Beginning of debt free journey...High income, high debts, expensive pets

OopsIdiditagain1

That is a great idea Sponge_pudding thank you. I have HH public liability insurance but will definitely look at the vet fees policy. Now the boys are both field ornaments the risk of needing to claim is lower as long as they are paddock sound x 

twiggy86

Well done for starting a diary! I just wanted to question a few things on your SOA (which I don't think they've been raised but apologies if they have)...

Other income - what is this and is there a way to increase? Also see you mentioned vinted and would definitely advise seeing if there's anything you can sell!

Groceries - appreciate you said your part is £250 (rest is for animals) but this still seems high and so suggest you see if this can be cut. Main thing that has helped me is meal planning - trying to use the same ingredients or having a random "use up scraps" meal! 

Subscriptions - you said you'd cancelled these but I couldn't see them in your SOA so just wanted to flag in case there's anything else that is missing from the SOA? 

Holiday, clothes - suggest these are cut for now 

Presents - can this be cut? Depends who you "have" to buy for - and do you really need to buy them something? 

Car - anyway you can get out of this slightly odd sounding arrangement and find a cheaper option? 

Emergency fund - strong advocate for prioritising this! I've been around a while with a few attempts at debt busting and this is the first time I prioritised the EF and it gives me so much more stability! And yes, I did have to call on it when the boiler needed replacing asap earlier this year! 

My one overarching advice is that the small things really do add up. Whether that is in reducing spending, making debt payments or finding extra income - it takes a little while but really helps momentum! The key thing I found to reduce all the little spends was I track EVERY spend in my spreadsheet! So before I buy that can of drink from the shop ("it's only a quid") or buy a meal deal etc, it makes me stop and think as I have to be accountable when I put it in the spreadsheet! 

I hope you find at least something helpful in all my waffle!!! 

OopsIdiditagain1

twiggy86 said:

Well done for starting a diary! I just wanted to question a few things on your SOA (which I don't think they've been raised but apologies if they have)...

Other income - what is this and is there a way to increase? Also see you mentioned vinted and would definitely advise seeing if there's anything you can sell!
This is my ex partner's contribution to 2 of the dogs' insurance and annual vet care. Definitely have horse and personal things that can be sold including some bits of furniture from the old house.

Groceries - appreciate you said your part is £250 (rest is for animals) but this still seems high and so suggest you see if this can be cut. Main thing that has helped me is meal planning - trying to use the same ingredients or having a random "use up scraps" meal! 
Agreed, I need to give more thought to this and reduce the dog food bill. I have £40 of Tesco vouchers to use so that will come in handy this month.

Subscriptions - you said you'd cancelled these but I couldn't see them in your SOA so just wanted to flag in case there's anything else that is missing from the SOA?
This is National Trust and Audible subscriptions. I included them in Entertainment category as for me they are that. 

Holiday, clothes - suggest these are cut for now
Agreed!

Presents - can this be cut? Depends who you "have" to buy for - and do you really need to buy them something?
Yes I can look at this and curb my natural inclination to be overly generous. I only have 3 people I would buy for at Christmas.

Car - anyway you can get out of this slightly odd sounding arrangement and find a cheaper option?
My brother works for a car manufacturer. His company offers family members the opportunity to lease a car which is deducted from my brother's pay. I then pay him. I would need to save some money to buy a car but yes I could then buy something outright. I guess it's weighing up need for emergency fund and then ongoing costs for a car especially if it is older. The current monthly cost is all inclusive. I could choose a cheaper car on the scheme, certainly and I will look at that. 

Emergency fund - strong advocate for prioritising this! I've been around a while with a few attempts at debt busting and this is the first time I prioritised the EF and it gives me so much more stability! And yes, I did have to call on it when the boiler needed replacing asap earlier this year! 
Yes agreed! This has been my undoing. Throwing spare money at debt then having nothing left for emergencies. My house is new and all appliances under warranty so hopefully risk of a costly event is low.

My one overarching advice is that the small things really do add up. Whether that is in reducing spending, making debt payments or finding extra income - it takes a little while but really helps momentum! The key thing I found to reduce all the little spends was I track EVERY spend in my spreadsheet! So before I buy that can of drink from the shop ("it's only a quid") or buy a meal deal etc, it makes me stop and think as I have to be accountable when I put it in the spreadsheet!
Agreed! The lack of budgeting and keeping to it has definitely been a factor and something I am working on
 hope you find at least something helpful in all my waffle!!! definitely, thank you 

Hi twiggy, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and suggestions, I do appreciate it and all queries are valid. I have added a few replies in your text above. 

