Trying to clear debt and save for a house.

jenny+luke

Hi all,

I've been reading for a few days and you guys are great

Current situation is that we owe around 2k, every month I make a good effort to make a dent in this and usually pay £500 on the first of the month (tomorrow). Only problem is, I end up using the credit cards and by the end of the month I'm back at the starting figure. I should be able to clear this debt in 4 months but keep ending up having to use the cards. This month it was for a new washing machine as ours has given up and then I had a problem with the car.

My husband does not help this situation as he isn't bothered about debt or trying to save, although he tells me different. lol.

I've managed to save just over 10k in the last couple of years and I'm hoping to double that this year with careful planning. I think in theory I should be able to pay our debt off within a few months and continue saving, however I always end up using my CCs towards the end of the month.

I don't want to use my savings to pay off the debt as its taken me ages to get to 10k and I don't want that to take a hit.

My debt is pretty much 0% so I'm not worried about interest.

I need to do a SOA so will look for the link as soon as I've finished this post.

I know that the main problem here is my husband, he is not working at the moment due to illness and he has never had to pay bills or worry about money. He lived with his mom before we met and she did everything, after moving in together I continued sorting everything out as I already had a house, and making sure bills were paid. He had his salary paid into my account so I could use what I needed etc.

The last time he had a CC, he maxed it within about a month, all on stuff we didnt need. I was extremely unhappy with the 4k debt, that has been paid off now and he no longer has CCs.

Thanks for reading. hopefully you'll be able to help me cut some areas when I post my SOA. off to find the link now

enthusiasticsaver

Set up a budget, reduce the amount you pay off the credit card and stop using it altogether. If you have £2k and pay off £400 per month it will clear in 5 months and use that extra £100 for normal spending so you are not needing to use the credit card at all.


Build up emergency savings for replacing things when they break down or use your existing savings. It makes no sense to have £10k in savings while you have debt unless your credit card is actually 0% in which case why worry? When you say pretty much 0, how much actually is it? How much are your savings earning?

jenny+luke

Could someone kindly post a link to SOA as I'm searching and I cant find it. thank you

jenny+luke

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

Set up a budget, reduce the amount you pay off the credit card and stop using it altogether. If you have £2k and pay off £400 per month it will clear in 5 months and use that extra £100 for normal spending so you are not needing to use the credit card at all.


Build up emergency savings for replacing things when they break down or use your existing savings. It makes no sense to have £10k in savings while you have debt unless your credit card is actually 0% in which case why worry? When you say pretty much 0, how much actually is it? How much are your savings earning?

thanks for your reply, an emergency savings fund is a great idea, I will get onto that ASAP.

WRT credit card rates, I have 3, 2 of them are 0% and the other is quite low (cant think of exact figure), I only have about £100 on the one with interest.

thanks

jenny+luke

so I finally found SOA. lol.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 3
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 3380
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3380

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 700
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 100
Electricity............................. 70
Gas..................................... 63
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 45
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 80
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 100
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 350
Clothing................................ 30
Petrol/diesel........................... 40
Road tax................................ 20
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20
Car parking............................. 8
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 20
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 20
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 20
Life assurance ......................... 20
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30
Haircuts................................ 32
Entertainment........................... 40
Holiday................................. 40
Emergency fund.......................... 0
regular savings standing order.......... 60
Help to but ISAs........................ 400
Childrens savings....................... 30
Total monthly expenses.................. 2350


Assets
Cash.................................... 10000
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 9000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 19000

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
CC1............................1765......22........0
CC2............................339.......10........0
CC3............................100.......10........10
Total unsecured debts..........2204......42........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,380
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,350
Available for debt repayments........... 1,030
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 42
Amount left after debt repayments....... 988

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 19,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -2,204
Net Assets.............................. 16,796

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

jenny+luke

We pay £100 per month to sky, thats for TV, phone line and broadband. My husband will not reduce tv package.

mobile phone are expensive as we both have an iphone 6, got them before my husband was off sick.

thanks

jenny+luke

I just noticed that I have put the wrong amount for regular savings, it should be £240 per month as its £60 per week I save. This leaves about £700 left after everything is paid. Paying £500 off CCs should be fine but we never seem to last the month.

