Zero Balance Reboot: My Fresh Start to Financial Freedom... again!

nsl101

Back in 2017, I wanted to be debt-free. I almost made a good start, but I didn't get there. Here I am to start again.  I have a lot to do, but this is my first note to say this is my new start. 

After working really hard, by the end of 2019, I was almost debt-free. However, things changed; life threw me a dozy of life changes. 

So here I am, living alone with my dog, and I owe money again. Here is a rough list:

First Direct Overdraft: - £1415.95
First Direct Personal Loan: - £7187.94
MBNA  CC - £14395.95
Virgin Money CC - £10331.47 
Rough Total: - £33,331.31

I am quite sad that I have let it get to this, its a mixture of depression and Laziness. 

My plan is to over the next few days put anew SOA together and start from there.. I know there are places I can claw back money that's slipping away from me but its tight, and I need to sort it. I just stopped putting controls on my spending..

so here is to a new start...  Thanks in advance to anyone that wants to help me on this journey I hope I can help you all also, along the way.  

nsl101

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information

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

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

Number of cars owned.................... 2

Monthly Income Details

Monthly income after tax................ 3595.18

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

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

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

Total monthly income.................... 3595.18

Monthly Expense Details

Mortgage................................ 1461

Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 498.10000000000014

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

Management charge (leasehold property).. 0

Council tax............................. 153

Electricity............................. 50

Gas..................................... 43.55

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

Water rates............................. 29

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

Mobile phone............................ 11.43

TV Licence.............................. 15

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

Internet Services....................... 43.14

Groceries etc. ......................... 120

Clothing................................ 0

Petrol/diesel........................... 272

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pet insurance/vet bills................. 58.61

Buildings insurance..................... 29.12

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

Life assurance ......................... 17.99

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

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

Haircuts................................ 15

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

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

Emergency fund.......................... 0

Total monthly expenses.................. 2816.94

Assets

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

House value (Gross)..................... 280000

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

Car(s).................................. 19000

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

Total Assets............................ 299000

Secured & HP Debts

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

Mortgage...................... 248600...(1461).....5.9

Secured Debt.................. 7187.94..(211.4)....0

Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 23273.1..(286.7)....0

Total secured & HP debts...... 279061.0.-.........-   

Unsecured Debts

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

First D Over Draft.............1415.95...0.........0

Total unsecured debts..........1415.95...0.........- 

Monthly Budget Summary

Total monthly income.................... 3,595.18

Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,816.94

Available for debt repayments........... 778.24

Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0

Amount left after debt repayments....... 778.24

Personal Balance Sheet Summary

Total assets (things you own)........... 299,000

Total HP & Secured debt................. -279,061.04

Total Unsecured debt.................... -1,415.95

Net Assets.............................. 18,523.01

Created using the SOA calculator at www.LemonFool.co.uk.

Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

WinterWarrior

£120 seems really low for groceries for a month. Does that include dog food? Would selling a car be a quick win, as you can’t drive them both at once 😬
Good luck on your journey. 

Sarahwithlove

I agree a car must go. If you need or want a 2nd one then it has to be after the debt is gone and you can afford it. 

Can I ask where you live and type of property as your housing costs seem high for a single person. 

nsl101

WinterWarrior said:

£120 seems really low for groceries for a month. Does that include dog food? Would selling a car be a quick win, as you can’t drive them both at once 😬
Good luck on your journey. 

Hi, I'm not sure about the Groceries as I never shop properly it's only laziness. This is something that has to change; too, many takeaways. I did a bit of a proper shop in Aldi with a List, and it came to just under 30 quid, so I've multiplied it for now.  I know the number might not be perfect but I am trying to put something sensible in. 

Oh and dog food is not included i buy it by the sack once every month and a half.

One car is Sorn, and its only laziness that's stopped me from getting it collected, sorry perhaps I should have logged it as one car. 

I think ill have another go at this later in the week once i have a better picture of what's going on. 

nsl101

Sarahwithlove said:

I agree a car must go. If you need or want a 2nd one then it has to be after the debt is gone and you can afford it. 

Can I ask where you live and type of property as your housing costs seem high for a single person. 

I live in ********, in a semi detached 3 bed. 

WinterWarrior

£30 a week would be really challenging for me. Don’t forget there will be detergents and bin bags, etc. every now and again. It’s best to start with enough, rather than being frustrated if you can’t stick to £30 every week. Put your dog food in the soa too (if you haven’t) and then you’ll have a clearer picture. It’s definitely doable though, with some sacrifice you will get everything paid off and think how brilliant that will feel! 

