The 4 horsemen (debts) of the apocalypse (2018)

redpete

fatrab wrote: »

Wife's situation is complicated so we keep our finances separate.

She pays certain bills and I pay the rest.

But it makes it really difficult to sensibly comment on the SOA when it only gives part of the household situation. No point in saving a few quid on more reasonable mobile costs or TV when lots of discretionary spending is missing completely (holiday, treats in grocery bill, entertainment...). Also, wasn't a proportion of the credit card debt spent on household expenses rather than just yours? If so then why only consider it your problem to pay it off.

starting_again_in_the_sun

Assuming that you don't have £1000 left at the end of the month, I agree with you that you should start a spending diary ASAP.

Other than that, as the PP stated, it's quite hard to comment but I would agree that phone costs are huge and you don't need cable TV, Netflix is good enough.

Also, your petrol costs seem really expensive considering you live away from home during the week but I am a bit out of touch with UK prices!

Dobbibill

Hi fatrab,

If you are looking to get insurances paid annually in the future, you need to put that money to one side before the renewal date arrives.
They don't look excessive but you can make savings by paying annually. Also consider sites like TCB or Quidco too to get savings.

I know you have marked your OH down for getting presents for Christmas & Birthday but do you really never buy them anything? If you do, account for it and also put that aside.

You say you don't 'really' spend on entertainment but then go on to say you spend £20 on a Friday night takeaway and £10 on a Sunday breakfast - this is all well and good but where is it in your SOA

You are a homeowner but do not have an emergency fund in place - this needs to be addressed. Can I suggest at least £1000.

Your vehicle is a huge commitment every month, costing you just over £950 - how long are you payments likely to continue?

You have a fair amount to throw at debt repayments but agree with other posters about the spending diary. You need to find out why you don't have what your SOA says you should have.

fatrab

Hi and thanks for all the responses.


To answer a few of the points raised:


I am happy with my current deals on tv, energy, phones etc and I'm not trying to save in these areas. As I mentioned above, when my current mobile contracts expire these will not be renewed, mainly due to bad service from Vodafone - nothing to do with the cost, although I have been given a mobile phone through my employer at no cost to me so obviously I'll cancel the others when the time comes. My wife is aware that she'll have to get her own contract when the time comes.


My SOA relates to my income and outgoings so I don't really understand what my wife's finances have to do with it? It is my own spending/bill paying habits (my own stupidity) that I am questioning and I am satisfied that our arrangement works for both of us.


My credit card debt was accumulated over 4 years ago when I made a very silly car purchase which I ended up throwing good money after bad. I have been transferring this debt from 0% deal to 0% deal and chipping away at it (was originally £10k), so I am entirely responsible for that. My wife has her own credit card, no overdraft and a property mortgaged between her and her mother, hence why our finances are kept deliberately separate.


I receive company car allowance and have included this in my SOA. I use the car to drive to my work location which is 200 miles from home hence the high fuel bill, but I do get the price of the fuel back in mileage allowance.


I definitely don't have £1000 left at the end of the month and this is what's making me realise something is wrong. In recent months I've had under £100 left by the end of the month, however this month it looks like I'll have around £600 left.


Thanks again,


Robert

fatrab

Dobbibill wrote: »

Hi fatrab,

If you are looking to get insurances paid annually in the future, you need to put that money to one side before the renewal date arrives.
They don't look excessive but you can make savings by paying annually. Also consider sites like TCB or Quidco too to get savings.

I know you have marked your OH down for getting presents for Christmas & Birthday but do you really never buy them anything? If you do, account for it and also put that aside.

You say you don't 'really' spend on entertainment but then go on to say you spend £20 on a Friday night takeaway and £10 on a Sunday breakfast - this is all well and good but where is it in your SOA

You are a homeowner but do not have an emergency fund in place - this needs to be addressed. Can I suggest at least £1000.

Your vehicle is a huge commitment every month, costing you just over £950 - how long are you payments likely to continue?

You have a fair amount to throw at debt repayments but agree with other posters about the spending diary. You need to find out why you don't have what your SOA says you should have.

Hi Dobbibill,


Thanks for your response, I've quoted it separately as there's a lot of good points.


I've always paid annually until this year. I just allocated my money to the wrong places and messed up. I will never make that mistake again. Lesson learned!


Nope, wife buys presents. That's part of our arrangement. We don't buy Xmas or birthdays for each other and have agreed to keep it that way until our feet are cleared of all debts including mortgage. Harsh, but it's what we've agreed.


I didn't include the £30 in the SOA as I wanted to see what my committed outgoings were. This week's diary will find out if I'm being honest with myself. Which I seriously doubt that I am.


I am very mindful of the lack of emergency fund. I do need to address this. I have always thought it better to put any spare cash into the mortgage, hence 0 in current account but 3 months taken off the mortgage end term this year alone.


I have a car on HP which I use for work and receive car allowance for, and I have included this in my income. I also pay for my wife's car (bank loan). She pays her own tax and insurance.


The missing £1000 per month is the issue, not my outgoings. I withdraw way more than I claim to spend. This week/month's diary is going to be interesting.


