Preparing for adult life ..

bma14

Argh - life is a pain sometimes! I am really struggling to keep money under control just now. So much has come up this month that I have had to pay for - fathers day, mums birthday, big wedding present, a 'home hen' for my cousin and the money required for another friend's hen in september, along with all of my insurances etc needing renewed and deposits put down on them. Wayyyyyy more than I anticipated by about £300! I put most of it on my credit card as it needed paid but I am starting to wonder where on earth I am going to pay it all off from considering that the wedding is next month. Wah.

I will really need to sit down and focus on getting everything paid off so that I am not constantly like this or end up missing my DFD

bma14

Happy June MSE'ers!

I was paid yesterday and so now have a good idea of where I am sitting in my quest to clear my debt off.

Having looked at the upcoming bills and worked out a bit of a cheaper way to buy my travel pass this month I am looking at a debt on my OD of £409.85. From there I should be able to quite easily make another tenner to put towards it and take it down under the £400 mark.

I also have £200 on my credit card which I put there from my cousin's wedding present, mums birthday present, dad's fathers day present and the 'up front' payments that I had to make for my new insurances, broadband etc. Seems a bit daunting because I was only able to put £50 towards that from my personal budget because of the wedding coming up in 2 weeks. I have already put aside £130 for the day (hair, makeup, spending money, nails, tan etc etc) which leaves me with only £30 per week to spend so I don't think I'll be able to make a further payment towards that from my personal money until next pay day when I will be able to put a larger chunk towards it.

I am happy that it is going in the right direction (on the OD at least) and hopefully I will have some leftover money from the wedding to go towards the credit card, which I will start paying off next month.

Life's messy is what I've learned this month.

bma14

Oh - almost forgot I did manage to get £200 in cashback whilst moving around my insurance providers, so once that's in that will be another chunk towards the debt woop.

bma14

I managed to cut an extra little chunk off the overdraft today by wiggling around my travel for this month I am off for around a week for my cousin's wedding so I have been buying single/weekly tickets rather than monthly ones so that I am not splurging out on a full month that I won't use. So that has managed to bring my OD to £399.10 Fab. Getting there slowly but surely.

bma14

Oh my goodness where have the last few months gone! :eek:

I have totally taken my eye off the prize over the last 2 months. I have been so so busy with work and weddings and birthdays and hen do's and all of life's expensive things coming at once.

I have decided that I am going to need to give myself a kick up the butt to get my finances in order again and make sure I don't spiral back into old habbits I was doing so well for the first half of the year and suddenly everything seems to be coming around at once and my motivation has all gone.

I have now got my overdraft down to around £430 and my credit card is £200. I know these aren't huge amounts in the grand scheme of things but they feel like they just aren't shifting.

To help I have opened a new bank account with First Direct. My plan is to have my switch completed a couple of days after my next payday, which will be my first with my pay rise from my promotion. I will also get £100 from them for switching which will help to pay off a chunk of the remaining overdraft. By that time I will have been paid and put another £380 towards repaying the overdraft and so my remaining overdraft will come within the 0% £250 buffer they give you and so it shouldn't cost me anything in interest. I should then be able to have that fully paid off by the following month (or sooner if the cashback comes in fast).

Then I will tackle the credit card. My plan is to use the remaining money from that cashback (Around £50) to start paying that off and bring it down. I will then pay it back with the rest of my leftover money from my October paycheck. I will then re-assess at that time and start my savings pots.

I really wanted to have it paid off by now but life has just got in the way and I haven't been able to apply as much of my wage to the debt as I would have liked to. Hopefully I will be feeling a bit better when it all starts to come down (slowly but surely).

I have re-started my spending spreadsheets and I am going to keep a spending diary this month where I detail all of my reasons behind buying things to try and stop myself from impulse buying too often!

Littlebirdie

Hey, I've been the same! First time I've logged on in blooming ages! Well done for coming back and having a plan

bma14

Oh my goodness I can't believe it has been almost a YEAR since I last posted !!! Bad bma !


