3rd Time Lucky?!- Attempting to clear £6645.93 of debt in 105days (3months+13days)!!

Magpie100

Hi Shelbi

I've just read through this diary and a couple of your older ones. Can I make a few suggestions? I really think you need a proper, realistic budget. You seem to follow a pattern of setting yourself very grand targets of paying off huge amounts of money in a very short amount of time - and then inevitably fail and disappear for a few months. I don't want to be harsh so I hope this is constructive - but I feel as if it might be better to have a realistic budget that you can succeed with. The SOA you posted much earlier in the thread didn't look realistic - you obviously don't have £1200 a month leftover - in fact your debt seems to have increased by £5000.

Your point about being addicted to debt is I think a valid one. Losing debt is like losing weight in that often people tell themselves their lives will magically be much better if they could just lose 20lbs/pay off £20K - but that thinking can be a way of postponing life indefinitely. I don't know whether you have actually had your lightbulb moment yet - you are living at home and still overspending despite a good income. I really don't mean to criticise and want to be constructive, but nothing will change unless you change. You recognise that this debt is now holding you back in so many ways - but you need to DO something about it.

You talk a lot about 'motivation' but what you need is discipline. Motivation comes and goes, but discipline is what keeps you on track even when you don't want to be. I am not motivated to go to work every morning, but I am disciplined enough to make myself.

It would be good to see a comprehensive, realistic SOA from you. I am sure you could cleat this debt in a year given your income but you have to really WANT it, and you need to accept it will take longer than a few months.

Good luck!

Shelbi

Thank you Magpie100- youre absolutely right I definitely lack determination, I get completely motivated and then lose interest and do something else- usually involving spending- Ive sifted through 3 months worth of bank statements to get a better idea where this money went and my general spending habits- it wasn't a fun task at all, but I really need to get a handle on this before it grow beyond my control- here it is:



Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Monthly Income Details
Income from Employment (after tax. . . . . . . . . 2,435.19

Monthly Expense Details
In Your Home
Mobile phones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38.58 92 (2lines mine & my mothers- niether die for contract end sadly)
TV licence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00 (OH pays this)
Internet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00 (OH pays this)
Home phone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00 (OH pays this)
Cleaning products/Cleaner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35.00 (im addicted to buying domestos, antiseptic wipes and fabreeze)
Garden maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Household maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50.61 (based on quarterly bill just paid of £151.83)
Gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23.11 (based on a quarterly bill just paid of £69.33- Although this will rise during winter quarter)
Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00 (OH pays this)
Council tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92.00 (MONTHLY DD)
Overdraft cost. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Bank account fee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Home insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Mortgage/Rent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325.75 (£65.15per week)

Food and household shopping . . . . . . . . . . 250.30- stupidly high- had spent £750.91 in 3 months for 2 people)
Drinks for home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52.19
Motoring & Public Transport
Petrol/Diesel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.00
Parking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.33- (£100 Resident parking for the year)
Car tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.37 (monthly dd)
Car insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35.55(based on £426.56 paid annually in July)
Car maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.17 (mot split for the year around £50)
Rail/Buses/Taxis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35.08 (ubers- sad to say I spent 90 odd on these)
Breakdown cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.92 (£35 per year)
parking fines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57.43 (got a parking fine- don't expect to repeat that)
Debt Repayments
Credit card repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . . 120.00 (minimum payment- I try to pay more than this)
Hire purchase repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Personal loan repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . 222.26 (paid monthly)
Car loan repayments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Savings & Investments

Regular saving. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250.00 (I used to save this- will not now I know how muchI spend- need to clear the debt)
Family
mum income money. . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103.33 (average amount I pay to my mum when shes short of funds)
Entertainment
Satellite/Digital TV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00 (OH pays sky bill)
Family days out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Cinema/Theatre trips. . . . . . . . . . . . . 39.29 (av per month on nights to movies)
Books/Music/Films/Computers . .. . . . . . . . . 0.00
Big days out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Shopping for fun. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55.62 (have no idea what I brought but I spent it- statement vague):o
Pet costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

