Debt free diary starts today at £16,763.08

tagliatelle

My diary starts today as a 28 year old female with a mortgage, stable job, husband and no children. I don’t have much to show for the debt I have built up. There have been some personal issues that I think may have contributed towards my mindset towards money - but I am fully aware that every stupid decision has been my own and there are no excuses as to why I am where I am today. I have been ‘influenced’ too many times and I think that in the last 5 years or so, I have let social media get the better of me and my money. Now I am approaching 30, and my financial situation is too poor to even think about starting a family. We are desperate to move but right now, I couldn’t afford a higher mortgage payment. There are no more chances to re-consolidate my loans and credit cards - they need to be gone! My current balances are: 

Loan 1: £6183.77

Loan 2: £5900.81

Credit card: £3476.20

PayPal credit: £513.34

Next Directory: £179.95

Overdraft 1: £100 

Overdraft 2: £50

Klarna: £47

Camera finance: £135.04

Laptop finance: £177.00

I would have liked to have been debt free by 30 but I am a believer of realistic goals and not ones that are set to fail. So I would like to know when I turn 30 that my debt has decreased (which alone would be an improvement for me) and that it won’t be too long before I’m finally debt free. 

Today I have:

- Completed most of the ‘My Frugal Year’ journal

- Applied for an interest free balance transfer card.

- Deleted Apple Pay from my phone along with all my shopping apps - including Amazon! 

- I have my 1% grid ready. 

- Created a spreadsheet on my phone with all I need to know about my finances. 

I need to do this for my husband, our future, but most of all for me own mental well-being. Because I really don’t have much left in me to fail again. 

dfwprincess

Good luck, as someone who’s so close to the other side and now in the process of buyin* their first house it is possible. It’ll seem hard but it’s so worth it !

tagliatelle

dfwprincess said:

Good luck, as someone who’s so close to the other side and now in the process of buyin* their first house it is possible. It’ll seem hard but it’s so worth it !

Thank you Congratulations on the house - well done for getting to other side. I really can’t wait for the day. 

tagliatelle

Opened letters from British Gas today. Gas and Electric are going up to £116.36 per month combined from about £70 at the moment. Not a huge amount compared to some but with money already being so tight, we’re going to have to tighten the purse strings even more. Realised that our holiday balance (booked last year) is also due in the next month. Going to look at putting lots of things ebay today - loads of old clothes and probably my very cherished camera. Hoping I can get enough to pay off the finance loan I used to purchase it AND put money towards our holiday balance. 

tagliatelle

[font=courier new][b]Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet[/b][b]

Household Information[/b]

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

Number of children in household......... 0

Number of cars owned.................... 1[b]

Monthly Income Details[/b]

Monthly income after tax................ 1819

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

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

Other income............................ 0[b]

Total monthly income.................... 1819[/b][b]

Monthly Expense Details[/b]

Mortgage................................ 238

Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 13.900000000000006

Rent.................................... 0

Management charge (leasehold property).. 0

Council tax............................. 85.5

Electricity............................. 27.77

Gas..................................... 30.4

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

Water rates............................. 52.47

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

Mobile phone............................ 54.27

TV Licence.............................. 6.23

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

Internet Services....................... 12.62

Groceries etc. ......................... 97.5

Clothing................................ 50

Petrol/diesel........................... 0

Road tax................................ 0

Car Insurance........................... 0

Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0

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

Other travel............................ 120

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

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

Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0

Pet insurance/vet bills................. 18.2

Buildings insurance..................... 9.31

Contents insurance...................... 0

Life assurance ......................... 15.55

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

Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 25

Haircuts................................ 50

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

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

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

Netflix................................. 7[b]

Total monthly expenses.................. 1013.72[/b]

[b]

Assets[/b]

Cash.................................... 557.5

House value (Gross)..................... 120318

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

Car(s).................................. 0

Other assets............................ 0[b]

Total Assets............................ 120875.5[/b]

[b]

Secured & HP Debts[/b]

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

Mortgage...................... 68929....(238)......1.79<

Equity loan....................12031....(13.9).....0[b]

Total secured & HP debts...... 80960.....-.........-   [/b]

[b]Unsecured Debts[/b]

