All the single ladies vs 145k

zackyv6661

robgoode wrote: »

Without a doubt, it been worthwhile. Me and my partner started one each in May 2016 and have over £12k combined.

Although I was paying off my debt I still made sure to pay into the ISA. I just did without certain things a month and cooked more often from scratch. The way I saw it was the ISA was free money to gain from the government just by saving each month.

As sofarbehind mentioned earlier, you do start to get motivated when you start to see you debt decrease. Every time I passed below a £1k level it felt like a challenge to hit the next level. The first month I felt like it was going to take a lifetime to pay off as it seemed so much money. Now having paid off the last of my debt it seems like the time has flown by. It does help I think knowing I've gone from having debt to now being debt free with a large sum saved for a deposit.

Everyone will advise differently but I'd say pay off as much of your debt per month and still pay what you can into your ISA. I could have been debt free a few months back had I not paid into the ISA but I'd have less saved for my deposit than I do now. My debt was 0% interest which helped. Also the other positive to paying off your debt is a healthier credit rating :beer:

That's really great to know, thank you!

I took a while to sit down and work out my budget for this year, and I have just put some reminders in my phone on dates where I am paying off debts - so that should keep me going too! I am currently at just over £11k in debt, but this will be completely paid off by December! What a great feeling that will be.

My credit score has slowly been increasing - though I know it's the credit report that is more important, it is still nice to see improvements in my credit score too!

ninnoodle

I'll be following this diary too because I am in a very similar situation, with a very similar mortgage. I'd love to see your SOA, sofarbehind, to see how it compares to my outgoings I also want to pay off as much as possible.

sofarbehind

I have ordered a slow cooker that is on sale, I just need to get over my paranoia that it will burn the house down when it arrives. I chose one with a timer as I often don't know what time I will be home.

I bought myself some tulips and daffs from Aldi, very early and probably a sign of global warming but it made me so happy to see them. 2017 was a very mixed year and the heartache towards the end of it means I'm glad to see the back of it. Spring flowers mean a new beginning is on the way and filled my silly heart with hope. I feel a lot more positive now. My ex bought me flowers quite often so I'm going to continue to buy them for myself every week because they bring me a lot of pleasure. I know it's not very MSE so I will stick to cheap ones..

sofarbehind

ninnoodle wrote: »

I'll be following this diary too because I am in a very similar situation, with a very similar mortgage. I'd love to see your SOA, sofarbehind, to see how it compares to my outgoings I also want to pay off as much as possible.

Hello, thanks for popping in. I having been going over this on paper to see where my money goes - mainly on house stuff for the last year, everything else looks OK. I'm sensible but not in crazy saving mode and am aiming for a good balance. I just haven't worked out how to post it in my diary yet..:rotfl: I love looking at other people's SOA too.

Blibble

Best of luck on your new diary - going it alone will come with more advantages than you think, I reckon. No relying on OH to be as frugal as you!

Cicatriz_2

sofarbehind wrote: »

I have ordered a slow cooker that is on sale, I just need to get over my paranoia that it will burn the house down when it arrives. I chose one with a timer as I often don't know what time I will be home.

Good going! Share anything good you make, I'm always looking for new stuff.

I'm not fully over that paranoia about burning the house down either. I'm yet to hear of a house fire caused by a slow cooker though.

For an SOA, use http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php. Just hit the MSE button near the bottom and it will give you something you can copy and paste here.

ninnoodle

sofarbehind wrote: »

I have ordered a slow cooker that is on sale, I just need to get over my paranoia that it will burn the house down when it arrives. I chose one with a timer as I often don't know what time I will be home.

I bought myself some tulips and daffs from Aldi, very early and probably a sign of global warming but it made me so happy to see them. 2017 was a very mixed year and the heartache towards the end of it means I'm glad to see the back of it. Spring flowers mean a new beginning is on the way and filled my silly heart with hope. I feel a lot more positive now. My ex bought me flowers quite often so I'm going to continue to buy them for myself every week because they bring me a lot of pleasure. I know it's not very MSE so I will stick to cheap ones..

