Single mum to 5, striving for debt free life

Jill12

The debt front has made little progress the last few days and remains as before. Old jewellery that is no longer wanted has been posted to Hatton Garden Metal, as kindly suggested by the wonderful people of MSE. It is mostly inherited stuff that has been sitting in a drawer for 15 years and not wanted by me or my girls. Excitedly waiting to see if if worth anything. Kids and me are now back to work and school and settling nicely back into our routine. I have been alcohol free since Christmas day so will attempt dry January. I went back to the step class I tried before Christmas and it is now a weekly event in my diary as I enjoyed it so much. Also 3lbs down which was a nice surprise as stuffed my wee face throughout the festive period with nil regard for my bottom!! Must be ditching the vino and exercise that has helped with the lose as  my diet has not altered. Yesterday I filled the car with £80 of diesel which should last about 7 days and a food shop this morning has cost £62. I am sitting with £1.62 in my current account and whilst not overdrawn I would be up the river without a paddle if an emergency popped up. I also have nil savings. Is it worth while having a small savings pot for emergencies or continuing gun hoe and firing everything at my debt?? My gut is telling me I need to save some money. I have 5 months worth of travel expenses to claim back from my employer as I will spend a chunk of time doing that today. Once this comes through I could put it to savings as it should be a couple of £100 worth. 

This year I am going to have to look at our current bedroom situation. DD1 has disabilities and so has her own room, DS1 has his own room, DD2 + DD3 share and I share wit DD4. I desperately would love my own room!! I ve been weighing up whether to move or extend. Current house value around £180,000 and mortgage £68000. Adding on £30000 over the remaining term of 14 years would add about £200 a month to repayments for a single storey extension. I am also aware my children will not be small for ever but I probably have another good 5/6 years with them all at home. Early days for a decision to be made about this and would not happen until all debt has been repaid and some savings in the bank. 

joedenise

I would definitely save at least a small Emergency Fund, nothing worse than having to add something to a CC when you have been trying so hard to clear it.  I would start with something like £500 so you have the money if something like the washing machine or fridge/freezer broke down so you could replace it.

With regard to the bedroom situation - do you have a room which would be big enough for the 3 girls to share even if it means you having a slightly smaller room to yourself?  It's what a friend of mine did years ago.  She had 6 children in a 3 bed house, 4 girls and 2 boys.  The 4 girls shared the biggest bedroom in 2 sets of bunk beds with a small wardrobe/chest for clothes; the 2 boys had the smallest room in bunk beds and she had the middle bedroom.  Of course this would only work if one of the bedrooms was big enough for 3 girls to share.

savingholmes

I find having an EF helps me sleep at night. I would want one in your position starting at £500 and trying to get to £1K. I can't remember how much you are paying in interest on your debt though - so that would factor in to the decision on how big to go. While mathematically it may make more sense to reach for the CC - until that habit changes for you and for me - it is hard to make progress. That's part of the thinking behind having an EF even though ML says pay it off the debt...

I would prioritise creating a space for you... Are any of the rooms big enough to be divided with a stud wall?

Jill12

Thanks @joedenise and @savingholmes. All the bedrooms are small in the house and in the past when the youngest three were smaller I had a small triple bunk they all shared until the oldest got too tall. That is how the smallest child ended up back in with me. None of the rooms are large enough to partition. Back in December I had about £3000 in savings but I chucked that at the debt as it seemed logical but sitting with no cash back up does make me sleep less easy.

Debt recap, Tesco loan nearly gone with £70 left to pay, Paypal £1744, 0%, until Feb 2022, then 20%!!!! I have successfully applied for a CC with 0 transfer fee and 0% APR and will transfer balance over and pay off at £174 for 10 months. Sofa £863, 0% and £143 for next 6 months. Car £13100, 7.8% and £290 monthly. I am waiting on a decision to refinance the car with better APR and reduced term. If I could reduce the interest being repaid I would be happy. 

I will start to pay into a savings account and reduce the severity with which I am attacking the debt, not sure how much I want to save yet but £1000 seems a good place to start. Once I clear everything apart from the car I am going to start making plans to extend the house for the extra bedroom. It makes the most economical sense as moving costs alone and stamp duty would be the best part of £10000. All this makes sense in my head, perhaps not to the reader though. First £1 into savings pot. Happy Sunday to you all xx

savingholmes

Glad you can transfer on the PP debt. I think if you have access to credit and are disciplined - then I'd go with a smaller EF For now given that you are paying interest. If and when you can - I would target the car loan and consider doing a CC money transfer to the loan to get it on a much better rate - or even see if you qualify for a better loan rate as 7.8% is still on the high side.

I can understand you wanting to extend - but don't underestimate the upheaval that too will cause.

Jill12

@savingholmes, the 7.8% is the current rate I have for the car, waiting for the APR on the refinance.... Would never have though of refinancing the car with CC but also probably worth looking into if the refinance does not go through or is worse APR than currently on.

Life before divorce involved buying and renovating properties while we lived in them. It was always a challenge but enjoyable..... you are right though the mess at times can be an utter nightmare.

savingholmes

I bought a car on finance once and then transferred it to a loan with my bank at a better rate - and then gradually money transferred it onto a CC. Once you have the right credit rating - it's even possible to get 0% and 0 fee transfers for say 6 months at a time - which I've also done some of...

Jill12

Massive achievement on the debt front made today as I have been able to cancel a sofa I ordered back in August. This knocks a whopping £863.99 off my debt total and a refund of £150 is also due. This is a huge relief and massive boost all at once. 

mark55man

Take the big wins when you get them, and they are truly wonderful to receive, but its the day to day slog that will win the battle!.

lucielle

Well done on the return
L