Start of a new chapter

s1n25

After getting a phone call from my partner telling me he's now -£400 in an unplanned over draft I thought enough is enough!! We have to start doing something about this debt.
I myself have also managed to run up credit card bills of around £4,000 as well as using all our savings to be able to buy a car.
We have both always fluctuated in and out of debt. We became debt free in 2015 when we began saving for a house, we managed to save over £20,000 and purchased our first property in Oct 2017. Since then my debt has spiralled out of control, with over spending being the main factor I have also had to purchase items for the house (sofa etc) on my credit cards.
My partner has also had to buy a new car, he drives 600+ miles a week and needed a more reliable car, this meant taking one out on finance.
For the past couple of months I've really buried my head in the sand and just wanted to forget about it, but enough is enough! We are planning on getting married and I want to be debt free before we book any where. I'm feeling positive now and looking forward to becoming debt free!! When I say debt free I'm focussing on unsecured debt we have, Mortgage won't be included... one step at a time!


We both have good jobs and our aim is to be debt free in 12mths.


So here's my damage:


Credit card (0% interest) £3,600
Credit card £206
Paying back in to saving for car £1,200

Total debt: £5,006

Tonight we plan on going through all his debt which I'll be updating later.


Really hoping that talking about debt and being able to write down what we have been spending/what we have paid off will really help keep motivated. Reading lots of these diaries really inspired me to begin this challenge and made me a lot more positive about the future.

s1n25

Ok, so we've gone through his debt and both wrote down our incoming and outgoings... it's going to be a tight couple of months to get back on track! it will all be worth it.


In addition to my £5k of my debt we also have


Car loan £7,163
Store card £380
Loan (0% interest) £4,500

Total debt £12,043

Total Household debt: £17,043.


Typing that number makes me feel so sick but got to think positive, we've accepted it and now we're doing thing about it!


Pay day will be Tuesday, the debt free diary begins!!

Mnd

Sort out and post your statement of affairs. The amount of help and advice you get will be amazing

lindens

Also look at the rates on interest on all your debts to help you decide what to pay off first. Use the snowball calculator to help you with this

beanielou

Is your loan really 0% ?

apple_muncher

Good luck with it all, s1n25 - see you on the August thread with all the turtles!

s1n25

beanielou wrote: »

Is your loan really 0% ?

Yes it's a loan through the company he works for and will be interest free unless he leaves the company. Monthly payments are deducted from his wages before he gets paid

s1n25

Feeling as though my life is in order today, crazy what some spreadsheets can do and a lot of budgeting to make you feel like you're in control. Since I've made the decision to do something about our debts I've felt as though I'm in control and not the debt! This forum has helped a lot! there are so many people willing to give advice and help, feel as though I can tackle this debt!!

I have a number of spreadsheet's on the go, I find this really is really helping me.

• Track our incoming and outgoing at the start of the month, I can see how much I have to spend so that I don't go in to my overdraft.. or tempted to use the dreaded credit card!!

• Tracking the debt, I find seeing the debt decrease this month has made me feel really positive and hopefully in a few months’ time I’ll be able to see what I started with and how much it's reduced by. Hoping this will give me the motivation to keep going!

• Tracking my food spends! I've gone through my statements and I've found this spreadsheet is needed. I must nip out to the shops and pick up lunch or 'bits' for tea at least 4/5 times a week. I’m hoping this will help me stick to my food budget for the month. My plan is to write a list and plan all my meals for the week. I'm also subscribing to the ‘frugal living challenge’ ‘NSD August challenge’ & ‘August bring your lunch to work’ threads. I’ve been stalking these forums for a while find them great to keep motivated!

This weekend is going to be tricky not to cave to my old spending habit’s when going out with friends, I’ve already had two invites this weekend and couldn’t say no.
My plan for Saturday, BBQ at our friends house, Mr M (The boyfriend) already has beer’s in the house he’s going to take, no need to spend. I’ve decided I’m going to drive us there and not drink, no extra spending on alcohol and no spending on taxi’s!
Sunday I’ve been asked to go for Sunday lunch and drinks with and old friend I’ve not seen in months. I couldn’t say no as I have had to reschedule the past 2 months. Again my plan is to drive us (no taxi’s and no drinking) and for lunch I’ll take this cost out of my food budget.

My goal for this month is to not use my credit card & to end with a least some funds still in my bank! (even it’s only £5!)

Payday today the debts have reduced

Miss S (my debt)
Credit card (0% interest) £3,300
Credit card £200
Paying back in to saving for car £1,100

Mr M (boyfriends)
Car loan £6,905
Store card £304
Loan (0% interest) £4,250

Total Household debt: £16,059
Reduced by £984 – (Can’t wait to have that number saving each month rather than paying off debt!!)



Big food shop & petrol planned for tonight but no further spending now until Sunday.

Next update…. Did I make it through the weekend with no spending!!

[Deleted User]

I like your plans I think I will also try to end the month with a positive balance for the first time in ages

Looks like you'll be able to have a good weekend without massive spending

s1n25

SSDD23 wrote: »

I like your plans I think I will also try to end the month with a positive balance for the first time in ages

Looks like you'll be able to have a good weekend without massive spending

Small steps I'm hoping if I can finish on a positive this will be extra towards paying off the debts, which means the debts will be cleared quicker!


Weekend is going to be a real tester for me, it's ok saying your not going to spend but then in the moment I hope I don't cave and just buy items that aren't needed! Feeling strong though... i.must.not.cave. Can't fall at the first hurdle.

[Deleted User]

Can you just take cash so that you can't spend more than you have budgeted for?