Time to sort my finances out

Houseplant26

Flowers123 wrote: »

Hi Houseplant. I've just got home and immediately logged on. I feel guilty. I went out for after work drinks and then went to see an old friend. I've spent more than I should have so I will update tomorrow. I did have a good night but now I'm thinking that money could have paid some of my debt back. Iknow I need to have a life as well as pay off my debt but it's very hard. I willupdate diary tomorrow and do a SOA. Flowersx

Try not to feel bad it's done now. How much did you end up spending do you think? I find it quite easy to say no social things as I'm quite an introvert and also I struggle with my energy levels and health a bit so I often need nights in to myself.

Flowers123

Hi Houseplant. I think I spent around £50. I used contactless payments so I can't yet see the exact amount on my bank statement. I do budget £50 for social things so I will just have to avoid going out for drinks the rest of the month as I find this is how all my money disappears. Tomorrow I'm meeting a friend for lunch and we are going to a Prosecco bar. I do have £30 in vouchers for pizza express and then I only plan on having 1 glass of fizz. We are going to have a look round the shops after and I might see if there are any skirts for work in the sale. Next weekend I'm going to Blenheim Palace and my nan has kindly paid for the tickets. Country file will be there so it should be a lovely day out. My nan is very frugal so I suspect we will take a picnic to have. I said I would drive so this should be my only spends. The 2 weekends after that I have my friends party which is in the garden at her house so I can take food and drink with me and I hope to have one weekend in August where I don't do anything. The last weekend in August my mum is taking me for a spa day for my birthday and we are having a few treatments which I can't wait for and its a long bank holiday weekend and it will be payday.

I've just done my SOA but as i only have a iPad and phone I can't seem to copy and paste it onto here so I will try at work on Monday. I have budgeted £200 for groceries and this will include household items which I think is enough as I do cook from scratch when I can and this includes food for my work lunches. I have budgeted £50 for clothes and another £50 for socialising. I probably could manage without the £50 clothes budget but I have left it there for the time being as I know I need to get some new work tops and another skirt.

Considering how I felt this morning I've had a productive day. I've washed and ironed all my clothes, hovered the house and done the washing up and tidied up a bit. Going to watch a film on Netflix with a cup of tea for the rest of the afternoon.

I'm so glad I've found this site. I feel more positive about paying off my debt. I currently don't have a mortgage on my house but I do owe my parents £15,000 which is effectively my mortgage. (Haven't included this is my debts) I have thought about getting a mortgage from the bank to pay off my debt and then just paying that off over a number of years. However, I want to avoid doing that as I know what I'm like and if I suddenly have no debt to pay off I could easily end up back in the same position and rack up credit card debts again. I think I will continue with my plan to get my spending under control and then pay off credit cards before tackling the loan. Flowersx

Houseplant26

Flowers123 wrote: »

Hi Houseplant. I think I spent around £50. I used contactless payments so I can't yet see the exact amount on my bank statement. I do budget £50 for social things so I will just have to avoid going out for drinks the rest of the month as I find this is how all my money disappears. Tomorrow I'm meeting a friend for lunch and we are going to a Prosecco bar. I do have £30 in vouchers for pizza express and then I only plan on having 1 glass of fizz. We are going to have a look round the shops after and I might see if there are any skirts for work in the sale. Next weekend I'm going to Blenheim Palace and my nan has kindly paid for the tickets. Country file will be there so it should be a lovely day out. My nan is very frugal so I suspect we will take a picnic to have. I said I would drive so this should be my only spends. The 2 weekends after that I have my friends party which is in the garden at her house so I can take food and drink with me and I hope to have one weekend in August where I don't do anything. The last weekend in August my mum is taking me for a spa day for my birthday and we are having a few treatments which I can't wait for and its a long bank holiday weekend and it will be payday.

I've just done my SOA but as i only have a iPad and phone I can't seem to copy and paste it onto here so I will try at work on Monday. I have budgeted £200 for groceries and this will include household items which I think is enough as I do cook from scratch when I can and this includes food for my work lunches. I have budgeted £50 for clothes and another £50 for socialising. I probably could manage without the £50 clothes budget but I have left it there for the time being as I know I need to get some new work tops and another skirt.

Considering how I felt this morning I've had a productive day. I've washed and ironed all my clothes, hovered the house and done the washing up and tidied up a bit. Going to watch a film on Netflix with a cup of tea for the rest of the afternoon.

