Road To Financial Recovery

FootyFanDan

Ah, time to get back into the race so to speak, can’t believe I am doing this again.It is time to start taking finances seriously again. It is a rubbish feeling to be back in a position where I feel my finances are back in a mess. There isn’t any major debt so that is a positive of course but feel like a plan is needed never the less, I feel so disappointed in myself that debt is even a factor in my life now as I got myself out of the mess once. There are multiple reasons for the debt creeping back up but I have to face facts that I have also got a little careless with budgeting and got a bit silly with spending The last 10 months have been a real struggle but particularly the last 6 months, work has totally burnt me out so now is the time to act.

Negatives

• Budget not really in control
• Totally unprepared for a car service / MOT / repairs which totalled nearly 900 - First time really had to spend on this in 3 years though
• No real major savings

Positive

• I have finally decided to leave my current role and I have a new job / different challenge to look forward to. This is a significant financial improvement for me but it also provides an opportunity for me to learn and also hope this improves my work life balance.
• Decent enough income right now to not panic.

Plan

The plan is to get back into a solid financial position, ultimately this is on me to get my head back into the game and start been a lot more aware of what our money is doing. I have always taken care of the financial side ( love my spreadsheets ) There isn’t really any excuse for not been in a better positon as financially we aren’t bad it is just pure laziness. This is partly down to how I have had energy sapped through work but its meant no real meal planning or even if meal planning as happened I just never plan my work meals. I spent a day reviewing my last few months spends and the amounts that have gone on daily coffees, meals on the go and takeaways is frightening. 

Financial Goals

Build up Emergency Fund

Start Sinking Funds

Clear the debts - AGAIN  

Personal Goals

Settle into new role

Get my own health back into a good place. My sleeping/eating and keeping fit have totally gone out of the window and this is something I really need to get back

Over the next few months it is time to start the road to financial recovery. We do have a family holiday planned which I booked when I got a pay increase 12 months ago. We do need an holiday and it will be really nice but in hindsight could have been better not happening. The holiday is paid for so just spending money to think about but we had to purchase passports as ours had expired and daughter first one. 

Debts

Credit Card - £1700
Monzo - £1400

There isn't a huge amount of debt, however this has been built up both on some emergencies that were needed whilst we didn't have the adequate funds to pay for but some of this is also just a total lack of planning for family stuff that has then ended up on credit cards. The major part on the monzo was for full carpeting of the new house when we moved in and also the car service / repair so whilst it was needed, I feel a bit rubbish that it had to be funded this way. The card was for REAL emergencies and not for using as part of poor planning on my part

The new job does come with a decent salary increase and car allowance so this should make up some real difference to our budget but for now we need to work with what we have.

LET'S GO! 

MFWannabe

You sound exactly like me 
I’ve now finally realised that I need to live on my old salary and not keep living on new salary when I get a pay rise 🤷‍♀️ 

Are you paying interest on either of the debts? I’d find a 0% transfer card if you are so you can pay it off as quickly as possible 

FootyFanDan

MFWannabe said:

You sound exactly like me 
I’ve now finally realised that I need to live on my old salary and not keep living on new salary when I get a pay rise 🤷‍♀️ 

Are you paying interest on either of the debts? I’d find a 0% transfer card if you are so you can pay it off as quickly as possible 

Yeah, it wouldn't be so bad if it was just a few minor spends but some of it is just reckless spending,  I think the natural thing when getting salary increase is to relax a little and quite easily it gets out of control

the monzo has the interest payments already added and is paid monthly - hoping to get this under control quite quickly.  The credit card interest is probably quite high so I need to look into this. I think the positive on this occasion is that the increased salary means the debt isn't crippling me financially and the payments whilst annoying are affordable. I just really want to get on top of it.

MFWannabe

Are you able to get the debt onto 0%? Have a look on the eligibility calculator 
At least you’ll know and can hopefully stop having high interest charges 

FootyFanDan

MFWannabe said:

Are you able to get the debt onto 0%? Have a look on the eligibility calculator 
At least you’ll know and can hopefully stop having high interest charges 

Not sure. I will take a look though. Thank you

WinterWarrior

Ah, this sounds familiar. I had to do some much needed home improvement spending, but the spending spiralled me out of control. I don’t have debt, but no longer have any sinking funds and spent some hard earned savings on ridiculous frittering 😣 February was going to be my reset month, but I was dreadful!! March is the new month to get back on track…promise! Extra good luck to you. 

FootyFanDan

Happy Sunday all, spent a nice morning with family coffee and cake in one of local coffee shops, so time to relax for rest of day.