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

Nationwide loan ...............6183.77...265.9.....3.1

Lendable loan .................5900.81...226.......7.9

Credit card ...................3476.2....64.84.....0

Camera finance.................135.04....16.88.....0

Laptop finance ................177.......45.68.....0

Next...........................179.95....9.........0

PayPal credit .................513.34....21.79.....0[b]

tagliatelle

Sunday night - Didn’t get round to getting my things on eBay but I will definitely do this by the end of the week. Spouse said I shouldn’t have to sell my camera but I feel like it’s a luxury item and haven’t ‘luxury items’ makes me feel like a fraud at the moment. I almost feel like I would be shifting some of the shame by getting rid. Haven’t spent a penny today which is good for a weekend way. However… a Hello Fresh order turned up which I had forgot to cancel weeks ago. Have now cancelled it on the website so won’t be happening again - why do they make that cancel button so hard to find?! Means we have probably already spent more than I would have liked too on food shopping this week. But will make sure we use it all up! ‘Pot of dreams’ turned up which I am going to use for the weekly saving challenge where you save £1 to £52 per week. Hoping this will mean I have a pot of money for emergencies and hopefully a bit of spare cash for my 30th birthday next year. Plan on starting this from my next pay day in June.

stymied

I would hold off on selling your camera until you’re a bit more settled into your plan. I can’t see your totals in your SOA but I think you had some spare each month to clear the smaller debts in a few months before moving on to the larger ones? 

If you do eBay, keep an eye out for reduced final value fee offers. We have a 70% off expiring tonight. Makes a big difference.

enthusiasticsaver

Good luck with sorting your finances out. 

I would start by getting rid of the overdrafts as they usually are charging around 40% interest. Next is usually pretty expensive too and if you find yourself tempted to buy clothes you do not need on it you would be better off paying it off then cancelling it. 

Do you and your husband have separate finances as that soa only shows one income.

I would bet that you do not really need to spend £50 a month on clothes and you can get your hair cut for cheaper than £50 a month.  The  mobile is also very expensive but assuming the other bills are shared with your husband they look reasonable. 

Paying £650 of your £805 disposable income on debt repayments is holding you back but you have enough of a surplus  to be able to sort this out without  a DMP but it will require you to be disciplined and not spend for the forseeable future on anything other than essentials.  If you sell the camera can you clear the finance on it? What is the plan with the holiday balance as you do not appear to be saving for it? 

AntoMac

Don’t be too hard on yourself. Getting on the housing ladder is quite some achievement for under 30s these days. Think how much more renting would likely cost you.
How about looking at one of the many Bank account transfer offers currently available? The 100plus pound incentives a number of Banks are paying could clear a good chunk off one of the smaller debts.

tagliatelle

stymied said:

I would hold off on selling your camera until you’re a bit more settled into your plan. I can’t see your totals in your SOA but I think you had some spare each month to clear the smaller debts in a few months before moving on to the larger ones? 

If you do eBay, keep an eye out for reduced final value fee offers. We have a 70% off expiring tonight. Makes a big difference.

Thanks very much for the message. I hadn’t thought about checking for offers on eBay - that’s a really good suggestion. Could make a big difference if putting a lot on in one go. Yes I’m hoping to put about £180 minimum extra of my debts. Going for the snowball effect so will start with the little ones then move my way up to that credit card balance. 

tagliatelle

enthusiasticsaver said:

Good luck with sorting your finances out. 

I would start by getting rid of the overdrafts as they usually are charging around 40% interest. Next is usually pretty expensive too and if you find yourself tempted to buy clothes you do not need on it you would be better off paying it off then cancelling it. 

Do you and your husband have separate finances as that soa only shows one income.

I would bet that you do not really need to spend £50 a month on clothes and you can get your hair cut for cheaper than £50 a month.  The  mobile is also very expensive but assuming the other bills are shared with your husband they look reasonable. 

Paying £650 of your £805 disposable income on debt repayments is holding you back but you have enough of a surplus  to be able to sort this out without  a DMP but it will require you to be disciplined and not spend for the forseeable future on anything other than essentials.  If you sell the camera can you clear the finance on it? What is the plan with the holiday balance as you do not appear to be saving for it? 

Thank you so much for the message. The little overdraft is interest free but the £100 overdraft will be first (especially as I want to switch this account to Nationwide for the £125 bonus)… followed by the Next account. I have already lowered the credit limit right down to £250 to remove the temptation and I just ask my mum to order things from the directory now if I really need it. 

My husband and I pretty much have separate finances so anything joint such as household utilities, house price etc, I have halved. We both put a lump sum into a joint account every month to cover all the bills and weekly grocery shopping. Everything else we keep in sole accounts. 

I did over estimate the hair and clothes so I am hoping some months I am left with more spare income that anticipated. Mobile phone contract ends in Feb 2023 and I plan on going to sim only which will reduce to about £20 per month. 

The profits for the camera would go towards the finance loan on it and any remaining profit would go towards the holiday balance. I have a lot of things to sell on eBay and some items I am hoping to get quite a bit for. The holiday balance is about £350 each between my husband and I so I’m hoping any money I make over the next couple of weeks can go towards this rather than adding to debt. We have about £1300 of joint savings as an absolute last resort but this is our emergency fund so I hate the thought of using it.

It’s going to be a very disciplined couple of years but I can’t wait for that feeling of paying everything off.