First Steps to Solvency

theoretica

alt80 said:

Keeping BMW                                                          

Jan-Dec 24                       

Expenses £144,460 (Living exps incl BMW running costs, 4 months RR payment & 8 months RR costs, £48.5k RR balloon & £3,845 debt c/f)

Not Keeping BMW                                      

Jan-Dec 24                       

Expenses £115,000 (Living exp. Including x4 RR, x8 RR running costs & RR balloon £48,500)

I don't understand 2024's expenses.  The difference should only be the debt carried forward and the BMW running costs.

Difference 144,460 -115,000 = 29460

29,460 - 3845* = BMW running costs = £25,615 which is clearly excessive.  So one or other of your expenses figures has a slip in it.  I think the slip might be in the keeping BMW figure and your debt free day could come sooner.

*And I doubt this figure - for 2023 with the BMW you have Income 96,600 and Expenses 107,405 which gives me a debt at the end of £10805, not £3845.  With this correction you would still have £18k for running expenses on the BMW in 2024 which doesn't seem right.

alt80

@theoretica thank you, spotted it as soon as I looked back at the sheet - make a typo 2024 in a different category which I failed to spot! 

Here goes...

Keeping BMW                               

Mar-Dec 21                     

Income £80,500                                          

Expenses £87,790 (Incl. living exps (as budgeted for in monthly/ yearly budget), cars & £15,995 debt payments)                

NEW DEBT TOTAL £7,290            

                                          

Jan-Dec 22                       

Income £96,600                                          

Expenses £99,005 (Incl living exps, cars & £15,665 debt payments)

NEW DEBT TOTAL £2,405

             

Jan-Dec 23                       

Income £96,600             

Expenses £100,445 (Incl. living exps incl 2 months BMW payment & 10 months BMW costs - £430/m finance, 12 months RR payment £19k BMW balloon & £2,405 debt c/f)

NEW DEBT TOTAL £3,845

                            

Jan-Dec 24                       

Income £96,600                                                        

Expenses £144,460 (Living exps incl BMW running costs, 4 months RR payment & 8 months RR costs, £48.5k RR balloon & £3,845 debt c/f)

NEW DEBT TOTAL £24,165        

                                          

Jan-Dec 25                       

Income £96,600                                                        

Expenses £111,400 (Living exps inc car running costs & £47860 debt c/f)

NEW SAVINGS TOTAL £8,895                        

***DEBT FREE SEPTEMBER 2025***

Jan-Dec 26                       

Income £96,600

Savings (c/f from 2025) £8,895             

Expenses £78,340 (Living exps inc car running costs & £14,800 debt c/f)

SAVINGS TOTAL £41,955              

 

Not Keeping BMW                                      

Mar-Dec 21                     

Income £80,500             

Expenses £85,430 (Living exp inc x6 BMW payments and running costs, cars & £15,995 debt payments)

NEW DEBT TOTAL £4,930             

                                          

Jan-Dec 22                       

Income £96,600             

Expenses £89,565 (Living exp inc RR finance and running costs & £13,305 debt payments)             

SAVINGS TOTAL £7,035  

             

Jan-Dec 23                       

Income £96,600             

Savings (c/f from ‘22) £7,035     

Expenses £76,260 (Living exp inc RR finance and running costs)

SAVINGS TOTAL £27,375

                                          

Jan-Dec 24                       

Income £96,600             

Savings (c/f from ‘23) £27,375   

Expenses £115,000 (Living exp. Including x4 RR, x8 RR running costs & RR balloon £48,500)

SAVINGS TOTAL £8,975     

                                          

Jan-Dec 25                       

Income £96,600             

Savings (c/f from ’24) £8,975

Expenses £61,620 (Living exp including RR running costs)

SAVINGS TOTAL £43,995

 

Jan-Dec 26                       

Income £96,600             

Savings (c/f from ’25) £43,995

Expenses £61,620 (Living exp including RR running costs)

SAVINGS TOTAL £78,975 DECEMBER 2026 / £61,485 SAVINGS JUNE 2026 (Debt free date if keeping BMW)

theoretica

alt80 said:

@theoretica thank you, spotted it as soon as I looked back at the sheet - make a typo 2024! 

Edited my post to add a point about 2023 too.

alt80

theoretica said:

alt80 said:

@theoretica thank you, spotted it as soon as I looked back at the sheet - make a typo 2024! 

Edited my post to add a point about 2023 too.

The £10805 was an earlier !!!!!! up lol will edit. Thank you. 

alt80

@getmore4less thank you - read the two articles you put up this morning. Found them very interesting tbh fair some bits resonated, some not ha, was shocked re res home values made me feel I wasn't doing too badly ha. Hope to get to that point re the budgeting but right now I need to be controlled about it 100% def been there in terms of the 'luxury addiction' FML seeing some of it for the BS it is - need to work on the cars though ha.

