First attempt at going debt free...and hopefully last!

Bex1989

Good afternoon, folks! :wave: First time poster, and not on forums much, so do please let me know if I make any terrible mistakes :rotfl:

After a sleepless night of worrying, I decided that it was time to seriously look at my debt, and starting a plan and a goal to get rid of it as soon as possible. I'm 26 years old, and have been in debt since I was 17, when at university I thought it was a great idea to accept all the credit I was being offered - credit cards, overdrafts, the lot. Combine that with not one but two long term relationships where my partners were dependent on me financially (one due to drug use and the other due to unemployment) it has since spiralled almost out of control. I say almost, because after a couple of hurdles (namely pay day loans) it will become much easier for me to make chunk payments to all of my credit cards, my loan and finally my overdraft.

Realistically, I know I'm much luckier than most people in my state of debt, because I still live at home with my parents - I moved back in after the second of the aforementioned relationships went down the pan. I also work full time for the NHS, and therefore have a regular steady wage coming in. However, rather than knuckle down when I moved back in which was (eek :eek:) 3 years ago, I instead buried my head in the sand, and spent the money elsewhere...holidays, festivals, socialising, etc. And so now, when I've reached a point of seriousness with a new, fantastic, stable, employed and non drug addicted partner....I've had to tell him to hold off looking at those gorgeous flats that we want to rent, I need to get myself out of the financial hole I'm in before making any life changes. Thankfully, he appreciated my honesty, and has moved in with his dad so that he too can save up some money and we can do it *properly*. Lucky me! :j

I filled in an SOA - I've excluded my parents, sister and brother from the household information since I'm financially independent from them, however I don't pay any rent or towards any bills (I know, my parents are too soft!) so it looks a tad weird!

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

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

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1193.86
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1193.86

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 0
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 38
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 20.97
Groceries etc. ......................... 100
Clothing................................ 50
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 150
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 33
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 401.97


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

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
CC - Barclaycard...............2050......51.51.....18.9
CC - CapitalOne................750.......25.15.....29
CC - Tesco.....................1000......26.7......22
OD - Bank of Scotland..........1200......0.........0
PDL - Wonga....................301.2.....301.2.....292
PDL - Sunny....................486.38....238.......292
PL - Bank of Scotland..........1662.92...90.06.....22

Summary of Monthly Income, expense and surplus
Total monthly income: £1,193.86
Expenses (incl. HP & secured debts): £401.97
Available for debt repayments: £791.89
Unsecured debt repayments: £732.62
Surplus (shortfall if negative) £59.27

My next step is to set up a spreadsheet for budgeting...as soon as the pay day loans are out of the way (Wonga is at the end of this month...at the very latest Sunny is March, but I'm confident I'll be able to pay that off sooner with the mega Wonga payment done) it'll become much easier to breathe. I'm giving myself 18 months to get at the very least all of my credit cards paid off. The rest will be manageable with rent on top, so fingers crossed moving out of my parents home by the time I'm 28 will be a go... _pale_

Swash

Good luck Bex

Bex1989

Thanks Swash :T

JLS1901

Good luck!

Bex1989

Thankyou WellyLass

I spent an hour this afternoon working on a nice shiny budget spreadsheet...and it looks like I can easily have all of my credit cards and my personal loan paid off by October 2017. However, if I stick ruthlessly to the budget, then I should in fact have it cleared well before then! I had a good chat with my OH this afternoon too and he has agreed to support me as much as he can, which basically will involve not letting me give in to the temptation of ordering takeaways etc, so fingers crossed it all works out!

I've also asked to join in the "Sealed Pot Challenge", so that'll give me a reason to empty my purse of change each week! Feeling very positive about the whole thing

Bex1989

Good morning guys :wave:

Back at work today after a couple of days off sick due to the dreaded vomiting bug that's doing the rounds - working for the NHS does have it's downside I suppose! Need to buy a weekly bus ticket so sadly wont be a NSD today (though £28 for a week isn't too bad!), however I did pack a lunch last night so I won't be tempted by WHSmith's meal deal, or Costa's coffee!

I got my number assigned for the Sealed Pot Challenge, found an old saving jar (one of those ones you have to smash if you want to get into - but it's so pretty you don't want to!) that has some shrapnel already in it, and added my first 10p this morning that I found in the bottom of my handbag. A small start, but a start nonetheless!

Hope everyone has a good day! Xx

glass_half_full

Good luck Bex,
You can do this!

Bex1989

Thanks for the encouragement glass_half_full!

Well today was a no spend day apart from my bus ticket which was budgeted for. Unfortunately that means no change to go into my sealed pot but can't have it all

Was tweaking my budget today and paid an extra £10 to my Sunny loan; not a huge amount but every little helps. However, my sense of wellbeing with that was short lived, as the £10 I'd paid into my Tesco credit card to avoid going over my account limit still hasn't appeared on the balance 3 days later so the charge I was attempting to avoid has been applied anyway! £12! But nothing to be done about it now, just need to factor it into next month's budget, addIng on as much more as I can realistically afford to, and stick to my plan of slightly over minimum payments until the payday loans are paid off then throwing everything I can at the cards.

It's good to have a plan, it stops me spiralling into a panic every time something bad or unexpected happens!

One more day to go at work then a whole weekend off. I'm going to my boyfriend's straight from work tomorrow and won't be home til Sunday evening - and my weekend budget is £20 I think a trip to Lidl may be on the cards for some cheap dinners! :cool:

moneycantbuyyouhappiness

Congratulations Bex! You're taking really good steps so far! x (Subscribed)

Penniesinmyjar

Lots of luck!

Well done on your NSD and finding that extra £10, it absolutely helps - mentally as well it feels like you're making some head way.

Will subscribe x

Bex1989

Thanks guys! Had a funny moment at work this morning - I work in an NHS lab and happen to be on the urine bench today. I was booking in samples, and thought one was a little too heavy - looked closer and there was a £1 coin slotted into the gap at the bottom of the bottle! Not inside the sample, obviously

I asked one of the seniors in the lab about it and they laughed and told me to put it into my savings, which of course I will apparently it happens quite a lot, as people put the sample bottle in their pocket before handing it in, and it's the perfect size for a £1 coin to fit into. Randomness!