I hope I can do this

pidge04

That is fantastic news!!! Congratulations!!!

[Deleted User]

Exciting!!! Do you still want the house! Or have you been window shopping since?

ftbwannabe

Hi! So, I have a mortgage now - and keys to a house! - and paint in my hair, & dried wallpaper paste under my nails. I also have a shocking cold which is why I've found the time to stop & update this.

I can't believe the financial achievements I've made since I joined this forum. Looking frankly at where I was & where I wanted to be, & saying that 'out loud' was scary but amazingly helpful. Same goes for sharing my guilt about mismanaging my money in the past & for not being perfect & rich (I know, I know).

The other thing which rocketed my progress was YNAB. Knowing how much I spend, and how much I want to spend, and how much I actually have to spend - lifechanging.

So I'm now not a ftb wannabe but an actual home owner - but I still have credit card debt. And now a whacking great mortgage, too!
I haven't used a credit card or overdraft since I joined this forum, but I've only been making minimum payments while I was saving for our deposit & solicitors fees etc. I need to do a new SOA & plan for what my payment schedule will be in a normal month - i.e. a month when I'm not spending £100 a week in B&Q, ha!

Thanks everyone for your support & for reading this. I'll go check in on some old & new diaries now. Won't have time to check in much while the DIY is ongoing, but I will be back. I need some NSDs under my belt!

ftbwannabe

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 0

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2199
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2199

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 633
Council tax............................. 134
Water rates............................. 37.4
Mobile phone............................ 16.99
Groceries etc. ......................... 175
Clothing................................ 10
Other travel............................ 25
Buildings insurance..................... 5.39
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30
Entertainment........................... 20
Holiday................................. 22
Emergency fund.......................... 50
next year's YNAB........................ 4.62
Contact lenses.......................... 16
Recycling............................... 3
Toiletries/medicine..................... 20
Gardening............................... 30
website................................. 6
next laptop............................. 25
Social life............................. 100
Charity................................. 12
Spotify................................. 8
Union................................... 20
Pension................................. 180
Total monthly expenses.................. 1583.4


Assets
Cash.................................... 1200
House value (Gross)..................... 286000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 287200


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 135707...(633)......3.09
Total secured & HP debts...... 135707....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Student Loan...................560.05....24.21.....3.3
MBNA...........................7347......74.22.....0
Barclaycard....................1995.75...44.9......0
Boiler.........................2000......100.......0
Carpets........................1400......30........0
Halifax........................937.06....25.69.....25.2
Cooperative....................3695......74........0

Summary of Monthly Income, expense and surplus
Total monthly income: £
2,199

Expenses (incl. HP & secured debts): £
1,583.4

Available for debt repayments: £
615.6

Unsecured debt repayments: £
373.02

Surplus (shortfall if negative) £
242.58

YNAB was helpful to work out how much I spend on categories like socialising & groceries.
Missed things, like electricity, tv license, are where my partner pays for those. Eg I pay one utility, he pays another. And I've halved the house value & mortgage debt to reflect our joint ownership.
I know I should get life insurance but haven't yet. No idea how much that will cost
Boiler & carpets are both 0% for 2 years, shared payments with OH.

I've been accepted (today!) for a balance transfer card from HSBC, 0% for 32 months, 1.4% fee. I've been paying interest on the Halifax card for 2 months as I was too scared to apply for a balance transfer card before we completed on the mortgage. I applied for this new 0%er the very day we completed!
So I'll transfer the Halifax to that & also at least 1300 from MBNA & Barclays, as they both have 0%s expiring in 2019. I only want to pay the transfer fee for the balances I know I won't have cleared before they expire (but that's maths for another day).
I know the student loan is an obvious thing to clear next, but I'm inclined to prioritise the cards because their payments & interest are more likely to change, & show on my credit record. So that would mean:
transfer halifax & some of the mbna + barclays balances to hsbc once card arrives
snowball remaining barclays balance
repeat til all cards cleared (Jan 2022 according to my snowball calculator)

Maybe I'm being silly & should clear S Loan first?

ftbwannabe

WAHEY - in August my credit card & student loan debt was 17204.69, now it's 13974.81. I've paid off 1 student loan & 1 credit card since then, & cleared 3229.88 of debt.
Also & I've paid solicitors, mortgage advisors, etc from my salary, & put aside £500 to cover decorating & removals. Those nights without £6 pints of craft ale all feel worth it now ;-)

BUT adding the carpet & boiler payments, I'm now in more unsecured debt than I was in August, owing £730 more than then. But also I've put £700 aside in pots for emergencies & future expenses, so I count that as progress. And thank god I stopped spending on my cards in August, or things would be worse.

Does any of this make sense to anyone else? It's helping me, anyway!
Next step, debt repayment plan.

[Deleted User]

Congratulations on the new house

Well done on the payments made and the acceptance on the card, that'll be clear in no time xx

efes_shareholder

Wow , just shows whats possible when you set your mind to it

Well done on all the new budgets and the 0% card will be a huge incentive

jwil

Congratulations on the new house, and that's an amazing amount to have cleared/covered while moving :T :T

ftbwannabe

Payday dance! Payday dance! And a tiny pay rise too - very welcome. All my bills have gone up since we moved, + I have new ones like buildings insurance & paying for the work we had done on the house.
I'm nervous, this is the first month of New Budget, aka Mega Debt Clear Budget. First month in aaaages where I'm not expecting any new or changed bills & I can start snowballing my cards again. I'm nervous in case I have got my budget wrong & don't have the money I think I do.
My budget says I can make a £300 overpayment to my Barclaycard today, but I'm scared in case I have forgotten something or the house falls down or something & I need the money for something else. I'm also scared that if I put the money aside til the end of the month, when I'm sure nothing else needs to be paid, I'll end up spending it.
But SCREW IT I'm going to be brave and pay it. Ooh and I've just remembered that I have some savings now so if I have cocked up my maths & need cash urgently, I can get it from there. Wow, that's a new thing.

ftbwannabe

Done. Paid £530 in total to my cards today. Scary. If I *can* stick to my new budget, I will have paid off the Barclaycard in October and my Co op card next June. My two other cards have much fatter amounts on and should be cleared in 2021.

My new budget is based on what YNAB reports my average spending on per month, and includes some 'fun money' and emergency cash so I hope hope hope I can find it manageable. 2021 seems a long way away, but if I don't do this then my debt-free date will be even further away.