I'm not in debt, but I still need to do better

littlewarlock

Hi all

I left a financially and emotionally abusive relationship six years ago and since the start of 2019 I've been financially stable. I have no debt anymore other than a PCP car agreement (entered in SOA as "other travel" because I don't know where to put it). I'm not trying to boast, but more explain that I understand the dread and fear of having debt hang over you and the relief when you get out of it. When I look back at how I left the relationship, credit card debt and loands that were keeping me awake at night, all spent on groceries/nursery every month because my ex earned (at the time) £50k but had complete control of every penny. My credit history is really good luckily, no defaults, not CCJ's, no late payments. It's a miracle but I've come out unscathed. I'm in such a good place right now, new partner (2 years in, so not exactly new I guess). We've just moved in together. I have a 7 year old, no other kids.
My biggest fear is ending up relying on credit to get through the month like I used to have to, so I'm trying to find a balance between enjoying life (cheap gym membership etc, the odd dinner out) and not ending up in the sh*t again. I've posted my SOA.. if anyone could please help me to trim corners so I can save even more I'd appreciate it. I'm so frightened of ending up with that weight on my shoulders that I want to be as prepared as possible for anything that might happen.
All household bills are joint, they total £974 per month. We pay £500 each into a separate account for this, so I've only included my income, and put the £500 to rent. So please don't be alarmed that it looks like I don't have any CT, gas/elec etc! I get childcare vouchers so my after-school club cost is low because its taken off before my net pay reaches my bank. Child maintenance of £240pm. We both pay £105 into the joint for all groceries/cleaning products/toiletries etc.
My phone contract is up in August, so I'll be going sim only for about a tenner. Partner has his own personal bills that come out of his account. We keep everything else other than household/food bills separate.

Thanks all - feel like a doomsday prepper here!

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

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

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1578
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 240
Total monthly income.................... 1818

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 500
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 0
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 46.5
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 105
Clothing................................ 15
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 45
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 215
Childcare/nursery....................... 86
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 56
Haircuts................................ 5
Entertainment........................... 80
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 150
Total monthly expenses.................. 1393.5


Assets
Cash.................................... 364
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 364

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Total unsecured debts..........0.........0.........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,818
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,393.5
Available for debt repayments........... 424.5
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 424.5

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 364
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -0
Net Assets.............................. 364


Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.[/i]

D_M_E

Other travel £216 - can this be cut back? Walking for example?

Presents - can you shave a bit off here?

Entertainment - can this be cut in half, anything free locally you can go to as a family?

Emergency fund is an asset, is this included in your asset total?

Mnd

Other travel...They explained what this was in the original post!

Look at the mobile phone cost first of all

DCFC79

I think the car should be put in the Total HP and secured debt colum.


What does entertainment cover ?


Where do you do the grocery shop ?
Have you tried the discounters to see if any cheaper or dropping a brand ?



What about doing bank account switching (it might not be a regular thing but could add some extra funds to the emergency fund ), don't have to use an account already open, you can open up an account and then switch it after say a month or 2 and you get a switch bonus. There was 1 account where you could refer a friend and I think you both got a bonus, Nationwide was the bank I believe.

theoretica

By not listing how your household bills add up to £974 we can't look and see if there are any suggestions for reducing these.


What is happening to the £424 'left' at present? Is it just getting spent? On what? I think you need to look at it and decide how much is to spend and how much to save.


£15 for clothing you and the 7 year old?

EssexHebridean

Comments in red as usual...

littlewarlock wrote: »

