Time to sort my finances out

Houseplant26

Flowers123 wrote: »

So I have just calculated my current total debt :eek::eek:
It's currently stands at £20,149.01!!! :mad: what an earth happened!! I have some how managed to spend an extra £1250 that I don't have :mad::mad::mad: some of this was because of car repairs as I didn't have the money to hand and the rest I can't account for!

Loan £14,704.01
CC1 £1300
CC2 £2200
CC3 £1945

Total £20,149.01

I really need to sort a budget!!

My minimum basic take home is around £1380.00 (my realistic take home pay will be around £1600-£1800 but I want to work out worst case scenario)

This is the budget I'm looking at once I move into my new house.

£600 to include household bills and paying parents back.
£273.74 loan
£12.50 professional qualification membership
£25 home insurance
£120 fuel (having to commute as houses closer to work were out of my price range)
£23 phone bill (recently had to change networks since moving)
£200 groceries and household items as well as social events like drinks/meals out
£100 CC's
Total £1354.24
Any commission I make will then go towards paying off the CC's first. I haven't included any budget for clothes or luxuries in this budget as if I don't make any commission then I intend not to buy myself anything that month.

Oh god this is scary seeing these figures :eek::eek::eek:

Hi Flowers,

It's been ages since I've posted on here, sorry about that. It sounds like you've had loads going on and lots of change. I find during stressful or hectic times my budget is harder to manage. I buy little expenses here and there a lot more, mainly food.

My advice would be to try to log all spends on here as a diary. I've lapsed a bit but when I was doing this it did help me. It's soooooo easy to spend too much. I'm also aiming to do 10 no spend days in December. I'm only at 2 so far, it's hard!

It's a good plan to throw commission solely at debts and learn to live off your base wage.

Anyway wake care and good luck, I've subscribed now so I I'm here for moral support!

Flowers123

Hi Houseplant lovely to hear from you. It's been a tough few months with everything happening so fast. I'm hoping once I'm in my house I'll be able to start budgeting for the long term as I will know my income and expenditure! How are you today Houseplant?

So I have £449.24 in my account left until payday (this is after everything has been paid) which will be earlier this month but I'm not sure of the exact date. I've done most of my Christmas shopping and only a few things left to buy which I'm pleased about. The only things I have to pay for up until payday are fuel, food and social spends. My works Christmas party is next week and we are so lucky our bosses pay for everything including the taxi home which is about £40 to where I live as I'm out in the sticks at the moment.

The last few days have been way too spendy. Today I have spent £25 on Christmas presents. Yesterday I spent £16 on Christmas cards and lunch whilst at work and on Thursday I spent £12 on food to take to my friends (we were suppose to go out which would have cost more) I also spent £4.50 on lunch and £14 in boots on hair dye (going to start doing it myself to save money) and some other items I needed.

Tomorrow I'm hoping will be a NSD. Going to make myself stay in so I don't spend any money or use any fuel.

Savings wise I currently have £150 in one of my accounts and another £300 stashed away which Ive decided I'm saving towards doing up my new house as it needs new carpets as they are horrible and smell like smoke! I think I need to start putting more money away for my car expenses as my service, MOT and insurance are due next April and May. I don't pay road tax luckily :T

I am finding it really hard to come up with a budget at the moment as I'm only earning my basic salary until I start earning commission and I'm not sure exactly how much it will cost me to run my new house. I think it will be roughly the same as my old house as its a similar size. I am also considering renting out one of the rooms to earn some extra cash. My new house has a large main bedroom and another bedroom which could fit a small double bed in and a wardrobe. Has anyone tried air bnb? I am considering air bnb as my new house is in a desirable market town that gets a lot of tourists and has a direct train line to London and Oxford and it would mean I can still have evenings where I have my house free to invite friends over :T

My family say I have an addiction to buying food. We have loads of food in the house but I always go out and buy more. I think it's because I feel bad and don't my parents to think I'm taking advantage.

Better go as I can hear yelling in the kitchen :eek: it's a very testing time living with my family! Flowersxx

Flowers123

Soooo a very boring evening for me tonight. Currently lay in bed already and going to watch something on I player. The weather is yuck so I wouldn't really want to go out anyway. Also I may read through some of the diaries on here as I find it really interesting plus it's a free hobby

I have been thinking about my work lunches. When i lived on my own I was getting into the habit of taking my own sandwiches to work. My new office has a toaster, kettle and microwave so I have no excuse really. I may have a look through the cupboards in the morning and see if I can take a can of soup to work and some bread to have with it. Means I won't need to go out tomorrow to buy anything as I find if I venture into the supermarket I end up spending more than I should!

Presents have all been wrapped this evening ready to go under the tree

Cheeseface

Hi Flowers. I've just read your diary. It's been a busy few months!

Your debt might've gone up a bit, but it's a transitional period for you and I'm sure you will be able to get on the right track soon.

Houseplant26

Well done flowed sounds like you're keeping motivated.

Flowers123

Happy New Year :j
Not a fantastic start to the year for me as I had a letter from the taxman land on my doorstep telling me I owe them £600 from a few years ago. Apparently I didn't pay enough and they have only just realised :mad: £600 I don't have and they want it paid in a lump sum!!! I do have some money saved which was suppose to be for the new house to get a carpet and few other bits and bobs but I guess that will have to wait.

This year I'm really going to get my finances on track and start budgeting properly. I had my lightbulb moment last year but with all the ups and downs of life I've not been very good at keeping track of my spending or my budgeting.

