I am being upgraded from Mum to Nan - I need a plan!

Mum2Nan

Hi Viola

Thanks for the ERC explanation.

I went to bed fairly early for me last night as I had a bit of a headache after seeing those numbers written down. The upside to this is I was awake early. It's a beautiful morning here.

I have now updated my original post with the Halifax 0% expiry dates.

I have dug out my mortgage papers and the ERC period ends on 31 December 2020. Up until then I would be hit with a charge of £4,440. Does this mean my fixed rate ends on that date too as I took out a 5 year fixed deal which started on 2 October 2015 so assumed it would end on 1 October 2020?

I think I agree about the mortgage overpayment. It does make me feel better that I am doing this but I am going to have a think about it over the few days and make a decision.

I can't afford my hobby right now so that's going. It's more of a winter one anyway really as who wants to be stuck indoors with the weather as it is today? So that's another £9.99 going to the EF.

The only other areas I can concentrate on and has already been suggested are the cat food / litter and my monthly shopping. The figure quoted includes everything from food, household and toiletries. I love my cats dearly but they are fussy eaters. I do try and stock up when there are offers on though.

As it's a bank holiday weekend, I am going to try and do something constructive, so plans for today / tonmorrow are:

* [STRIKE]Go through cupboards, freezer and fridge and make a list of everything in there[/STRIKE]
*[STRIKE] Dig out slow cooker and see if it's working[/STRIKE]
* [STRIKE]Peel & cook the bag of sad looking potatoes to save wasting them[/STRIKE]
* [STRIKE]Update SOA with new figures (holiday / entertainment / hobby)[/STRIKE]
* [STRIKE]Calculate all the payments made to the incorrect Halifax 0% deal so I know what the correct balance will be for November as that's a scary amount to find so soon after the Barclaycard deal ends in August.[/STRIKE]

Have a lovely Sunday.

enthusiasticsaver

So to clear the credit cards which expire this year you need to repay £3856 plus minimums on the other four deals. Of course if the Halifax payments have been going to the wrong deal that will change. You also have three deals coming up for expiry at the beginning quarter of 2019. I would stop the mortgage and loan overpayments and direct these to the credit cards as well as any savings you make in your soa. £3750 is a comfortable emergency fund so personally I would tackle the debt as a priority especially as you want to drop hours. You will get a better mortgage deal in 2020 if at least the credit cards are gone and you just have the TSB loan. Once the credit cards are gone focus on overpaying the mortgage.

How did the debt occur in the first place? How old are you and when is mortgage due to be repaid?.

Mum2Nan

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

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

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2548.81
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 6.5
Total monthly income.................... 2555.31

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 806.5
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 98
Council tax............................. 124
Electricity............................. 34
Gas..................................... 14.5
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 15
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 10
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 31.5
Groceries etc. ......................... 300
Clothing................................ 15
Petrol/diesel........................... 50
Road tax................................ 16.25
Car Insurance........................... 37.25
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 30
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 207
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 5
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 20
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 7.5
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 60
Haircuts................................ 8
Entertainment........................... 35
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Animal Charity Donation................. 5
Vaping.................................. 25
Loan Overpayment........................ 27.21
Mortgage Overpayment.................... 43.46
Cat Food, Fish Food & Litter............ 50
Total monthly expenses.................. 2075.17


Assets
Cash.................................... 3750
House value (Gross)..................... 225000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1000
Other assets............................ 4000
Total Assets............................ 233750


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 133456...(806.5)....3.19
Total secured & HP debts...... 133456....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Barclaycard 1..................1319.15...29.6......0 (ends 01/08/2018)
Barclaycard 2..................3087......69.48.....0 (ends 01/01/2019)
Barclaycard 3..................3087......69.48.....0 (ends 01/03/2019)
TSB Loan.......................8299.44...187.9.....2.89
Halifax 3......................2472......24.72.....0 (ends 24/07/2019)
Halifax 2......................1409......14.09.....0 (ends 26/11/2018)
Halifax 1......................2570.75...25.71.....0 (ends 23/02/2019)
Total unsecured debts..........22244.34..420.98....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,555.31
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,075.17
Available for debt repayments........... 480.14
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 420.98
Amount left after debt repayments....... 59.16

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 233,750
Total HP & Secured debt................. -133,456
Total Unsecured debt.................... -22,244.34
Net Assets.............................. 78,049.66

I have updated my SOA to show the incorrectly allocated payments from Halifax 1 to 2. I also made a mistake on my electric as it's £34 and not £38. I have also cancelled holiday and moved £10 to my entertainment budget and have cancelled my hobby for the time being.

As mentioned previously, I have upped my D/D to Barclaycard to get shot of that in August.

To be clear, my credit card debt is over 2 cards and not 6!

Mum2Nan

Hi Enthusiastic

I have updated my SOA so it now shows the correctly allocated payments. I just hope the Halifax sort it out at their end. I will check the next statement when it arrives.

