Back in Debt, a bump in the road

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

SOA....

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2056.35
Total monthly income.................... 2056.35

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 101 Paid over 10 months
Electricity............................. 28
Gas..................................... 28
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 32.31
Telephone (land line)................... 15.9
Mobile phone............................ 10
TV Licence.............................. 0 Dont watch live TV
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 5.99Netflix
Internet Services....................... 0 Inc in phone bill above
Groceries etc. ......................... 150 Incs dog food, cleaning supplies etc for 1A, 2C, 2Dogs
Clothing................................ 10
Petrol/diesel........................... 120Cannot lower this, should reduce but only slightly when i start working from home
Road tax................................ 11
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 15 New car, just passed MOT
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 190
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0 I'm medical excempt
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 571.98 These are the horses, it looks a lot, actually it is a lot, but when you look at what we get for the money, its actually quite cheap.
Buildings insurance..................... 9.5 Includes contents
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 40
Haircuts................................ 0 Done maybe once every 4 months by a friend lol
Entertainment........................... 0 See horses!
Holiday................................. 40
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Loan Repayment.......................... 134.63
School trips............................ 10
Coal.................................... 43
Boiler Service.......................... 4.58
Total monthly expenses.................. 1705.89


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,056.35
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,665.89
Available for debt repayments........... 390.46
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 390.46

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

What i am currently doing, it the standing orders I dont NEED right now (such as coal) is going straight towards my debts

Yes, the biggest factor in our life is the horses. I know this, and I know that it would be so SO much cheaper to get rid of them. However, the payment for these are manageable, Had I not of gotten into debt again!

The Child costs - My girls compete on their horses. The cost is for the parking of our trailer, their weekly lessons (1 a week per child), entry fees. Yes, they get a lot, but come the school holidays i dont have to pay child care, as they are at the stables. In the 6 weeks holiday, they arent asking me for money for the cinema/swimming/ice skating/whatever else their friends are up to, as My 2 are at the stables

middleclassbutpoor

Getting out of debt is an emotional and mathematical problem.

From a mathematical perspective, it makes sense to reduce your outgoings £572 a month (£6,864) per year and add the overpayment you have and you could clear the debt.

I doubt you would spend the near £7k a year on entertaining them on school holidays though if you didn't have the horses. This is where the emotional aspect comes in.

You know that £4,500 a year is going to take you longer to clear. It's a decision you need to make, or have already made. - Rather than go without for 18 months whilst you clear out the mess, you would prefer to take longer.

If you can increase your income by £500 per month, this could allow you to do the same as getting rid of your horses. But you could then clear in less than a year if you did.

Nobody can tell you what is right for you but don't lie to yourself around justifying a cost for your children being the reason you are doing something when clearly you could provide your children entertainment in the holidays for less than the cost of the horses.

I'm not having a go about the choice you are making but its all about balance and how far you want to take it and ensure you are doing it for the right reasons.

For me, I have taken longer than I could have working through my debt so I get it but having cleared £50k in around 2.5 years, it could have been done more quickly. Just be sure you are mentally ready for the longer journey.

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

I know you aren't having a go

In theory though, if you just take in child care for 3 days I work currently:

Childcare where I live is £38 per child, per day. In the 13 weeks school holiday a year, that's over 8.5k for 3 days a week.

But I see what you're saying. If the horses were the reason for the debt, they'd be gone. But they aren't. I went through a really bad time, with work, my health and then a break up pushed me over the edge and I spent on things I wouldn't normally and didn't check my bank.