MFWannabe

nsl101 said:

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information

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

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

Number of cars owned.................... 2

Monthly Income Details

Monthly income after tax................ 3595.18

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

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

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

Total monthly income.................... 3595.18

Monthly Expense Details

Mortgage................................ 1461

Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 498.10000000000014

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

Management charge (leasehold property).. 0

Council tax............................. 153

Electricity............................. 50

Gas..................................... 43.55

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

Water rates............................. 29

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

Mobile phone............................ 11.43

TV Licence.............................. 15

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

Internet Services....................... 43.14

Groceries etc. ......................... 120

Clothing................................ 0

Petrol/diesel........................... 272

Road tax................................ 0 - Need something in here

Car Insurance........................... 0 - Need something in here 

Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0 - Need something in here 

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

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

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

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

Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0 - Nothing in here? 

Pet insurance/vet bills................. 58.61

Buildings insurance..................... 29.12

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

Life assurance ......................... 17.99

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

Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0 - Never buy presents? 

Haircuts................................ 15

Entertainment........................... 0 - Never go out? 

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

Emergency fund.......................... 0 -  Need to put something in here 

Total monthly expenses.................. 2816.94

Assets

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

House value (Gross)..................... 280000

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

Car(s).................................. 19000

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

Total Assets............................ 299000

Secured & HP Debts

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

Mortgage...................... 248600...(1461).....5.9

Secured Debt.................. 7187.94..(211.4)....0

Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 23273.1..(286.7)....0

Total secured & HP debts...... 279061.0.-.........-   

Unsecured Debts

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

First D Over Draft.............1415.95...0.........0

Total unsecured debts..........1415.95...0.........- 

Monthly Budget Summary

Total monthly income.................... 3,595.18

Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,816.94

Available for debt repayments........... 778.24

Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0

Amount left after debt repayments....... 778.24

Personal Balance Sheet Summary

Total assets (things you own)........... 299,000

Total HP & Secured debt................. -279,061.04

Total Unsecured debt.................... -1,415.95

Net Assets.............................. 18,523.01

Created using the SOA calculator at www.LemonFool.co.uk.

Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

There’s a lot of figures missing in your soa, I’ve put some comments above 
You need to allocate money to all expenses. 

Can you sell one of the cars and pay off some of the debt? The overdraft? You’ll be paying high interest on an overdraft 

Sarahwithlove

Could you get a lodger for 6-12 months if you have a 3 bed property. 

I know car is sorn but I assume it's still costing you something? Is it road worthy? Do you own it? Could you use that one and get rid of your lease car? 

nsl101

WinterWarrior said:

£30 a week would be really challenging for me. Don’t forget there will be detergents and bin bags, etc. every now and again. It’s best to start with enough, rather than being frustrated if you can’t stick to £30 every week. Put your dog food in the soa too (if you haven’t) and then you’ll have a clearer picture. It’s definitely doable though, with some sacrifice you will get everything paid off and think how brilliant that will feel! 

I agree and need to re-work this; I plan to spend more time populating the SOA better; the trouble is with work and my DJ commitments in the evening. I have picked the worst time to do this, but I felt I couldn't kick the can down the road.  I have a small ltd company I run my DJ services from, and its accounts are a mess too; I spend some time finding services I'm paying for that I don't need to cancel, which will save £50 quid a month on that account. 

You have some really good advice here thankyou. This is why I wanted to get back on the forum, to have some support is golden.. 

nsl101

MFWannabe said:

There’s a lot of figures missing in your soa, I’ve put some comments above 
You need to allocate money to all expenses. 

Can you sell one of the cars and pay off some of the debt? The overdraft? You’ll be paying high interest on an overdraft 

Agreed, I will re-work this, and take your feedback as a guide, absolutely the car that's sorn can be disposed of, it required a lot of welding and had reached the age, where it was no longer viable to keep it on the road, I have bought a car that was going to be reliable, I need to get about and it is worth considering if I should sell it and dissolve the finance agreement.  I have to admit I wanted something nice after having been frustrated with car issues for the past four years. The issue I have is that I travel long distances for my DJ interests and needed a comfortable safe and reliable car. 

I absolutely want to get rid of the overdraft... it depresses me so anything I can sell the dead car for will be sunk into this.