Time to sort it out!

Enoughisenough

Hi,

I'm new here (sort of!) and starting this diary to try and keep myself accountable and remind myself of progress made on tough days...and I know there will be tough days! I was originally here way back in 2009. In the 10 years since, we have managed to wipe out the progress we made and (rather spectacularly!) double our debt :eek:

Lots of things have changed in the last ten years, though not our ability to waste money. That has to change now though and hence I'm back!

We started trying to make changes at the beginning of July and the plan at the moment is as follows:

Clear main overdraft of £1,050 (on track to do this by the end of August)

Build up an emergency fund (thinking we should probably have £1,000)

Pay off Barclaycard (£10,098.07)

Pay off Tesco credit card (approx. £11,500)

Pay off Capital One credit card (approx. £11,000)

Pay off Halifax credit card (£3,020.95)

Pay off Very account (£2,084.87)

Total debt at start around £38,753.89 :eek:

The order of payments might change as I find out more accurately the different interest rates and actual amounts (need to get online access sorted which means details being posted and is taking a bit of time). I'm also in the process of moving £10,000 from the Barclaycard and £7,000 from the Tesco card to 0% balance cards so that will alter things a bit too.

I'm using YNAB (an old version I bought way back so no cost) to try to keep track of my budget and really need to get DH on board more with keeping track of spends or it's going to prove difficult. It's not that he isn't with me on paying down the debts, he's just not as interested in the actual realities of keeping track!

Next steps to get done asap:

1. Cancel DD1 phone contract (approx £60 month as the little darling went ahead an added on a ton of extra data without mentioning it and I was too lax to check the bills)
2. [STRIKE]Look at changing energy provider to reduce cost of electric/gas (currently paying £180 month!!!!)[/STRIKE] Changed and new DD should be around £123/month, a saving of £57!
3. Look at changing home insurance
4. Consider changing pet insurance (though this terrifies me as our last dog wasn't insured and got very sick = massive bills very quickly)
5. Price up changing car insurance
6. Cancel my union membership and change to one offering the first year free

It's going to be a long road and bumpy road but it's one we have to travel now before we get to a point we can't sort it :beer:

beanielou

Happy shiny new diary

savingholmes

Good luck on your journey. You can do it - just take one step at a time, trim your costs and look to up your income...

Enoughisenough

Time to update the to-do list

Next steps to get done asap:

1. [STRIKE]Cancel DD1 phone contract (approx £60 month as the little darling went ahead an added on a ton of extra data without mentioning it and I was too lax to check the bills)[/STRIKE] Done
2. [STRIKE]Look at changing energy provider to reduce cost of electric/gas (currently paying £180 month!!!!)[/STRIKE] Changed and new DD should be around £123/month, a saving of £57!
3. [STRIKE]Look at changing home insurance[/STRIKE] Runs out in October so will change then
4. Consider changing pet insurance (though this terrifies me as our last dog wasn't insured and got very sick = massive bills very quickly)
5. [STRIKE]Price up changing car insurance[/STRIKE] Renewal date 17-9-19 so will look at changing for then.
6. [STRIKE]Cancel my union membership and change to one offering the first year free[/STRIKE] Done

Lots to get done today.

[STRIKE]Update YNAB[/STRIKE]

Need to go to the solicitors to give them my ID (selling mum's house as she's had to go in to a residential home )

Take some biohazard bins in to the doctors for disposal

Visit MIL

Want to finally go through my old uni files and get rid of them

Also want to visit some other people's diaries, always good for inspiration and would be good to make some money-saving buddies to chat with. Have a good day anyone who drops by :wave:

beanielou

:wave:
Have a good day

Enoughisenough

Quick update:

Have managed to get through some of the to do list:

[STRIKE]Update YNAB[/STRIKE]

[STRIKE]Need to go to the solicitors to give them my ID (selling mum's house as she's had to go in to a residential home[/STRIKE] ) Done and now waiting to hear when I can collect the deeds to send on to the conveyancy solicitor

[STRIKE]Take some biohazard bins in to the doctors for disposal[/STRIKE]

[STRIKE]Visit MIL[/STRIKE] Turns out MIL is sick so avoiding until she's better! Don't want to get sick in the holidays!

Want to finally go through my old uni files and get rid of them

Also managed to sort access to the Capital One credit card account to get definite figures. I'd estimated it had a balance of around £11,000, turns out the balance is actually £8,928.39. Over £2,000 less than I thought :j Means our total starting debt was £36,682.28 not £38,753.89. Still horrendous but very slightly less so :rotfl:

Thinking I might treat myself to a washing line...ours broke ages ago and we've been using the tumble dryer ever since. I can get one for £10 and I'm thinking that I'll soon save that on electricity.