Drinking out. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . 140.48- didn't realise this was so high basically statements showed I spent £842.89 on nights out in the last 3 months (food and drink- its absord) so total spilit by3 for months then by 2 spread evenly over drink & food (below) out)
Eating out. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . 140.48
amazon prime. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.99 (used for deliveries, books, prime tv
lotto . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . 17.00 (bad I know but scared to stop lest my numbers come up
Clothes, Health & Beauty
Complementary therapies . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Optical bills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45.00- this is quarterly not monthly
Haircuts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.33 (£10 pm)
Dentistry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Beauty treatments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35.00 (beauty stuff & makeup etc)

Work clothes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58.68 (this is pm - I thought it was less)
New children's clothes. . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
New clothes . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . 210.23 (I was genuinely shocked by this- esp as I always wear the same damn thing)
Education & Courses

Your courses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75.00 (based on £900 spent this year- hoping no need to spend any more on courses- but its for work and career progression)
Big One-Offs
Funeral expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Wedding expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . 150.00
Sofa/Kitchen/TV . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Birthdays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50.00 (abut £600p/yr I think)
holiday1. . . . . . . . . . . . . 85.89 (£1030.73 spent- annual figure)
holiday2. . . . . . . . . . . . . 166.67 (based on about £2,000 spent) - probably wont be having 2 holidays in the near future:o
Christmas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54.17 (about £650 per year I think)
Odds & Sods
Newspapers and magazines. . . . . . . 0.00
Tax & NI Provisions (self-employed only). . 0.00
Regular charity donations . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Meals at work . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 60.00 (based on £3 per day)
Smokes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128.00 (trying and failing to quit)
Coffees/Sandwiches/Snacks . .. . . . . . 0.00

Total monthly income. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,435.19

Total monthly expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,260.81
its shocking and sad, I actually told OH and he couldn't believe what I spend-to be honest I couldn't I always thought my finance's were ok- not great but not this bad. I need more control that's for sure...I would be grateful for any help I can get with this....Will work on a budget for September to fill the holes and stop the overspending Xx

Magpie100

Hi Shelbi,

Well done for taking my comments on the chin and coming back! I know it’s hard and please remember I am not perfect, either. I think you need to find the discipline and determination to turn this round NOW, before things really spiral out of control. You have a good salary, and you CAN pay this off.

Now, I’ve had a look at your SOA. My thoughts:

Cleaning products: Just STOP buying these branded items! The world will not end if you drop brands from your life. Not for everything, but I cannot see how these are worth the premium you are paying. Why don’t you at least try it?

Ubers: Again, just STOP. I think you live in London. If so, you are living in the one place in the UK where there are excellent public transport options, including the night tube. Are these Ubers late-night journeys home when you’ve been out? Can you PLAN your route home in advance so you don’t just fall back on the Uber app out of habit?

Savings: You have put £250 in your SOA for this and then noted that you won’t be saving this for now. So here will this money go? Can I suggest it goes straight to reducing the debt?

Money to your mum: I can’t wade in here too much because this is obviously between you and your mum. I’m not really clear on who lives with you and who is responsible for paying what, but I will just day that you really can’t be giving money to your mum when you have this level of debt. The way to help her it to get your finances stable, pay off your debt and THEN AND ONLY THEN if you want to you can give her money. At this rate your debt will become unsustainable and you will be in no position to help anyone out You MUST help yourself first.

Drinking out, Eating out, Entertainment: you are spending nearly £350 a month on these things. Cut it to £100.

Lottery: you are borrowing money to gamble it. Can you just stop? And stop looking at the results? The odds on this mean you are not going to win.

Clothes: £270 a month on clothes is way, way too much. Cut it to £50 and go through your wardrobes and work out what you NEED to buy, not what you WANT.

Wedding expenses: Whose wedding? Yours? Can you put this on hold until you have made significant inroads in to the debt?

Holidays: Are these holidays booked already? Can you cancel one or both? If you can have a year without holidays you can get this debt sorted.

Smoking: ARGH. But I get it is not as easy as me saying stop.

The good news is you have a LOT of places where you could make savings if you really were determined. I haven’t even touched on things like lunch at work and drinks for home.

If you stopped spending on branded cleaning products, drinks for home, Ubers, savings, money to your mum, slashed the going out/drinking out to £100 and lottery, holidays and cut your clothes budget to £50 you could save roughly £1300. ONE THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED POUNDS. And that’s without me really going to town on your SOA.