Bit of a refresh since the last time I went to tackle the debt once and for all ....


So after all the weddings etc in the autumn I realised that my main account with the overdraft was all out of whack from my calculations. Nothing seemed to add up to what I was spending and I just couldn't keep track of it all. Then Christmas came and I used my credit card to pay for it all as I didn't want to mess up the main account (which, unbeknown to me, was already messed up!!). Then we needed the bathroom repaired, 4 (!!!) new tyres on the SAME WHEEL of my car, plus what felt like constant set backs financially (such as asbestos being found in our communal roof space which cost thousands to remove). This took me somewhere around the £1500 mark for debt.


So in January I started a real fresh slate and refreshed my finances and some other lucky life events have helped me to calm down about it and see a light at the end of the tunnel:


1. Firstly, I took out two new credit cards to consolidate all of my previous debts. I shifted my overdraft onto a Virgin Credit Card as a money transfer 0% deal. This has stopped my interest on my overdraft plus I also got an incentive for switching my bank account to HSBC. I moved £1200 from my overdraft to this card and since January I have now got that down to £800.


2. I moved my old credit card (which had Xmas spending etc) on it, to a new one with M&S. This is also 0% so all in all I'm saving about £20 a month on interest across the two cards. I put £300 on this and since January I have now got that down to £100.


3. My partner got a new job and as of when she gets paid next month we will be a lot better off. This means that she can help me out more with the bills for the house etc.


4. I started setting up savings 'pots' for various life expenses to try and stop me from going off track with my debt repayments due to unplanned social events. I have started a 'holiday' pot, a 'Christmas 2018' pot, a 'birthday' pot and a 'car repairs' pot. Once my debts are repaid I plan to start an Emergency Fund.


5. We got a puppy! Eek. He is super cute and adds a little bit of expense on for us each month but worth it.


6. Due to my partners new job we decided to trade our cars in and get one car instead. This has reduced the bills on that as we only have one car/insurance/tax/petrol bill rather than two. I should hopefully feel the impact of that more over the next few months.


7. I joined 'Commuter Club' I saw on MSE which means I get my monthly train ticket at an annual price AND get a free month in November! (worth £161 to me) perfect timing :Rudolf:


SO ....


The state of the current debt:


Virgin Money Credit Card: £800. Once this is done I plan to cancel it
M&S Credit Card: £100. Once this is done I plan to cancel it and replace it with a spending one for larger purchases.


THE PLAN: I am hoping to, by Christmas, have paid off as much of the debt as possible. If I can be debt free by the New Year that would be ideal, but I don't want to put too much pressure on myself to do that as my 0% interest rates are for 2-3 years and so I do have time, although I would like to pay it off as soon as possible. I also have a holiday in September and of course Christmas so I want to be able to save up for that so that I'm not dipping into my debt repayments for it. I feel like I need to go back to the diary as I need some accountability to not go off the wagon. I'm also going to go back to doing surveys etc to save up some extra gift cards for xmas.


For the next three months (July, August and September) I will be able to put £50 to each credit card as I need to save a lot for the holiday and Christmas. I took money from the Christmas pot to put the deposit down on our car and so I am going to replace this over the next few months. So as well as diarising my debt repayments I'm also going to keep a track of my pots of savings.


The budget is a bit in the air this month until my partner gets paid in July, but I will have another look at the budget after that.


Wish me luck !

bma14

I have decided to start to use this as a bit of a spending diary to help keep myself on track. I am conscious that it is all too easy for me to persuade the shopaholic in me to spend when am not tracking !!
So. I got paid on Tuesday last week which means that this is the last day of my ‘spending week’ which I use as a guide for whether I am under or over budget as the weeks go on.

