Living to be debt free in 2019!

Moneybear

Firstly I'd like to wish everyone a Happy New Year! :j:j

I have been a follower of various diaries and DFW board for a few months now but have only just signed up today.

From a young age, my mum was out of work which meant I was single handedly running the household with rent, utilities, her debts, food etc. I would alway say yes and help her out when really I was relying on debt to help. Even when I explained I had no money, she would beg me and I couldn't say no. It wasn't until moving due to work when I realised I had wasted so much money and I gained my own independence. Money is still an incredibly sensitive subject for us. I am very angry at times for her actions impacting my teenage and 20s the way it has. This makes it a very sensitive subject for me so please be gentle!

When I left home 3 years ago, I left with £21k of debt and I was regularly going over my £1500 overdraft. I was paying the minimum payments which was only just covering my interest and I felt like I was in a dead end.

I now live in a house share and pay £450 per month which includes all bills. The rent here is only for a room but MUCH cheaper than what I was paying outside of London. I am also able to avoid the tube as I am on a bus route to work! :T

Since leaving home I have been able to reduce my debt to £8k. But most importantly for me, my overdraft is gone and I have been able to switch all remaining debt onto 0% deals which comes to an end in December 2020. This gave me much needed breathing space so I have been able to save up my emergency fund and a bit extra to earn interest on.

I also currently have £4k in savings. I am paying off £2,500 this month from a bond which matures in a few days. The rest of it is tied up in a bond which matures in July 2019. With this and my determination over the next few months, I should definitely be able to become DEBT FREE by the end of this year!

Unfortunately I haven't been taught good money management from family so I have relied on this forum heavily and I am incredibly thankful for it.

I would love for this diary to help me keep on track as well as welcoming any advice/support that can be given. Over the next few days I will be putting a SOA together and will update you all along my journey

Thank you

Moneybear

So after posting this I have checked my emails and eBay. I have put a few bits on earlier today as BIN - 2 items have sold already!

This is an extra £22 (minus eBay & Paypal fees) to put towards my debts. I am really happy with this and will be posting the items tomorrow/Thursday.

WannabeFree

Good luck & Happy new year

Look forward to following
x

Moneybear

I have completed my SOA to post.

I have more disposable income as I was recently paying for a professional qualification which I have now completed and passed. I was also saving for spending money for a holiday. I don't have any plans to go anywhere this year as I want to focus on becoming debt free. I have already turned down an offer to go on a last minute deal at the end of the month so I hope I can keep this up!

I also regularly save £250 per month into my Nationwide Regular Saver. I don't think I added that into the below SOA.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 0

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2240
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2240

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 450 - This includes bills.
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 0
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 38 - This is high as I took out the latest iPhone with a ridiculous amount of data. It was less than my previous contract but the phone wasn't working. I got the best deal at the time and plan to keep it to go sim only in 14 months time.
TV Licence.............................. 0 - I only watch Netflix/Amazon Prime.
Satellite/Cable TV...................... £7.99 - Netflix.
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 150
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 80 - This is my bus fare.
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 34 - This is my contact lens which I wear daily and NHS prepayment for medication.
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 15 - Cat is 8 so she is starting to get more expensive!
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 11
Life assurance ......................... 41 - Seems like a high amount but due to my medical conditions I am unable to get much better than this for level term life and critical illness cover.
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 35 - I put this amount away monthly to cover the cost of birthdays and christmas.
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 874


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

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
CC 1...........................4955......50........0
CC 2 ..........................3790......37.9......0
Total unsecured debts..........8745......87.9......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,240
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 874
Available for debt repayments........... 1,366
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 87.9
Amount left after debt repayments....... 1,278.1

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 4,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -8,745
Net Assets.............................. -4,745

beanielou

Happy shiny new diary
You sound very determined so I am sure that you can do it.
Keep posting!

beanielou

Oh & do you need the life insurance?
Do you have any dependants?

Moneybear

Thank you BeanieLou and WannbeFree!

I don't have any dependents but I want to have CIC in place just to protect me in case of the worst. It was a built in policy with life insurance included too. I have thought about cancelling it but I have paid it for the last 2 years. I feel like that would have been wasted.

Today was a really good day. I have set up a spreadsheet and pie charts to tackle my money costs. I am not 100% sure the SOA is accurate as I have only just had my outgoings reduce. This will be the first month.
In terms of spending I am probably not the best. I work on a busy shopping street and can easily find myself passing time during lunch having a look around.

I did end up buying a couple of Lush bath bombs using left over Christmas money from my dad and used my boots points to get some essentials. I have over £40 in points so I am keen to use them over the next few months!

Moneybear

I've had a bit of a mixed day today.

Work was rubbish today which normally makes me want to spend some money to cheer myself up. I got on the bus to come straight home with no shopping. I also finished off a selection box from christmas and had leftovers from last night. First time in a while I have eaten the same thing 3 times so I am going to look at what I might fancy over the next few weeks so I can do my monthly bulk online shop.

A guy I have been seeing a couple of weeks has surprised me and is taking me to the theatre tomorrow. I am really excited but can't help but feel bad that I am trying to save now and spend. It is a really fresh relationship so I guess I will take the step to get to know him a bit more. He has insisted the tickets are his treat and he remembered me mentioning something the first time we met which is really sweet.

My plan for the weekend is to sort out my life admin. Sort out old statements, make sure everything is filed correctly, start logging down spends from this week etc.
Something else to keep me on track is a print out I have found. It has 100 boxes to represent each 1% of my debt. Each 1% I pay off will be coloured in. I am hoping this will help motivate me.

Have a great weekend everyone

beanielou

Enjoy your evening tomorrow

Nichelette

I used to spend to make myself feel better, but now I actually enjoy saving more. It's quite sad really!

I meal plan which makes a massive difference to our food spend and saves waste, though I do love food and sometimes I still buy treat things that aren't on the list.

Have a lovely evening

Moneybear

Thank you both.
I had a wonderful evening last night. I really enjoyed the show and I had a perfect date! I will see him again later in the week and he is planning on cooking dinner.

Nichelette - Not sad at all! I completely understand the feeling. I was really good last year saving into a regular saver because the 5% interest excited me. This year I have decided I am best to just chip away at the debt before I incur interest next year.


So far today - I have been to the flower market to take some pictures. I downloaded an app last week to sell photos. I have 6 approved so far and 2 have been from the local market. I wanted to try to take

I have also been to Aldi to stock up on essentials. I have my meal plan for the rest of the week and rough idea what I will be taking for lunch. I am going to make a bit extra to take for lunch each day. I used to get bored of leftovers but I had a meal for dinner, then lunch and dinner the next day last week and I loved it each time.

Also with my debts I have just sent a payment to one credit card for £2415. My debt is now down to £6330!!!
I used a mixture of my easy access savings, a regular saver I have closed prematurely (better to clear the debt than save in my eyes) and money left over from this months salary.

I have £1k bond maturing in a couple of weeks. I am going to use that to pay off another £1k by the end of the month. I will also see how much I have left over at payday.