Journey to £0 by 2020, with a few bumps along the way

enthusiasticsaver

Great to get the debt below £8k. I think it is definitely a good idea to up the loan repayments to get rid of it sooner now you have a decent emergency fund.

chelseablue

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

Great to get the debt below £8k. I think it is definitely a good idea to up the loan repayments to get rid of it sooner now you have a decent emergency fund.

Hopefully I could clear it this year, then my diary title is still valid :rotfl:

Whenever I feel like bailing my husband out I think to myself he takes home £1,900 a month and sends £1,100 to the bills account

That means he has £800 a month to himself!
And that £800 doesn't even include his car as the £1,100 includes his car on finance and his car insurance so all he has to do from his personal spends is petrol

chelseablue

Found out yesterday husband only has £50 left to last until 25th February! 

He’s already mentioned would I help him with petrol, not sure what to do? 

He gets his bonus in February so I know I’ll get it back but I do think if I keep bailing him out he’ll never learn 

PurpleFairy26

Personally I wouldn’t bail him out. He needs to learn to manage within his budget if you are not ‘sharing’ all of your money. Gosh £800 a month to spend on himself and he still can’t manage it. 

But that’s just my opinion. 

chelseablue

Thank you and yes you are totally right. 

I don’t think I’d want to pool all our money again as he’d just spend it all 

enthusiasticsaver

Isn't his bonus earmarked to clear his overdraft and credit card?
I would not bail him out. Tell him to look on surviving on £50 until payday as a challenge. Presumably he doesn't have to buy food out of that as that comes from the joint account doesn't it? If he has £800 a month just to spend on himself that is huge. 

chelseablue

He’s going to clear his overdraft with it and then close it. His card is 0% so he says he’s not going to close that yet 
He’s now down to £10 as he put petrol in his car. 

If I keep helping him I’ll never get anywhere does that sound selfish? 

When I’ve paid the loan off I want to start putting more into my pension and overpay the mortgage. I know I’m only 36 but I can see me having a very poor old age being stuck with him! 

PurpleFairy26

And assuming the mortgage is joint he will benefit in the long term by you overpaying. Another reason why you shouldn’t bail him out. 

enthusiasticsaver

I think if you have a partner who is poor with money all you can do is make sure you provide for yourself. The difficulty comes if you split then the spendthrift benefits if the assets are split 50/50. Overpaying the mortgage will benefit you but your DH also but it makes things better for you so I would still do it. I think ultimately though getting rid of the loan should be a priority and maybe sorting out your car. Overpaying your pension should come high on the list. If your partner pesters you for money remind him he has got through almost £800 in 2 weeks. Where has it gone?

chelseablue

Yes loan is number one priority followed by saving for a car, I'm sure I'll get a year or 2 out of it at least as its only done 60,000 miles and there's nothing wrong with it (yet!) and is still lovely to drive

I try not to get too involved with his money as its stressful, but I know he has 3 direct debits from his account, gym, mobile and his credit card. The gym was slightly higher this month as they had to take for 2 months in one for the first payment so that was £100 (normally will be £50), his mobile was about £55 and credit card was £25

He went to see his brother for the weekend when he first got paid, said he spent £150. Also I think his overdraft charges him daily, that totals about £30 for the month 
He's mentioned he's going to re-paint our kitchen this weekend, hopefully he doesn't expect me to pay him for doing it!