How I work my finances is I have my ‘main account’ which has all my money and pays all my bills. My OH gives me money towards this. I put £250 into our joint account (my OH also puts the same amount in) to go towards food and household supplies. I then put £350 in an account in my sole name for personal spending. I put £110 in ‘pots’ - £50 christmas, £30 birthdays and £30 car expenses which I can dip into if the spending fits the pot’s purpose. Once this is in I work out how many weeks I have until the next payday and break that down into a weekly budget for the month. This month that means that I have £125 joint budget and £87.50 personal budget per week.

I have just filled in the spreadsheet for last week and it looks better than usual. The following is my spending diary which I will post once a week and will hopefully help to keep me more on track with spending.

Tuesday 26th
Payday! I un-charactaristically don’t buy anything new today and instead repay the £30 I owe to my credit card from when I put my new rugby boots on it. I purchased them last month in a sale when they were on offer and I got them reduced from £97 to £29.98, including personalisation and free delivery.

When I get on the train to work I realise that my OH has taken the car to work complete with my work bag!! Eek. This means that my train pass is in it and I have to pay for the train. I think I can claim this back though and will do that next week. (11.99)

I haven’t planned for lunches this week (bad) but I have a meeting at work where they buy my lunch for me. Result.

On the way home my OH phones to say she is stuck in traffic so I have to walk home from the train station. On the way I go to the co-op and pick up bits for dinner and some instant coffee to keep in the office (£5.67).

I get home and make us stir fry for dinner.

Total spend: £5.67 joint, £41.99 personal

Wednesday 27th

I remember my work bag today (hoorah) and so my train is paid for today.

I currently have a knee injury from rugby that I am getting physiotherapy for. It is playing up today because of the heat so I pop into Boots on my way to work and buy some deep freeze. £4.99.

Again I haven’t planned for lunch so I nip to Greggs with plans to get a sandwich but the mac and cheese looks amazing. I get that and a diet coke. £4.50.

I decide to leave the office early and head home at 5pm to enjoy some of the rare sunshine. I get to the station and it’s mobbed – all trains cancelled until 9pm! Grr. I phone my mum and we go to the local hotel and sit in the bar to wait. She kindly pays. My OH comes to collect us in the car. We grab a burger on the way home and my mum also kindly insists on paying for that. I will be able to reclaim the cost of my train ticket but because I have an annual ticket it won’t be worth much.

Total spend: £4.50 joint, £4.99 personal.

Thursday 28th

I buy an app for my phone to help manage my social media (£2.99) and also pay the 0.79 for my photos to be stored somewhere on a cloud.

Haven’t planned for lunch again today but I have a work do tonight to watch the football which involves pizza and beer. I grab a healthy sandwich from Sainsburys to try and bank some of the calories that I will no doubt eat later. The healthier crisps I pick up aren’t in the meal deal. Boo. £4.35.

After work I go to the social and we eat loads of pizza and drink loads of beer whilst watching barely any of the football. I head for the train at 8.30pm and they are all delayed again. Luckily I hop on another line and my friend comes to pick me up at a station closer to home. I should be able to get another refund on that train ticket later.

Total spend: £4.35 joint, £3.78 personal.

Friday 29th

I’m feeling a bit tender today thanks to all of the fizz and pizza. I head to Greggs and get a chicken caesar oval bite and a diet coke. Doughnut catches my hungover eye too. £3.75.

My mum decides we should go on an impromptu weekend away to a caravan across the water at Dunoon. My OH and I decide to go and she packs our bags and grabs some essentials from Tesco (including beer, obv). She pays.

We put £20.00 of petrol into the car and take £30 in cash out the joint account for our ferry tickets. I decide to put the £25.00 for the tickets into the joint account from my personal one since OH bought the toiletries and beer.

We grab a dominos pizza to eat on the way over. There is a deal on for £5.99 any pizza collected. It is exactly what hungover me needs.

We get over to the caravan around 10pm and dad offers us a burger from the BBQ. It would be rude to say no.

Total spend: £34.74 joint, £25 personal.

Saturday 30th

Thankfully this trip to the caravan is a lazy one and I spend most of the day sunbathing and watching the football with my dad. We laze about eating and drinking the millions of food my mum has brought over and don’t go anywhere.

