Monthly(£) APR(%)
Credit card 1 439.94 15 0
Credit card 2 781.5 20 0
Credit card 3 1969.6 27 0
Loan 7753 204 0
Unsecured Debt totals 10944.04 266 -
Asset Description Value (£)
Cash 1600
House Value (Gross) 0
Shares and bonds 1700
Car(s) 3500
Other assets (e.g. endowments, jewellery etc) 0
Total Assets 6800



Bit later than expected this is my SOA and feels corret based on how much I am able to pay off extra on the cc.

My plan of action is to:
Pay off cc1 by 08.05.2015 (next payday)
Start to Lump payments off cc2

Loan isn't 0% but wasn't sure how to put it in SOA as the 7753 is what owed based on the interest too.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

:beer:

Hi,

ive had a quick look and made some notes. a few smallish savings to be made.

However yopu are spending an enormous amount on your transport costs!! Your cars are costing you in excess of £400 per month, more if the loans are related to the cars. On your income this is crazy!!
I can't make suggestions without knowing your circumstances but this is really high! There are lots of ways to cut this. Get rid of a car. car share to work, cycle to work, walk everywhere, move closer to work, etc etc. But that is a huge amount of your monthly income going on vehicles!! Put your mind to reducing it.

Other than that you seem in a good position to really attack this debt. Not sure what interest rates you are on, but if possible get as much of the debt as you can onto low interest/0% cards. (taking care to CLOSE the old accounts so you can't build them up again) Hope this helps. Andy.

Moneylockdown

andyfromotley wrote: »

Hi,

ive had a quick look and made some notes. a few smallish savings to be made.

However yopu are spending an enormous amount on your transport costs!! Your cars are costing you in excess of £400 per month, more if the loans are related to the cars. On your income this is crazy!!
I can't make suggestions without knowing your circumstances but this is really high! There are lots of ways to cut this. Get rid of a car. car share to work, cycle to work, walk everywhere, move closer to work, etc etc. But that is a huge amount of your monthly income going on vehicles!! Put your mind to reducing it.

Other than that you seem in a good position to really attack this debt. Not sure what interest rates you are on, but if possible get as much of the debt as you can onto low interest/0% cards. (taking care to CLOSE the old accounts so you can't build them up again) Hope this helps. Andy.

Hi,

Thank you for your advice and help.

We pay the £340 on petrol for both cars as other half works 1-10 and I 9-5 so unable to car share... Will maybe think about buses though.

Phone is on a contract - maybe I should put that into the debt paying off so that I can go on PAYG.

Our emergency fund is part of our savings for a house (which is also a main reason for the debt busting) but really in an ideal world we should throw our savings at the debt. I just like having that cushion and it makes me feel better knowing I am saving something.

I have out lots on eBay over the weekend and plan to do surveys on a night this week as I am by myself mon-fri due to hubby's shift patterns.

:beer:

Moneylockdown

£204.05 paid off my loan today - won't update signature until the 8th of every month (pay day) so I can keep on track easier but loan is now £7549.85.

A little at a time x

rockm87

Hi,

I agree with previous points made. I wouldn't focus too much on saving for a house deposit while you still have debt. Have an emergency fund of about 3 months wages (as a buffer) , then stop adding to it, and use the money to pay off any debt.

If you loans etc are car loans, think about selling them for a cheaper car, and put the money into paying off the loans.

can you also spread your council tax over 12 months?

and look around in comparison sites when you can to get your insurance/bills down as much as possible.

Moneylockdown

rockm87 wrote: »

Hi,

I agree with previous points made. I wouldn't focus too much on saving for a house deposit while you still have debt. Have an emergency fund of about 3 months wages (as a buffer) , then stop adding to it, and use the money to pay off any debt.

If you loans etc are car loans, think about selling them for a cheaper car, and put the money into paying off the loans.

can you also spread your council tax over 12 months?

and look around in comparison sites when you can to get your insurance/bills down as much as possible.

I will look into spreading council tax over the 12 months to see how much it will lower payments.

Need to get out of the saving mindset and into debt busting instead of trying to both.

Just a query - how much does everyone spend on petrol a month for 2 people? I didn't think that our £340 was high but now it's been flagged as high I am conscious about it and wondering if that could be a major cutback that we could be using.

Thank you :beer: