Kezzy's debt journey 2024

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kezzygirl
kezzygirl Posts: 889 Forumite
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I've been a member here for a long time, but for the first time I am going to create my own debt free diary. 
A little about me:nhs nurse, married mother of 2, and 2 doggie children. 
I have a bit of a problem with gambling, but hopefully I'm addressing it now I have used gamstop to block myself from uk sites. Lightbulb moment came when I realised I've spent just shy of £500 in the last month on online scratchcards. Crazy. Hideous. Shameful. All of this in the hope of a big win so that I can pay off our debt. 
So, on to the debts!! All of our debts are currently affordable and manageable, though we did just get a loan for 10k for a new car, which we purchased at the weekend. Our 'old' car was 12, and a 2.2 turbo diesel suv, drinks fuel and we were spending £70 weekly just so hubby could get to work! Hopefully this new car, a 1.4 astra, will be more affordable. 
We used to be frugal when saving for a house deposit. We bought our first home in 2018 and moved in 2022 to another home, making a 60k profit on our sale. We used 42k of this towards our new house, which left 18k- paid off the caravan (11k) and purchased stuff we needed for the house. We then bought new windows and doors earlier last year, which went on a 0% credit card, but they have definitely made a difference this winter! 
We also bought a new kitchen,again using a 0% card...flights for holidays...etc you get the picture. Our debts are as follows:
HSBC £6800 0% until 30th Aug 24 £170 a month
Barclaycard £4720 0% until 3rd Dec 24(the balance is about £7800 as we bought our daughters first car, which she is paying us back for) £260 a month
Sainsburys bank £3670 0% until 1st August £83 a month
Tesco bank £350-i think this is interest bearing as it was a purchase for the deposit for the car-need to pay off asap!!
MBNA Loan for four years 8% balance just over 11k £239 a month (starts next mth)
Total: 26,540. Wow. Could probably have done without buying the new car :(

We have savings of just over 2k in preparation for an upcoming holiday.
My salary varies depending on unsocial hours, overtime etc whereas my husband is relatively fixed at about £1650 a month. 

I usually pay as much as I can off the smallest debt but for the next few mths we are saving for holiday. That said, in order to clear sainsburys by the time it is due we will need to pay  £524 a month...which we can't afford. 

My plan for tomorrow is: open another bank account so that 'spending' money can go into it, leaving my main barclays acct which gives rewards to pay all of the direct debits. 

Create my soa 

Work out a figure from my wages that is reasonable to cover everything and anything over this pay directly off debt

Organise dates for availability for overtime

I think that's it for now. Apologies for the long post, it's been good for me to get it on paper
Kezz

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  • MFWannabe
    MFWannabe Posts: 2,014 Forumite
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    Welcome Kezzy 
    Well done for posting 
    You may want to consider posting an soa
    so people here could advise where you could make cutbacks? Also a good way of creating a budget 
    Ref the 2k you have for upcoming holiday; do you really need to go on the holiday or could it be postponed until you’re in a better financial position? 
    If the Tesco card is interest bearing pay it off with some of the 2k 
    You have 3 0% cards ending this year so you also need to focus on those as interest will be very high if you can’t get another 0% interest card to transfer to 

    31/03/24:  Debt total £12,400/13,192.13
  • kezzygirl
    kezzygirl Posts: 889 Forumite
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    MFWannabe said:
    Welcome Kezzy 
    TWell done for posting 
    You may want to consider posting an soa
    so people here could advise where you could make cutbacks? Also a good way of creating a budget 
    Ref the 2k you have for upcoming holiday; do you really need to go on the holiday or could it be postponed until you’re in a better financial position? 
    If the Tesco card is interest bearing pay it off with some of the 2k 
    You have 3 0% cards ending this year so you also need to focus on those as interest will be very high if you can’t get another 0% interest card to transfer to 

    Thanks for your reply, no way we can change the holiday as my sister is coming too and it's a been something we have looked forward to for the last year. I am speaking to hubby tonight about being specific about how much money we will need so we can aim for this over the next few months.

    I am worried about the 0% ending, we haven't been in the position where a other 0% isn't an option, but I realise with the state of the economy this could change! 

    So an update: I have completed some prolific surveys today and have about ten pounds in each account when they clear, this can go toward the tesco card so when I'm paid I won't have to pay so much to clear it. I could clear it with holiday savings but again I am worried we won't have enough cash. 

