No regrets. We only have debt. 4 June 2019 at 9:41AM edited 4 June 2019 at 1:16PM in Debt free diaries 89 replies 19.9K views

MrGorsky

This AA loan is going to get a good contribution tomorrow.  £4075 outstanding on it,  and £2500 available to make some overpayments tomorrow.  On the down side,  my car has developed a faulty,  and either needs a bit of work in the garage which I'm guessing will cost £450 ish, or i can have a go fixing it myself for £150., which would be the cost of a plug in device for the car,  and a new abs sensor. 

Theroadtoruin

Are you sure you're eligible for child benefit? I got stung for claiming it with an income over £50k, it looks like yours is from your monthly net.

Theroadtoruin

Purely accidentally may I add

MrGorsky

Yes, thanks  We get the child benefit at £137 per month. I return around 50% of it in my tax return each year,  ..... my income net of pension contributions determines that. This is part of the reason i make good pension contributions .... though i have a change of employment coming up considering the current virus circumstances ... I'll do a new soa soon to reflect this.  Thanks for replying

jazzyja

Takmon said:

MrGorsky wrote: »

I understand, and it's a difficult decision, and both can be considered the correct thing to do. My children only get one childhood, and I've made my decision and stuck to it.

It's worth pointing out that when your children are older they won't be looking back and thinking how great their childhood was because they had a brand new bathroom and a newly redecorated house to live in.

They will probably have the most fond memories of the £840 you spend each year on 4 weeks holiday where they have quality time with their parents having fun.

They certainly won't be looking back fondly at their parents barely making ends meet and pushing their finances to the limit due to excessive spending and stressing over how everything will be paid off. I'm not saying you are stressed over this situation (I certainly wouldn't be happy in your financial situation) but it's definetly worth thinking about.

This!! 

I cant provide any more advice than what's been given. But I know how it feels to have the parent guilt and wanting your kids to have an amazing house and lovely things.....i used to think like this but I'm so past that now. What I really want for them is to be able to give them memories and not a !!!!!! ton of debt making me depressed and stressed. Your kids won't care what your house looks like when they're grown and moved out. So don't worry about that. 
Good luck with your debt free journey. You've done it once in sure youl smash it this time too

MrGorsky

Thanks guys, I've reigned in the house spending, and its not fancy stuff we've put in, just the house didnt have a kitchen or bathroom. Anyway, I'm doing a bit more almost no spend DIY at the mmoent during lockdown. I've just paid off £2900 toward the AA loan, so feeling good about that.

AA Loan £1100 3.2% currently repaying £325 mnth
M&S loan £9500 2.96% repaying £1140 / mnth
TSB Credit Card £3104 0% til 09/21.............280 /mnth
Natwest Credit Card £10674 0% til 03/22.................100 /mnth
Family loan £30k

Total unsecured debt ....£54,378  Boom! Let's keep going.

enthusiasticsaver

You seem to be doing quite well on getting the debt down but you need to be wary of continuing to borrow to do things instead of saving up.  It is tempting to think that everything will always remain the same but if you  have a mountain of debt, no savinggs and a substantial mortgage you are very vulnerable if either of you loses their job or gets sick or heaven forbid dies. Houses, like cars can be money pits and like a previous poster we always saved for things to be done to it.  From the sound of it the house was not liveable in to start with if it had no kitchen or bathroom but essentially you seem to have ended up with a fairly large mortgage plus unsecured debt to make the house liveable. On the plus side though the loans have large repayments so I guess you must be structuring them on fairly short terms rather than the very expensive 10 year old unsecured loans some people get tempted into. 

MrGorsky

There's a job change coming, so I've prepared a SOA now, vs one in 2 months in the future, this is how the near future will pan out ..... any comments?

S.O.A.

    NOW  ->-----  2 months time (new job and some debt gone)

Income

£GBP£

Monthly Salary after tax..............3541 ->----- 3790

Wife's Salary...............................1513 ->----- 1541  

Income from rental property .........220->-----220

Child Benefit Income.......................27 ->-----  0

Total Income.........................5301    ->----- 5551

Expenditure

Home

Groceries...................................380  ->----- 380

Fibre Internet............................ ..22  ->----- 22

Home insurance..........................10  ->----- 10

Council Tax..................................185  ->----- 185

Gas & Electric..............................80  ->----- 80

Water....................................... ....52 ->----- 52

Mortgage......................................861  ->----- 871

Mobile telephones.........................0 (work funded)

Life Insurance................................32  ->-----  32

Hair cuts........................................20  ->-----  20

TV Licence....................................13  ->----- 13

Clothing .........................................50  ->----- 50

Dentist........................................... ..7 ->----- 7

Vets ............................................... 10  ->----- 10

Entertainment:

Going out......................................80  ->----- 80

Hobbies.........................................140  ->----- 140

Caravan expenses.........................20  ->-----  20

Holiday........................................... 65  ->----- 65

National Trust Membership ..........10  ->----- 10

Transport:

Fuel............................................30  ->----- 170

Public transport............................. 40  ->----- 40

Car Insurance...............................26  ->----- 26

Car Tax......................................... 15  ->----- 15

MOT & maintenance.....................20  ->----- 70

Debt repayment:

Natwest Credit Card 0% ...... 110  ->----- 110

TSB credit card ..................... 280  ->----- 0

AA loan .................................. 325  ->----- 0

Hitachi Loan.............................362  ->----- 0

Family loan ............................0  ->----- 2000

M&S Loan ............................ 1140  ->----- 0

Other:

Takeaways......................................25  ->----- 25

Presents..................................... .60  ->-----  60

Monthly Expenses..........................4385  ->----- 4416

Monthly Income...............................5,301 ->----- 5551

Monthly Expenses...........................4385  ->----- 4716

Net Income ........................................916  ->----- 935

I tend to over pay debt periodically with the surplus, and more spending money, ice creams while out with the kids etc.

Assets & Liabilities:

Debt: £GBP£ Balance

Mortgage Balance......................215k 26 years left

Value of house is £350k, mortgage rate 1.84% ... 5yr  fixed mortgage deal

AA Loan £1100 3.2% currently repaying £325 mnth - will be cleared with money around job change

M&S loan £9500 2.96% repaying £1140 / mnth - will be cleared with money around job change

TSB Credit Card £3104 0% til 09/21.............280 /mnth - will be cleared with money around job change

Natwest Credit Card £10674 0% til 03/22

Family loan £30k ... would love to work on this next

Total Debt......................£269k->----- £255k

Total debt excl Mortgage ....£54k ->----- £40k 

Current Account balances:

Daily current Account.........................£1682

Emergency Fund ...............................£0

Value of house: £380k (was bought in 2018 for £252k)

Value of owned car 1: £6k, 

Value of Caravan owned £10k

Mumoffourkids

My only comment would be looking at the increase in fuel between now and the job change, I would increase car maintenance as well. You have the spare money to increase your savings for car maintenance. £20 a month is only £240 per year. That’s not very much when you count in a mot test cost is around £40. I have a 9 year old Santa Fe that has done lower than average mileage but I put away £75 per month. I have just had to pay for a new battery at £120. And I have the mot and service coming up although I don’t expect that cost to be high as I had brakes and tyres done last year. Just my opinion though.

MrGorsky

Thanks.  Good point.  More mileage will mean more maintenance .... I've amended the above schedule.