Spender to Saver - I want to be Debt Free before I'm 30!

adg89

SSDD23 wrote: »

It's lovely when your OH is on board isn't it

It definitely is - but he didn't even need persuading. He saw how much the number was affecting me and felt really guilty about it (no idea why!) but now he is in a better position financially, I feel more confident about us paying everything down and heading towards the little dream we have of living off the grid.

SSDD23 wrote: »

Congratulations on the step to quit smoking to cut down on costs by the way! Been there and know it isn't easy

I quit smoking again 6 weeks ago as I had spent just over £200 on it in a month after starting again for no other reason than boredom and that saving has been going straight onto debt.


I'm feeling really motivated now I'm posting on here (although I haven't told OH that I'm doing this thread haha!).

[Deleted User]

adg89 wrote: »

I'm feeling really motivated now I'm posting on here (although I haven't told OH that I'm doing this thread haha!).

Mine doesn't know either lol he does wonder where I get handy little MSE tips from but I just take the credit :rotfl:

adg89

Yesterday was 2/10 for NSDs.
I spent last night creating a spreadsheet which tracks all the finances for me & OH including his debt (which feels minimal in comparison to mine).
He reminded me that we have a debt we owe to my parents of £553 which I would like to see gone first but I have told him to pay off his credit cards first (and have agreed this with my parents) due to the interest charges. I am hoping to pay back my parents via tips from the restaurant shifts before Christmas - I just hope I make enough!
Our overall combined debt is £8750 which may not seem like a lot to some, but is not a number I'm comfortable with.


Payday is tomorrow for me, and I am hoping to pay down aroundf £300 of my overdraft and £250 of my credit card - the challenge this month will be not to spend the amounts I have paid back.


As some of my income is paid to me weekly (2nd job), I will be updating my signature every Friday to show what I have paid down and where each element of my debt is at.


I may include OH debt as well so I can see all in one place - I have told him about me using this site now and he is on board! I'm hoping we pay his debts off my end of the year, provided there are no unexpected costs!

adg89

3/10 NSDs now
And today is payday, so I've put everything into the overdraft, put my £15 into my EF for this paypacket and now I'm just waiting for Netflix payment to go out so I can see how much is left for credit card payment.


I expect to be around £200-£300 in the overdraft this month and will pay back about £200 of the credit card - the challenge then is going to be staying as low in my overdraft as possible so next month, more money goes to the credit card payment.


We also had some good news from the pet insurer yesterday - they are reimbursing us the dog behaviourist costs (minus the excess) so this will be split proportionately between my OD and OH's Capital One to try and bring that down as much as possible this month.


I'll update the signature tomorrow and again when the pet claim comes back!


I'm actually so excited to think that this time next month we will have paid off a chunk of our debts

BookmobileBadGirl

adg89 wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household.........
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1699.37
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1596
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3295.37
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 196.9
Rent.................................... 795
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 129
Electricity............................. 25
Gas..................................... 25
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 50 <

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this seems a bit high to me for two people, have you submitted a meter reading recently?
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 143.4 <

---

again high but you said you are looking at this when contracts expire
TV Licence.............................. 25 <

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this is very high, TV license is about £13 a month is you pay over 12 months
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 40 <

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can this go, or be reduced?
Internet Services....................... 26
Groceries etc. ......................... 200
Clothing................................ 80 <

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this equates to almost a grand in clothing each year, could you cut this for six months or so and throw at debt?
Petrol/diesel........................... 50
Road tax................................ 20
Car Insurance........................... 30
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 26.9
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 5
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 33
Haircuts................................ 13
Entertainment........................... 200
Holiday................................. 29 <

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do you really need to save for a holiday right now? I would add this to your emergency fund
Emergency fund.......................... 60
Total monthly expenses.................. 2202.2

Assets
Cash.................................... 165
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 8000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 8165

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(0)........0
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 984.65...(196.9)....0
Total secured & HP debts...... 984.65....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Virgin Credit Card.............5989......98.4......18.99
Nationwide OD..................757.94....0.........0
Aqua (OH)......................1150......50........16.99
Capital One (OH)...............425.......17........17.99
Total unsecured debts..........8321.94...165.4.....-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,295.37
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,202.2
Available for debt repayments........... 1,093.17
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 165.4
Amount left after debt repayments....... 927.77 <