Definitely recognised tech guy's company - tech companies something else in terms of business valuation, that being your background can see how you would perhaps value a business higher than I would (something like my business generally worth a much smaller multiplier than a tech firm ha though tbf I saw where you were coming from thinking in terms of the income it produces for me). Definitely resonated re still feeling like a worthless nobody no matter how much money you have, not on his level or anywhere close but have grown my income over the years and yeah still 100 am a worthless nobody so yeah making it for me can't really be quantified I don't suppose but always been what I've chased !!!!!! desperate ha.

Thank you mate. I've no idea why anyone on here spends any time helping me out don't deserve it but I'm really grateful for it - helped me change my outlook on finances/ life actually a lot. Means a lot to me.

alt80

Can’t sleep just keep thinking about the figures ha, makes me feel like I have a future. Always seen my business life very separate, my way of protecting it from me so seeing something moving towards being positive in my personal life is genuinely amazing can’t sleep still smiling about the not keeping BMW figures.

I’ve always been a destructive person, 100 I do what I can to protect my business from me. !!!!!! devastated realising I didn’t always succeed with that - refinancing for my personal BS. Sounds pathetic but the day I woke up to that accepted it for what it was I cried myself to sleep, 100 my business means much more to me than I mean to me, worth a lot more than my life 100%. More than my livelihood and home at stake and !!!!!! kills me to realise I didn’t always put that at the forefront of my decisions. I want to protect it from the harm I do 100; should be similar with my family. I protected my son from me for 6 years not so much now but being distant isn’t good for kids either I don’t think so complete head !!!!!! there not knowing what’s right ha think that’s fairly common in parenting though. 

Didn’t protect my wife from me I should have let her go, make her own way in life that would be real love recognising she would be better having maybe had a bit of a fling and got on with her life made her own way who knows where she’d be now; I allowed the whole stay at home thing and went through a time I encouraged it. I took a 20 year old from those years when the money might not be there but you’re !!!!!! buzzed about your future possibilities, those days when you 100% believe you’re going to smash life and make it. She was at a low ebb in a job she !!!!!! hated and saw a way out - her mum had never really worked so probably where she got that idea lol. Had I not indulged that, encouraged her move on instead she would have needed to do something about the job situation to get the stuff she wanted and 100 loves the luxuries in life so would have worked it out I like to think. I took her opportunities for a career or business of her own away from her by letting this happen and now she is entrenched in her ways. Never quite understood exactly where FIL has been coming from before but think this is it I took his daughter’s opportunities away from her allowing her to check out from being economically active when it would have been good for her. 

No idea way forward on that one brain dump again lol but career in social media would 100 be destructive for her to the people who have suggested it. 

ryanm8655

alt80 said:

Can’t sleep just keep thinking about the figures ha, makes me feel like I have a future. Always seen my business life very separate, my way of protecting it from me so seeing something moving towards being positive in my personal life is genuinely amazing can’t sleep still smiling about the not keeping BMW figures.

I’ve always been a destructive person, 100 I do what I can to protect my business from me. !!!!!! devastated realising I didn’t always succeed with that - refinancing for my personal BS. Sounds pathetic but the day I woke up to that accepted it for what it was I cried myself to sleep, 100 my business means much more to me than I mean to me, worth a lot more than my life 100%. More than my livelihood and home at stake and !!!!!! kills me to realise I didn’t always put that at the forefront of my decisions. I want to protect it from the harm I do 100; should be similar with my family. I protected my son from me for 6 years not so much now but being distant isn’t good for kids either I don’t think so complete head !!!!!! there not knowing what’s right ha think that’s fairly common in parenting though. 

Didn’t protect my wife from me I should have let her go, make her own way in life that would be real love recognising she would be better having maybe had a bit of a fling and got on with her life made her own way who knows where she’d be now; I allowed the whole stay at home thing and went through a time I encouraged it. I took a 20 year old from those years when the money might not be there but you’re !!!!!! buzzed about your future possibilities, those days when you 100% believe you’re going to smash life and make it. She was at a low ebb in a job she !!!!!! hated and saw a way out - her mum had never really worked so probably where she got that idea lol. Had I not indulged that, encouraged her move on instead she would have needed to do something about the job situation to get the stuff she wanted and 100 loves the luxuries in life so would have worked it out I like to think. I took her opportunities for a career or business of her own away from her by letting this happen and now she is entrenched in her ways. Never quite understood exactly where FIL has been coming from before but think this is it I took his daughter’s opportunities away from her allowing her to check out from being economically active when it would have been good for her. 