Vikipollard

jenny+luke wrote: »

so I finally found SOA. lol.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 3
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 3380
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0 Not even Child Benefit?
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3380

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 700
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 100
Electricity............................. 70
Gas..................................... 63
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 45
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 80
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 100 Reduce this. Husband needs to wind his neck in
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 350 Should be able to reduce this by £50
Clothing................................ 30
Petrol/diesel........................... 40
Road tax................................ 20
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20Clearly not enough, if you have to hit the CCs for repairs
Car parking............................. 8
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 20
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 20
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 20
Life assurance ......................... 20
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30
Haircuts................................ 32
Entertainment........................... 40
Holiday................................. 40
Emergency fund.......................... 0
regular savings standing order.......... 60 This needs to be saved into an emergency fund. Your savings can wait
Help to but ISAs........................ 400
Childrens savings....................... 30
Total monthly expenses.................. 2350


Assets
Cash.................................... 10000
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 9000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 19000

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
CC1............................1765......22........0
CC2............................339.......10........0
CC3............................100.......10........10
Total unsecured debts..........2204......42........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,380
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,350
Available for debt repayments........... 1,030
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 42
Amount left after debt repayments....... 988 If you really have £700 over, you should not be hitting the CCs each month. You need to go through every statement and payment to track your real spending

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 19,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -2,204
Net Assets.............................. 16,796

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

Sorry that this is harsh. You have a comparatively very small debt which could easily be paid off in no time. You say you chuck £500 at the CCs, but have to put it back on again. This says to me that the SOA is not accurate above.

Unless you track your spending properly, you wont tackle the root cause of why you run out of money each month, and therefore your budget wont hold up.

And again, hubby needs to get over it. The TV package needs to go - at least until he is well enough to work.

Debtslayer

Spot on post by Vikipollard; sometimes harsh words are necessary.
Your husband needs to get on board with you if you share the same goal of wanting to own your own property; everything needs to go that's not necessary to make that happen.

triple_choc_chip

Hi Jenny, when will your husband be back to work? Doesn't he get sick pay or ssp? If I had to re-budget due to managing on one income the person not contributing wouldn't get to decide what was / wasn't being culled from expenditure!

Lol just noticed that debtslayer and vickypollard feel the same, I don't feel so mean now!

Debtslayer

jenny+luke wrote: »

so I finally found SOA. lol.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 3
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 3380
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3380

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 700
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 100
Electricity............................. 70 - This is high; check comparison sites to see if you can get cheaper
Gas..................................... 63 - This is high; check comparison sites to see if you can get cheaper

Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 45
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 80 - These are high; change to Sim only if possible
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 100 - This is huge and needs to go!! Ring them up and say you need to cancel and see if you can get a reduced rate; if not then definitely cancel; husband needs to grow up and be on board with your future plans
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 350
Clothing................................ 30
Petrol/diesel........................... 40
Road tax................................ 20
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20
Car parking............................. 8
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 20
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 20
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 20 - This is high; check comparison sites to see if you can get cheaper
Life assurance ......................... 20
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30
Haircuts................................ 32 - This seems high for a monthly figure?
Entertainment........................... 40
Holiday................................. 40
Emergency fund.......................... 0
regular savings standing order.......... 60
Help to but ISAs........................ 400
Childrens savings....................... 30
Total monthly expenses.................. 2350


Assets
Cash.................................... 10000
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 9000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 19000

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
CC1............................1765......22........0
CC2............................339.......10........0
CC3............................100.......10........10 - Pay this off now; there's no need to be paying interest
Total unsecured debts..........2204......42........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,380
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,350
Available for debt repayments........... 1,030
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 42
Amount left after debt repayments....... 988

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 19,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -2,204
Net Assets.............................. 16,796

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

Okay; I've made some comments above where you could make some cutbacks
When shopping around for utilities and insurance check cashback sites to see if you can get even cheaper with cashback
If you are having to spend on the cards again each month then you need to track where money is being spent otherwise you will keep going round in a vicious circle.
When do the 0% periods end on the credit cards? If not for a while then I would pay enough off each month to make sure they are paid by the time the 0% ends and save the rest.