My tomato face is reminding my that I need to buy a new face moisturiser. I currently use Liz Earle but the pot format makes me heave every time I have to put my fingers in it. I have heard good things about the Clinique dramatically different + and the new formula comes in a pump bottle. It is steep, at £31 which is why I have put off buying it for so long. I decide to spend some lazy time finding a better way to buy it to save a few pennies. I look around and see that Debenhams have a sale on with 10% off beauty this weekend. I go to Zeek and buy a £25 gift card for Debenhams which costs me £23.70. I use that to buy it from Debenhams and top up the rest, meaning that the moisturiser actually costs me £26.60. I also get Debenhams beauty points, Swagbacks (for using it to go to Zeek) and a £5 voucher for Debenhams when I pick it up using click + collect. A smug me goes back to sunbathing.

Total spend: £0 joint, £26.60 personal.

Sunday 1st

We reluctantly head back from the caravan at 11pm and arrive home about 12pm. We decide to just get the weekly shopping over and done with so head out to the shops.

We get the majority of the shopping from Aldi and enough food to make dinner (and if I’m organised enough, lunch) for about 3 days. We also get some snacks to watch the football with. £30.97.

We head to Home Bargains which is where I get the monthly cleaning supplies for the house. I get some carpet foam, carpet cleaner, two new mop heads, some fabric softener, a dog water bowl and three boxes of Fibre One brownies (try them if you haven’t already) for £15.91.

We get home and I clean the house and make dinner. We watch the football and then love island (no contest) and head to bed.

Total spend: £46.88 joint, £0 personal.

Monday 2nd

I have to head into the city early this morning as I have a physio appointment at 8.30am before work. My mum is driving up so offers to take me. I have one of the fibre one squares for breakfast and walk from the city to my physio which is about 30mins.

After I’m out of physio I walk back to town and am starving. On the way to work I collect my parcel from Debenhams. There is a Patisserie Valerie in the shop and the croissants are tempting. I resist but go to the co-op on the way to work and buy one there. £0.75.

I am once again unprepared for lunch so head to the cafe next door and get a panini and can of diet sprite. £5.35. While on lunch I remember that I was to buy the dog a new lead as his broke and we are currently using one of my mum’s dog’s old leads which is denim with flowers on. People keep asking us if he is a girl so I buy a very manly plain black Halti lead from amazon for £5.49 which I get on my amazon prime next day free delivery.

I also get a timely text to remind me that the puppy’s free one month insurance ends tomorrow. I have a look around and decide to go with Bought By Many which will add £18.66 to our bills each month for lifetime cover, which is good. I go follow a cashback link to buy it and have £30.00 credited to my account for doing it. I will need to wait a few months to see if it successfully completes.

I get a text from Scotrail to say that they have processed my claim back on one of my train tickets from the delayed services last week and have given me a refund. +£7.26.

On the way home I pop into the garage and get some bits missed from the shop. £4.70.

We head home and I cook dinner. The cap breaks off the salt grinder and the entire contents fall on the pasta. Sob. We eat what we can and finish off the snacks from yesterday.

Total spend: £10.80 joint, +£1.77 personal.

So weekly total: £106.94 joint (under budget by £18.06), £100.59 personal (over budget by £13.09).

bma14

Tuesday 3rd

It’s the start of week 2 and reading my diary from last week has helped me to identify unnecessary spending habits. I think I did ok personal spending wise last week (although it was a bit over budget that was down to 2 bigger buys which I won’t need to buy again for a few months at least). I do know that my bad lunch organisation is costing too much money so I will need to try and be a bit more organised on that front this week.

Having said that, my best intentions last night failed due to the salt shaker incident ruining the pasta that I had cooked for today’s lunch. I will need to buy it and i go to Greggs and buy a toastie. £3.60. I decide to get a treat and go to Starbucks and get an iced coffee. I still have money left on my Starbucks card so it is free.