I spent last week or so doing a lot of reviewing the spends from the early part of the year and it consisted of fair too many unplanned, not budgeted spends. It is all good stuff and needed to keep up with trying to spend family time together but needs better planning for! It soon results in been £60-£70 off the budget and this throwing out the good work. I have figured I am good at working out what we should be doing with the funds...following this through and sticking to the budget not so good...time for that to change, because the reality this isn't totally not affordable but its just muddled up right now.

All the direct debits have now been paid including the debt payments, so now what we have left is to cover us for two weeks until we get next income source. I have got another free trial of YNAB but I do all the work in there and then just lose track of inputting transactions so lose track quickly. I do love spreadsheets so I do wonder if doing something in that form might be my thing and way to go. 

February was such an expensive month due to unexpected...the word here I should use is unplanned! The Car service/MOT was due in February and cost me so much more than I had budgeted for, however I was able to pull together what little funds across savings and put this towards it but most went on CC. Also due to delays with the car repairs, I had unexpected additional travel costs as had to travel on trains...unfortunately this resulted in a few extra morning coffees and a pint after work if train happened to be delayed. The first few months of year always seem to be expensive but I really need to plan better.

March shouldn't be as costly, we have last payment on holiday that is now paid. This was booked in a rush when I got my promotion but in hindsight might not have been that smart. It isn't anything too exotic but a week in the sun away as a family is something we really need! On another note what on earth is happening with Car Insurance I have had renewal come through, extra £300 for the year seems a bit of a steep increase given I haven't claimed and nothing has really changed. So shopping around is on my to do list but it seems everywhere is similar. A fair few of my colleagues and friends are saying theirs have increased a fair bit.

New Balances

Credit Card - £1700
Start: £1700 (Paid £100) - now £1600

Monzo - £1400
Start: £1400 (Paid £200) - Now £1200

Slow progress on these, but there isn't a plan to spend on these now. We have really struggled finance wise to get this holiday paid because money wasn't been paid on a direct debit it was just a due date for paying and each month I should have put money away and never did the more I thought it was a bad idea. We got there though so now 13 weeks until the holiday . I am hopefull this month will be a good month finance wise. There is no really big events / spends planned. I will also save in petrol (& shop bought on the go coffee ) I am on annual leave for a bit now from work.

I am also on the countdown for leaving, after annual leave it will be 7 weeks, but got so much work to do ready for handover - my role won't be filled for a while i reckon.

I think on reviewing everything, I have realised that meal planning or lack of contributes a massive amount to the extra spends as forever doing top up shops which is never good right?

Hope everyone is doing good. Its nice to see a bit of spring sunshine today

FootyFanDan

WinterWarrior said:

Ah, this sounds familiar. I had to do some much needed home improvement spending, but the spending spiralled me out of control. I don’t have debt, but no longer have any sinking funds and spent some hard earned savings on ridiculous frittering 😣 February was going to be my reset month, but I was dreadful!! March is the new month to get back on track…promise! Extra good luck to you. 

Good luck with March , trouble is it is so easy to fall track, been debt free is a good place to be and the frittering away is something I am pretty good at too to be honest. It is never too extreme but its stuff like a coffee here and there, top up shops for family film night, takeaways and eating on the go. In moderation these are all great, I love been out and about doing this stuff but because I am very impulsive the planning aspect goes out of the window and before I know it the budget is all out of balance

alt80

Good to hear from you mate and even better to hear you've a new job too. Hope your family is well. Not so great re the debts but looks like you've nipped it in the bud, can get it gone fairly easily and back on track. I would try not to worry about the holiday too much, you and your family needs some things to look forward to. 

FootyFanDan

alt80 said:

Good to hear from you mate and even better to hear you've a new job too. Hope your family is well. Not so great re the debts but looks like you've nipped it in the bud, can get it gone fairly easily and back on track. I would try not to worry about the holiday too much, you and your family needs some things to look forward to. 

Cheers mate, hope you and family are all good. Yeah the debt is frustrating, some of this was justifiable, or as such as it was required. The annoying parts are the silly frittering away of money, I thought I had got out of that.

The new job is an opportunity that just happened and in the end although I wasn't necessarily looking for an out of my current role, the new offer was just too good of a chance to turn down. I am pretty nervous, but also very excited about the change. The current role, whilst I have been here 6 years it is getting to a point where it is time to leave, as scary as that is.

alt80

Yeah my little family are doing well. My boy is 10 going on 30 rn ha. You should not let the frustration get to you too much, I'd say most people fritter away at least a little money each month. It's keeping the right balance which is key and not beating yourself up for the times things don't go to plan - looking on it as a learning exercise. 

From what I've read from your posts on here you'll be an asset to any employer. Everyone starts a new role at some time or another, being a little nervous is expected but we've all been there. Get stuck in and don't be afraid to ask questions.