Damsel in Debt Take 2

bekah89

So this is my second diary, I’m in a better place, not financially but mentally! With my debt this time and more determined to get rid of it. And need to post on here to give myself some accountability. I’ve accumulated it from spending above my means for too long a few years ago and then the interest spiralled and here we are! 

I’ve done an SOA which I’ll post below and found I do have extra to pay after the minimum payments… though where that’s been going I’m not sure! So need to take more notice of my spending. Also I need to keep a better eye on what I’m spending on groceries and will work that £150 down. 

I’ve been doing a PAD everyday the last week or so and it’s definitely made a difference. Also doing the 1% challenge, mine when I started it was £109 so working towards a 1% at a time. Also NSDs make me think twice about spending! 

So here goes take 2…

bekah89

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

Household Information[/b]

Number of adults in household........... 1

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

Number of cars owned.................... 0[b]

Monthly Income Details[/b]

Monthly income after tax................ 1710

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

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

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

Total monthly income.................... 1710[/b][b]

Monthly Expense Details[/b]

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

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

Rent.................................... 650

Management charge (leasehold property).. 0

Council tax............................. 99

Electricity............................. 103.26

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

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

Water rates............................. 27.2

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

Mobile phone............................ 10

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

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

Internet Services....................... 28.95

Groceries etc. ......................... 150

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

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

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

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

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

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

Other travel............................ 71.1

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

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

Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 9.35

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

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

Contents insurance...................... 4.18

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

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

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

Haircuts................................ 40

Entertainment........................... 50

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

Emergency fund.......................... 0[b]

Total monthly expenses.................. 1278.04[/b]

[b]

Assets[/b]

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

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

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

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

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

Total Assets............................ 0[/b]

[b]

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts[/b]

[b]Unsecured Debts[/b]

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

Halifax........................1537......41........0

Tesco..........................1230......25........0

Virgin.........................677.......25........0

Lloyds.........................3847......100.......0

Barclaycard....................1373......52........22.2

MBNA...........................1975.01...55........4.7

Total unsecured debts..........10639.01..298.......-  [/b]

[b]

Monthly Budget Summary[/b]

Total monthly income.................... 1,710

Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,278.04

Available for debt repayments........... 431.96

Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 298[b]

Amount left after debt repayments....... 133.96[/b]

[b]Personal Balance Sheet Summary[/b]

Total assets (things you own)........... 0

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

Total Unsecured debt.................... -10,639.01[b]

Net Assets.............................. -10,639.01[/b]

[i]Created using the SOA calculator at www.stoozing.com. 

Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.[/i][/font]


the 0% are ending at various points next year and 2024 and 2026. I know I can shuffle round a lot of it on existing cards I have 0% balance transfer offers on. I also have a balance transfer offer I’m pre-approved on but don’t want to take it up just yet. Hoping once I’ve done a shuffle I’ll get offered something longer. So I’m pretty sure I won’t be paying interest other than the barclaycard and MBNA!

Martico

Hi and good luck! That already looks like quite a lean budget, and I hope it works out for you.
One thing I'd investigate is water. I live alone and pay £15 per month. I have a water meter, and have heard that metered water tends to be cheaper if you have fewer people than bedrooms in a residence. That would also depend on your region, and if you take baths I guess (I shower). But maybe look into your water contract and consider getting a meter if you don't already have one.
It's so good that you're on top of your current and potential 0% deals as well, you've got this 👍 

bekah89

Hi thank you! Yeah I’ve been told before the water amount is quite high but never looked into it. I’m not sure I can go on a meter as I’m renting but I’ll have a look. I have baths every now and then, it’s more it uses so much of my hot water then costs more to heat up overnight haha. Thank you! 

CRANKY40

Would you think about starting an emergency fund? Even if you only put £10 a month away it will build up. It's to get you into the habit of having money to pay for anything you haven't planned or budgeted for instead of having to add to your card debt. If you add any underspend from your other categories then you'll have money available for those occasional expenses. I've just transferred ny sister's Barclaycard debt to Virgin on a fairly long interest free offer. The interest rates for Barclays keep going up and I dislike them immensely anyway.  

LookingForPeace

Hi bekah - congratulations on the new diary and the new determination! I'm new here too but hope to join you on your journey (we have almost the exact same debt balance!).

I had the same thoughts as cranky re an emergency fund - where would a surprise £200 cost go right now? If you want to avoid it going on a card, a small pot to help deal with that kind of thing might be a good idea... 