You could then clear your debt in less than a year. Why don’t you set yourself a challenge of clearing it in one year? You absolutely earn enough to do this if you just stop spending and start budgeting. I KNOW it is easier said than done but I hope this is a real wake-up call for you. So much of your spending is discretionary lifestyle spending (on which note – is it worth you running a car? It doesn’t look like you do many miles in it and I assume you don’t drive it to work) rather than absolute necessities.

What do you think of the list above would be the place to start? What one change can you make right now and start bedding in?

I know there is a lot here to think about but I hope some of it is useful and will be taken on board.

Good luck!

M100

Shelbi

Hi Magpie100,

Thank you for responding, I’m genuinely really grateful for the help and encouragement. I really do need and want to sort this out so am thankful for your comments and suggestions. I think a year is a realistic and achievable goal so long as I stick to it, which I mean to do now.

I’ve read through your suggestions (thank you for these)...I’ve added some responses to your questions and suggestions J


Now, I’ve had a look at your SOA. My thoughts:

Cleaning products: Just STOP buying these branded items! The world will not end if you drop brands from your life. Not for everything, but I cannot see how these are worth the premium you are paying. Why don’t you at least try it? - I will definitely try this, cutting down on volume and give non- premium brands a try...thank you!

Ubers: Again, just STOP. I think you live in London. If so, you are living in the one place in the UK where there are excellent public transport options, including the night tube. Are these Ubers late-night journeys home when you’ve been out? Can you PLAN your route home in advance so you don’t just fall back on the Uber app out of habit? I absolutely can was shocked how much I spent and no real excuse other than convenience and laziness here, usually following boozy nights out yes- Have already deleted the app off my phone to stop temptation.

Savings: You have put £250 in your SOA for this and then noted that you won’t be saving this for now. So here will this money go? Can I suggest it goes straight to reducing the debt? This is what ive been paying in the previous 3 months- will stop doing this from now on and agreed this should be going straight toward my debt.

Money to your mum: I can’t wade in here too much because this is obviously between you and your mum. I’m not really clear on who lives with you and who is responsible for paying what, but I will just day that you really can’t be giving money to your mum when you have this level of debt. The way to help her it to get your finances stable, pay off your debt and THEN AND ONLY THEN if you want to you can give her money. At this rate your debt will become unsustainable and you will be in no position to help anyone out You MUST help yourself first. – This is an average of funds I’ve transferred over when she’s been a bit short. I no longer live there but I know my family are on low income so I try to help when needed. Saying that, this is before I realised how poorly I was managing so I agree the only way to help is to help myself first.

Drinking out, Eating out, Entertainment: you are spending nearly £350 a month on these things. Cut it to £100. Will set my budget to £100 happy to give this a go, will be a nice challenge. I don’t know how I spent so much until I checked the statements but admit I go out a lot, need to curb this. Will endeavor this month (once payday comes) to take cash out and only use that rather than swiping my card at the bar. Thanks.

Lottery: you are borrowing money to gamble it. Can you just stop? And stop looking at the results? The odds on this mean you are not going to win. – I know I need to do this one, yes I can stop looking but always feel like I may win (stupidity I know- odds are not in my favour here) I will deactivate the direct debit and not look! Your right.

Clothes: £270 a month on clothes is way, way too much. Cut it to £50 and go through your wardrobes and work out what you NEED to buy, not what you WANT. – Thank you Magpie, I agree this is way too much, can definitely pull some money back here, £50 can work, will definitely try this.

Wedding expenses: Whose wedding? Yours? Can you put this on hold until you have made significant inroads in to the debt? Oh no sorry not my wedding this was based on the past 3months expenditure (gift/hotels/etc.) for friends and families. Wedding season…I only have 1 wedding left to attend and figured £150 spend that will now be reduced to £50. The savings will go to paying the credit card.

Holidays: Are these holidays booked already? Can you cancel one or both? If you can have a year without holidays you can get this debt sorted. This was what I had spent, holidays already taken. You’re right no more holidays bookings until this debts cleared.

