Digging My Way Out Of This Mess

diggingmywayout

grocery shopping came in at £50 that includes washing powder and loo rolls and so on - enough to last us a couple of months for both.  have meal planned for the week and wont need to do any top ups at all.  ive also downloaded an excel file to track all my spends and that starts from tomorrow (been setting up the categories today so I'm already to go).  ive also set up the round up feature the bank account which rounds up transactions to the next £ and moves the balance to the savings account ie emergency fund account - £2.20 showing as pending as moving tomorrow so it's all sort of taking the thinking away from me which is good.  when i have too many things to remember im really good to begin with then i get complacent or busy or lazy and things slide - automating things works for me. 

diggingmywayout

just got my commission statement from work and ive made an extra £450 this month so will be around 300 after tax - much higher than the £100 i was expecting from the commission element of my role.  not sure what im going to do with it - probably squirrel it away into the emergency fund so thats starting to look a bit healthier.   Waiting for payday and all the bills to go out (all done by 1st) and then its get thru till payday next month.  ive got a week off around the bank holiday next month so that will be good - not that i will do anything earth shattering just that I wont be stressing about targets and sales and so on - I like my job but its a real rollercoaster, which is probably the same for any job where there are KPI's to be hit I guess. 

OH has applied for a job, or rather I applied for a job on his behalf cos he was making excuses that the website wasnt working properly.  I doubt he will get it but at least theres an application in for something.  if he or I find something that fits again i will apply on his behalf - i'm pushing him to do something and help out which is as forceful as i can be a the moment - and thats a step forward for me so I'm proud of myself. 

WinterWarrior

Hi digging, good luck on your journey.
MrWW mark 1 was a non contributor. It was always ‘tomorrow’. I know how that feels and although I appreciate the pensions are important if you get that far, but are you sure he will be as generous as you when he gets them? Sometimes cutting your losses is actually better than counting your chickens and hoping for the best. If he’s worth the trouble, then I would check that he’s claiming all he can…any job seekers or whatever should be landing in your family income calculations. 
I would personally say he doesn’t have any say in what’s important to you. If a haircut is good for your well-being then it’s necessary for you. You don’t seem to have much in the way of treats, so ignore any negativity. The clothes budget does seem high, I probably don’t spend that in 6 months, but I do have loads of clothes hanging around (to slim into 😬). Although even getting bog standard underwear could clear that amount out, so you know what you need.
Have you encountered Dave Ramsey? He has some great tips on the emergency fund, paying down debt, etc. and talks a lot of sense (if you can get over the godly American elements 😬). I follow him on Instagram and sometimes watch his you tube clips. He has a big thing on ‘rice and beans’ i.e. living very frugally and working as much as possible while you snowball the debt. 

I do wish you lots of luck in your journey and will follow you. I have a very random, rambling, but friendly diary called ‘must try harder’ if you want to meet some MSE friends 😁

diggingmywayout

 If he’s worth the trouble, then I would check that he’s claiming all he can…any job seekers or whatever should be landing in your family income calculations. 

He wont sign on or anything - cant be bothered with the hassle of going to the job centre and having to prove that he is actually looking for work - which he isnt really, and he would get sanctioned so would never receive anything in terms of money anyway - that is if hes entitled to anything given that i work full time.  anyway its a battle i cant be bothered to fight so thank you for the thought but no go unfortunately. 

WinterWarrior

diggingmywayout said:

 If he’s worth the trouble, then I would check that he’s claiming all he can…any job seekers or whatever should be landing in your family income calculations. 

He wont sign on or anything - cant be bothered with the hassle of going to the job centre and having to prove that he is actually looking for work - which he isnt really, and he would get sanctioned so would never receive anything in terms of money anyway - that is if hes entitled to anything given that i work full time.  anyway its a battle i cant be bothered to fight so thank you for the thought but no go unfortunately. 

I’ve got harder in my old age…I’d stop feeding him if he isn’t making any effort…at the very least cut down on anything he enjoys! 

diggingmywayout

£50 on the leccie this morning - ive turned off all but one of the radiators and that goes off most nights now and we just have it on couple of hours pm  each day - spend coming down to £4 per day from the £9 it was over the colder part of winter.  im hoping to carry on the same way as the rates go up from friday - hopefully spring will finally properly sprung so heating can be turned off completely in a couple more weeks.   Going for 5 NSD this week and my spreadsheet is all set up and ready to go with all the bills due to go out on 1st - im feeling in control which is a good feeling.  

diggingmywayout

just had it confirmed from work that i'm getting a 5.5% payrise which means a difference of £120 in my pay packet each month - happy with that one, we were expecting the 2% that has been the norm.  I haven't even thought of what its going on yet - will do a revised soa at some stage to take account of the changes that im making to outgoings.   

Moneywhizz

Will be interesting to see how the changes you have made affect your soa and bring your debt free date forward. You are making good progress. 

diggingmywayout

Number of adults in household........... 2

Number of children in household......... 

Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details[/b]

Monthly income after tax................ 2222

Partners monthly income after tax....... 0

Benefits................................ 0

Other income............................ 0

Total monthly income.................... 2222

Monthly Expense Details[/b]

Mortgage................................ 0

Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0

Rent.................................... 480

Management charge (leasehold property).. 0

Council tax............................. 98

Electricity............................. 150

Gas..................................... 0

Oil..................................... 0

Water rates............................. 33

Telephone (land line)................... 0

Mobile phone............................ 12

TV Licence.............................. 0

Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0

Internet Services....................... 48

Groceries etc. ......................... 200

Clothing................................ 10

Petrol/diesel........................... 80

Road tax................................ 27

Car Insurance........................... 20

Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20

Car parking............................. 0

Other travel............................ 0

Childcare/nursery....................... 0

Other child related expenses............ 0

Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 35

Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0

Buildings insurance..................... 0

Contents insurance...................... 10

Life assurance ......................... 0

Other insurance......................... 0

Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0

Haircuts................................ 22

Entertainment........................... 0

Holiday................................. 0

Emergency fund.......................... 100

Total monthly expenses.................. 1345[/b]

[b]

Assets[/b]

Cash.................................... 0

House value (Gross)..................... 0

Shares and bonds........................ 0

Car(s).................................. 750

Other assets............................ 0

Total Assets............................ 750

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts

Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR

lowell ........................4219......20........0

cabot..........................4707......20........0

link financial ................3005......20........0

dwp ...........................8000......25........0

intrum justicia ...............1600......20........0

Total unsecured debts..........21531.....105.......

Monthly Budget Summary

Total monthly income.................... 2333

Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,345

Available for debt repayments........... 988

Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 105

Amount left after debt repayments....... 883

[b]Personal Balance Sheet Summary[/b]

Total assets (things you own)........... 750

Total HP & Secured debt................. -0

Total Unsecured debt.................... -21,531

Net Assets.............................. -20,781

revised soa done with the changes to my income reflecting payrise plus commission due (this will vary month on month but I'm assuming it will settle within a range).  ive just worked out that if i throw every penny i have free at this debt and pay full amounts to settle everything then i can be totally debt free in just 27 months (I dont plan to do either but at least it gives me a sense of how doable this is now that ive tweaked some things). 

am going to work out the plan of action for paying everyone off next thats next on my plan of action. 

WinterWarrior

It seems very tight with no presents or entertainment of any kind and the groceries look tight. I find giving a bit of slack helps me not to go overboard in a mad moment. Although I freely admit I eat too much food and chocolate!