The good news is I got another train refund for £7.26 so that will go back into my spending account and means I’m only actually a fiver over budget from last week and I think I can also reclaim my 11.99 ticket too. I will phone customer services later.

It turns out we don’t actually have any ingredients to make dinner. I get a text on my phone for a £2 off food at M&S so I mean I really couldn’t NOT go there for it. Economics.

So I get off the train early and head to M&S to do a small food shop that should cover us for the next 3-4 days. I also raid the reduced aisles and get a few bargains. I get breaded chicken and fish, fish goujons, a cook well chicken and chorizo kit, sandwich meat, fizzy juice,3 potato sides, loads of vegetables, two sets of biscuits and garlic bread for £25.40. I am pretty pleased with myself as all the food normal price should have been about £45.

I go home and cook dinner for myself, OH and friend who has joined us for tea.

Total: £28.60 joint, +£7.26 personal.


Wednesday 4th

Today starts off good and I am pleased with myself for remembering to pack a lunch. Turns out my wisdom tooth is in agony and I can’t eat much anyway so survive the working day on coffee.

My cousin is going into labour early so I order her baby present so that it is here on time. I buy a pink bouncer chair for £24.99 and will get some other bits to go with it. I have £30 left in savings towards presents so I pay with that.

Pre-season training for rugby starts back again tonight and I have realised that I did not pack a sports bra. I need to go straight from work so I hop into the sports shop down the road and buy one in the sale (hoorah for fitting into kids sizes). £14. I also need kinesthetic tape for my knee or I won’t be able to run on it. It’s a bit pricey in the sports shop but I need it so buy it anyway. £12.99.

On the way for the train I grab an iced coffee to double as pre-workout and some ibuprofen for my knee. £2.15. My friend texts me to remind me that we are buying pizza tonight for all the new people starting. Past-me who bought all the nice meals for this week is annoyed but present, about-to-get-pizza me is happy. I transfer mine and OH’s share to her. £10.

I go to training, am very happy about my not-sore knee and can only manage one bit of pizza due to the wisdom tooth. On the way home we decide we want some beers so we pop into the shop and take £10 out the machine. There is change and I tell OH to keep this towards next time we need cash.

Total: £20 joint, £26.15 personal.

Thursday 5th

I’m working from home today so will be able to raid the cupboards for breakfast and lunch.

On my break I see a cute t-shirt that says ‘leave the straw, save a turtle’. It’s £25 and I figure that’s a bad investment. Instead I head to Amazon and buy reusable straws for our bar cart as I am quite bad at using plastic ones and now I feel bad about the turtles. I get a set of 8 and two cleaners for £4.99 and free delivery. I feel very environmentally conscious. Resolve to deal with the recycling at the weekend.

My friend from rugby texts me and says she has found a good gym and skills development programme from a coach in New Zealand. She asks if I want to split the cost with her as I am looking for a new gym programme. I agree and she pays. I send her my one half which is only £13.50 - bargain!

I cook dinner for me and OH from the food I bought on Tuesday. We have spanish chicken with garlic bread and I have about 5 ice poles for dessert. This heat is something else! Spend the rest of the night cabbaged on the sofa watching Love Island.

Total: £0 joint, £18.49 personal.

Friday 6th

I can feel the spending bug itching at me today and end up browsing things I want on Amazon. Instead of buying anything I make a wish-list on Amazon and resolve that I will feel much better if I earn the vouchers to pay for it. I decide I will start a wishlist on Amazon and will buy the items off it with gift cards I earn doing surveys etc on swagbucks. So far I have on it a makeup bag, a facial cleanser and a soft measuring tape. I’m very proud that I don’t buy any of it.

I round off the week perfectly by again not planning lunch. Woohoo (/s). I go to Sainsburys on my way to work and buy a healthy sandwich meal deal as we are going out for dinner for my dad’s birthday tonight. I also buy an iced coffee and a croissant for breakfast. £4.75.

