Finally Facing Facts

Liliboo

Hey All
After being a member on here for quite some time, lurking and sometimes posting somewhat half heartedly I've decided it's about time I faced facts!!
I graduated from uni in June, moved back home to Mum & Dad and entered the real world, leaving the bubble of student life behind me :eek:
I know I was extremely lucky as while I was studying my parents were able to fund alot (tuition fees, most of my food shopping, my car etc) and I was only required to pay for my accommodation (which came out of my student loan) other bills and funding my social life.
Despite this I have still managed to land myself in debt to the tune of almost £5000 (this is not including my student loan which is in excess of £16000 at my last estimate :eek: )
I know that in comparison to alot of you out there that this does not sound like an excessive amount but I'm only 22 and just starting to find my feet in the big wide world!! I've found that there are so many things I would like to do in my life but I cant allow myself to do them until I've shifted this debt that's hanging over me. Only then do I feel that I can honestly say I can afford to do the other things or to start saving for bigger things like a house of my own.

Apologies for the extremely long and rambling post but I'm now hoping that all you experienced DFW's can help me out. My SoA below is very vague as I'm not really sure where my money goes, however I am, as of today, starting a spending diary to find out. Once I've figured out what I actually spend then I'll update, but for now, thanks in advance for any help.

Lil xxxxx

PS My SoA:

Monthly Incomings.

My Salary: Have been temping since leaving uni, currently waiting to start a new position, once started my income will be £1240
My Second Job: Varies depending on number of hours worked, approx £289

Total: £1529

Monthly Outgoings.

Mortgage/Rent: £100 (I live at home so this goes to Dad on the 1st of the month)
Council Tax: £0
Gas: £0
Electric: £0
TV License: £0
Sky: £0
Phone: £10 (this is for my mobile on pay as you go with 300 free texts a month)
Food: £40 (mainly eating out/takeaway)
Car Insurance: £0 (Already paid until April next year, not sure of renewal cost as it will be changing from Dad’s name to mine)
Petrol: £60 (approx)
Magazines: £6.40
Entertainment: £100 (approx)

Total: £316.40

Debts.

HSBC Debt: £800 (paying off at £50pm, no interest)
Mum: £1500 (currently not paying, no interest)
Natwest Credit Card: £554.95 (currently paying minimum payment of less than £20 but being charged interest, also being charged overlimit fee of £12pm as limit is £500)
Natwest Overdraft: Limit is £2000 (this is interest free as it is a graduate account but it’s been a very long time since my account was in the black)

peb

Welcome - you will be in a really strong position once you start getting both salaries in! You can easlily get rid of th NatWest CC with your first pay packet. Your entertainment budget - as eating out is also entertainment - is fairly high but sustainable with that level of income. A word of warning; your insurance is probably going to be very high until you can get a no claims bonus - do the research now and start saving.

HTH

ani*fan

Hi Liliboo :hello:

You're income is LOADS more than your outgoings...that puts you in a really strong position.

With a few seriously frugal months you could make a huge dent in your debt and turn this situation around.

I would also suggest a debt diary so you can see exactly where all your money is going. You have loads of disposable income...where's it all going?

Good luck. I'm sure you'll have it sorted in no time at all.

daphne_descends

Hi Liliboo

I registered last November and am only just putting together my own SOA so I know how it is to be a member and not quite face up to things!

Well done for posting your SOA - you look in a great position to whittle that debt down without too much difficulty.

But I know what it's like to have money sort of disintegrating - you can see you should have about £1100 left over, it has to go somewhere
I've just started to use spendingdiary.com and it's quite enlightening :eek:

Good luck

Liliboo

Thanks for the quick responses
I know that in theory once I start this new temp position I should be really well placed to make a huge go of shifting the debts. I forgot to mention before that the new position only runs for 14 weeks due to funding for the project, but I hope to have found something more permanent by then which will give me a reliable income.
I also intend to continue with my second job as I love it so much :j and I figure that the extra income, coupled with less spare time to spend it in really cant hurt.