Hi all

I left a financially and emotionally abusive relationship six years ago First up, well done for being strong enough to leave and since the start of 2019 I've been financially stable. I have no debt anymore other than a PCP car agreement (entered in SOA as "other travel" because I don't know where to put it). Maybe under "HP agreement" might be easiest? I'm not trying to boast, but more explain that I understand the dread and fear of having debt hang over you and the relief when you get out of it. When I look back at how I left the relationship, credit card debt and loands that were keeping me awake at night, all spent on groceries/nursery every month because my ex earned (at the time) £50k but had complete control of every penny. My credit history is really good luckily, no defaults, not CCJ's, no late payments. It's a miracle but I've come out unscathed. I'm in such a good place right now, new partner (2 years in, so not exactly new I guess). We've just moved in together. I have a 7 year old, no other kids.
My biggest fear is ending up relying on credit to get through the month like I used to have to, so I'm trying to find a balance between enjoying life (cheap gym membership etc, the odd dinner out) and not ending up in the sh*t again. I've posted my SOA.. if anyone could please help me to trim corners so I can save even more I'd appreciate it. I'm so frightened of ending up with that weight on my shoulders that I want to be as prepared as possible for anything that might happen. To a degree I think anyone who's reached the point of being DF probably can identify with feeling frightened of it all slipping away again - it does take a while to relax and find that balance
All household bills are joint, they total £974 per month. We pay £500 each into a separate account for this, so I've only included my income, and put the £500 to rent. So please don't be alarmed that it looks like I don't have any CT, gas/elec etc! I get childcare vouchers so my after-school club cost is low because its taken off before my net pay reaches my bank. Child maintenance of £240pm. We both pay £105 into the joint for all groceries/cleaning products/toiletries etc.
My phone contract is up in August, so I'll be going sim only for about a tenner. Partner has his own personal bills that come out of his account. We keep everything else other than household/food bills separate.

Thanks all - feel like a doomsday prepper here!

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

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

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1578
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 240
Total monthly income.................... 1818

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 500
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 0
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 46.5 Good plan to drop this to SIM only - might even be worth ringing your current provider now to notify them that you'll be leaving at the end of the contract - get an idea of a well priced SIM only deal from another provider that uses the same network you are currently on if you'[re with O2, EE, Vodaphone etc - and tell them that's where you're going as you like the network but not the cost. EE certainly will bend over backwards to keep you, match the deal you've found and may even waive the final bit of your contract to retain you at this stage.
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 105
Clothing................................ 15 Is this realistic? have you checked what you actually spend by the time any school uniforms/shoes etc is taken into account?
Petrol/diesel........................... 80 Have a read of the guide on the main site to driving economically.
Road tax................................ 0 Zero road tax?
Car Insurance........................... 45 Have you checked you
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10 Not sure this is realistic depending what's included in the PCP - think about servicing, tyres, screenwash, wiper blades etc. Assume no MoT as the car is under three years old? Also start thinking about saving for any balloon payment that will be due at the end of the PCP deal to retain the car rather than signing up to another PCP.
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 215
Childcare/nursery....................... 86
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 56 Do yo definitely put this aside each month as your cash assets appear quite low is this money is being saved? It is also quite a high annual amount assuming that there is some contribution from your partner also?
Haircuts................................ 5
Entertainment........................... 80
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 150 Again, make sure you're actually saving this - your cash assets don't seem to reflect that you are...
Total monthly expenses.................. 1393.5


Assets
Cash.................................... 364
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 364

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Total unsecured debts..........0.........0.........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,818
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,393.5
Available for debt repayments........... 424.5
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 424.5

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 364
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -0
Net Assets.............................. 364


Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.[/i]

OK - so £424 a month spare - first thing to question yourself on is where is that money - that's over £5,000 a year so definitely worth being sure you have it accounted for. If you don't have that sum left in the bank each month then either it's being frittered on stuff, it's going on necessary stuff that you've forgotten about, or possibly you've underestimate some of your spends - groceries and fuel are prime candidates here - also clothing. A spending diary for a while might be helpful to let you track.

Definitely work towards paying insurances etc upfront and then setting money aside monthly through the year to cover the next year's premiums - the credit cost can be quite a large proportion of some car insurance monthly payments so this is well worth addressing - if your renewal isn't for a while yet then start making sure you put aside money from your surplus now to cover it when it is due.

littlewarlock

Hi all
Thank you for taking the time to reply. I've had a best friend pass away and I'm not quite in the right frame of mind to think about finances at the minute unfortunately. Thank you again, I'll come back and sort this when my heads a bit clearer. Thank you.

MallyGirl

Take care and come back when the time is right

EssexHebridean

Ahh I'm so sorry, we'll see you back when you're ready then.