My OH picks me up from work and we put some petrol in the car. At night we go out for my dad’s birthday and OH buys the first round of drinks. My mum insists on paying for dinner despite my best protests.

On the walk home I offer to buy everyone ice cream. Only my sister takes me up on the offer and I take £10 out the machine to buy it. £4. Once home we sit on the couch and watch Love Island.

I check what OH has used from the joint account this week and it’s £22 so add that to the joint spend.

Total: £36.75 joint, £10 personal (I’m just counting all the cash I took out).



Saturday 7th

We wake up early as we are meeting friends for a big dog walk this morning. The walk starts at 8.30 and we walk a few miles until we reach the local restaurant where we have brunch. I buy everyone coffees and it’s £10.70. OH and my’s food is £11.

We go home and OH goes golfing. I stay at home and chill with the dog and do some cleaning. On her way home I ask her to go and collect a recycling bin for the kitchen (save the turtles etc). It’s £59.99 but she has an argos card so we spread the cost over that and I will pay it from the bills account as it’s a big household expense.

We watch the football and get pizza for tea. We agree to each pay £5 and the rest (£7) comes from the joint account.

Total: £18 joint, £15.70 personal

Sunday 8th
We wake up early again and head out for another walk. I can’t eat again from the wisdom tooth pain so I pop into the shop and buy an iced coffee and some chicken treats for the dogs. £1.70.

We head to the shops in the afternoon and get the weekly shop. I go to M&S and get enough dinners for the next 4 days plus some stuff to make sandwiches for lunch and other bits. £25.75. I get some other bits from Aldi. £1.88. On the way home we stop and get some petrol. £10.

We go to my mums for tea and I buy ice-cream for everyone for dessert. £10.

Total: £39.33 joint, £10 personal.

Monday 9th
It’s a new week and I am very happy with myself that I manage to remember to bring a sandwich with me from the house for lunch. On the way to work my water bottle bursts all over my gym bag and I have to hang up my clothes when I get there. Good fortune short lived.

At lunch I eat my sandwich and then go for a walk to find a vest top to wear to outdoor training tonight (hellooooo good weather). I find an adidas one in the sale for £7.55. Ker-ching. On the way back to the office I buy some cherries for today and tomorrow. £3.50.

I go to my physio appointment and then get the train to rugby training. The vest top I bought is perfect and I resolve to go and see if they have other colours in the sale tomorrow. When I get home OH makes pasta from the food we bought yesterday.

Total: £3.50 joint, £7.55 personal.

Weekly total: £146.58 joint, £82.63 personal.

bma14

So payday has rolled around again and I am very impressed with how the money diary has worked out Normally be end of month I am major out of cash and have spent every last penny, praying for payday to roll around.


This month thanks to money diary I have been less spend-y because I've been having to justify all of my purchases in the money diary. This meant that I didn't struggle at the end of the month and didn't have to dip into cards or overdrafts


This month my partner finally got paid from starting her new job so she has now doubled her contributions to the bills etc (£600) which means I have a bit more wiggle room in my own finances (although we have increased bills now from puppy arriving which cancels out most of it).


She has started work with a well known telecoms company which means one of the perks is we get free TV and internet! All we pay is line rental so as of this month our costs on that will go from £75 per month to only £18.99! Amazing savings. I have also paid off our dishwasher plus our hoover which leaves a bit more wiggle room in the budget plus the OH has been able to put about £500 into a help to buy ISA towards our new house we are thinking of buying next year! We've also managed to put a bit more into the Christmas and Holiday funds so that we are nice and prepared come November when the shopping starts


After all of that I managed to pay off my entire M&S credit card to £0 and £50 off my virgin money one. This means that I can now put all of my efforts and focus into paying off the virgin money one which now has just £750 left on it. My calculations mean that I should have that paid off by Christmas!


I suspect this month will be a bit more spendy as I have my mum and dad's birthday presents to buy but I am hopeful that I will be able to rein it back in after that and focus on getting rid of this debt once and for all !


Happy July MSE'ers