10k to Ok!

spooky_skeleton

Well,

A year and a half ago I finally saught to take action on debt of around £24,000. Looking at this now it seems like a mammoth amount! :eek:

As many people on this forum will understand..much of the time you make a daily purchase and you tell yourself 'i'll put it on the credit card and will pay it off come payday.' Next month comes and low and behold something else pops up.

Back then I realised my situation (probably just in time) and my aim was to clear the 24k as soon as physically possible.

My debt was made up of:
- a mixture of credit cards (roughly £15k ...all 0% thankfully!) and
- taking out finance for my car (roughly 9k...also at 0%.. I will own the car in the end.)

I really thought I knew my outgoings but there were gaping holes when I went into detail...car servicing each year, boiler servicing, having no xmas fund built up throught the year etc etc.

I recalulated what I needed to set aside each month and started overpaying on the 24k debt.

A mixture a frugalness and determination allowed me to pay roughly half of my salary to the debt each month. After mortgage and bills I dont have a huge amount left over to enjoy myself each month..but hoping I can enjoy myself a little once its all paid off.

I now have 10k of debt remaining. Im immensely proud of what I have achieved so far...but also starting to waver recently. Less than a year to go but struggling a little mentally with the pressure of paying the debt off and not allowing myself some simple pleasures like getting my hair done or even going to a gig.

Have read the forum for years and would like to share my progress with you all

Dottles1

Welcome to the forum. I'm a bit of a lurker here myself but have picked up so many tips from other peoples diaries which have really helped.
Can I first say how well you've done so far in reducing your debt, you have obviously changed your spending habits quite a lot already.
I can understand how it feels to look forward and not see any fun on the horizon until the debt is paid, it can seem such a long way off. Can you complete a new SOA and reset your budget to give yourself a little leeway to include a "fun" pot in your budget? it might put your debt free date back a little but might make it easier to stick to. Also, have you anything you could sell to speed things up a bit?
Good luck on your journey, I'll be cheering you on.
Dottles

monz

Following good luck x

WantToBeSE

Hi Spooky!
I’m returning to the forums after a few years away. In that time I’ve racked up £10k of debt.
So we have a similar amount to clear.
Good luck!

FootyFanDan

Hi Spooky,

Just wanted to wish you luck on your journey

spooky_skeleton

Thank you guys, I was super anxious yesterday so was good to get that down.

Had a good long bath last night..which was great for mood..I also should add it is a free activity! :money:

Feeling better this morning...renegotiated my tv, broadband and phone cutting £25 a month off the bill for another year. Would cut way further but other half loves his sport (and to be fair he does give me the lions share of the cost to cover the extra).

Hi @Dolltles1 , thank you. We have both taken this week off work and have been clearing the house out. We kept aside a number if items and put them up on ebay..mostly clothes on my side. Got a number of sales so quite happy.

Unfortunatly anything I make will be offsetting the -£150
which I am down this month due to another 'unexpected cost' rearing its head! :eek: I had a small emergancy fund but we have needed to use it as my partners vehicle was stolen. Talk about bad luck. (It was recovered by the police but needs a number of repairs as the young ones that stole it really did throw it around :mad: ).

If I can reach the end of this month without being in my overdraft I will be very very happy.

Current sales of £30.50 brings overdraft down to -£119.50 ...getting there lol.

spooky_skeleton

Current SOA - some clarification in red

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet[/b]

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1 partner pays for his own vehicle

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1674
Partners monthly income after tax....... 220 My partner earns more than this..the portion I ask him to contibute covers a portion of food, Tv, internet, electric etc etc. We are planning to buy a house together in the very near future where costs will be equal..until then I would prefer to pay for my own mortgage etc
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1894

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 324 this will hopefully reduce by about £80 in Oct when my fixed rate ends
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 125 My car
Council tax............................. 54
Electricity............................. 25
Gas..................................... 35
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 15
Mobile phone............................ 35 This time last year I dropped and smashed my phone...I normally only pay £20 for a SIM however needed a new phone and didnt want to pay for one outright. Contract on this runs out next July
TV Licence.............................. 13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 30
Internet Services....................... 15
Groceries etc. ......................... 200 Have tried again and again to reduce this but usually this is what it ends up as.
Clothing................................ 20 If lucky!
Petrol/diesel........................... 65
Road tax................................ 3.33
Car Insurance........................... 74 Have only been driving for a few years.
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 25
Car parking............................. 6
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 15
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 15
Buildings insurance..................... 11
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 11
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 60 Learnt 2 years ago that putting away money for xmas throughout the year is a must. This also covers birthdays.
Haircuts................................ 6
Entertainment........................... 50
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 30
Boiler servicing........................ 3.33
Total monthly expenses.................. 1265.66


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 77000
Car(s).................................. 6500
Total Assets............................ 83500[/b]


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 56000....(324)......4.8
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 4000.....(125)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 60000.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Credit card 1..................500.......500.......0
Credit card 2..................6000......125.......0
Total unsecured debts..........6500......625.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,894
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,265.66
Available for debt repayments........... 628.34
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 625
Amount left after debt repayments....... 3.34

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 83,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -60,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -6,500
Net Assets.............................. 17,000

Phew! Obviously you can see I am overpaying on the debt..which is where most of my 'disposable income' is going.

Some people may ask why my partner isn't paying more...well I saved very hard for the deposit on my house and I wish to continue to have it as my own asset until we buy together...which doesn't look to be too far off. This is another reason why I would like the debt cleared if I am applying for another mortgage in the next year or so. :money:

savingholmes

Keep going, it will be worth it in the end.

So is the debt that you are paying £500 on - gone in 1 month of is that a typo?

The other thing you could consider is whether you could get a cheaper car or try to get a second job or do other things to up your income.

SH

beanielou

So soon you will just have a car loan & one credit card which is great