My New Getting rid of unsecured Debt in 2008 Diary

dsljfreeman

I'm starting a new diary as I seem to have lost the other one :rolleyes:

Just a little update to what has been going on since my lbm - October 2008

Total Outgoings at lbm £1710.16
Total Debt at lbm £45,917.53

Total debt as of November 2008 - £44,677.90
~ Secured Loan - £33,000
~ Overdraft - £5700
~ Credit cards - £5977.90

My personal mission or challenge for 2008 is to clear all the unsecured debt, so to help me keep motivated I have joined a few challenges:
~Pania's £11.5k by Xmas 2008 Challenge
~Doodledo's clear a debt by April 08 Challenge - I aim to clear £1k

I religiously visit Quidco and Pigsback, I've only been a member of Quidco for a month and have accumulated approx £239 cashback.

I have the overdraft with Natwest, but have swapped to a current account with Alliance and Leicester - just a shame I didn't know about Quidco at the time or I could have got cashback for that too.

Now time for my updated soa, there will be savings to be made and I am working on it, so feel free to comment how you wish.
Incoming ~
Hubby's wages - £1040 ~ this is basic, he has been known to earn up to £280 per week but if I budget using his basic then I can't go wrong.
My wages - £443 ~ this is smp, will be the same each month til July 2008
Child benefit - £72.40
Tax Credits - £40.95 ~ both of these benefits will go up when our baby arrives, but I don't know by how much, the baby is due Boxing Day :rotfl:
Basic Total £1596.35

Outgoing ~
Mortgage - £376.19
CSA - £165.81
TV - £11.37
Loan - £403.90
Electric - £29.00
Gas - £55.00
Council Tax - £107 ~ This includes 1 months arrears. In April this will go down to approx £72
Internet - £18.00
Buildings/Contents - £25.46
Phone - £50.00 ~ This is high b'cos I ring hubby on his mobile when he's at work, I'm trying really hard to get this right down though.
Life Insurance - £13.00
Water - £32.55
Motorbike Insurance - £6.13
Alliance cc - £63.00
Vanquis cc - £50.00
Adams cc - £30.00
Natwest cc - £26.00
Overdraft - £87.00
Food Shopping - £80
Total Outgoing - £1629.41

I know the outgoings are higher, but like I said, hubby earns more than the basic, plus he gets paid weekly so we never see the deficit every month.

Hubby rides an 80cc motorbike to work and back and doesn't have to pay for petrol.

We never go out unless there is money left over after everything is paid, which is so rare these days, we get our hair cut for free, I buy birthday cards from our local shop which cost about 15p each and if there is a birthday coming up which we have to shell out for then hubby will bang in lots of hours for the extra pennies.

The bottom line is if we don't have the money we don't buy anything, our family know the situation we are in and are very understanding.

But saying that we do always have money left over at the end of the week, but instead of treating ourselves or wasting it, we will either throw it at the debts or as I've been doing recently buying xmas presents, I'm really proud of the fact that this is the first year that xmas presents haven't been bought with credit, it's all been hard earned cash.

Now what's left to do is throw every single spare penny at reducing our debts, if we were to clear all our unsecured debt in 2008 that would free up £256 per month which we could use for paying off our huge loan.

I would love to hear everyone's comments so feel free, the only thing I will say is our credit rating is shot (thank god) so we can't apply for a 0% cc to transfer balances or anything like that.

I'm sorry it's been a long intro but thought I'd give everyone the lowdown.

Thanks for looking

Laura xx

dsljfreeman

Hubby and I were talking about our total debts last night and how good it will feel once we are debt free, so much so we've come up with a plan, it's not as dfw as I'd like but as we're in it for the long haul, I think our plan will help with our state of mind too.

Currently as it stands, every single spare penny we get it thrown at our debts, we never go out, we don't buy ourselves new clothes, I cut hubby's and ds's hair and mine is getting so long now it gets shoved up into a bun, to cut a long story short we have no disposable income.

The first step is to work our butt's off to clear our credit card debts first, once these are paid off that will free up £169 pm, with this amount we will put £100 towards overpaying on the overdraft to clear that, the rest of the money will be for anything we need or possibly want.

When the overdraft is paid off that will free up another £187 plus the £69 spare each month = £256 pm (are you still with me ) with this amount we will use £150 towards overpaying our loan and the rest will be to spend as needed.

When the loan is paid off that will free up £659 inc the spare money each month, we will use £400 each month to overpaying on the mortgage, leaving £250 spare.

We have decided to do it this way with spare money each month b'cos as our kids get older they will need more and it will just be nice to overpay on the debts plus have money for treats every month.

It's been so long since we've been able to enjoy a weekend away as a family, we've never been abroad before, all our holidays have been taken at my mum's caravan.

Laura x

Sea78

I think that;s a very sensible way - otherwise you'll never stick to it and will just resent the debt (and probably each other!)

How have you managed to accumulate so much through Quidco?!!
Sea xxx

Scarlett.1974

I think it's a great idea too. Yes, we're all debt busting, but you need to have a life too, or, as sea has said, you could well end up resenting each other. As long as those treat are budgeted for then you can't go far wrong

Best of luck to you, I for one will be following your diary with interest (that reminds me, haven't updated mine for a few days now, oooops!).

Scarlett xx

dsljfreeman

Hello Sea :j

I used Quidco to swap buildings/contents and got £120 from Lloyds, swapped my Life insurance to Legal & General and got £80, the rest is by signing up to various newsletters and websites.

Sometimes I still can't believe how much I've accumulated either but I'm happy

Laura xx

meyore

Well done with the buying the Christmas presents without credit-thats one of my big achievements this year and its something you should be proud of. How come it escaped my attention up til now you're pregnant! I've been a bit blond recently... So share-how have you made so much on quidco!
Xx

CRANKY40

Don't forget to let the CSA know when your baby arrives.....

dsljfreeman

Scarlett.1974 wrote: »

I think it's a great idea too. Yes, we're all debt busting, but you need to have a life too, or, as sea has said, you could well end up resenting each other. As long as those treat are budgeted for then you can't go far wrong

Best of luck to you, I for one will be following your diary with interest (that reminds me, haven't updated mine for a few days now, oooops!).

Scarlett xx

Hi Scarlett :j

Totally agree with you both, it's really hard on us as a couple to have no money, but it was our fault we ran up so much debt in the first place, so there is bound to be consequences, but as we work hard at paying them off then it would be nice to have money to spend.

How are you getting on anyway?

xx

dsljfreeman

meyore wrote: »

Well done with the buying the Christmas presents without credit-thats one of my big achievements this year and its something you should be proud of. How come it escaped my attention up til now you're pregnant! I've been a bit blond recently... So share-how have you made so much on quidco!
Xx

Thanks Meyore,

Must have crossed posts, for Quidco, see above

xx

meyore

Yeah I just noticed that sorry! Told you I was being blond recently...

dsljfreeman

CRANKY40 wrote: »

Don't forget to let the CSA know when your baby arrives.....

We've spent the last 4 years sorting out the payments with the csa, they are !!!!!!s and thats putting it kindly, I worked out how much it would be when we have 2 kids and it only worked out £10 cheaper a month, can you believe our new baby will only be worth £10 a month, the cheek

xx