This Duo's debt free journey

Willowtree222

I know that feeling. Perhaps build that into your plan to lose the spending money guilt too? x

DebtFreeDuo

OK so here I am, being accountable.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 973
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 565.7
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1538.7

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 580
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0 Student household
Electricity...............……………. 39 This is both gas and electric
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 4 I get a discounted rate
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 34.29 Still a while left on this
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 30 Waiting on a good deal as I am out of contract
Groceries etc. ......................... 200
Clothing................................ 25
Petrol/diesel........................... 70
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 37.5 Pay annually
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 35 Will start putting this aside but this may not be enough
Car parking............................. 15
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...................... 8 Pay annually
Life assurance ......................... 6
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 80 I know this is quite high, I'm working on cutting it down
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 200
Holiday................................. 25
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1398.79


Assets
Cash.................................... 7141.46
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 4000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 11141.46

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Loan...........................4692.17...152.6.....6.9
CC.............................811.87....50........0
Total unsecured debts..........5504.04...202.6.....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,538.7
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,398.79
Available for debt repayments........... 139.91
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 202.6
Amount short for making debt repayments. -62.69

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 11,141.46
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -5,504.04
Net Assets.............................. 5,637.42

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

Ok so I have a lot of things to work on. My focus for the next week is to track all my spending and also cut back on where I can.

Positives

I only have 2 presents left to get for Christmas, one of these is covered by a voucher that I have.

Car should have cost me £344 today but only cost £35 thanks to my complaint last year about the service plan on my car. My car will soon need a new tyre but it passed the MOT.

Overall still in the black and I should be able to clear some debt in Jan but I'm going to be careful about it, I am going to make sure that the annual pots are being filled as this caused me problems this year.

Willowtree222

Lots of positives there. It will be a tough budget month to month, but sure you can do it. x

DebtFreeDuo

I realised last night that I forgot to include MMA for DS in my SOA which is £27 per month and then £15 every 3 months so this makes me go way over. I have also just gone through my grocery receipts for October and found I spent almost £300!! No wonder I have been getting myself in to a mess with it all.

Went to the nectar double up today with the intentions of buying a dinner set but didn't like any of the ones they had. I did use some of the vouchers for a couple of clothing bits but only ended up using £15 of my points so I still have almost £80 left. I promised I would go again with my mum at the weekend so I may have another look around to see if I can use them on anything that I need in the house.

Todays spends are £52.41 on groceries and £56.75 filling the car up. I have a little over £300 left of my budget for this month, I'm hoping I can come in at much less than this and I can put what I have left towards a new tyre for the car, I shouldn't have any other big spends this week but I do have a birthday this month.

DebtFreeDuo

I have rounded my budget down to £300 and put the rest into a savings account that I use to stash my overpayment/emergency pot so I currently have £46.10 in there, I will send whatever is in there over to the loan on 1st Jan and build it up again.

I am giving myself £10 per day from my budget which leaves me with £130 to cover the birthday, fuel (if I need to fill up again this month) and hopefully the new tyre that I need replacing. DS has a birthday party to go today, I already have a present but I need to get a card today.

I realised this week that my gas and electricity bill has been increasing more and more each month and its because I have been using the heating a lot more, I have been making an effort the last couple of days. My bill for November is projected to be 28% more than October! I was £150 in credit but this has crept down to £112 and will go well below £100 after this month so this will be one area I'm going to work on.

Willowtree222

You are planning and watching, which is great. I have noticed the creeping up as well with mine. It's cold at night, and Little one sometimes asks me to put it on! I layer her up and give her a blanket, but then put it on for an hour.

Hope you're ok? x

DebtFreeDuo

It is cold at night, I've set it at around 16 I think so if it gets colder than that then it will come on, I can't really have it colder than that with DS. Luckily I have been accepted for the warm home discount so that should be applied in the next few weeks which will be a huge help.

I'm doing ok, not particularly looking forward to the party later, I don't like having things to do after school, it really messes with my routine.

DebtFreeDuo

pen_name wrote: »

Wow! How much do you pay for electricity/gas if you don't mind me asking? We're at 18 overnight and when not home and 22-23 when home in a 2-br flat. I work from home 2 days per week and I think we're paying too much...

My projected bill for this month is £63 with only around a week left, last month was £48. These are both high bills for me, July and August were both well under £30. My projected annual costs are currently at £475.

DebtFreeDuo

pen_name wrote: »

Thanks, we're at £760 estimated per year for electric and gas, paying £75 by DD (which I need to lower, as I'm in too much credit)... maybe I need to look at both usage and switching suppliers again.

Its definitely worth looking at a comparison site to check that your company is still competitive and don't forget about TopCashback if you do switch.

DebtFreeDuo

Total spend for yesterday was 8.52 so 1.48 still left in my purse. I was thinking about withdrawing the whole £160 from my account to last me until the end of the month but I've instead decided that I will withdraw it each day and keep £10 hidden away in my purse as a just incase. I think this will make me think more about my spending and it might make me think twice about buying something if I have the additional step of having to go to a cashpoint first.

Unlikely to have any spends today as I'm not doing anything other than studying.