You got this!

enthusiasticsaver

Well done on getting most of the debt on to 0%. I would start an emergency savings fund although as you rent and don’t have a car or pets it is not quite so critical as for others. I always think it is a good idea to have some sort of buffer so I would start to try and put something aside each month no matter how small. 

I would focus on that Barclaycard with any spare money. Your soa is quite lean already. I think I would try and put the spare £100 to the Barclaycard initially and save the £33 in an emergency fund. £400 a month towards your debt is a good contribution on your income considering you have quite high rent in proportion to your wages. 

shell16

Hi there and wonderful you are starting to hold yourself accountable.

With regards an emergency fund, you definitely need to make this a priority.  Alot opt for £1000 but personally I like to have a mini EF of £500 which will deal with most emergencies which crop up as I well know

Your haircuts and entertainment budgets per month do seem a little steep especially that you have this debt.  Could you maybe have a haircut etc every other month?  Also your entertainment budget, what is this for? Again is it something you could look to reduce if for example you use this as eating out could you cut down to every other week or once a month?  Do you regularly use an overdraft? Your debt needs to be focussed (I would say) on EF first, then tackling Barclaycard as that APR is shocking. 

The key to getting out of debt is an honest working budget.  Give every penny of your pay a role and budget to zero.  I used the last 3 months of spending to analyse where my 'extra' cash was going and it turned out to be on rubbish things like coffees or when at work buying lunch.  I didnt totally cut these out but focussed on reducing what I did spend.  Give yourself some personal spending cash but when its gone its gone!

Try cash budgeting for anything you would like to focus on if you overspend like your Grocery as you have mentioned.  I personally use cash for Grocery and Fuel for the car as those were areas where I overspent.  Its too easy with a card, if you go over budget you feel it doesnt matter. I budget monthly but have a weekly mini budget for my cash items.  Its amazing how using cash keeps you focussed, I have personally funded my 2nd EF with left over cash from my mini weekly budget and sent £95 so far in the last month.

Just a few things to think about, keep updating this will make you accountable and you will be able to see your progress! Good Luck!

Shell x  

bekah89

CRANKY40 said:

Would you think about starting an emergency fund? Even if you only put £10 a month away it will build up. It's to get you into the habit of having money to pay for anything you haven't planned or budgeted for instead of having to add to your card debt. If you add any underspend from your other categories then you'll have money available for those occasional expenses. I've just transferred ny sister's Barclaycard debt to Virgin on a fairly long interest free offer. The interest rates for Barclays keep going up and I dislike them immensely anyway.  

Yes I had thought about an emergency fund but always concentrated on using any spare money to pay off credit cards. I don’t have many emergency circumstances to be fair as I rent and don’t have a car although my tv did pack up a few months so had to fork out for a new one after just using my laptop for a month and getting fed up 😅 £10 a month to an EF is a good idea 👍 yes Barclays are really annoying I’m sure every month they’re putting the interest up! 

bekah89

LookingForPeace said:

Hi bekah - congratulations on the new diary and the new determination! I'm new here too but hope to join you on your journey (we have almost the exact same debt balance!).

I had the same thoughts as cranky re an emergency fund - where would a surprise £200 cost go right now? If you want to avoid it going on a card, a small pot to help deal with that kind of thing might be a good idea... 

You got this!

Thank you! Welcome to the 10k debt club 😅 yes I’m now thinking about starting a little emergency fund as I do have a bit of leverage to add to it. 

bekah89

enthusiasticsaver said:

Well done on getting most of the debt on to 0%. I would start an emergency savings fund although as you rent and don’t have a car or pets it is not quite so critical as for others. I always think it is a good idea to have some sort of buffer so I would start to try and put something aside each month no matter how small. 

I would focus on that Barclaycard with any spare money. Your soa is quite lean already. I think I would try and put the spare £100 to the Barclaycard initially and save the £33 in an emergency fund. £400 a month towards your debt is a good contribution on your income considering you have quite high rent in proportion to your wages. 

Thank you! Though the part of the Halifax 0% balance is ending in February but I’m pretty certain I can shift that. Yes that’s what I thought about the EF I don’t really have emergencies apart from a tv going bust. But I think I’ll start a small one. 

I had been focussing extra payments onto Barclaycard but have just moved them to Halifax to get rid of some more before it ends in feb. Yeah I’m happy with being able to pay £400 off a month at the moment it’s not a bad chunk. My rent is low for my area I live in a very expensive area 🤦🏻‍♀️ so not much I can do about that unless I move into a house spare which I don’t really want to