Passenger in life

Poniesatemymoney

Thanks everyone. All help appreciated.

I have done a bit of checking (I never look at my bank account! Found a few charges on there that I have no idea about so I have made a list and will try to find out what they are all about). it sounds so irresponsible when I write it out. I have operated like this for the last 10 years or so!

I found the login details for my main credit card so I have looked at it online to see the balance (says my last login in date was September 16 which would have been the last time I checked it). No idea on the balances in the other 2 I suspect one is about £5k and the other £12k. They are on 0% until August (I know that much at least!).

My mortgage deal expires at the end of June as does my car insurance. I should probably do something about checking quotes (I normally just roll the insurance and it all gets paid DD so I don't check).

I also discovered that my electricity DD went from £71 per month to £341!!!!!!!! so that is on my list to sort tomorrow. There are 16 action items on that list though!

I feel worse than I did this morning at 4.20am as it is sooooo much worse than I thought and at the same time better that I am going to do something about it and then worse again as I don't even know the full extent!

Ilona

Try not to feel too bad, it's good that you have started to look into things. It will take a while to unravel the confusion. Take one step at a time, you have a list to work through.

It's a good idea to start a spending diary. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, a small notebook will do the job. Get a receipt for everything you spend during the day, even down to the Mars Bar. Enter it all in your spending diary. Read the diary every day, study it once a week, ask yourself if you really needed to buy that magazine, or grab a coffee on the go.

At the moment your money is controlling you, the aim is to turn the tables, get rid of temptation to splash the cash. As said above, cut up your cards. Cancel any direct debits that are no longer needed. Become a squirrel and hold on to your cash until you decide what you actually need to spend it on. Keep at it, you will get there.

Ilona

enjoyyourshoes

OD will be costing you more than the interest rate so check.

Pay car insurance and house annually as they will get you on interest charges if paid monthly;y.

Work out if you can pay the 0% before the deals run out otherwise check post deal apr and factor that in when deciding which card to pay off when.

Great mortgage deals at the moment so get on line and do some checking , analysing and comparing (not just one seARCH ENGINE)

Poniesatemymoney

Thanks; I tend to do so much worse when I have cash I literally walk down the street shredding £10 notes.

I think I need to take control of the credit card. It's a joint card with my family (long story) so all household expenses etc go on there.

I do spend a lot of money on myself; socialising with friends, clothes, shoes, horse stuff. Theoretically I should be able to afford everything but in practice I think I overspend by about 20% every month!

EssexHebridean

The most valuable thing you can do right now is to make a mental note of how rubbish all this is making you feel. Maybe even note it down in the back of that spending diary Ilona mentioned. Because you know what - this is the worst it gets. From here on it's going to be hard work for sure, but you've done the toughest bit now - facing the figures. In the future, when you're tempted to splash the cash, or stick something on a credit card "just because" - think back to now and remind yourself how much you don;t want to be feeling this stuff ever again.

The credit card isn't a "joint card" by the way - one of you is the account holder, the others are all additional cardholders. If you're the cardholder then you could quite reasonably tell everyone else that the card is no longer in use - and then ask the card company to remove the additional cardholders?

I think for a while at least you need to be quite strict with yourself - cut back on everything until you get your monthly income and outgoings under control. From there you can reintroduce budgeted-for spending on entertainment and stuff. I also suspect that learning to work in cash would prove helpful for you. A set budget per week, in cash, in your hand, and when it's gone, it's gone.

Poniesatemymoney

I am the accountholder but all of my dependents use the credit card for spending if that makes sense? I never really check the bill and it gets paid by DD every month (just to be clear, the other CCs are on 0% and I normally just move that debt around more credit cards... ) I have just decided that it would be nice to clear it and not have it hanging over me. Especially as it only ever used to be a a couple of thousand (usually Xmas over spend etc but recently has become £17k! From a combination of car needing work, too much spending on myself and other stuff).

The spending journal sounds good like a good plan and I have started one already. Today was easy just tube journey x2 (£8.20).

Does everyone do the daily apportionment or just basically on a cash basis? I.e. I drive to the station am I meant to apportion car costs to that? Or just car costs as and when incurred?

tealady

Hi
You meed to budget for EVERYTHING, if other people have access to your credit then they need to be paying their way. If they wont or cant then you need to cut them off NOW.
Tell them if they want it, they must pay for it, after all fivers are plastic not elastic.
HTH

Poniesatemymoney

They aren't "other" people but rather my dependents (family ☺️). So all House/car stuff goes on one credit card.

Tbh it's my fault I am in this mess. I have zero self control and because I am so busy and rushing around all the time I never check things or am lazy and roll things like insurance/electric suppliers etc. So I just let it all roll then try to do damage limitation, fight fires for a little while, think I am doing well so leave it all and then it goes to pot again 🙄

tealady

Hi
You Then could I suggest you allocate 30 minutes w week to your finances. If yiu feel guilty about taking time from the family tell yourself it is time FOR the family.
Good luck

gallygirl

From memory, :money: Martin says taking a day off work to sort out your finances can be the equivalent of a 5k pay rise so the sooner you start sorting things the better. As your insurances are due for renewal take the time NOW to get quotes elsewhere - you won't be able to take them out now, it's too soon, but it gives you plenty time to cancel the automatic renewals. Then go through all other bills, seeing where you can get better deals. And, as others have said, a spending diary and SOA will help identify exactly where you are overspending.

Re the family credit cards - what exactly are they spending on? If it's food shopping etc. that is ok, but the bank of mum and dad shouldn't be picking up personal spending- you'll be doing them a favour in the long run if you nip it in the bud.

The good news is that you've said you have a good salary - so this is fixable. Good luck :T