    I am going to sit with hubby this evening and create a meal plan

    I have also listed everything that comes out of the accounts, such as prime, kids xbox subscriptions as usually I don't include these in my budget. Also adding school dinners. I need to add Xmas savings too so that when December comes we aren't scrabbling around and skinting ourselves!! 

    I have quite a bit of free time next month so I am going to get some extra shifts booked in. I will look for a link to the soa and get this completed.
    Have a good evening:)

  • kezzygirl
    kezzygirl Posts: 889 Forumite
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    [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......... 2
    Number of cars owned.................... 2[b]

    Monthly Income Details[/b]
    Monthly income after tax................ 2930 this can go up or slightly down depending on overtime etc this is my pay this month
    Partners monthly income after tax....... 1650- stable every month
    Benefits................................ 172.9- child benefit which will stop in march as daughter turns 18
    Other income............................ 0[b]
    Total monthly income.................... 4752.9[/b][b]

    Monthly Expense Details[/b]
    Mortgage................................ 1361- includes £250 overpayment
    Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
    Rent.................................... 0
    Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
    Council tax............................. 140
    Electricity............................. 100
    Gas..................................... 117
    Oil..................................... 0
    Water rates............................. 54
    Telephone (land line)................... 0
    Mobile phone............................ 57- 3 mobiles
    TV Licence.............................. 0
    Satellite/Cable TV...................... 33
    Internet Services....................... 11
    Groceries etc. ......................... 400 this is our budget
    Clothing................................ 0
    Petrol/diesel........................... 300 may go down this month due to new car
    Road tax................................ 16
    Car Insurance........................... 55- we don't budget this, usually its in the monthly household savings fund
    Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 50 same as above
    Car parking............................. 0
    Other travel............................ 0
    Childcare/nursery....................... 0
    Other child related expenses............ 40 school dinners and xbox subscriptions
    Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
    Pet insurance/vet bills................. 32 vet plan for 2 dogs
    Buildings insurance..................... 15 part of £300 household budgeting
    Tobacco 80 
    Contents insurance...................... 0
    Life assurance ......................... 0
    Other insurance......................... 0
    Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 100 not yet putting this away
    Haircuts................................ 0
    Entertainment........................... 0
    Holiday................................. 0
    Emergency fund.......................... 300[b] this is what we put into an account everymonth for yearly expenses- mot, insurances etc. Current balance zero as we always dip into it.
    Total monthly expenses.................. 3156[/b]
    [b]

    Assets[/b]
    Cash.................................... 2000
    House value (Gross)..................... 300000
    Shares and bonds........................ 2000
    Car(s).................................. 13000
    Other assets............................ 0[b]
    Total Assets............................ 317000[/b]
    [b]

    Secured & HP Debts[/b]
    Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
    Mortgage...................... 0........(1361).....2.74[b]
    Total secured & HP debts...... 0.........-.........-   [/b]

    [b]Unsecured Debts[/b]
    Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
    Tesco bank.....................350.......0.........27
    Sainsburys bank................3670......83........0% until August 24
    Barclaycard....................4720......260.......0% until Dec 24
    MBNA LOAN......................11470.....239.......8.4 over 4 years, payment not yet started as new loan
    Hsbc...........................6800......175.......0% until 30th August 24
    Total unsecured debts..........27010.....757.......-  [/b]

    [b]
    Monthly Budget Summary[/b]
    Total monthly income.................... 4,752.9
    Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 3,156
    Available for debt repayments........... 1,596.9
    Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 757[b]
    Amount left after debt repayments....... 839.9[/b]

    [b]Personal Balance Sheet Summary[/b]
    Total assets (things you own)........... 317,000
    Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
    Total Unsecured debt.................... -27,010[b]
    Net Assets.............................. 289,990[/b]

    [i]Created using the SOA calculator at www.LemonFool.co.uk.
    Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.[/i][/font]
  • MFWannabe
    MFWannabe Posts: 2,014 Forumite
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    kezzygirl said:
    [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......... 2
    Number of cars owned.................... 2[b]

    Monthly Income Details[/b]
    Monthly income after tax................ 2930 this can go up or slightly down depending on overtime etc this is my pay this month
    Partners monthly income after tax....... 1650- stable every month
    Benefits................................ 172.9- child benefit which will stop in march as daughter turns 18
    Other income............................ 0[b]
    Total monthly income.................... 4752.9[/b][b]

