Third time around - this time the last!

AllThatStuffIsJustStuff

This is the third time me and PBS (PiggyBankShaker) have started a diary. We got debt free both times before, but here we are again.
In some ways right now we're better off than we were the other times, in other ways we are not.

Here's our starting point:

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 3271
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 137.6
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3408.6

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 438.6
Council tax............................. 135
Electricity............................. 35
Gas..................................... 35
Water rates............................. 43
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 62
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 24
Groceries etc. ......................... 327
Clothing................................ 34
Petrol/diesel........................... 96
Road tax................................ 2.5
Car Insurance........................... 25
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 25
Other child related expenses............ 167
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 60
Buildings insurance..................... 10
Contents insurance...................... 10
Life assurance ......................... 32
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 60
Entertainment........................... 194
Holiday................................. 180
Cash spent.............................. 350
bank charges............................ 18
Scribophile............................. 14
Counselling............................. 70
Pension payment......................... 311.9
Charitable giving....................... 62
Gym memberships......................... 61
Total monthly expenses.................. 2894


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 115000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 7000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 122000


Secured & HP Debts

Mortgage...................... 56377
Total secured & HP debts...... 56377

Unsecured Debts

Car loan.......................5083.7
CC1...........................4685.9
CC2....................2755.7
Overdraft...................386
Other debt................453
IOUs...........................92
CC3.....................1457.85
Total unsecured debts..........14914.15

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,408.6
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,914
Available for debt repayments........... 494.6
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 568.08
Amount short for making debt repayments. -53.48

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 122,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -56,377
Total Unsecured debt.................... -14,914.15
Net Assets.............................. 50,708.85

AllThatStuffIsJustStuff

First win - I've just upgraded my phone and taken £17 off my monthly bill.

PiggyBankShaker

Some initial suggestions on areas where we can cut back.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 3271
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 137.6
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3408.6

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 438.6
Council tax............................. 135
Electricity............................. 35
Gas..................................... 35
Water rates............................. 43
Mobile phone............................ 62 Possible savings
TV Licence.............................. 12
Internet Services....................... 24
Groceries etc. ......................... 327 Possible savings
Clothing................................ 34
Petrol/diesel........................... 96 Possible savings
Road tax................................ 2.5
Car Insurance........................... 25
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 25
Other child-related expenses............ 167
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 60
Buildings insurance..................... 10
Contents insurance...................... 10
Life assurance ......................... 32
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 60
Entertainment........................... 194 Possible Savings
Holiday................................. 180
Cash spent.............................. 350 Need to keep spending diary
Bank charges............................ 18 Is this account fees? Or actual charges?
Scribophile............................. 14 Possible savings
Counselling............................. 70 Possible savings
Pension payment......................... 311.9
Charitable giving....................... 62 Possible savings
Gym memberships......................... 61 Possible savings
Total monthly expenses.................. 2894


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 115000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 7000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 122000


Secured & HP Debts

Mortgage...................... 56377
Total secured & HP debts...... 56377

Unsecured Debts

Car loan.......................5083.7
CC1...........................4685.9
CC2....................2755.7
Overdraft...................386
Other debt................453
IOUs...........................92
CC3.....................1457.85
Total unsecured debts..........14914.15

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,408.6
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,914
Available for debt repayments........... 494.6
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 568.08
Amount short for making debt repayments. -53.48

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 122,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -56,377
Total Unsecured debt.................... -14,914.15
Net Assets.............................. 50,708.85

AllThatStuffIsJustStuff

Saved another £23 a month already this morning by cancelling one of my gym memberships.

AllThatStuffIsJustStuff

My thoughts on potential savings here:

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 438.6
Council tax............................. 135
Electricity............................. 35
Gas..................................... 35
Water rates............................. 43
Mobile phone............................ 62 Made some already
TV Licence.............................. 12
Internet Services....................... 24
Groceries etc. ......................... 327 Definitely can save here. Need to get back to doing more cooking. I had this at closer to £200 in the past
Clothing................................ 34
Petrol/diesel........................... 96 Sometimes we go further afield just beause, when we can do stuff closer to home. Can definitely be reduced
Road tax................................ 2.5
Car Insurance........................... 25
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 25
Other child-related expenses............ 167 I don't want to reduce this.
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 60
Buildings insurance..................... 10
Contents insurance...................... 10
Life assurance ......................... 32
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 60
Entertainment........................... 194 Definitely can reuce this. Watching more free TV/films. Less take aways as well - again, back to doing more home cooking
Holiday................................. 180
Cash spent.............................. 350 Need to get this down and track what it's being spent on
Scribophile............................. 14 I don't want to cut this. It's a hobby we both enjoy and a small price for something that is good for the mind
Counselling............................. 70 I consider this health spending and therefore essential
Pension payment......................... 311.9 Don't want to reduce, but could in a real pinch
Charitable giving....................... 62
Gym memberships......................... 61 Cut down to 38 now. I want to keep this for now for personal reasons. Obviously it's healthy and that, but also, it's important psychologically for me that I don't just cut everything that is spent on me immediately by default.
Total monthly expenses.................. 2894

So in short, outgoings reduced by £40 a month so far. Probably could get it down by another £200 without too much pain, I think.