I am in my late (very late) 40's. The mortgage will be repaid when I am 68!! :eek:

Some of the debt came about because I didn't have anything, literally not even a bed. I was renting a small, furnished flat so I could save up for the deposit. The rest of it has been because I have been living a champagne lifestyle on brown ale money. All my own fault. I was so focussed on saving up for a deposit I didn't give any thought to anything else.

enthusiasticsaver

Mum2Nan wrote: »

Hi Enthusiastic

I have updated my SOA so it now shows the correctly allocated payments. I just hope the Halifax sort it out at their end. I will check the next statement when it arrives.

I am in my late (very late) 40's. The mortgage will be repaid when I am 68!! :eek:

Some of the debt came about because I didn't have anything, literally not even a bed. I was renting a small, furnished flat so I could save up for the deposit. The rest of it has been because I have been living a champagne lifestyle on brown ale money. All my own fault. I was so focussed on saving up for a deposit I didn't give any thought to anything else.

At least you are sorting it out now. This is fixable but does involve a change of lifestyle which you seem to be embracing ok. Getting a lower interest rate on your mortgage would help. 3.19% is a relatively high rate for your LTV. It is not worth paying the ERPC though at the moment until the rest of your debt goes down as you may fail on affordability. Hopefully by the end of 2020 you will be in a better place financially with just the loan left by then.

enthusiasticsaver

Do you have a pension and is it a good one? Lots of people use the lump sum to pay the remaining amount off the mortgage when they retire.

Mum2Nan

Hi Enthusiastic

I have 14 years of contributions to date but will have between 24 & 28 depending on when I retire.

Yesterday was productive, tiring but a real revelation and I am starting to understand why I am in this financial mess.

First the bad news:

I left off 4 items from my SOA totalling £503.88 so will need to adjust that again. These additional sums will take me closer to negative territory so I already know the loan overpayment must go. I just need to log on and cancel the standing order.

Netflix: 95.88
Chiropodist: £228
Window Cleaner: £120
Boiler Servicing: 60.00

The window cleaner and boiler servicing are paid in cash.

I somehow got the bedroom TV remote control caught up with the bedding so it has gone through the wash. :eek: I've taken the batteries out and it's currently sitting in a bowl of rice to dry out. I have already had a look at a replacement in case it doesn't recover and it's £27.99. :eek:

The good news:

I now have a squeaky-clean freezer. :j

I will not need to go food shopping this week. I wonder if I have been subconsciously preparing for some form of Armageddon. 2 packets of mince are still defrosting in the fridge which I am going to cook up today, half in the slow cooker that still works will be turned into Shepherds Pie to use up the sad looking potatoes and the other into a Bolognese sauce.

I was reading on one of the other diaries last night about freezing sandwiches. I think this is a fantastic idea so will be making sandwiches for work for the rest of this week as well today.

There is £97.04 in my Quidco account. I am going to leave this there for the time being. I am thinking I will use this towards Barclaycard 2 nearer the time.

I have £192.14 of Nectar points. I will pay for shopping and petrol half points and half card over the next few weeks. The card being my everyday spending card that is paid off in full each month.

I have enough fuel to get me through the rest of this week so will only top up when I am next at the supermarket.

Off to make a brew and feed the cats.

ViolaLass

A boiler service every month?

£720 a year would buy you quite a lot of a new boiler.

Ditto the windows. How dirty do they really get?

StokieBecks

Are those final four figures monthly or annual? They seem too extortionate to be monthly (whereas the rest of your SOA is monthly)

Is your council tax split over ten months or 12. If you aren't already get that switched to 12 payments.

The car expenses you are paying annually are you putting a monthly amount aside so when it is due for renewal that cash is there for you?

I would drop your loan and mortgage overpayments for now that will give you an extra bit of wriggle room in case anything crops up.

Mum2Nan

Thanks for your responses and suggestions.

Sorry, those figures are annual, adding another £41.99 to my monthly budget which I will update again shortly.

I live on the third floor of a 4 floor flat so I have a window cleaner to clean the outsides once a month at £10 per month. Up until December last year I was having the insides cleaned too but I now do those myself and save £10.

I am putting aside the car expenses but they just get added to the emergency fund pot. It was around the £3,000 mark at the beginning of the year so that will be reduced when the car tax, insurance, servicing, MOT and contents insurance is due for renewal. I will put these on my Sainsbury's credit card (for the points) and pay the balance (minus my reduced monthly spending by then) out of the emergency fund

Anything I can save from my grocery shopping this month will also be added to this pot. I think I might have to separate this so I know what I am saving for and when it will be dipped into as right now I don't have a clue and it might be giving me a false sense of security.

The loan overpayment is definitely going. I am disappointed but know it's the right thing to do. I was paying the monthly interest and a small amount of the capital. I shall just have to be content that I have already reduced it by 4 months and review it when I am in a better position financially.

My council tax is over 10 months and I am claming the SPD.