small steps to home ownership and debt freedom

indigowarrior

I seem to be a million miles away from my dream of home ownership and that because I have debt and my credit score is ruined. I am going to diet and budget to eventually buy my own home outright. That wont happen until I am 40. I am 28 now and single mum to two lovely little girls.

Step one- No longer apply for credit. This has already started
Step step two-Become debt free. Aim to do this is in14 months time when I turn 30.
Step three- Save for a deposit. 0.1%

indigowarrior

I am starting with my biggest debt which is a CCJ. Its for £1800 which has been reduced with me paying bits off here and there. Once this is cleared it will six years to remove from my file and hopefully things will improve for me credit wise.

indigowarrior

I have began moving little bits into savings and having no spend days. My plan is to not spend money outside of my tight budget. I am on my second NSD so far.

indigowarrior

I turn 29 in august and the reality is I wanted my own home by the time I was 40 but due to illness and things I havent been able to achieve that. I did a statement of affairs and until April 2018 I will have a spare £750. I would love to know where that went. To be perfect honest I know where it goes. I make stupid choices and fritter the cash away.

I have had a lazy day today. I see the girls tomorrow and plan to take them out to lunch as I havent had the opportunity to do that in 10 weeks. My wonderful girls are currently in fostercare as I had a mental breakdown. Its moving towards contact at home which is a positive move. Its been very painful experience for me.

My plans for the week. Manage 4 NSDs and only spend £30 on food.

indigowarrior

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 0
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 1911
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1911

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 239.6
Rent.................................... 550
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 20
Electricity............................. 50
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 60
Telephone (land line)................... 80
Mobile phone............................ 21
TV Licence.............................. 24
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 150
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1194.6


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 0


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(0)........0
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 2103.....(239.6)....0
Total secured & HP debts...... 2103......-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Lowell.........................8000......0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........8000......0.........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,911
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,194.6
Available for debt repayments........... 716.4
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 716.4

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -2,103
Total Unsecured debt.................... -8,000
Net Assets.............................. -10,103

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.stoozing.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using Firefox browser.

Silver_Queen

Hi indigowarrior! My goal is to buy a house within the next 10ish years too so I understand how you're feeling.

The main things I can say about your soa is £80 is a lot for a landline although I assume it's including internet and tv services too? Can you knock it down to £20-£30 for broadband only and get rid of landline and tv? Also it isn't really realistic for you to have 0 on clothing, entertainment spends especially with kids. Another thing is please please look into getting contents insurance. It's less than £10 a month and is really important to have.

indigowarrior

Thank you for reading Silver Queen. I have knocked it down so far and will know a better figure next month. I got rid of my boosts too so that should bring it down. Once the children are back at home I will do another SOA.

indigowarrior

Had a nice day with the children and every penny spent was worth it. We went to softplay and also to spoons and had a good meal. It was great to be out with the children instead of in a small room. We also went to the park. Now tomorrow will be NSD.

indigowarrior

I have had a productive evening. I did a calculater and worked out I could be debt free by 11 months if I throw all spare cash at my debts using a snowball calculater. How nice it would be to not get debt letters every other day.
here are my debts in balance order I am looking forward to cross through each one.
O2 Uk 141.54
Tesco 176.71
Tesco 211.94
Three Mobile 224.88
Three Mobile 242.2
Vodafone 244.95
Tesco 282.2
Vanquis 300
Orange 402.37
o2 uk 646.25
O2 Uk 660.05
Vodafone 824.17
Talktalk 837.95
BT 1184.28
Lloyds 1800
Simply Be 656

indigowarrior

Just made my first payment of £41.54 on my smallest debt Yay. It actually felt good.

indigowarrior

I am on to my third no spend day of the month and its going well. I am not even tempted to spend money. I have been thinking about house buying recently and Dave Ramsey. For those that don’t know Dave Ramsey is radio talk show host in America who has helped millions get out of debt. I am currently on baby step 1. Which is to save £1000 in an emergency fund. So that I don’t have to rely on credit ever again. Its hard for me to save anything if I am honest.


However, I really want to buy a house and I know for a fact that I wont be able to ever get a mortgage if my credit history is trashed in the way that it is. So my plan is to not apply for any more credit and clear off the balance on all my debts.