No idea way forward on that one brain dump again lol but career in social media would 100 be destructive for her to the people who have suggested it. 

I’ve woken up at a ridiculous hour after a weird dream and have made the error of picking up the phone ha. A relatively booze free night (had 4 coronas, which must be the least I’ve drank on a Friday since getting my own place again ha).

I think you’re on a journey figuring things out re: wife. Still think you’re blaming yourself too much. Your wife would probably have ended up like her mate who does her nails had she not met you in all likelihood. Doesn’t sound like she’s ever had drive, hence dropping out of uni at the first opportunity. It’ll take you some time to realise all of this and stop blaming yourself though. Some people just aren’t driven. She can put you down all she likes but the truth is she’s done pretty well financially and lifestyle wise meeting you. Looking at it statistically, if she met someone else, in all likelihood they’d be considerably poorer, especially when she wants to live near her parents.

Been there though with the blaming yourself for stuff relationship wise. Remember thinking had I not moved to London with my ex and instead moved to her hometown, things might have worked out. She hated London. But she never expressed that so not like I dragged her. Truth was we just had different goals and it was never going to work. Took me years to stop blaming myself for that as in a lot of ways we were like soulmates. Had the same in another relationship too but that was slightly different, she was mental and I think I was carrying a lot of guilt from prior relationship and tried really hard to put right everything I thought I did wrong in the previous relationship. Again, took me a while to realise the issue wasn’t me. Actually something I eventually got to in counselling and then ended the relationship, probably one of the proudest days of my life, which is pretty sad ha! 

My point here isn’t that you’ll end up breaking up with the wife, ha. Just that eventually you’ll realise it isn’t all on you and I doubt your wife would have done much differently without you other than may be working in a dead end job out of necessity. It’s not your fault she is the way she is. It’s most likely on her parents to be honest. It’s usually the parents ha!

I’ve always been driven but I’m the only one of my siblings that is. But I’ve had it from a young age so I personally think you either ha e it or you don’t. Not saying you’re born with it but it’s certainly something developed in your experiences growing up. I always wanted much more from life. Been lucky to have a brain and to get away with not working hard at school etc. But when the chips are down I’d always get in the zone and get the job done. Would always get in a zone before exams even if I had done minimal work all year. Went through the slog of applying to competitive grad jobs etc. Worked hard final year of uni when it mattered most (regret not doing so sooner though ha). Yes I’ve been on cruise control for a longtime but a lot of that was a mental health thing and feeling a bit lost for a longtime, plus I had a good time ha. But by a certain age you either have it or you don’t I think...that’s the point I’m trying to make while waffling on ha. I blame the weird dreams. You have it and your wife doesn’t and that’s not your fault.

Sun_Addict

It’s not too late for your wife to make something of herself career wise. She’s got plenty of working years ahead of her. I was only a couple of years younger than her when I went back to college and completely changed my career - that was as well as running a house and bringing up two young children. 

enthusiasticsaver

The figures look great if you can both stick with the budgets. Getting rid of the BMW means debt free next year and enough to finance the RR balloon. It does allow you to see  if you start to make the right choices having that amount in investments  (rubbish return in cash) or retained in business by the end of the 5 year plan makes your personal finances look completely different. Keeping the BMW means you have to wait another three years until September 2025 before being debt free and able to build your business further. 

You really seem to be thinking with a clear head now.

enthusiasticsaver

Re your wife. I like the expression you allowed her to be economically inactive although I prefer that you did not encourage her to stay in work and maybe her mum not working either gave her a nudge in that direction. My mum was a SAHM though too and no way was that an option for me and tbh I didn't want that. Work gives you a sense of independence and self worth. I think she has a lack of drive and self motivation and that is not all on you. She obviously does have self discipline though and channelled right it might have given her the push to make a career for herself. As she only sees her life through someone else providing for her now though she does not seem to have any confidence in herself. 

I am not sure what the answer is. She still seems like a child when her choices are very black and white, staying with you or not staying with you and finding someone else but in neither scenario does she take responsibility for supporting herself. I like to think most of us if we needed or wanted more money (crux of the matter) would come up with a plan to get it by getting a job or side income. That does not figure in her plans I guess because she thinks the work involved is not worth the rewards. I don't know how much nail technicians earn but not a lot I would guess. She does not seem to realise everyone starts off at the bottom and she has never got off the start line so has a 12 year disadvantage. My daughters are roughly the same age as her. Both did Uni, one is now married, two young children and a manager in an online training company. The other is a civil servant and has a PhD and earning a good salary with a projected  career path. I changed careers in my mid 30s and started again. As SA says it is never too late to start building a career.