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pink_fluffy_sparkles
pink_fluffy_sparkles Posts: 45 Forumite
Fourth Anniversary 10 Posts Name Dropper
edited 24 January at 6:01AM in Debt free diaries
I have been lurking here for far to long, a previous attempt at a diary fell by the wayside very quickly and now I need to sort myself out. 

It's not going to be quick, but I need to get debt free and it's starting to make me stress. 

Back soon with an SOA and a plan! 

Xxx
«1

Comments

  • pink_fluffy_sparkles
    pink_fluffy_sparkles Posts: 45 Forumite
    Fourth Anniversary 10 Posts Name Dropper
    Not managed SOA yet, think it's going to take me a bit longer than I thought to work it out. 

    But a bit about the fluffy_sparkles family...... 

    It's myself, my husband and our 1 year old daughter. I work full time, he works part time to work around child care. 

    I earn a decent wage so am disgusted at myself for getting in debt that I can't get out of, but I just love buying things and hate waiting to save for them! 

    We re mortgage in 2026 and I'd really like to be in a much better place by then, especially as the rates are going to at least double for us! 

    Xx
  • pink_fluffy_sparkles
    pink_fluffy_sparkles Posts: 45 Forumite
    Fourth Anniversary 10 Posts Name Dropper
    [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......... 1
    Number of cars owned.................... 2[b]

    Monthly Income Details[/b]
    Monthly income after tax................ 3100
    Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
    Benefits................................ 102
    Other income............................ 200[b]
    Total monthly income.................... 3402[/b][b]

    Monthly Expense Details[/b]
    Mortgage................................ 687
    Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
    Rent.................................... 0
    Management charge (leasehold property).. 30
    Council tax............................. 174
    Electricity............................. 86
    Gas..................................... 0
    Oil..................................... 0
    Water rates............................. 25
    Telephone (land line)................... 0
    Mobile phone............................ 25
    TV Licence.............................. 15
    Satellite/Cable TV...................... 55
    Internet Services....................... 0
    Groceries etc. ......................... 400
    Clothing................................ 25
    Petrol/diesel........................... 70
    Road tax................................ 17
    Car Insurance........................... 65
    Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 50
    Car parking............................. 10
    Other travel............................ 0
    Childcare/nursery....................... 350
    Other child related expenses............ 0
    Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
    Pet insurance/vet bills................. 50
    Buildings insurance..................... 20
    Contents insurance...................... 0
    Life assurance ......................... 46
    Other insurance......................... 40
    Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50
    Haircuts................................ 75
    Entertainment........................... 109
    Holiday................................. 50
    Emergency fund.......................... 0
    (Unnamed monthly expense)............... 0
    Misc.................................... 108
    Union................................... 17
    Subscriptions .......................... 14
    Ink .................................... 3
    Loft.................................... 108[b]
    Total monthly expenses.................. 2774[/b]
    [b]

    Assets[/b]
    Cash.................................... 100
    House value (Gross)..................... 280000
    Shares and bonds........................ 0
    Car(s).................................. 3000
    Other assets............................ 2000[b]
    Total Assets............................ 285100[/b]
    [b]

    Secured & HP Debts[/b]
    Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
    Mortgage...................... 190000...(687)......1.59[b]
    Total secured & HP debts...... 190000....-.........- [/b]

    [b]Unsecured Debts[/b]
    Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
    Loan ..........................3544......189.......0
    Credit card T..................5363......105.......25
    Credit card N .................440.......25........25
    Help to buy....................50000.....0.........0[b]
    Total unsecured debts..........59347.....319.......- [/b]

    [b]
    Monthly Budget Summary[/b]
    Total monthly income.................... 3,402
    Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,774
    Available for debt repayments........... 628
    Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 319[b]
    Amount left after debt repayments....... 309[/b]

    [b]Personal Balance Sheet Summary[/b]
    Total assets (things you own)........... 285,100
    Total HP & Secured debt................. -190,000
    Total Unsecured debt.................... -59,347[b]
    Net Assets.............................. 35,753[/b]

    [i]Created using the SOA calculator at www.LemonFool.co.uk.
    Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.[/i][/font]


    This is first attempt - some is best guest because December's statements are confusing!! 

    DH puts £50 a week in to joint account, and deals with all his own bills eg car, phone etc 
    This was the deal when he dropped to part time so I don't really want to change that for now. 

    I can see some obvious areas where I need to work on, eating out is bad, I'm not convinced I only spend £25 a month on clothing, and £400 for food seems high. Might be that I have to review again when Jan's statement is in! 