PiggyBankShaker

Called Vodafone this morning and reduced bill by £6 a month. Every little helps!

PiggyBankShaker

Sold some stuff on eBay - £85 and counting. Still two days until the listings end so hopefully will get a bit more. Also have a few extra items to sell, including one that I hope will go for £125+. Must remember that I have £20 worth of books to send off as well.

Had a tough couple of days. Had a painful row with my mother. DD is unwell. And... I tried to sort out an updated life insurance policy, only to be refused cover for an historic medical condition :mad: I did sort a single policy for ATSIJS but need to wait for my medical records to come through before I can reapply.

In addition, I sorted out some admin pertaining to pensions (beneficiary's etc) and also decluttered a stack of out of date paperwork. ATSIJS applied for new EHIC cards for us all, so good work done there.

Tomorrow we need to choose and buy some sleeping bags for our camping trip next week and I might take the car to KwikFt for a tyre 'check up'. Oh, and I almost forgot :rotfl: It's our wedding anniversary tomorrow, too.

PiggyBankShaker

Hello Diaryland!

We went away for a week's camping trip to Germany - hence the silence on the diary. It was quite MSE but I *think* we might have overspent, I'll have to ask ATS to do a breakdown...

We didn't buy new sleeping bags in the end, only a new air mattress, but that did cost £40...

In other news, sold some more bits on eBay, also priced up books but haven't officially sold them yet. Still not listed the £125 item yet either. Must get around to this.

The bad news is that our car is about to need a set of new tyres and something called the Toe Adjustment done. This needs doing in a main dealership so I can only imagine that it is going to be expensive. I called them for a price but no answer yet,

ATS and I were planning a romantic weekend away on the 7th-9th Sept, but I don't honestly think we can afford it. I mentioned this to him yesterday but he just said a sort of 'hmm' noise and it didn't go any further. I will maybe try again tonight.

ATS life insurance is now sorted out and I *think* I have a solution for mine, although I have to double check and action it. Also, need to call one of the pension providers as they sent a statement but the beneficiaries were not updated.

I have made a small saving by cancelling one charity DD of £6.

AllThatStuffIsJustStuff

Yes, we went on holiday! And a lovely holiday it was too. Barring one incident of me having a meltdown in a park in Luxembourg, it was also super chill.

Money wise it came in at a grand total of £1,414.48 - which works out at £50.52 per person per night. This is on a par with our other European camping holidays (actually cheaper than France last year and was definitely better). And that included the indulgent expense of the trip to the Schueberfouer in Luxembourg, which despite my initial meltdown, I really enjoyed.

So, where that leaves us is with a slightly elevated debt position. Here's how it stands now:

Car loan.......................5083.7
CC1...........................4,639.03
CC2....................2755.7
Overdraft...................386
Other debt................453
IOUs...........................92
CC3.....................1858.96
Total unsecured debts..........£15,186.83

This means our debt has increased £272.68 since we started this diary. This obviously isn't great, but is no way as bad as I was fearing as we spent throughout the holiday.

I get paid at the end of the month so will be able to knock some off that and we should be in a better position than we started by the end of the week.

Slightly on my mind is the indulgence of our next holiday is now exactly two months away, but I am really looking forward to that, and it should be cheaper (flights and accom already paid for and only £250 total!). We also really need to keep the breaks in to maintain some level of sanity.

Upcoming expenditures:
- Parking (and possibly overnight stay on way to airport) for October holiday.
- Kid free weekend! (I know PBS is worried about what we can afford here, but we can/should do something as I don't think we've had a kid free weekend together since 2012!)

PiggyBankShaker

Car loan.......................5083.7
CC1...........................4,639.03
CC2....................2755.7
Overdraft...................386 Is this mine? If so, it is currently £260...ish
Other debt................453
IOUs...........................92
CC3.....................1858.96
Total unsecured debts..........£15,186.83

Also...

Upcoming expenditures:
- Parking (and possibly overnight stay on way to airport) for October holiday.
- Kid free weekend! (I know PBS is worried about what we can afford here, but we can/should do something as I don't think we've had a kid free weekend together since 2012!)
- Car stuff as mentioned in my above post

Yes the holiday was great. And the next one should be even more awesommer and cheaper

And OF COURSE we should go away for something when we have a child free weekend, all I'm saying is we should make it more MSE

AllThatStuffIsJustStuff

Car loan.......................£4,652.35
CC1..........................£4,639.03
CC2....................£2,690.78
Overdraft...................£260
Other debt................£453
IOUs...........................£88
CC3.....................£1,706.72
Total unsecured debts..........£14,489.88

This is 97.1% of the debt we had at the start of the diary. So a small move, but one in the right direction at least

For September we've started an experiment to track our cash. I've got a money box and a notebook and put £250 cash in the box. We're going to use this to track our cash spending for the month, as there was a lot of uncategorized stuff in the original SOA. Just the act of observation will probably help keep it down as well.