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do you really have this much left each month? If so you could have cleared this all in about seven months
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 8,165
Total HP & Secured debt................. -984.65
Total Unsecured debt.................... -8,321.94
Net Assets.............................. -1,141.59

You are doing very well with this, just some things to consider, once you are out of debt you will be able to save up such a great emergency fund and go on holidays easily

adg89

Hi BookmobileBadGirl - firstly, thank you so much for your input.


I'll take each point in turn:


Water Rates - these were estimates at the start of our lease, I'm not sure where our meter is but I will definitley have a hunt for it! This is combined for fresh water & sewage which we pay monthly.


Mobile Phones - Yes, we were in a different financial position when we took these contracts out (no rent or bills as we were on live-in accommodation where this was paid for us) so we need to stick it out until the contracts are up, unfortunately.


TV Licence - OH controls this one and has advised that he misread - it's £12.56 a month.


Satellite/Cable - These are Netflix (£14), Amazon Prime (£8) & Spotify/Headspace Premium (£15) costs. We don't have 'normal' TV/freeview, so these keep us sane and I am happy to keep that cost.


Clothing - I included this cost based on what I spent in the last month - we both needed new work shoes and a shirt for the restaurant due to a uniform change, so it was a need rather than a want. I doubt we will be spending £80 a month regularly but just wanted to factor it in.


Holiday - I lump this in with the birthday/Christmas budget account just to be able to have a buffer and so there is more in the pot if I need it.


Amount left after debt repayments - Apparently so, which means we have been impulsively spending a lot of money for the last three months, and in all honesty, I don't think we have anything to show for it. I have shown OH this number and he is just as shocked as I am so I'm hoping that we can whittle away at least £2k of our debts before Christmas now.


Thanks again for your input! :-)

adg89

Looks like I am at 4 NSDs since Monday :-)


Chuffed with myself that I've been able to stick at this.

Helping OH with his weekly pay allocation tomorrow so we can shift some of his debt before the pet insurance claim comes in. Looking at his interest rates (both higher than mine), we should pay off Aqua first as it's charging £30 per month for the pleasure of borrowing money at the current amount.
While Capital One isn't much better, the minimum payment is a lot lower so we can afford to shift more of Aqua at the moment.


I've decided that my weekly pay from the restaurant will have £15 deducted to go to the Emergency Fund and the rest will go onto my credit card each week so I feel like it's coming down quicker.


Unfortunately the overdraft balance this month has wiped anything spare I would have had for the credit card but if I stay out of it, it will save me £16 in overdraft fees. My challenge is to stay out of the overdraft for as long as possible so I need as many NSDs as I can get in the next month.

[Deleted User]

Well done on all of your NSD's so far

adg89

A few payments made in the last couple of days:


Overdraft paid off - now to try and keep it that way!
£25.78 to OH Capital One (above minimum payment but rounds the number to £400).
£66.59 to my Virgin credit card
Almost £70 in the pot ready to go back to Mum & Dad before the two shifts I have this weekend.


Total of £850.31 repaid so far.


I've also looked at the survey sites I am already part of - 1025 points on IPSOS and 3050 YouGov Points so I'm going to try and complete as many as I can before Christmas for a payout on those. I have a target of 4900 points on IPSOS as this pays out £50 which will mean £100 in time for Christmas!


I also have 5 Nationwide referrals going if anyone is looking to switch banks? If you switch within 90 days of receiving my referral, you will receive £100 and I will receive £100!

[Deleted User]

adg89 wrote: »

A few payments made in the last couple of days:


Overdraft paid off - now to try and keep it that way!
£25.78 to OH Capital One (above minimum payment but rounds the number to £400).
£66.59 to my Virgin credit card
Almost £70 in the pot ready to go back to Mum & Dad before the two shifts I have this weekend.


Total of £850.31 repaid so far.

That's brilliant, well done :j