I'm so glad I've found this site. I feel more positive about paying off my debt. I currently don't have a mortgage on my house but I do owe my parents £15,000 which is effectively my mortgage. (Haven't included this is my debts) I have thought about getting a mortgage from the bank to pay off my debt and then just paying that off over a number of years. However, I want to avoid doing that as I know what I'm like and if I suddenly have no debt to pay off I could easily end up back in the same position and rack up credit card debts again. I think I will continue with my plan to get my spending under control and then pay off credit cards before tackling the loan. Flowersx

Ah contactless payments. I haven't actually got a contactless card yet an not sure I want one when I'm due my new one!

Ok so it sounds like you have a very busy August planned (with some lovely day trips etc that I am somewhat jealous of as they sound fantastic, and how nice to be treated by family) so you will need to be organised so that you don't accidentally rack up spends on bits and bobs while out and about. It sounds like the circles you move in can be quite spendy, but it's good you know you can only have one glass of proseco. In the future you may need to start suggesting cheaper plans. Do your friends and family know of your money worries at all?

With the new clothes for work, are they definitely essentials? Could you consider buying them second hand or not at all? I appreciate you may have a job where you need to look presentable but I'm just being brutally honest about where you may be able to cut back more.

Well done for having such a productive day, I sadly have not as not feeling too good! It always makes you feel better when things are ticked off your to do and it sounds like you've smashed it today.

Flowers123

I would advise against contactless payments if I'm honest. I am going to phone up the bank and ask if I can get a card without it. It makes it too easy to spend and also I'm slightly concerned about the security with it. If someone stole my card then they could go spending on it straight away which is a scary thought.

Yes I've got a few friends that like to spend a lot but they are in a worse position than me. Maybe my new money saving ways may rub off on them. Yes my family and friends know I have debt and that I want to pay it off so they are usually pretty good if I suggest a cheaper alternative. We wouldn't normally go to really fancy places but the Prosecco bar is new and it looks amazing. Hopefully my friend will pay for my drink if I pay for Pizza Express with my vouchers.

That's a good idea. I will try and look in the charity shops for a new skirt. I do really need one as my skirt and trousers nearly fell down at work the other day. I've been walking to work and back every day for months now and I've lost quite a bit of weight as its nearly 4 miles a day.

Oh no. Hope you feel better soon Houseplant. Have a relaxing evening and a good nights sleep. I have just popped over to your diary and have seen you have picked up some overtime. That should help clear your OD and you'll really be able to start saving. I need to find a few money making ideas. I took a pay cut for my current role but they do offer overtime which we get paid double time for so I may pick up a few hours a month and use that just for my CC1 repayments.

Houseplant26

Flowers123 wrote: »

I would advise against contactless payments if I'm honest. I am going to phone up the bank and ask if I can get a card without it. It makes it too easy to spend and also I'm slightly concerned about the security with it. If someone stole my card then they could go spending on it straight away which is a scary thought.

Yes I've got a few friends that like to spend a lot but they are in a worse position than me. Maybe my new money saving ways may rub off on them. Yes my family and friends know I have debt and that I want to pay it off so they are usually pretty good if I suggest a cheaper alternative. We wouldn't normally go to really fancy places but the Prosecco bar is new and it looks amazing. Hopefully my friend will pay for my drink if I pay for Pizza Express with my vouchers.

That's a good idea. I will try and look in the charity shops for a new skirt. I do really need one as my skirt and trousers nearly fell down at work the other day. I've been walking to work and back every day for months now and I've lost quite a bit of weight as its nearly 4 miles a day.

Oh no. Hope you feel better soon Houseplant. Have a relaxing evening and a good nights sleep. I have just popped over to your diary and have seen you have picked up some overtime. That should help clear your OD and you'll really be able to start saving. I need to find a few money making ideas. I took a pay cut for my current role but they do offer overtime which we get paid double time for so I may pick up a few hours a month and use that just for my CC1 repayments.

Well done for all the walking to work! If you need things because you've lost weight that's fair enough. Why don't you try to tactfully suggest you sort food and friend sorts drink I'm sure they wouldn't mind. I love prosecco!

Thank you for the kind words. I'm in bed having just painted my nails watching a tb programme. Tomorrow is a new day!

Smodlet

Hello Flowers123. It sounds as if you are beginning to focus on a long-term plan, good luck. It is great that someone your age is already realising they need to make a change if they want their life to change. Being saddled with debt is often referred to as "normal" on these boards but, at the risk of sounding as old as I am, it was not always the case. Debt is no-one's friend except the money-lenders.

You mentioned you have considered taking out a mortgage to repay your parents; unless they are charging you more interest than the rate at which you could borrow, this would not be advisable from your point of view. If your parents need that money repaid quickly, that is different.

I wish you all the best with your debt-free journey.