I have downloaded a spending app on my phone and starting today I am going to track every single penny I spend! I also really need to sort my budget out. I've decided that I'm going to include a certain amount of money for clothes and going out as if I don't then I'll only fall off the wagon and will end up more in debt :eek:

I am also considering getting a lodger :T it's not something I want to do as i only have a 2 bedroom house and it only has 1 bathroom but the extra money is needed to kick start my debt busting.

e*ay is also going to be my best friend again as I need to make some money urgently so I don't increase my debt.

My last day of annual leave so I'm making a massive meal for the family. I did need to go out to get some make up as I lost my powder and foundation on New Year's Eve but I think that can wait so I can save fuel!

Right I'm off to set up some direct debits for my CC's so I don't forget to pay them.

Flowersxx

jvr

Hey


Just read your diary! I think your being too hard on yourself, you have changed a lot of habits and with such a big move its not surprising that your debt went up! Whats important is you have realised it and are looking at changes to make. also I recommend not going too extreme with budget as if you are like me the second you fail you think ah well and really jump off the bandwagon! If your looking at getting a lodger you should read Brizzles diary as she has had various different types and it made a massive difference to her debt. Monday - Friday lodger may be an option depending on your location to still give you some freedom?
Good luck and looking forward to following your journey!

Houseplant26

Hi Flowers,

Well done for recognising where you may have increased your debts. It sounds like a lodger could be an idea, but do give it plenty of thought and read up about it. It's a big thing sharing your home with someone and you do earn a really good wage.

Re the tax underpayment. I've been there! I had to pay £1000 back once it sucked but they let me pay it in instalments directly from my wage, my salary was a bit lower than yours and the mistake more recent but is it worth asking them again? Otherwise you're right that house stuff can wait and this needs tackling first. You may need to lower your standards a bit while you pay off debts. There's lots of things I'd love to get for my rented flat but on my wage with my rent and bills and when I'm trying to save it's a non starter and I've just had to learn to be ok with that and try to remember the bigger picture.

Flowers123

jvr wrote: »

Hey


Just read your diary! I think your being too hard on yourself, you have changed a lot of habits and with such a big move its not surprising that your debt went up! Whats important is you have realised it and are looking at changes to make. also I recommend not going too extreme with budget as if you are like me the second you fail you think ah well and really jump off the bandwagon! If your looking at getting a lodger you should read Brizzles diary as she has had various different types and it made a massive difference to her debt. Monday - Friday lodger may be an option depending on your location to still give you some freedom?
Good luck and looking forward to following your journey!

Evening thank you for your comments. I think I'm being hard on myself as I know the debts originally spiralled out of control because of my expensive test and love of holidays and not much to show for it :eek:
I'll definitely take a look at Brizzles diary. I live around 20mins from Oxford and the train station is 10minutes walk from my house so I suspect I could get a Monday to Friday lodger but I would have more chance of getting someone full time. I am also considering air bnb as the town I live in is very desirable with tourists and people taking weekend breaks. Also the hotels around here charge a fortune so It could be an option for some people looking for a break that isn't so expensive. X

Flowers123

Houseplant26 wrote: »

Hi Flowers,

Well done for recognising where you may have increased your debts. It sounds like a lodger could be an idea, but do give it plenty of thought and read up about it. It's a big thing sharing your home with someone and you do earn a really good wage.

Re the tax underpayment. I've been there! I had to pay £1000 back once it sucked but they let me pay it in instalments directly from my wage, my salary was a bit lower than yours and the mistake more recent but is it worth asking them again? Otherwise you're right that house stuff can wait and this needs tackling first. You may need to lower your standards a bit while you pay off debts. There's lots of things I'd love to get for my rented flat but on my wage with my rent and bills and when I'm trying to save it's a non starter and I've just had to learn to be ok with that and try to remember the bigger picture.

Hi Houseplant. Yes, I will definitely have a major think about it. The positives are that I would be able to pay my debt off a lot quicker :T negatives would be having to live with a stranger who could turn out to be a smelly person :rotfl: I don't like funny smells!

Oh I've been told I can't pay in instalments and if I owe it then I will have to pay it back as a lump sum :eek: I will ask them again and double check. Yes I definitely need to lower my standards as I love new shiny things and usually seem to pick the most expensive items :rotfl:

I can't wait to start earning some proper commission at work. If I hit my minimum targets (I have a low target to start with as I'm new) I should make an extra £270pm take home pay, this is on top of my basic take home wage of around £1400 (goes up when I pass certain exams I'm doing).

Spent £6.31 on groceries today, managed to buy lunch for today and tomorrow, teabags and some cleaning products.

I can't wait for the weekend. This week has been so busy and I've got the January blues as no holidays to look forward to this year! It's going to be a year of hard work and maybe I should think about getting myself a boyfriend :rotfl: problem is my ex was still on the scene until last week. I've told him not to contact me in 2017 and so far he hasn't. I've decided I want a fresh start and finally needed to get a grip and move on. He did drive up to see me and take me out for lunch last week which probably confused things more. I wish he would find himself a girlfriend! I did join a dating website before Christmas as I've decided I will be able to filter out the definite no no's as the men I've met through friends and out and about recently haven't really led to anything. (maybe they subconsciously know I was still hung up on that dreaded ex :eek:)

Tomorrow will be another crazy day at work. I'm learning so much and everything is new so it's really taking it out of me and I always have that doubt I won't be good enough. I did get a nice surprise today and have quite a few things in the pipeline which will help earn some money and clear this debt :T

I should really do some more preparation work for tomorrow but I'm exhausted so I'm going to read a few diaries on here and hopefully I'll fall asleep. Alarm set for 6am so I can do an hours work before going to work. I sound crazy I know :rotfl: