Too old to be this stupid and with debts

AnnMiddleton

Hi everyone,

I have lurked in this forum for a while and wanted to start my own little thread to confess my financial sins. Feel overwhelmed and a bit stupid but have finally woken up and want to try to make things better for my future.

I am 47 and single, no kids and have a job which is really full on but OK paid although there is always a feeling of redundancy might be around the corner so you can never relax. I currently rent but would love to buy a little 1 bed flat as I recently moved somewhere where a mortgage is cheaper than the rent - I just need to clear down my debts and save for a deposit which I want to do this year and next year.

I do feel that I have most things that I need, and I have recently started to just use cash for groceries/entertainment and have cut up my credit cards. I have a hols booked for over Xmas which is on the credit cards and I can survive quite cheaply while abroad (I eat street food etc and avoid the booze).

I have my SOA below - any help would be so gratefully appreciated from anyone more savvy than myself - all my friend's have their mortgages paid off, have holiday homes, great pensions - I have hardly anything in pensions and it's beginning to dawn on me how stupid and frivolous I was in my 20's, 30's and early 40's (although I did have a good time at the time) - it is like you blink and you are suddenly middle-aged! Trying not to feel like a complete dork.

My plan is to pay off the debts asap, and next year save for a deposit with intention to buy . property in January 2021, then focus on building up my pension (already in one at work although only put in the minimum). Does anyone have an opinion on this?

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2828
Total monthly income.................... 2828

Monthly Expense Details[/b]
Rent.................................... 620
Help to Buy ISA payment ...... 200
Council tax............................. 102
Electricity............................. 36
Water rates............................. 19
Mobile phone............................ 22
TV Licence.............................. 12.83
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 10
Internet Services....................... 23
Groceries etc. ......................... 125
Clothing................................ 25
Other travel............................ 75
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 25
Haircuts................................ 75
Entertainment........................... 80
Holiday................................. 120
Emergency fund.......................... 150 - have just started to save this amount
Total monthly expenses.................. 1729.83

Assets
Help to Buy ISA total............ 6600

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Halifax........................289.......100.......0 (the 0% ends in Jan 2020)
Tesco..........................1753......250.......0 (the 0% ends in July 2020)
Post Office....................3632......700.......0 (the 0% ends in April 2021)
Total unsecured debts..........5674......1050...... (the debt repayments are what I have come up with, the debt was £8k a few months ago, been working hard to get it down).

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,828
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,729.83
Available for debt repayments........... 1,098.17
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,050
Amount left after debt repayments....... 48.17

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 6,600
Total Unsecured debt.................... -5,674
Net Assets.............................. 926

Thank you so much for listening

MovingForwards

Council tax - that paid over 12 months?

Electric - switch everything off and unplug when not in use (obviously not fridge / freezer).

If you don't watch live TV / iPlayer get rid of the licence.

If £10 for sky / cable is Netflix pick the budget package and save a few quid a month.

Stop buying clothes each month and just wear what you have, replace as necessary.

Other travel - is that bus pass / train pass? See if it's cheaper getting a yearly one and paying monthly.

Presents - spend less especially as you do not have kids to buy for, adults can have a token gift if that.

Haircuts - go less often, if hair colour is included DIY!

Means you can increase your debt payments, pay them off quicker and get your home.

TommyTBFC

Hi,

Well done for having the “penny dropping” moment, the trick is to keep the penny dropped!

The hair cuts, holidays & entertainment stick out for me! Don’t seem too much on the surface but it amounts to 3.3k a year. This could be used to throw at your debts.

jinkssick

Sorry to be blunt.

presents-- make you own or hit the charity shops-- 0
haircuts - cut your own hair or go to cheapo £8
entertainment - should be 0
clothing - wear what you own 0
emergency - how much do you already have set aside? use that then to chip at 5674 debt



25+68+80+25+150: 348

Post office gets min. payments per month. Forget about that, leave that til last.
Attack Halifax, as that will be done by Aug 2019. Tesco next.
Most crucially what is the APR on £5674 debt?

dan958

AnnMiddleton wrote: »

I have a hols booked for over Xmas which is on the credit cards

That is part of your issue. Holidays are a luxury, not a given. Clear off your debts, save for a bit, THEN have a holiday.

Haircuts and entertainment are also very high.

Your groceries can be brought down a bunch with a bit of hard work and research into cheap healthy eating ( https://www.reddit.com/r/EatCheapAndHealthy/)

It is going to be difficult to suddenly change your way of live and go frugal, but your bank account will thank you for it.

AnnMiddleton

Thanks so much for the replies, I really appreciate it.

My council tax is only £85 a month on average (I only pay it for 10 months in a year) - thanks so much for pointing that out.

I will look to cut down in the other fields so I can (hopefully, fingers crossed) be debt free by the end of 2019, it would feel like such an achievement.

Luckily I love where I have moved to, such a change from a big city, so next year I can cut out having a holiday altogether.

With the entertainment, it is £20 per week which I use to go out in the new town every Saturday evening - I don't really know anyone and there is a cute micro-pub where you don't feel weird for being a woman out on your own and it is a great way to get out of the house and meet new friends, it has a good crowd in there although maybe I can go out once a fortnight instead of weekly.

Thanks again, you have given me lots to think about ... I will also start a diary where I can track all my repayments. I really appreciate it.

AnnMiddleton

Hi jinkssick - the APR is 0% on all cards/debt atm - Halifax until Jan 2020, Tesco until July 2020 and Post Office until April 2021 so a bit of time.

And the bluntness is much appreciated - I really value people's advice and it is great to have the pointers.

Karonher

I would cut back a lot over the next couple of months - miss haircut, miss one night out and no clothing, cut £25 off food budget and eat what you have in. That would give you £75 + £20 + £25 + £25 = £145. That way Halifax could be paid off a month early and the extra £100 could go towards paying off Tesco.

After that could you keep the haircut at once every other month and the food budget to £100 would mean an additional £60+ each month to go off the Tesco card. That could be gone by the end of the year.

By January you may just owe a few hundred on the Post Office card.

Willing2Learn

Hi,

Just wanted to say well done on reducing unsecured debts from 8K to 5.6K in just a few months. You said "the debt repayments are what I have come up with", so it is great that you have been working hard on busting down those debts.

I was wondering though, you don't appear to have budgeted for home contents insurance. You really need this, just in case the worst happens...

JayRitchie

How much would a one bed flat cost?

AnnMiddleton

JayRitchie wrote: »

How much would a one bed flat cost?

Hi Jay, you can pick up a 1 bed flat from about £85k where I live, I don't need anything fancy - just so I feel secure and I would also need to get furniture etc.