    Monthly Expense Details[/b]
    Mortgage................................ 1361- includes £250 overpayment
    Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
    Rent.................................... 0
    Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
    Council tax............................. 140
    Electricity............................. 100
    Gas..................................... 117
    Oil..................................... 0
    Water rates............................. 54 - This seems very high. Is this a meter or rates? If rates how many months is this over? 
    Telephone (land line)................... 0
    Mobile phone............................ 57- 3 mobiles
    TV Licence.............................. 0 - No TV licence? 
    Satellite/Cable TV...................... 33
    Internet Services....................... 11
    Groceries etc. ......................... 400 this is our budget 
    Clothing................................ 0
    Petrol/diesel........................... 300 may go down this month due to new car - Hopefully this will come down as this is high 
    Road tax................................ 16
    Car Insurance........................... 55- we don't budget this, usually its in the monthly household savings fund
    Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 50 same as above
    Car parking............................. 0
    Other travel............................ 0
    Childcare/nursery....................... 0
    Other child related expenses............ 40 school dinners and xbox subscriptions
    Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
    Pet insurance/vet bills................. 32 vet plan for 2 dogs - What does this cover? 
    Buildings insurance..................... 15 part of £300 household budgeting 
    Tobacco 80 - This may have got lost in the figures? 
    Contents insurance...................... 0 - Do you have contents insurance? Is it included in buildings? You need to get this if you dont  have it 
    Life assurance ......................... 0 - You need this as you have dependants and are the main earner 
    Other insurance......................... 0
    Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 100 not yet putting this away - This could be reduced for now until debts are paid 
    Haircuts................................ 0 - Never have haircuts? You need something here 
    Entertainment........................... 0 - Never go out? You need something here
    Holiday................................. 0 - You need to include this in your budget 
    Emergency fund.......................... 300[b] this is what we put into an account everymonth for yearly expenses- mot, insurances etc. Current balance zero as we always dip into it. You need to budget amounts for these expenses so emergency fund budget is for that purpose 
    Total monthly expenses.................. 3156[/b]
    [b]

    Assets[/b]
    Cash.................................... 2000
    House value (Gross)..................... 300000
    Shares and bonds........................ 2000
    Car(s).................................. 13000
    Other assets............................ 0[b]
    Total Assets............................ 317000[/b]
    [b]

    Secured & HP Debts[/b]
    Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
    Mortgage...................... 0........(1361).....2.74[b] - You need to enter mortgage amount 
    Total secured & HP debts...... 0.........-.........-   [/b]

    [b]Unsecured Debts[/b]
    Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
    Tesco bank.....................350.......0.........27 - You need to clear this ASAP 
    Sainsburys bank................3670......83........0% until August 24 - Round up the payment to £100, you won’t pay this off by end of 0% period so will need to look for another 0% card in June/July
    Barclaycard....................4720......260.......0% until Dec 24 - Is this the minimum payment? Seems high compared to Sainsburys and hsbc
    MBNA LOAN......................11470.....239.......8.4 over 4 years, payment not yet started as new loan
    Hsbc...........................6800......175.......0% until 30th August 24 - Round up to £200? Again you will need to look for a new balance transfer around July time 
    Total unsecured debts..........27010.....757.......-  [/b]

    [b]
    Monthly Budget Summary[/b]
    Total monthly income.................... 4,752.9
    Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 3,156
    Available for debt repayments........... 1,596.9
    Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 757[b]
    Amount left after debt repayments....... 839.9[/b]

    [b]Personal Balance Sheet Summary[/b]
    Total assets (things you own)........... 317,000
    Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
    Total Unsecured debt.................... -27,010[b]
    Net Assets.............................. 289,990[/b]

    [i]Created using the SOA calculator at www.LemonFool.co.uk.
    Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.[/i][/font]
    Okay I’ve made some comments above, there’s some gaps in your soa 
    I would either stop overpaying mortgage for now or drop the overpayment to £50 so you at least feel like you’re still overpaying 
    Save a small emergency fund of £1000 and throw as much as you can at the debts. Try to pay as much as you can off the cards as you wont pay them off by the time the 0% deals end but get them down as much as you can and see if you can get a new balance transfer card in July 
    31/03/24:  Debt total £12,400/13,192.13
  • Archerychick
    Archerychick Posts: 255 Forumite
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    An initial observation would be to divert your mortgage overpayment to some of your unsecured debt, to clear off some of the interest bearing debt quickly.  It looks like you’ve got a decent chunk left over without any other budget adjustments to knock off some of the other cards too, but prioritising where the 0% deal ends sooner 
  • kezzygirl
    kezzygirl Posts: 889 Forumite
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    MFWannabe said:
    kezzygirl said:
    [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......... 2
    Number of cars owned.................... 2[b]