My main concern, right not, is clearing the Barclaycard. Then I'll move into the debt with the lowest 0%. Hopefully by then I'll have built up a bit more on my credit report and can debt shift to 0% again, if not, I'll attack the highest APR and continue

The above figures doesn't take into account a new wage, or the bonuses I get through work (as these aren't gauranteed). The shopping bill, at least for the next 2 months will be dramatically reduced as we are eating from the freezer (both indoor freezer and chest freezer are full) and things like coal, doesn't need purchasing until at least Jul/Aug for winter and that's over budgeted. I've started getting logs/wood for free from people throwing them away so I can use them too instead of coal

I know it's not going to be a quick fix, but I'm happy with my lightbulb moment and the things I've started to do ready

Archergirl

2 months of no council tax, wack that onto your Barclaycard as well.........it's getting there, well done x

monetxchange

How much coal are you using? £43 a month seems high. I use the £4 10kg bags you can get in most supermarkets like Asda this time of year. Home Bargains and Lidl also has £3.99 logs - pack of six, but need to be halved to use one a night to get the coal going. I bought 20 packs at the start of autumn and they’re still going.

Is it just one room you’re heating with the fire? Any chance using the heating would work out cheaper?

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

Archergirl wrote: »

2 months of no council tax, wack that onto your Barclaycard as well.........it's getting there, well done x

Yep! And water rates too

monetxchange wrote: »

How much coal are you using? £43 a month seems high. I use the £4 10kg bags you can get in most supermarkets like Asda this time of year. Home Bargains and Lidl also has £3.99 logs - pack of six, but need to be halved to use one a night to get the coal going. I bought 20 packs at the start of autumn and they’re still going.

Is it just one room you’re heating with the fire? Any chance using the heating would work out cheaper?

We usually buy the coal from the coal man (a sack of coal for £12/25kg) its a bit more expensive as we are in a smokeless area

In all honesty, we don't use £43 a month. I ordered 10 bags of coal on 21st Dec (1/4 of a ton - 250kg), we probably have half a bag left. Unless the weather turns massively i doubt we will be ordering any more until the summer. However it does massively reduced our gas bill. In December my gas heating bill was £23 as we barely had the radiators on as the fire kept the house warm

What I'm going to be doing is shifting the "coal money" onto the CC but i will keep the coal bunker topped up just in case we have bad weather.

monetxchange

I also use smokeless. It’s £4 a 10kg bag from the supermarkets or cheap shops so £12 for 30kg. Might be worth considering next year instead of the coal man as you seem to be paying more to buy in bulk!

How old are your girls? I’d think about maybe preparing on how to manage horse expenses when they maybe get a bit older and want to hang out with friends more instead of entire weekends and holidays at the stables, hence you’ll need to come up with money for them to socialise on top of that. Might be a good savings pot to start - future horse expenses/pocket money. Or have a hard think about if they lost interest and if you’d be able to consider going down to one etc.

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

monetxchange wrote: »

I also use smokeless. It’s £4 a 10kg bag from the supermarkets or cheap shops so £12 for 30kg. Might be worth considering next year instead of the coal man as you seem to be paying more to buy in bulk!

How old are your girls? I’d think about maybe preparing on how to manage horse expenses when they maybe get a bit older and want to hang out with friends more instead of entire weekends and holidays at the stables, hence you’ll need to come up with money for them to socialise on top of that. Might be a good savings pot to start - future horse expenses/pocket money. Or have a hard think about if they lost interest and if you’d be able to consider going down to one etc.

I'll have a look next time we go to the supermarket, I did see them a while back but they were any cheaper than what I am paying already. Thanks!

The girls are still relatively young (12 and 8) so are very much into their riding. Currently, they get £30 a month "pocket money" (This is in the SOA under the horse figure) which the girls use for their show entries etc. If they want to go out with their friends, they will have to use that money instead of paying for their competitions. I wont pay for any competitions

Bit deflated today. Had my credit card statement - I've paid nearly £300 off this month so far and they've charged me nearly £50 interest still, a payments a payment I guess

SusieT

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel wrote: »

Bit deflated today. Had my credit card statement - I've paid nearly £300 off this month so far and they've charged me nearly £50 interest still, a payments a payment I guess

Look on the positive side, that £300 off the interest bearing card will save you around £4 possibly more next month - and if you can pay off another lump this month you could be saving nearly £10 the next time.