    Xx
  • MFWannabe
    MFWannabe Posts: 2,456 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    pink_fluffy_sparkles 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......... 1
    Number of cars owned.................... 2[b]

    Monthly Income Details[/b]
    Monthly income after tax................ 3100
    Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
    Benefits................................ 102
    Other income............................ 200[b]
    Total monthly income.................... 3402[/b][b]

    Monthly Expense Details[/b]
    Mortgage................................ 687
    Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
    Rent.................................... 0
    Management charge (leasehold property).. 30
    Council tax............................. 174 - Is this over 10 months or 12?
    Electricity............................. 86
    Gas..................................... 0
    Oil..................................... 0
    Water rates............................. 25
    Telephone (land line)................... 0
    Mobile phone............................ 25 - Are you in contract? If not sim only will be a lot cheaper 
    TV Licence.............................. 15
    Satellite/Cable TV...................... 55 - I guess this includes internet? Are you in contract? Do you really need / watch the tv side of this? 
    Internet Services....................... 0
    Groceries etc. ......................... 400 - Personally I don’t think this is a lot if it includes everything, toiletries, cleaning products etc? 
    Clothing................................ 25. - This seems low? 
    Petrol/diesel........................... 70
    Road tax................................ 17
    Car Insurance........................... 65 - This seems high, when are you due to renew? Make sure you shop around 
    Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 50
    Car parking............................. 10
    Other travel............................ 0
    Childcare/nursery....................... 350
    Other child related expenses............ 0
    Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
    Pet insurance/vet bills................. 50
    Buildings insurance..................... 20
    Contents insurance...................... 0
    Life assurance ......................... 46. - This seems high, but does it include critical care cover? 
    Other insurance......................... 40. - What is this for? 
    Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50
    Haircuts................................ 75. - Wow this is huge! Is this correct? 
    Entertainment........................... 109. - Is this days out, eating out etc? 
    Holiday................................. 50 - Is this correct? Doesn’t seem much £600 / year? 
    Emergency fund.......................... 0 - You need something here 
    (Unnamed monthly expense)............... 0
    Misc.................................... 108 - What was this for? You need to identify where this amount is going 
    Union................................... 17
    Subscriptions .......................... 14 - What is this for? 
    Ink .................................... 3
    Loft.................................... 108[b] - What is this for? 
    Total monthly expenses.................. 2774[/b]
    [b]

    Assets[/b]
    Cash.................................... 100
    House value (Gross)..................... 280000
    Shares and bonds........................ 0
    Car(s).................................. 3000
    Other assets............................ 2000[b]
    Total Assets............................ 285100[/b]
    [b]

    Secured & HP Debts[/b]
    Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
    Mortgage...................... 190000...(687)......1.59[b]
    Total secured & HP debts...... 190000....-.........- [/b]

    [b]Unsecured Debts[/b]
    Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
    Loan ..........................3544......189.......0 - What is the interest rate on this? 
    Credit card T..................5363......105.......25
    Credit card N .................440.......25........25
    Help to buy....................50000.....0.........0[b] - When are you due to start paying this back? 
    Total unsecured debts..........59347.....319.......- [/b]

    [b]
    Monthly Budget Summary[/b]
    Total monthly income.................... 3,402
    Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,774
    Available for debt repayments........... 628
    Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 319[b]
    Amount left after debt repayments....... 309[/b]

    [b]Personal Balance Sheet Summary[/b]
    Total assets (things you own)........... 285,100
    Total HP & Secured debt................. -190,000
    Total Unsecured debt.................... -59,347[b]
    Net Assets.............................. 35,753[/b]

    [i]Created using the SOA calculator at www.LemonFool.co.uk.
    Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.[/i][/font]


    This is first attempt - some is best guest because December's statements are confusing!! 

    DH puts £50 a week in to joint account, and deals with all his own bills eg car, phone etc 
    This was the deal when he dropped to part time so I don't really want to change that for now. 

    I can see some obvious areas where I need to work on, eating out is bad, I'm not convinced I only spend £25 a month on clothing, and £400 for food seems high. Might be that I have to review again when Jan's statement is in! 

    Xx
    Morning. 
    Welcome to diary land 👋
    You've caught this at the right time while it’s still manageable 
    Ive made some comments in your soa above where you could make some cutbacks etc 
    Have you checked the eligibility calculator to see if you could get a 0% balance transfer card to move the interest bearing credit card debts to?
    You need to start building up an emergency fund so you stop using credit when something goes wrong 
    Is your husband aware of the debts? Does your husband have any debts? 
    You both need to be working on this to become debt free. I know you’ve said he contributes £200 / month but is that really enough? 
    Does your husband have savings? 
    Would he be prepared. / be able to contribute more if needed? So you both work towards paying these debts off quicker? 
    MFW 2025 #50: £1139.75/£6000

    12/06/25: Mortgage: £65,000.00
    07/03/25: Mortgage: £67,000.00
    18/01/25: Mortgage: £68,500.14
    27/12/24: Mortgage: £69,278.38 

    27/12/24: Debt: £0 🥳😁
    27/12/24: Savings: £12,000

    07/03/25: Savings: £16,500

  • pink_fluffy_sparkles
    pink_fluffy_sparkles Posts: 45 Forumite
    Fourth Anniversary 10 Posts Name Dropper
    Hi

    Thank you for your comments 


    He has his own loan, and pays all his car insurance and tax and stuff, we're hoping that when daughter gets more funded hours he will be able to work more. 

    He is aware, and would contribute more but I kinda see it as my debts my problem. 

    Tv/internet are lumped together - i have cut this down to 43 from next month. We do use the channel, and the higher speed broadband. 

    Haircuts and nails are included in the £75 - i could cut this down, especially in the winter when no one sees my toes 🙃 

    Loft - we had out loft boarded out - i suppose it should actually go in the loans part as it was done on finance. The payments finish in November. 

    Misc - this was mainly from amazon so I'm not really sure what it was, if it was presents or just toot I didn't really need. 

    Clothes - yes I agree low - i need to try and keep a better record this month to work out how much I'm actually spending. 

    Car insurance - is hugh, renewal in April will hopefully come down alot this year, was due to having new driver on the policy for a year. 

    I premium bonds which I will use for emergency if really needed but do agree I need to get a household emergency fund together. 

    Still in contract with phone, think it has another year, but will double check. 

    I will have a look for 0% transfer, thank you for that! 

    This is definitely take 1, draft 1! We are lucky that our holiday is being paid for this year, so we just need minimal amount of spending money. But yes 600 is very low for the 3 of us. 

    Thank you so much for your comments, I'm glad that I was thinking these are the areas someone may comment on, so maybe I'm not as useless as I thought! 

    Xxx
  • MFWannabe
    MFWannabe Posts: 2,456 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Firstly you are most definitely not useless! 
    The debt can be tackled
    Check the eligibility calculator on this site reference the balance transfer card, I’d be surprised if you cant get one 

    MFW 2025 #50: £1139.75/£6000

    12/06/25: Mortgage: £65,000.00
    07/03/25: Mortgage: £67,000.00
    18/01/25: Mortgage: £68,500.14
    27/12/24: Mortgage: £69,278.38 

    27/12/24: Debt: £0 🥳😁
    27/12/24: Savings: £12,000

    07/03/25: Savings: £16,500

  • pink_fluffy_sparkles
    pink_fluffy_sparkles Posts: 45 Forumite
    Fourth Anniversary 10 Posts Name Dropper
    Cold Sunday morning here! 

    I've been out for a dog walk so got a good amount of steps in already. 

    Shopping arrived yesterday- £90 and then another £6 for things I've forgotten. Also managed to her a balance transfer last night, so that will help reduce the balances quicker 

    Slow and steady and baby steps. I will get there! 

    Xxx
  • pink_fluffy_sparkles
    pink_fluffy_sparkles Posts: 45 Forumite
    Fourth Anniversary 10 Posts Name Dropper
    Managed a NSD yesterday - hoping it will be the first one many but I'm not holding my.breath. 

    Done the money shuffle to make sure bills are in the right places from payday. There's about 200 left unaccounted for, I 100% think I need to give every penny a job else I ll end up spending on toot. 

    I'm just struggling to make the commitment of putting the money somewhere where I can't get it back! Maybe this will have to be the start of an emergency fund, that can be used for a few months to tweek areas where I've not budgeted right. 

    Long week at work this week, more so now.ive been awake since 2.30am and can't get back to sleep  😞  oh well be bed time again soon! 

    Xxx
  • Cara_
    Cara_ Posts: 129 Forumite
    100 Posts Second Anniversary
    I would put the £200 in a savings account that is accessible in case you need it as you are just beginning to set budgets and you might have some unexpected expenses.

    2.30am was an early start - I hope your day goes well and you are not too tired.
  • pink_fluffy_sparkles
    pink_fluffy_sparkles Posts: 45 Forumite
    Fourth Anniversary 10 Posts Name Dropper
    Thank you for the suggestion about the saving account, makes sense untill m sure on my budgets. 

    It was a long day, but got through it, thankfully got a decent night's sleep the night after else I'd have been a little grumpy!! 
  • pink_fluffy_sparkles
    pink_fluffy_sparkles Posts: 45 Forumite
    Fourth Anniversary 10 Posts Name Dropper
    Morning 

    Bit of a spendy day yesterday because we all felt rubbish and fell asleep so dinner didn't go to plan. £25 on take away pizza, though I feel guilty so will add a couple of frozen pizzas to nextweeks shop so we have an emergency quick dinner. 

    Also spent £5 on amazon for a charger that was lost and needed replacing - i ll add that to misc spending. 

    Other than that had a couple of days wfh which has been nice, I get alot done but it dosent feel.so stressful, plus there's no one to say "can you just" 

    Glad we're half way through the week, and nearly in February 

    Xxx 
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