Smoking: ARGH. But I get it is not as easy as me saying stop. I know I’m working on this one, will try cutting down and hopefully quit.

I had given thought to selling my car, No I don’t drive to work I rarely use it now days only at the weekends to travel up to see my family (one side of London to the other) occasionally mum/OH borrows it too, (OH when his is playing up). But I did think it’s an ok runner fully paid for and eventually id only end up buying something else so have decided to keep it. Will give this some thought though Thank you Magpie


I really appreciate you taking the time to look into my SOA and give feedback. I will definitely set the challenge to clear within one year, you’re right it is achievable, Im also going to challenge myself to log in and update on progress and stay the course rather than flip flop in and out every few months.

I think the comments you made and list above is great, given me some great changes which will help massively. One change I can make is cutting down on my going out spends- A lot of my clothes, cab and drink budget stems from there- £100 will be a fun challenge. Clothes budget to £50 will also be good. I will delete my shopping apps today will stop me browsing. In truth I have clothes I just like to buy things…That will stop. I really want to get control of my spending and sort this out before it becomes more than I can handle. You’ve given me a great start, Thank you so very much!


S x

Magpie100

Shelbi - my heart swelled with pride when I saw your response! Well done for not running away screaming. Don't expect to make all these changes overnight, but pick a couple to start now and get them bedded in. I know you can do this. I hope putting the SOA together was a wake-up call for you. However bad it looks it's always such a valuable thing to do because then you can identify clearly where the problems are. Well done on facing up to it - it is not easy and I am very proud of you!

I'm not around much this weekend but will re-read through your comments when I can and give you a few more suggestions. I know you are a caring person and want to help your family, but the way to do that is by being in a strong position yourself first.

Just re your car - if you own it outright then yes, that would sway me more towards keeping it until it can run no more.

Don't lose heart. You can do this and your responses above show that your mindset is changing already. Have a good weekend. Mx

Shelbi

Aww Thank you Magpie,

Honestly putting together my SOA and sifting through my actual expenditure over the last few months was a game changer for me…I had no idea how much I was actually spending.
Thank you so much for encouraging me to do it. Your comments on tasks helped massively, you’re right I won’t change all over night but even a few things will make a massive difference. Ive started with the clothes and going out expenses, axing the Uber too.
My car is owned outright so I don’t pay anything other than the car tax and petrol until next year when the Mot, Insurance and parking needs renewing.

I can’t thank you enough for your help…any further ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Hope you had a fab weekend J

Sx

Shelbi

This weekend I did ok (I think) - I spent £32.99 which consisted of a birthday present for my friend’s child’s birthday. A bottle of wine to take round to friends and another bottle which OH and I shared last night. No Ubers & no takeaways.

OH did a food shop on Saturday so should be ok for a week or so, have cleared a space on the white board to write what we actually need, agreed to do this and not just buy things. So far only brown sauce, honey and ketchup left (my things not his, hence he forgets)...though am thinking better to go get them today before I get topped up, will then only get whats needed.

Cleaned the fridge Saturday, put new things to the back and old to the front, used up what we could this weekend of the older bits- Sunday breakfast was eggs and Roast ham (left over from Fridays tea) same as bacon and a pineapple that was on its way out. OH Is natural at this stuff, I am learning though.

OH and I went for a walk on Sunday...rather than drive out somewhere for lunch we walked to the local park, stopped at Tesco on way back and got a few things OH forgot (I still forgot the condiments). Not having the car helped a lot as we could only carry a few bits and bobs we got what we needed and saved on petrol. OH paid for those Bless him. I need payday to hit…Thankfully its tomorrow! Rest of the day was spent making bedside cabinet that’s sat in living room for the past 2 months... followed by dinner and a movie on TV...was actually a really lovely weekend.

Managed to bring in lunch today, which I will aim to do this as much as I can this month.
Have written down what events & occasions I have in my diary for September/October. So I can ensure I stick to budget and can forward plan.

This month consists of 1 wedding, 3 birthdays, 1 anniversary (ours) and 1 girl’s day out.
Birthday & anniversary budget £50, Wedding budget £50…Means no buying anything new to wear- basically that’s the gift only. If I do it’ll be taken out of the clothing budget, though I don’t want to touch the yet, haven’t looked in my wardrobe for what I can already wear and what I may need. Will try to get everyone’s gifts cheaply and using cash back if available.