Was meant to be going out tonight for dinner and drinking to say goodbye to a friend who is moving abroad. This has now been cancelled and changed to a breakfast date instead - bound to be cheaper, bonus! Going to the pub with a different friend but will be driving so on free refill soft drinks, £2ish for the whole night :T I've already committed to a meal out on Friday (works leaving do) and think I'll drive again to save a bit. Part of me thinks I shouldn't be spending any money on going out but I know that if we deprive ourselves completely we're more likely to quit.

Thinking I need to do a new SOA and snowball calculation when I get all my correct figures. Struggling to work out the different interest rates on the credit cards, anyone know how to calculate this? Capital One states on the bill what the apr. is but some give it as a monthly figure :undecided Any help much appreciated.

twiggy86

Just wanted to say hi! Not sure re the interest but are you sure the apr isn't buried somewhere on the statement? (I've just had to look mine up and know it was somewhere in amongst all the small text!) Good luck!

Enoughisenough

Hi :wave:
Good thinking, will have a check! Thank you

Enoughisenough

Ok, trying to be proactive (and brave!) so have done a SOA... Some of these figures will change as I'm doing the credit card shuffle to move some of the debt to 0% and the Tesco figure is a best guess while I wait for new online banking info to come through. Here it is...

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 4
Number of cars owned.................... 2 Unavoidable as need both for work

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1618.74
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1896.67
Benefits................................ 267.8 Child benefit
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3783.21

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0 Very lucky this is paid off
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 101
Electricity/Gas............................. 180 In the process of changing so the £180 for gas/electric should drop a bit and then further in May after the 'winter uplift'
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 48.73
Telephone (land line)................... 0 included with internet
Mobile phone............................ 164.66 This is ridiculous even though it covers 7 people. Have already cancelled DD17s as was out of contract and that should save about £60/mth, need to look at the others too
TV Licence.............................. 12.83
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 9.99 Netflix and worth every penny to keep hubby and kids quiet!
Internet Services....................... 35.99 In contract for ages as yet
Groceries etc. ......................... 600 Think we spend more than this but hoping this is a reasonable budget???
Clothing................................ 30
Petrol/diesel........................... 300 DH has to travel for work so can't cut this unfortunately
Road tax................................ 20 Guess as paid last years in full
Car Insurance........................... 83.42 Renewal in October and will be changing - quotes look like a saving of around £20/mth
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 50
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 90 Kids school bus fares - DH drives them when possible as cheaper but still costs about this
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 43.34 'Pocket money' of £10/wk for DS who's in uni
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 30 Pre-payment certificate (me) and 2 teenage girls with disposable contact lenses
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 101.99 I know this is ridiculous and i need to change it
Buildings & contents insurance..................... 19.23 Renewal in September and quotes look like I can save about £10/mth
Life assurance ......................... 16.28
Other insurance......................... 24.13 Boiler and heating cover
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50
Haircuts................................ 5 Friend cuts mine and the others don't get done often
Entertainment........................... 0 Will need to put something in here when i know better where we're at
Holiday................................. 0 One day...
Emergency fund.......................... 100
Union fees ............................. 22.41 Me and DH - have just changed my union and will get a year free so that will save £6ish a month
Total monthly expenses.................. 2139


Assets
Cash.................................... 1892.51
House value (Gross)..................... 95000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 5000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 101892.51

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Barclaycard....................10098.....227.2.....15.95
Tesco..........................11500.....221.......18.9
Capital One....................8928.39...242.6.....20.83
Very...........................2084.87...145.9.....26.9
Halifax........................3124.02...103.......16.2

Thank you Twiggy for the advice about finding APRs

Next step to snowball I guess....

ohdearhowdidthathappen

Looks good, surplus of £700 a month even before you bring down some of the highlighted amounts.
I'd be aiming for the Very one first, smallest amount and highest APR. Then it would be Capital One (if looking at APR) or Halifax (if you wanted to clear an individual debt quicker).
Is there any chance of shifting to lower APR cards at all?
Hopefully the snowball calculator gives you a nice outcome on your projected DFD!!

Enoughisenough

Thanks Just goes to show how much money we've been wasting!

I've managed to transfer £7,200 of the Tesco card and £10,000 of the Barclaycard to 0%. Did it before I'd really looked at the figures which was a mistake as I should have got rid of the Capital One balance first. I might be able to transfer between £800 and £1,000 from the Capital One but not sure if it will be worth it? Advice appreciated Hoping Barclaycard may offer a balance transfer deal in a few months. They used to be good at offering deals but don't know if that's still the case as we've had the balance on there for quite a while now. If not, I'll try and get a new deal somewhere in a few months. How long should you leave it between applications ideally? Just took out a new card to get the 0% deal.

Snowball says 26 months to pay everything off as it stands. Will adjust it as the balances actually move across

I've been having a little read through of some of the diaries. Any recommendations of any that I should subscribe to?

Hope everyone is having a good day :hello: