Slow and steady only works if you're moving

cybertortoise

I’m starting a new diary as I didn’t keep up with the old one, and though not much has actually changed, I’d like the accountability. So, what’s changed:

I graduated and started working at my local hospital, this has been a big change as I’ve only ever been self-employed before. I’ve struggled with childcare since day 1, I am a single parent and have no family support except my older children and really don't want to put pressure on them to be constantly looking after the youngest. I had childcare arranged before starting my new job but that fell through. I’ve been lucky to have my flexible working application approved. Next month I start doing hours that are more family-friendly. Of course, this means I’ll be working slightly fewer hours each week, and won’t get the enhancements for the out of hours shifts I’ve been doing every month. As such my SOA when I post it is based on my basic rate of pay for the new, reduced hours. I’m not looking forward to the financial aspect of this change when it kicks in from late September.

Not much has been paid off my debts. Despite working full-time I’ve been barely breaking even. I’ve got a token payment plan with Stepchange that I’ve been sticking to. This makes affording life a bit easier but does make me feel a bit disheartened after all the progress I made previously. Paying off only £1 per debt each month means I’m seeing no progress at all with my balances.

My old car reached the end of its life and I had no savings. I was able to get a loan, and found a secondhand one. A car is a necessity so I can get to and from work. Plus, I’m a carer for an elderly relative who lives the next town over. This is an expense I was trying to avoid as I’d hoped my old car would last a little longer.

·       Save up for next year’s MOT (due August)

·       Save up monthly so I can buy 6 months road tax (due January)

·       Post SOA

·       Stick with the token payment plan for now

·       Got a free trial of YNAB - things definitely went better when I had this before

Sarahwithlove

Could you possibly pick up some overtime at weekends when the older children are about? I'm sure they wouldn't mind helping out if it means that you aren't so stressed and have a bit more flexibility in your budget
 

cybertortoise

@Sarahwithlove

This is definitely on my list of things to do. We have occasional shifts available to cover but these tend to be few and far between. If more than one person wants a shift they put names in a hat, so its not at all guaranteed. Plus they're trying to reduce the number of overtime hours overall. But I'll definitely feel better about asking the older ones to babysit occasional days/evenings when i'm not making them do 3 weekends out of 4.

cybertortoise

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information[/b]
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1645.74
Benefits................................ 892.78
Other income............................ 150
Total monthly income.................... 2688.52

Monthly Expense Details
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 180
Rent.................................... 650
Council tax............................. 184
Electricity............................. 100
Gas..................................... 50
Water rates............................. 50
Mobile phone............................ 20
Internet Services....................... 50

Groceries etc. ......................... 500

Pet Supplies ......................... 100

Petrol/diesel........................... 100
Road tax................................ 28
Car Insurance........................... 200
Car parking............................. 10
Childcare/nursery....................... 50
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 20
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 116
Contents insurance...................... 12
Life assurance ......................... 44
Haircuts................................ 25
Entertainment........................... 41
Pocket money............................ 50
Professional registration............... 36
Total monthly expenses.................. 2616

Assets
Car(s).................................. 4250
Total Assets............................ 4250


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Secured Debt.................. 7453.89..(145)......34.8
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 150......(35).......51
Total secured & HP debts...... 7603.89...-.........-  

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Stepchange.....................27117.....28........0
CCJ............................156.......28........0
Utilita........................2142.1....50........0
Total unsecured debts..........29415.1...106.......- 

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,688.52
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,616
Available for debt repayments........... 72.52
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 106
Amount short for making debt repayments. -33.48

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 4,250
Total HP & Secured debt................. -7,603.89
Total Unsecured debt.................... -29,415.1
Net Assets.............................. -32,768.99

Things I'm not paying but should be / would like to be:

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

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

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

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

Sarahwithlove

Maybe budget based on no overtime so that any extra can go towards debt 

Sarahwithlove

Also £200 for car insurance a month seems excessive? 

cybertortoise

That's what I've done @Sarahwithlove the figure shown is my basic rate, no enhancements or additional shifts. Anything additional to that will go to debt, I'd also like to start saving toward an emergency fund as I have nothing at all put aside. I'm going to focus on the debts which have interest accruing before that.

The car insurance is an estimate, it's not due til end of September so I can get quotes at the end of this month. I did get quotes for my new car when I bought it, these were higher than my current but it was for the following day so I know that can put the prices up. Also I had a minor at fault accident last year and live in a dodgy area, that's not helping much. A quote today has given me a much nicer figure of £135 a month so I'm hoping that's representative of what I'll be paying. Also, I'm planning on haggling with my current company if my renewal isn't good. Fingers crossed I can shave some money off this figure!

On a brighter note I learned we should get a pay rise either this month or next month, that should put my basic salary up by about £100 a month.

KeepOnKnitting

I had assumed the £200 insurance was an error and that it was £200 for the year, not per month. That's ridiculous! Do you have a particularly sporty or theft attractive car? Would it be worth changing cars for something cheaper to insure? I think I paid about £450 for my insurance last year when I upgraded to a sportier car, and my old panda only used to cost about £300 per year to insure.

I'm a little worried for you, as you state you have been just about managing with full time hours, but are now about to drop to part-time without enhancements. Does the change of job mean a better hourly rate, or are you going to lose a lot of income? 

cybertortoise

@KeepOnKnitting I wish it was a typo. I only have an Astra! It's not big or fancy plus it's 10 years old.

The change to my work hours means I'll be losing about 1.25 hours per week, it's the drop in enhancements I'll miss as I have been doing most weekends. However, my budgeting relies on my basic rate rather than enhanced one. This is worst case scenario, I will likely get paid more than that each month.

cybertortoise

My month runs from 25th to 24th. 

My new budget is created and ready to go. This month I need to pay my car insurance deposit so that has been allocated £300. I'll be glad when I've done that as I can rejig my budget and SOA to reflect the actual amount.

cybertortoise

Back from a lovely weekend at my brother's house, seeing family we don't get to see often. It was a bit more spendy than I'd like, but I had budgeted and didn't go over. It was a nice break. 2 more days off work before a streak of 10 on. Then my new hours kick in and hopefully I'll be less tired.

Lots of stress around my aunt who is in hospital again, and her partner who needs a referral for possible dementia so is not able to look after her when she is discharged. I live 15 miles away (ish) and will likely need to go and visit several times a week.

I need to catch up with my budgeting, and I'm still awaiting my car insurance renewal quote. Tomorrow I'll call them and also try and change some direct debit dates so I can manage a bit better next month. Lots of bills come out when I get my wages, then I struggle til my UC comes in. If I spread things out differently I think that will help.