Learning to budget and taking control of my life.

Disney_Princess85

So, after faffing around for far too long I've decided I need to make a concerted effort to get rid of the debt I have had, for far too long.

My current debt which has been accumulated as a result of me allowing my ex to use my cards which he promised to pay back and never did. As I was on maternity leave at the time I ended up withdrawing money from the cards to pay the monthly fee each month. I am also rubbish with money and have a tendency to overspend, although this has definitely improved since I've had to be financially independent after I split from my daughters dad.

I've just sent off for my forms from Stepchange to start a DMP and I've set myself up a funky new spreadsheet so that I can track my payments each month. I've attempted this many times but I am not strict enough with myself and i'm still wasting money.

My current debt's are as follows:

• Aqua CC (Cabot) - £4062
• Barclaycard  CC (PRA Group) - £3312
• Capital One CC - £1914
• First Direct overdraft (CSL) - £409
• Cabot -£791

Total - £10448 - All of these have defaulted so I am no longer paying interest on them. I'm taking a more relaxed attitude to paying back my debts as they are all defaulted, so as long as they have been paid by the time they come off my credit report then i'm happy. Perhaps that's slightly against the grain for others on the forum but it makes life more manageable for me.

I am also paying my parents back for my car that I bought in December 2018, my old car died so they lent me the cash to buy a newer one. My old one was 21 years old so I definitely need a newer one! The loan was for £3763 and i'm paying them £100 a month. There is £1800 left to pay and I budget this into my monthly plan, i'm due a pay rise in September so i'd like this to be nearly gone by the end of the year. Once I've paid my parents back then the extra £100 a month can go towards my DMP payment, so that I can get the rest cleared quicker.

The immediate plan of action is to try and build up my emergency fund and to try and actually go a month where I stick to my budget. Food is where I am worst, for going over budget, It's a combination of laziness and eating out too much. So this is my first area to target. I've got loads of food in the freezer so i'm going to try and live off the food I have in there and in the cupboards.

5 days til payday so I can start allocating money to my different 'pots' and finally take a bit of control over my finances.

Disney_Princess85

It's back to work for me tomorrow, so, in preparation I have packed myself my lunch to save me buying it on the way to work. This is definitely my weakness, I always end up in a supermarket or the petrol station where I buy food to take into work and it costs a fortune.

I also spend far too much money buying a bottle or several of coke. I've decided for lent that I am going to have a go at giving up fizzy drinks, I basically live on them and it's not healthy and costs a fortune. I'd be loaded if I didn't waste so much cash on fizzy drinks! I've never worked out how much i spend on them but I dread to think how much I waste over the year.

SuperFrank88

Hi Disney Princess.

Well done on making a start. I’m jealous that all your accounts have defaulted. That’s is what I am waiting to happen to mine before I start my DMP. In the meant time I am saving a nice big emergency fund as I will not have access to credit for a few years at least, and if something was to happen (like the car died) I’d have a pot of money there to save me. Could I ask, how long did it take for your accounts to default?

Regarding the fizzy drinks, why not buy big bottles of sparkling water and add some squash to them. Would cost pennies in comparison to buying pop, much healthier too (if you go for no added sugar squash) and you’d still be having your ‘fizzy fix’. Maybe better than going cold turkey.

Anyway, I will subscribe to your diary look forward to following you on your journey.

Good Luck,

Frank.

evebeme

I'm with you too Disney Princess
Eve

Willing2Learn

HI Disney_Princess85,

I just wanted to wish you well on your debt-busting journey 

I also wanted to say that we recommend that people delay the start date of their DMP by up to six months.  You can write to your creditors, asking them to hold action on your accounts during this period.  This allows you time to build up an Emergency Fund (EF).  An EF is an essential component of all successful monthly budgets.

The six month delay also means that your creditors are more likely to default the accounts nice and early.  A default is good as it means interest is frozen.  Another advantage is that an early defaulted account is removed from your three credit files much sooner. 

Deleted above paragraph, as the accounts have already defaulted.

SuperFrank88

Willing2Learn said:

HI Disney_Princess85,

I just wanted to wish you well on your debt-busting journey 

I also wanted to say that we recommend that people delay the start date of their DMP by up to six months.  You can write to your creditors, asking them to hold action on your accounts during this period.  This allows you time to build up an Emergency Fund (EF).  An EF is an essential component of all successful monthly budgets.

The six month delay also means that your creditors are more likely to default the accounts nice and early.  A default is good as it means interest is frozen.  Another advantage is that an early defaulted account is removed from your three credit files much sooner. 

OP has said all accounts have defaulted

Willing2Learn

Oops.   Thanks @SuperFrank88, I have edited my post accordingly.  However, it is still a good to idea to delay the DMP start date by up to six months, so that the OP can build a respectable decent EF. 

Disney_Princess85

Willing2Learn said:

Oops.   Thanks @SuperFrank88, I have edited my post accordingly.  However, it is still a good to idea to delay the DMP start date by up to six months, so that the OP can build a respectable decent EF. 

Hiya, yeah they're already defaulted as I've been messing around with paying it off or not for so long! Most defaulted me quite quickly, although there were a couple who have only done so recently, which is why I'm starting a fresh with the DMP. I stopped paying it, apart from token payments for 6 months, to encourage one of the accounts to default, which it just has. I should definitely have done this earlier! 

In regards to the emergency fund. I've got £700 in my help to save account which I plan to eventually use towards a house deposit. So I don't really want to touch it, mainly because the interest payout is so good. I then have £200 in another savings account which I'm using as my emergency fund, so will continue to add to that. 

Disney_Princess85

I received the paperwork from stepchange today, I just need to photocopy my bank statements etc to prove my income and then we're good to go.

I'm tempted to get them to take the first payment in April to give me a couple of extra months to add to my emergency fund. That way I'll feel a bit more secure, financially, if any thing was to to crop up. 

Disney_Princess85

I've set myself the goal of earning £200 over the course of the year, through doing surveys etc, to help pay for xmas. 

I've cashed out £5 amazon voucher on shopprize and £2.75 from opinion outpost, also in amazon vouchers, so far. I'm gonna add it to my signature, so I can keep track. I'm also waiting on £75 from quidco which I got for switching my broadband. Happy days, free cash!

Payday tomorrow, ready to get cracking with this! 

Applewood1

Hello, just dropping in to say good luck on your journey, you can get there You sound very organised and focused!