    Monthly Income Details[/b]
    Monthly income after tax................ 2930 this can go up or slightly down depending on overtime etc this is my pay this month
    Partners monthly income after tax....... 1650- stable every month
    Benefits................................ 172.9- child benefit which will stop in march as daughter turns 18
    Other income............................ 0[b]
    Total monthly income.................... 4752.9[/b][b]

    Monthly Expense Details[/b]
    Mortgage................................ 1361- includes £250 overpayment
    Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
    Rent.................................... 0
    Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
    Council tax............................. 140
    Electricity............................. 100
    Gas..................................... 117
    Oil..................................... 0
    Water rates............................. 54 - This seems very high. Is this a meter or rates? If rates how many months is this over? Metered water
    Telephone (land line)................... 0
    Mobile phone............................ 57- 3 mobiles
    TV Licence.............................. 0 - No TV licence? Nope, stream only, don't watch live tv
    Satellite/Cable TV...................... 33
    Internet Services....................... 11
    Groceries etc. ......................... 400 this is our budget 
    Clothing................................ 0
    Petrol/diesel........................... 300 may go down this month due to new car - Hopefully this will come down as this is high - this is for 2 cars and is what I allocate a month for travel. May not be an accurate reflection though
    Road tax................................ 16
    Car Insurance........................... 55- we don't budget this, usually its in the monthly household savings fund
    Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 50 same as above
    Car parking............................. 0
    Other travel............................ 0
    Childcare/nursery....................... 0
    Other child related expenses............ 40 school dinners and xbox subscriptions
    Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
    Pet insurance/vet bills................. 32 vet plan for 2 dogs - What does this cover? 
    Buildings insurance..................... 15 part of £300 household budgeting 
    Tobacco 80 - This may have got lost in the figures? I added it after
    Contents insurance...................... 0 - Do you have contents insurance? Included in buildings.
    Life assurance ......................... 0 - You need this as you have dependants and are the main earner- I have a good pension with death in service benefit which will stand them in good stead.
    Other insurance......................... 0
    Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 100 not yet putting this away - This could be reduced for now until debts are paid 
    Haircuts................................ 0 - Never have haircuts? You need something here 
    Entertainment........................... 0 - Never go out? You need something here
    Holiday................................. 0 - You need to include this in your budget 
    Emergency fund.......................... 300[b] this is what we put into an account everymonth for yearly expenses- mot, insurances etc. Current balance zero as we always dip into it. You need to budget amounts for these expenses so emergency fund budget is for that purpose 
    Total monthly expenses.................. 3156[/b]
    [b]

    Assets[/b]
    Cash.................................... 2000
    House value (Gross)..................... 300000
    Shares and bonds........................ 2000
    Car(s).................................. 13000
    Other assets............................ 0[b]
    Total Assets............................ 317000[/b]
    [b]

    Secured & HP Debts[/b]
    Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
    Mortgage...................143,210    1.94%
    Second mortgage (ported from old house) 72,218 ... ...2.74%
    ....(1361).....2.74[b] - both rates expiring next may 2025
    Total secured & HP debts...... 0.........-.........-   [/b]

    [b]Unsecured Debts[/b]
    Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
    Tesco bank.....................350.......0.........27 - You need to clear this ASAP 
    Sainsburys bank................3670......83........0% until August 24 - Round up the payment to £100, you won’t pay this off by end of 0% period so will need to look for another 0% card in June/July
    Barclaycard....................4720......260.......0% until Dec 24 - Is this the minimum payment? Seems high compared to Sainsburys and hsbc:£7984 owed, but our daughter owes £3000 of this as she pays us back for her car.
    MBNA LOAN......................11470.....239.......8.4 over 4 years, payment not yet started as new loan
    Hsbc...........................6800......175.......0% until 30th August 24 - Round up to £200? Again you will need to look for a new balance transfer around July time 
    Total unsecured debts..........27010.....757.......-  [/b]