OH has said not to do gifts for our anniversary, we’ll just go out for dinner but I want to get him something- even if it’s something tiny and inexpensive/ free.

Plan tomorrow is to pay all bills not on dd as soon as monies hit (rent etc.) and minimum payment plus the additional £250 (that was savings) onto my card (total £368). Then baton down the hatches and stick to my budget paying any savings onto the credit card at the end of this month.
I will remove my credit cards from my purse tonight and just keep my debit card on me. I will also pull out the cash and place in envelopes for the following- Going out £100 / Clothes £50. Will try to use cash for most purchases. Food spends will be pulled out in a week or two when we need a top up.
I will also try to have 15 No spend days this month (26 sept- 25th October).

Nothing much else to update on. Just excited to get started with a plan.

Sx

Shelbi

Hey Guys,




Was Just thinking about my plan of action for debt repayment ...I have 2- 1 loan which is at £4603.46 at the moment with 6.8%apr and a creditcard which is at £5482.83 which is 0% interest until 1st May 2018. Logic tells me I should concentrate on clearing the loan first as it has the most interest and is the smallest. However I cant pay that in dribs and drabs but will have to save and make a final settlement payment when I get enough. I'm sure there is a fee though I don't know what it is yet but should be less than letting it run for the 24 months. It's been active for 2 and interest per month is between £21.99 and £27.19 (2 int charged so far). So would it be better to do this and just pay minimum on credit card and aim to clear the loan in the next 4 months. Then concentrating on the Credit card for the remaining months?


Any Thoughts...or better idea's?




Sx

Shelbi

Finally payday...


So have paid £171.17 to credit card, have sent additional loan repayment of £500 to account which I don't use (don't know the debit card pin, but can do transfers) to build up for my final settlement payment. Rent has been paid, IOU's paid in full.


Lunch brought in from home (left overs), it tasted nicer than my standard meal deal sandwich, saved me £3 too...need to try to be organised and do this most nights. Attempting to not spend anything today. Have checked free post code lotto and updated my excel budget for the month. Decided against YNAB although amazing as it is!! will save me $50 join fee. Will use my phone to note anything I spend in mean time until I update my budget. I will eventually buy it though just not this month.


Nothing else to report really just waiting for dd's to hit and take it from there. Haven't withdrawn my £100 on going out as no plans to go anywhere until the weekend so will hold out until then. Nothing else update with really....Im just feeling good, much less anxious.




Sx

Shelbi

So wrote a lengthy update and took so long I lost it all...pretty much explains my day...work was ok but I feel like I'm coasting...been there for a long time finding it hard to keep engaged and not procrastinate...its so not good. There's this weird vibe..with today's climate change it's been said that out bonuses are unlikely to happen this year and pay rises payrisrs if any will be at a minimum. I can't lie it's making me more anxious than I already am...and I'm anxious about my money with if I'm honest. It comes and goes one minute I ok and calm then the next I realise I'm 10k in debt a panic...thinking all the things 5hat could go wrong...what if I lose my job etc. I think I'll feel better once my debts gone and I'm secure but that won't be for a while yet...does anyone else feel like this..how do you stop it..

Other than that my day was Ok, I joined swag bucks and did a couple of surveys brought in lunch and managed to stay off clothing sites...i did however pre-order a food shop and arrange for it to be delivered next week. Cleaning stuff was own brand...and mostly basics..brought bigger boxes of own brand dishwasher tablets washing powder etch.. that should keep us till next payday or even beyond. Got £18 Off voucher and spent £48 total...I can update and take away the order till then. Will try and have a non spend day tomorrow and Friday. Think I'm missing shopping but don't want to touch my clothing budget...how will I fare the rest of the month if I can't even do a day...makes me feel good till I realise the hole I'm in and cue mild panic. Think that's why I did the pre ordered food shop lol

Plus points made lunch and still have been good just feel crappy...well I guess I should make lunch for tomorrow...and have a boogie in the kitchen may make me feel better...will begin putting £3 saved into loan of set account working day...have joined 100dayvs debt as coincides with my clear loan target. Can't think of anything else to update... night x