Flowers123

Hi all. Thanks for dropping by. Well I was thinking about taking a mortgage out to pay off my loan and CC's but have worked out it will cost me more in the long run and as I currently don't have a mortgage from the bank I would rather keep my property mortgage free. I owe my parents £15,000 which was for my house so technically it is a mortgage but I owe them and not the bank. They don't need it back straight away. I'm paying £300 a month to them and when I've paid off my loan in a few years I'll probably pay at least double that amount to them. In about 5 years I should be completely debt and mortgage free and I'll just about to be turning 31 then. I pay into a pension at the moment and I will be increasing my contributions so I don't have to work until a rediculous age.

Today has been a lovely day. I went to A*sda this morning as Al** don't sell the cereal I like. Spent £9 on some salads for lunch 2 for £3 and also got some smokey cheddar cheese as I have some pulled pork in the fridge and I want to use this and mix it with fries which I have the freezer and then salad and coleslaw. Not very healthy but I have had it at a restaurant nearby and it's so yummy.

Went for a glass of Prosecco with my friend and a look round the shops. The sales are still on so I managed to get a £4 top for work and also a smart tailored pencil skirt for £15 (I usually spend at least £30-£40 on one so this is an improvement) we went for lunch and used my vouchers. We had 3 courses each and drinks and left a small tip so we only paid £10 each. As they were my vouchers my friend said she would get me lunch when we go out next time which is very kind of her.

I have also managed to sell another item on e*bay for £39 which nearly pays for my spends today which I'm pleased about. I have also added more items so they should hopefully sell this week. I've got lots of food in for this week so I'm hoping I won't spend any more apart from I will have to get more work lunch stuff on Tuesday evening. Apart from that I plan to go to the gym and have a quiet week.

Tomorrow I'm going to ask about overtime for August. Even if I only do 4-5 hours extra a month I should get another £80-£100 in my wages which I can use to clear my CC1. I don't want to do too much overtime as I end up feeling a bit stressed out if I am in the office all the time. I enjoy my job but it can be extremely stressful as we are very short staffed and have so much work!

This debt busting seems like it's going to take forever but I'm thinking long term and if I pay off everything in the next 5 years I can concentrate on saving for retirement. I think people my age may have to start putting a lot more away if we want a decent retirement. I hear about the elderly being in fuel poverty and that scares me as I hate the cold!

Flowers123

Statement of Account (can't copy and paste so I'm typing this myself.. Here goes)

Monthly Budget Summary

Monthly income £1,458.00 (I've taken a pay cut of about £300 a month as my old job was awful' this should hopefully go up in the next few years)
Monthly Expenses £885
Available for debt repayments £561
Unsecured debt repayments £407.10
Amount left over £153.90

Total Assets £208,550
Total secured -£15,000 (well this is the mortgage to my parents)
Total unsecured -£18,900.31 (need to update my signature when debt repayments have been taken)
Net assets £174,885.10

Household information
Adults in household 1
Children in household 0
Number of cars owned 1

Monthly income after tax £1458
Partners income 0
Benefits 0
Other income 0 (hopefully some overtime next month)
Total monthly income £1458

Expenses
Mortgage £300
Secured / HP 0
Rent 0
Council tax £102 including 25% single occupancy discount
Electricity £30
Gas £20
Oil 0
Water rates £30
Telephone (landline) including Internet £35
Mobile phone £18
Groceries £230
Clothing £50
Diesel £40
Buildings and Contents £30 (I could get this cheaper but I'm with a insurance company that all my family have insurance through and would feel really bad if I left)
Total monthly expenses £885 (figures may be slightly out as I'm calculating this myself)

Mortgage £15,000 left at 0% with parents

CC1 £2055 £25 a month minimum payment 0%
CC2 £1500 £35 a month minimum payment 0%

Assets
Cash £50 in my EF
House value £200,000
Shares and bonds £0
Car £6500
Other assets (jewellery) £2,000
Total assets £208,550

Flowers123

Oops forgot to put my loan on my SOA. I will have to use the SOA at work tomorrow so I can get it more accurate.

Also how much should a single female spend on grocery shopping. Im trying to set myself a realistic budget. I usually include household expenses in my grocery budget and unsure if I should set myself separate budgets for this. X

Houseplant26

Flowers123 wrote: »

Oops forgot to put my loan on my SOA. I will have to use the SOA at work tomorrow so I can get it more accurate.

Also how much should a single female spend on grocery shopping. Im trying to set myself a realistic budget. I usually include household expenses in my grocery budget and unsure if I should set myself separate budgets for this. X

If you really wanted to you could do your groceries for more like £100-£150 a month. I think the amount you've put is pretty high, way more than I spent when I was on my own.