My Debts

a_silver_lining

Madfool wrote: »

Our income is joint, joint bank account, joint bills. Even though i took the CC's out she wants them cleared just as quickly as i do, so everything is lumped together. None of this 50% is mine 50% is yours, i earn more than you, i'll pay that this month you pay that next month.

Easy way to look at it is:

My partner's income is £3,024.17
My income is £0.00

Ah, ok, completely understand. In that case I'd be tempted to allocated £100pm to put aside for emergency spends. If you don't use it then it can be paid off the debt at the end, but otherwise it can be there for emergencies, but also if her or the kids need a mini treat. It might feel like a long time on a budget otherwise. You could always trim some of that off the christmas spend, so you still have a nice christmas to look forward to, but also a few hundred put aside for the following summer icecreams or days you need a break from the budget.

Madfool

EssexHebridean wrote: »

But the excess (surplus) by that time will be £2600 - with the best will in the world you do NOT need Christmas to cost that much, especially allowing that your SOA already budgets nearly £500 per year for presents?

Better by far to budget a sensible amount based on a realistic, but not OTT Christmas spend, and set that amount aside each month into an account specifically designated for the purpose. that way also, when you see something through the year that would be just the perfect present for someone, you can buy it there and then knowing that the money is budgeted to pay.

Another quick note on the SOA - none of the debts are showing on it, currently?

I'll take a look through the rest of the SOA in a bit.

The £500 a year budget for presents is just for Birthdays. £100 each for the 5 of us. I know we don't need Christmas to cost that much, but the last 4 years our Christmas's have been Hell thanks to me! No Food, No presents, other than what my family provided to the children. If i stick to the plan and clear just over £9,000 of debt by October this is our reward. A complete blow out for Christmas then back on the debt clear train from January.

anna_1977

Thanks for the SOA - my comments are:
What age are the kids firstly?
Do you not get any Child Benefit/Benefits at all with 3 kids
None of you in the house have a mobile?
No TV licence?
Depending on age of kids £300 a month seems little for 5 of you for clothing, school clothes/shoes etc...
You really need to look into contents insurance

I don't understand why you've not put the debts in the debt section - are you not paying towards any of them at all.

Currently your SOA shows just over £1k spare a month but if you're making repayments of any kind at the moment then that 's not a true reflection.

Madfool

anna_1977 wrote: »

Thanks for the SOA - my comments are:
What age are the kids firstly?
Do you not get any Child Benefit/Benefits at all with 3 kids
None of you in the house have a mobile?
No TV licence?
Depending on age of kids £300 a month seems little for 5 of you for clothing, school clothes/shoes etc...
You really need to look into contents insurance

I don't understand why you've not put the debts in the debt section - are you not paying towards any of them at all.

Currently your SOA shows just over £1k spare a month but if you're making repayments of any kind at the moment then that 's not a true reflection.

The children are 2, 8, and 10

My partner receives CB £192.40 a month, we are very strong believers in that goes on the children and nothing else! That's why the SOA reflects 0 on children's expense as the CB is used for that and nothing else. It works really well for us, and allows us to budget.

We have mobiles, both are business phones so no cost to us.

Yep NO TV License, it's great! We don't require one as we do not watch or record Live TV.

Yes contents insurance is something i need to sort out asap.

I've put no debts down, as i'm not currently paying any of it. 0%, nothing, but i will be starting ending of this month, by snowballing.

ev8

Honestly, if you have an excessive spending problem, spending excessively at the end of the year is only asking for more trouble IMO.

The flood gates will be open and it's easy for someone who has an addictive personality to slip into old habits once that happens.

Also, do none of you, three kids and two working adults, not have a mobile phone? And all five only spend £25 a month on any clothing. Then the children also have 0 expenses at all?

Is this fully accurate?

EssexHebridean

Madfool wrote: »

The £500 a year budget for presents is just for Birthdays. £100 each for the 5 of us. I know we don't need Christmas to cost that much, but the last 4 years our Christmas's have been Hell thanks to me! No Food, No presents, other than what my family provided to the children. If i stick to the plan and clear just over £9,000 of debt by October this is our reward. A complete blow out for Christmas then back on the debt clear train from January.

I can see your thinking, but you need to accept that those other years, when you - as you state yourself - made life hell - those are gone and you can't get them back. You can't "buy back" those years now by throwing money at everyone - particularly when that money will still be off the back - to be 100% frank about it - of using "other people's money" thanks to the debts. I KNOW that this probably feels really harsh - but what on earth do you think you'd get for a (for example) £2,600 christmas that you can't get for a £1300 one? Gold plated turkeys? More food than you have space for in the fridge? Big shiny gadgets that any kids old enough to understand realise all too well are guilt offerings (Trust me, they really will) and the ones not old enough to understand grow out of in a few months anyway? Scale things down a bit, look for experiences and good memories which don't need to cost a fortune and will be far more appreciated over time, and above all don't lose the momentum on paying off the debt - it will be quite INCREDIBLY hard to go back to pulling belts in afterwards, don't underestimate that. You can still have a wonderful Christmas but budget for it across a year rather than leaving two months to pick up the full bill.

People make good memories - not money.

anna_1977

I totally agree that the CB should go on the kids but I think you need to include everything including that and the debts in order to get an accurate SOA. Personally I think you'll struggle to throw £1k a month at the debt, I'm not sure it's totally realistic. But massive good luck

Do you mind me asking why you're determined to go it alone? Have you contacted someone like Stepchange for advice, even if you don't use them I think it's worth running all the figures past them.

EssexHebridean

Madfool wrote: »

Yes contents insurance is something i need to sort out asap.

Yes - right now. Never mind replying to any more posts - hop over to the main MSE site, read the guide on there about pegging down the costs of insurance, and sort yourself a policy. This is really quite ridiculously important - and needs doing before you go to sleep tonight.

Madfool wrote: »

I've put no debts down, as i'm not currently paying any of it. 0%, nothing, but i will be starting ending of this month, by snowballing.

Your first job then is to find out what the minimum payments are on everything and enter those into the SOA. Brace yourself too. That surplus is about to take one heck of a dive.

ev8

Also, how on earth can you just up and stop paying bills for two months because Christmas is coming?

Aren't they going to be knocking on your door asking for the money to your bills?

EssexHebridean

ev8 wrote: »

Also, how on earth can you just up and stop paying bills for two months because Christmas is coming?

Aren't they going to be knocking on your door asking for the money to your bills?

Once you start paying debts, it certainly isn't a good idea to do this. To suspend any overpayments, well perhaps, although to be honest as I've said above there are good reasons why that's not an ideal plan either - perhaps for something really important, but for Christmas? No, not really. At the very best though if payments stop altogether at that point it's going to mean the likelihood of missed payments being registered on both the OP and his partner's credit files again, and the good work of the previous 9 months or so undone.