    [b]
    Monthly Budget Summary[/b]
    Total monthly income.................... 4,752.9
    Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 3,156
    Available for debt repayments........... 1,596.9
    Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 757[b]
    Amount left after debt repayments....... 839.9[/b]

    [b]Personal Balance Sheet Summary[/b]
    Total assets (things you own)........... 317,000
    Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
    Total Unsecured debt.................... -27,010[b]
    Net Assets.............................. 289,990[/b]

    [i]Created using the SOA calculator at www.LemonFool.co.uk.
    Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.[/i][/font]
    Okay I’ve made some comments above, there’s some gaps in your soa 
    I would either stop overpaying mortgage for now or drop the overpayment to £50 so you at least feel like you’re still overpaying 
    Save a small emergency fund of £1000 and throw as much as you can at the debts. Try to pay as much as you can off the cards as you wont pay them off by the time the 0% deals end but get them down as much as you can and see if you can get a new balance transfer card in July 
    I have replied to your comments above, I'm using a mobile so apologies if my response aren't clear. 
    I agree, I think we need to stop the overpayment on the mortgage and be disciplined in transferring this to the credit card debt.i have been focusing on sainsburys as this is the first to expire- I usually pay much more than the min payment but in recent months just haven't. 

    Admittedly we do have a good surplus at the end of the month but it just gets frittered away. I have had an issue with scratchcards/I do have an issue with scratchcards- please see my other post in dfw. This month will be the first month I won't be able to spend on them. 

    Looks like I need to revisit the soa using my bank statements...
  • MFWannabe
    MFWannabe Posts: 2,014 Forumite
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    Well done for posting and so honestly, it’s not easy but really is for the first step 
    31/03/24:  Debt total £12,400/13,192.13
  • Archerychick
    Archerychick Posts: 255 Forumite
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    Yes congrats for taking this step! I’m sure that others can share some tips for not spending on things that you don’t really need. If I’m just out and about on foot I rarely have any money with me, that means I can’t spend any money! 
  • kezzygirl
    kezzygirl Posts: 889 Forumite
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    Update: pay day tomorrow, and I can't wait!! Transferred the £11 left in my account to savings. Just got to transfer hubbies leftovers too. Prolific is almost fully paid, waiting on £1.86 before I can transfer the full amount and pay a little off the tesco bank card. 
    Hubby will do a freezer inventory tomorrow, ready for our meal plan shop Saturday. Luckily we have had a lot of 15p potatoes left from christmas deals, along with blanched and frozen carrots, swede, red cabbage. They have lasted the month and we still have some left! 
    I'm going to be strict tomorrow and pay off the tesco card, though I may have to revisit this plan depending on how much we have leftover from direct debits.
    I haven't bought anything this week, haven't had the money to. Have been taking food from home to work (not that I usually buy takeaway or supermarket stuff from there but sometimes I get tempted!).
    Feeling better having a bit of control- and no scratchcards purchased either :)
  • kezzygirl
    kezzygirl Posts: 889 Forumite
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    Update:a week after payday.
    I've paid off tesco credit card
    Paid the £35 owing on virgin (accrued by my daughter, who needed fuel!)
    Paid minimum on the others but just made an additional payment off sainsburys card of £25.45 thanks to prolific! 
    I have not purchased any petrol yet, but will need to fill my tank.

    Our new car is going back to vauxhall tomorrow to have some silly stickers removed which were on it when we bought it a couple of weeks ago. For the inconvenience they are gifting us a full tank of fuel!! So far it cost us £46 to fill it on purchase 20th Jan so another tank free is a bonus-quarter of a tank left, which should get us the 60miles to the dealership. I
    f we had our old car it would be costing us £70 A WEEK!

    Put £200 in holiday savings too.

    Debts sit as follows:
    Barclaycard £4455 owed
    HSBC £6630 owed
    Tesco bank- ZERO
    Sainsburys bank £3555
    MBNA LOAN same amount-payment starts on next pay day.

    I have taken your advice and reduced our mortgage overpayment from £250 a month to £50 for the next few months. This should free up some money to overpay the credit cards. I'm hopeful we can clear sainsburys before it's due, but then hsbc is due end of August. 

    Not sure if we should look for a balance transfer nearer the time or try and do it now? We do have 7 months left so not too bad. 

    I have some bank shifts booked for this month so this will be more in the holiday and emergency fund. As it stands, we will have no money saved once we withdraw for our holiday. Bit of a daunting prospect but one we need to sort out!



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