Thanks


Robert

Dobbibill

fatrab wrote: »

Hi Dobbibill,


Thanks for your response, I've quoted it separately as there's a lot of good points.


I've always paid annually until this year. I just allocated my money to the wrong places and messed up. I will never make that mistake again. Lesson learned!

You've learned from the mistake and that is brilliant. Well done for owning that error

Nope, wife buys presents. That's part of our arrangement. We don't buy Xmas or birthdays for each other and have agreed to keep it that way until our feet are cleared of all debts including mortgage. Harsh, but it's what we've agreed.

That's good - I had to ask the question as some will disregard a cheeky little £10 pressie as not warranting an entry on the SOA. It's a good mindset to have while you tackle the debt.

I didn't include the £30 in the SOA as I wanted to see what my committed outgoings were. This week's diary will find out if I'm being honest with myself. Which I seriously doubt that I am.

That diary is going to be the big eye-opener I think which is fab as you can start to reconcile 'wants' and 'needs' and monitor things alot closer.

I am very mindful of the lack of emergency fund. I do need to address this. I have always thought it better to put any spare cash into the mortgage, hence 0 in current account but 3 months taken off the mortgage end term this year alone.

I think the mortgage overpayments may have become your main goal for a while causing you to push other priorities a little more towards the back of the queue.
Stepping back and reassessing everything brings it more into perspective.
Switching priorities for a while will make overpayments more effective in the bigger scheme of things but for now that goal needs to be parked temporarily.....but you know this which is the reason you are doing this.

The missing £1000 per month is the issue, not my outgoings. I withdraw way more than I claim to spend. This week/month's diary is going to be interesting.

Please come back and let us know how the spending diary goes - I think it's going to shed alot of light on things.
Your posts show an excellent attitude towards tackling all this and genuinely wish you all the best.
I'm looking forward to your spending diary update.

fatrab

Weekly Diary.


Few trends that I need to change my habits and a few unexpected things that I had to pay this week that were one-offs.


Sunday:
£10 cafe (2 x breakfasts)
£50 petrol


Monday:
£4.90 Co-op (ingredients for Bolognese (made 3 portions))


Tuesday:
£2.90 Tesco (additional snacks for lunch)
£56 Fuel
£5.30 Chinese


Wednesday:
£1 Tesco (pack of crumpets)
£4.31 Co-op (milk & 2 bottles of beer)


Thursday:
£21 Xmas night out


Friday:
£6.95 Breakfast (hangover cure)
£3.10 Bakery for lunch


Saturday:
£22 Ticket for football (first game this season and only went as a friend had travelled up from north Wales for match)
£3.10 Pint of lager
£5 for 2 Pies at football
£20 Take away


So from this I'm realising that:
1. My fuel spend is higher than I thought - £106/week is £460/month.
2. I need to make a shopping list so that I buy everything I need for through the week as part of the household shopping on a Sunday.
3. Even if I am going for a night out, I need to plan my meals better.
4. Budget for occasional socialising.


I did catch myself a few times throughout the week about to buy things impulsively, snacks especially, but because I knew I'd have to write them down it made me stop and not buy them!


I do think I picked a rather bad week to make the diary but I'm going to do the same exercise from the 1st January so that should be interesting.


I get paid this week. I still have over £500 left so a massive improvement over the past 3 months.


Just by creating this thread I have realised a hell of a lot about my own bad habits. I'm going to create a post in the diary section starting from 1st January. I'm ready for a change and I want to be completely debt & mortgage free by my 50th birthday (currently 43).


Wish me luck.


Thanks to everyone for your comments above.


Robert.

Dobbibill

fatrab wrote: »

So from this I'm realising that:
1. My fuel spend is higher than I thought - £106/week is £460/month.
2. I need to make a shopping list so that I buy everything I need for through the week as part of the household shopping on a Sunday.
3. Even if I am going for a night out, I need to plan my meals better.
4. Budget for occasional socialising.


I did catch myself a few times throughout the week about to buy things impulsively, snacks especially, but because I knew I'd have to write them down it made me stop and not buy them!

Already you are seeing where things may not be adding up and/or where you may have made a thoughtless purchase.

I do think I picked a rather bad week to make the diary but I'm going to do the same exercise from the 1st January so that should be interesting.

But it has given you the biggest eye opener.

I get paid this week. I still have over £500 left so a massive improvement over the past 3 months.

This is good news.

Just by creating this thread I have realised a hell of a lot about my own bad habits. I'm going to create a post in the diary section starting from 1st January. I'm ready for a change and I want to be completely debt & mortgage free by my 50th birthday (currently 43).


Wish me luck.

This is where you have a LBM. Setting a goal is good. I don't think people realise the power of writing down spending/SOA etc until they've done it and found the holes that need to be plugged.

Good luck.

fatrab

Dobbibill wrote: »

I don't think people realise the power of writing down spending/SOA etc until they've done it and found the holes that need to be plugged.

Good luck.

Thank you.


I completely agree, simply writing it down was the tool I needed to open my eyes.


Cheers, and all the best!