I just seem to have a huge problem at the moment identifying where my money actually goes, so I know starting a spending diary will be a huge revelation for me :eek:

So today is the first day of the rest of my DFW life...and if any of you catch me falling off the wagon you have my permission to give me a swift kick up the !!!!!

Lil xxxxxx

misspoppy

Hi

as you haven't actually started this job it would be better to look at your SOA at the point where you actually are as it isn't helpful to think that you are better off than you actually are. Also you mention that this isn't permanant and therefore its only short lived. It would be wise to throw as much of your earnings from this new job at your debts so that you reduce them while you have an income.

Liliboo

The reason I did it this way is because I'm due to start within the next week and I preferred to look at it as a sort of forecast to how I can best tackle them once I have the income...a sort of "be prepared" type theory as I work well with a bit of forward planning and I like to know whats coming.
I will always have an income as I always have the second job, its just reduced from when I'm working full time. I also need to make sure I don't throw all my earnings at the debts when I'm on this project as I dont want to leave myself with just the part time earnings should I not get anything full time to follow on from this. If that makes sense.

Lil xxxxx

Liliboo

Have decided to turn this into a bit of a debt diary to try & keep me motivated.
So for the record:
Today: Day 1: I have spent £0.00 so far.
Going up to see my OH later on, will probably walk there so don;t expect to spend anything so will update tomorrow with hopefully a No Spend Day to record

chevalier

Liliboo wrote: »

Hey All
Monthly Incomings.

My Salary: Have been temping since leaving uni, currently waiting to start a new position, once started my income will be £1240 well done on getting the new job. Just remember to save as much as possible in case you DON'T get another job straight away
My Second Job: Varies depending on number of hours worked, approx £289

Total: £1529

Monthly Outgoings.

Mortgage/Rent: £100 (I live at home so this goes to Dad on the 1st of the month)
Council Tax: £0 You are really lucky to be getting such a good deal from your parents. BUT you may want to think about whether you are being fair to them. I would guess that a third of the council tax, gas, electric, sky etc would be more than £100 before you factor in food. Something to think about.
Gas: £0
Electric: £0
TV License: £0
Sky: £0
Phone: £10 (this is for my mobile on pay as you go with 300 free texts a month)
Food: £40 (mainly eating out/takeaway)
Car Insurance: £0 (Already paid until April next year, not sure of renewal cost as it will be changing from Dad’s name to mine) have a look via quidco now to see how painful this is going to be when you have your own insurance. Then save like mad! That way you don't have to pay if on a credit card.
Petrol: £60 (approx)
Magazines: £6.40
Entertainment: £100 (approx)

Total: £316.40

Debts.

HSBC Debt: £800 (paying off at £50pm, no interest)
Mum: £1500 (currently not paying, no interest)
Natwest Credit Card: £554.95 (currently paying minimum payment of less than £20 but being charged interest, also being charged overlimit fee of £12pm as limit is £500)
Natwest Overdraft: Limit is £2000 (this is interest free as it is a graduate account but it’s been a very long time since my account was in the black)

With your new salary you should be able to start knocking this debt on the head fairly quickly. The trick is to not go mad when you get your first pay packet, and pay off as much as possible from whichever debt has the highest APR.

best of luck
chev

Liliboo

Just in reply to Chevalier...the £100 is the same for me and for my older sister who earns a little more than I do. Dad refuses to take any more from us, prefers us to save towards bigger things like moving out!! So I know that I am very lucky to get such a great deal from them.

Going to start tomorrow by looking at the cost of insurance renewal so I wont get a nasty shock come April time.

Lil xxxxx

Liliboo

Happy to report a No Spend Day yesterday :j
Today will be a different matter though as I'm going to a football match with my sister this evening, entry usually about £7.
Don't plan to spend any more than that though and maybe some sweeties to take with us.
Thanks in advance for any more hints, tips and advice from you seasoned DFW's

Lil xxxxx