My soa

MovingForwards

I don't think your car budget is realistic, I spent over £400 on MOT and repairs, you could spend that just on tyres. If you give us a clue as to the age of your car we can suggest a more realistic figure.

I'm with the others on date night, that is a lot of money and you could have a really nice holiday once a year AND pay more off your debt. Date night can be a restaurant, it can be a log cabin out of season and in winter that could involve an open fire. Date night can be a picnic in the park in summer. It can be walking round the Highlands, or visiting the museum. (My date night consists of chippy night, or a BBQ on the beach even during a Scottish winter, a couple of drinks, some music and cuddles while passing it off as dancing).

Why have you cancelled your savings? That is a priority over date night, you need emergency money for any...well... emergency.

You are listening, but not listening, to the help offered.

You want to have fun, but you admit you are scared to cut up the credit cards, you say your job isn't secure, but you cancel your savings plan.

Live for today if you want, but you must have a solid back up plan.

Its not meant to sound harsh, but it's supposed to be a reality check.

vintagegirl

I haven’t cancelled my savings. I have cancelled my £250
For the next 4 months to
Priorities barclaycard being paid off.
I have 3 trips booked that CAnt be cancelled so I’m
Budget the £300
Per month for them
So
I don’t use my savings if that makes sense.
I have a trip
In jan feb and March

monetxchange

Okay, a few positives. You’ve got £6k saved - so that can act as your emergency fund (eg fixing boiler, car breaks down) and a disaster fund (ie few months wage if you lost your job). So that step is done. Please don’t be tempted to s spend these savings now.

I don’t think you and the debt free maniacs like myself are ever going to agree on how you choose to spend your money, so I’ll just leave that to your discretion. But make sure you check you’re on best tariffs etc. Ensure you stay the savings again when you’re debt free.

My income also varies month to month, so I’d suggest doing a fresh SOA every month. Any surplus you end up with due to a good month commission wise PLEASE chuck at the debt. Get it paid the day after you get paid so it doesn’t disappear. Maybe consider only doing the date night budget on months where you get decent commission? Slow months could be a bottle of wine and a takeaway?

Another quick thing - any reason why you and your spouse don’t pool your income and do joint accounting? This paying for half of things can get messy. It’s good to be on the same page as a team when debt clearing.

SusieT

vintagegirl wrote: »

I haven’t cancelled my savings. I have cancelled my £250
For the next 4 months to
Priorities barclaycard being paid off.
I have 3 trips booked that CAnt be cancelled so I’m
Budget the £300
Per month for them
So
I don’t use my savings if that makes sense.
I have a trip
In jan feb and March

Well done getting rid of 2 of them, there will be a bit of residual interest next month, but that will be minimal. Barclays also is high interest, but you have that covered and it will be gone soon so just make sure you stick to that plan and you will be well on your way to getting it all paid off.
It sounds as if your date night is more entertainment and holiday, and as you have got rid of 2 debts its not so "out of place" as it was originally. Just make sure you put it to one side so that its there to pay for the trips, and you do not need to use a card for them again.
Having a card for S75 protection and using when you have the funds to pay it off in full is not a problem, its when you let the balance build up that there is a problem.
Not long before you have money in the bank to pay for things you want, and not needing to pay hundreds or thousands in interest.

On_my_way

vintagegirl said:

monetxchange wrote: »

I get that it's a nice thing to do, but you can't afford it. You're £8,000 in debt. Spending £300+ on a date night holiday each month probably has much to do with that debt. It's just not maintainable, at least not until you've cleared the money you owe.

Out of interest, how much do you get for your money? Are you just getting a night/weekend away on your £300 (plus your partner's addition)? If you want to continue budgeting this amount, at least have a look into maximising what you get. Nice Air BnBs and country walks and a pub lunch a couple of times a month wouldn't even come to half this.

People seem to be hung up on the term 'date night.'
What that includes is lunches at work, dinners out, trips abroad and spending money when we are there.
I have been here before with paying things off and then running them up again, i suppose the only way really to avoid this is to cancel the cards but im scared of that,
and if im honest, my job isnt that stable. I work in sales so im scared if i lost my job and ive spend all my savings what do i do then?

I think people are saying that you can't afford to have dinners out, trips abroad and overall spending. 

DCFC79

vintagegirl said:

I haven’t cancelled my savings. I have cancelled my £250
For the next 4 months to
Priorities barclaycard being paid off.
I have 3 trips booked that CAnt be cancelled so I’m
Budget the £300
Per month for them
So
I don’t use my savings if that makes sense.
I have a trip
In jan feb and March

Live frugally when on the trips.

GaleSF63

vintagegirl said  "i am in scotland so dont pay water rates."

In case anyone is wondering what we are getting away with, we do pay water rates but it's done through the council and is listed on our council tax bills not paid direct to Scottish Water. 

Stateofart

Andyjflet said:

£300 a month date night when you have £8k in debt payments ? Have you discovered Dave Ramsey ? , It will change your life.

Dave Ramsey would tear you a new one if he found out OP were blowing a fifth of your wages every month whilst in debt!

Rice and beans, until the debt is clear, that's what he would say!

Sea_Shell

Put your credit cards in a Tupperware container, fill with water, freeze!!

Then you won't be tempted or able to use them, at short notice, giving you time to rethink that "must have" purchase!