Gosh I am with you! I have the same feelings about 2017 - very sad towards the end and I am so glad to see the back of it. I actually went and bought a slow cooker (new, £12 off ebay incl P&P :money:) and it's the business! I bought some diced venison and beef at the beginning of December and made several casseroles - beef in red wine, beef in Guiness (had some tins to use up), venison in red wine - all beautiful. Froze lots of single portions and have been having them mostly for dinner every evening - and they're still going! I now have some yellow sticker lamb i want to use in the slow cooker.

sofarbehind

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2600
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2600

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 653
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 85
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 40
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 20
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 38
TV Licence.............................. 12.25
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 25
Groceries etc. ......................... 200
Clothing................................ 150
Petrol/diesel........................... 30
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 42
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 10
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 30
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 10
Contents insurance...................... 10
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 40
Haircuts................................ 40
Entertainment........................... 150
Holiday................................. 60
Emergency fund.......................... 50
Total monthly expenses.................. 1755.25


Assets
Cash.................................... 3000
House value (Gross)..................... 190000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 4000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 197000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 145000...(653)......2.27
Total secured & HP debts...... 145000....-.........-

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


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,600
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,755.25
Available for debt repayments........... 844.75
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 844.75

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 197,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -145,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -0
Net Assets.............................. 52,000

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


Here it is everyone. This is based on what I spent last year but includes council tax increases for the coming year. I know the clothes spend is very high, this coming year I don't NEED anything so I could get this waay down. I also need to loose 10lb....I went a bit mad after years of scrimping.

My food spend is very high for a single person, this I am hoping to address with the slow cooker and actually learning to cook.

The income I have included here is my minimum pay. Most months I have some overtime on top of this, although it isn't under my control how much and it varies annually. This can be between £0-600/month. The calculator won't let me add this so I left it off. ALL of this extra income went on setting up my house costs last year. I haven't decided what to do with this money this year, I still have two empty rooms and would like a guest bed so I will probably buy that and spend the rest of home improvements - e.g I need new floors and a lot of re-tiling.

I'm interested to see what everyone thinks? I am not really willing to cut my entertainment and present budget, I want to enjoy my life. Everything else I am happy to cut back on. Sadly I need the car for work.

sofarbehind

Cicatriz wrote: »

Good going! Share anything good you make, I'm always looking for new stuff.

For an SOA, use http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php. Just hit the MSE button near the bottom and it will give you something you can copy and paste here.

Thanks very much, I don't know why I was so confused. I am a rubbish cook so suspect it will be a while before I have any recommendations..:rotfl:

ninnoodle wrote: »

Gosh I am with you! I have the same feelings about 2017 - very sad towards the end and I am so glad to see the back of it. I actually went and bought a slow cooker (new, £12 off ebay incl P&P :money:) and it's the business! I bought some diced venison and beef at the beginning of December and made several casseroles - beef in red wine, beef in Guiness (had some tins to use up), venison in red wine - all beautiful. Froze lots of single portions and have been having them mostly for dinner every evening - and they're still going! I now have some yellow sticker lamb i want to use in the slow cooker.

Ah ninnoodle you sound just like me but with culinary skills. Venison in wine!!!Wow, that sounds wonderful. I'm looking forward to the slow cooker arriving now. I'm really interested to see what you think of my SOA and to see yours actually. 2018 will be our year.

Blibble wrote: »

Best of luck on your new diary - going it alone will come with more advantages than you think, I reckon. No relying on OH to be as frugal as you!

Now this is actually a very good point. One of my friends has a husband with a gambling problem.:( I will remember this and try to moan less.

zackyv6661

sofarbehind wrote: »

Now this is actually a very good point. One of my friends has a husband with a gambling problem.:( I will remember this and try to moan less.

My brother also has a gambling problem and got himself into a right mess last year! He's 27, and my mother now has control of his finances to help him stop, and things are improving for him. He is also clearing his debts now too, so hopefully things are moving in the right direction for him! But it does make me realise how lucky I will be to only have myself to rely upon when I finally have my own place - I know I can trust myself lol