Fat, forty and financially f**ked

alt80

Can your husband get a 0% card? You really want to try to avoid the interest if you can or going to be paying for a long time. 

Hope you had a good night out. Though can't get into the idea of a sober birthday party haha.

mothsinmywallet_2

If you were menopausal you wouldn't drink either... I either get absolutely hammered to the point of blacking out on half a pint or drink entire bottles of spirit with no discernible effect.  The extra fun thing is there is no pattern to it so it's always a lovely surprise. 

Sadly DH can't get any credit either. I might ring them and tell them all about his disability at great length until they reduce it at least. 

alt80

@mothsinmywallet_2 thankful I never will be either lol. 

I think they have to reduce interest if in financial difficulty but I'd be careful as I think they can default the account - will f**k your credit file.

mothsinmywallet_2

Can they still default if I haven't missed any payments?
Credit score minuscule anyway and we don't have a mortgage and would never by a car on finance so do I really need to worry?

PassElephant

Ask sourcrates . Don't worry too much. They can't take what you haven't got.  Stay calm and quiet. Do what you can.

mothsinmywallet_2

I'm not worried, don't get me wrong! We have no mortgage because we've paid it off and own our house outright. We won't buy a car on finance because that's foolish (isn't that right, alt80? 😉). I never intend to use a credit card again and would struggle to think of any reason we might need credit in the future. A drop or stop in interest would allow me to pay back faster but I did borrow this money knowing I would have to pay it back with interest. It would be disingenuous to pretend otherwise. 

mothsinmywallet_2

Age of money on YNAB is 25 days - absolutely on track to be 30 days by the end of the month.

Been thinking lots about emergency funds and think I would like to have 3 months worth of payments in each category.  If I get this right, then this will be an emergency fund in everything but name. Think that makes sense, but any comments appreciated!

Will also redo my SOA to reflect the changes I have made. 

Had a nice evening at my friend's but panic bought a present on the way round. It was £8.50 but that was covered by the birthday present fund. Spent £4 on my contribution to the food - if I had time I would have made something for a lot less but sometimes I just can't do everything. 

mothsinmywallet_2

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....................  2

Monthly Income Details

Monthly income after tax................ 1050

Partners monthly income after tax....... 0

Benefits................................ 1050

Other income............................ 0

Total monthly income.................... 2100

Monthly Expense Details

Mortgage................................ 0

Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0

Rent.................................... 0

Management charge (leasehold property).. 0

Council tax............................. 137

Electricity............................. 114

Gas..................................... 0

Oil..................................... 0

Water rates............................. 41.78

Telephone (land line)................... 0

Mobile phone............................ 40

TV Licence.............................. 13.37

Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0

Internet Services....................... 41.24

Groceries etc. ......................... 300

Clothing................................ 50

Petrol/diesel........................... 200

Road tax................................ 43.8

Car Insurance........................... 39.75

Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 30

Car parking............................. 0

Other travel............................ 50

Childcare/nursery....................... 0

Other child related expenses............ 0

Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 21.18

Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0

Buildings insurance..................... 17.7

Contents insurance...................... 0

Life assurance ......................... 49.56

Other insurance......................... 14.92

Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 75

Haircuts................................ 44

Entertainment........................... 34.97

Holiday................................. 75

Emergency fund.......................... 50

(Unnamed monthly expense)............... 0

Fun money............................... 30

DD allowance ........................... 65

Charity................................. 20

Sports.................................. 40

Ink..................................... 7.99

Massage................................. 27.5

Optician................................ 60

Dentist................................. 10

Total 1743.76

[b]Unsecured Debts[/b]

Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR

HSBC credit card ..............5500......250.......0

Capital One card...............1179.98...100.......0

Total unsecured debts..........6679.98...350.......-  

Monthly Budget Summary

Total monthly income.................... 2,100

Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,733.76

Available for debt repayments........... 366.24

Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 350

Amount left after debt repayments....... 6.24

Been pretty generous in most categories and benefits go up by £150 next month. Really pleased with how things are going. 

alt80

mothsinmywallet_2 said:

I'm not worried, don't get me wrong! We have no mortgage because we've paid it off and own our house outright. We won't buy a car on finance because that's foolish (isn't that right, alt80? 😉). I never intend to use a credit card again and would struggle to think of any reason we might need credit in the future. A drop or stop in interest would allow me to pay back faster but I did borrow this money knowing I would have to pay it back with interest. It would be disingenuous to pretend otherwise. 

@mothsinmywallet_2

No mortgage is not a bad place to be at all. From my point of view I’d be using that equity to leverage but assume this is something that’s not for you/ or just not thought about doing? Even remortgaging at 50LTV would likely give you a decent chunk of cash to invest.

haha re cars not going to say I won’t have them on finance again because I probably will.

I can’t really understand the idea of never using credit again - not all credit is bad imo (spending on cards yes lol). Mind I think we are in very different situations - I’m acutely aware of the need to maintain a clean credit record. S**t credit record is basically life over for me haha anxious just thinking about you effectively saying you don’t care about yours haha.

mothsinmywallet_2

We only have one very small income so having nothing on credit is the goal. DH won't ever be able to work again so everything is on me. So I've had to find a way that prioritises my mental health, means I have time and energy for my children and the rest of my family and satisfies my soul. For me at the moment that is a job that while low paid (and probably low status to some) gives me all school holidays off and puts something back into society.