OopsIdiditagain1

I have been struggling with sleep these past few nights. I have suffered with insomnia since my early 20s and have concluded the severe episodes relate to stress. 

I get to sleep usually but wake up around 2-3am feeling terribly anxious and my brain is wired, going down rabbit holes with thoughts. I feel angry and frustrated with myself for wasting so much money and when I've had money I haven't managed it properly.

I also have nightmares when I feel stressed, they always involve me screaming in my dreams and I wake up panicking. Ughh it's exhausting. I have tried all the usual remedies but only thing that works is getting on top of my thoughts and thus my stress, which is not an easy fix.

In other good news, I have discovered £50 in Tesco vouchers and £100 in Sainsbury's vouchers in my phone wallet...hooray! That will be my food budget for next month. I get paid mid month so I call that the start of the month for money purposes. 

Sponge_pudding

Yay!! That's fantastic news, I love a win! Already one step ahead now, good for you!  Hmmm re: sleep.  Have you got a weighted blanket?, lavender fabric softener, no screens of any kind 2 hours before bed, no lights from laptop etc. on show in your bedroom, dark curtains and what about probiotics, they can improve gut brain axis and therefore improve sleep, I get mine from Hey Nutrition, their pro complex.  I hate being tired!

OopsIdiditagain1

It's miserable isn't it? The prebiotics is something I haven't tried and a weighted blanket, thank you. I follow Daniel Erichson on YouTube and his "This is Natto" series. One thing that helps is not to stress about not sleeping, I will survive the day if I don't get much sleep. I think we can get ourselves in a tizz about lying awake at night that it makes it all worse. I'm awake for around 2-3 hours before I feel sleepy again, but then I have to get up for work. Perhaps I should just get up and do something and ignore the sleeplessness!

MissShoes

Could you get a lodger/rent a room M-F or something to bring in some spare cash? Not sure if it's an option. Or rent out your drive (if you have one) on just park. Thinking along the lines of bringing in more income to meet the minimum payments/build up an emergency fund and then a pot to fund a DMP and F&F offers

OopsIdiditagain1

Thought I would write an update on the status of my debts and collection activity, and a few comments on other things. I've been away to visit my Mum for over a week and have been catching up on the mountain of post!

The following debts have made progress towards default and termination after missing 2 payments (now 3 as direct debits should have gone out today)

Aqua
10/6 - Default Notice

Drafty
26/5 - Default Notice
18/6 - Termination Notice

TickTock
30/5 - Default Notice
15/6 - Notice that Default has been recorded but no notice of termination.

The Money Platform
18/6 - referred to CRS for debt collection

Oakbrook Finance 
No further visits
18/6 - email to let me know Default Notice will be served shortly.

The others have been usual collection activity including Default sums and arrears notices. Lots of calls from 118118 but have phone set to do not disturb. 

So some of them are progressing quite quickly, particularly Drafty and TickTock. The plan is to wait until they all Default before setting up payments through self managed DMP and ensure I have sufficient for an emergency fund. Could take a while! 

In other news, I have my cheap Talk Mobile sim and will set that up tonight. £5.95 a month which is an improvement on previous plan with Vodafone at £22 a month.

I have a month's food shopping now and spent £110 after using some vouchers that were in my phone wallet, worth over £100!  My aim next month is to spend £200 max on food. I'm learning some money saving tactics and discovering tinned food isn't that bad actually (beyond the usual tinned tuna and sweetcorn).

I have also skimmed off £50 from the dog food bill this month. Buying in bulk and deciding they can all eat the same thing, rather than their special diets for weight, gastric issues etc. They do well on current food so going to try and stick with that. Maybe blend with some Aldi dog food and see how that goes (when I next go to town to visit the store). Also found a cheaper joint supplement which will cost the equivalent of £5 a month rather than £10 a month for the previous supplement.

Have a couple of vet bills coming up in July. Horse vaccination and one of my dog's annual eye check up (she has cataracts). So I'm budgeting to pay those from June and July pay assuming will have 30 days to pay the invoice. It means cutting back on other things e.g. limiting myself to 2 tanks of fuel if possible. Going forward money will be put aside each month for these things.

I've also signed up to some paid survey sites to earn a few pennies. Will try and make some time each day to do a couple. 

NeverendingDMP

OopsIdiditagain1 said:

Thought I would write an update on the status of my debts and collection activity, and a few comments on other things. I've been away to visit my Mum for over a week and have been catching up on the mountain of post!

The following debts have made progress towards default and termination after missing 2 payments (now 3 as direct debits should have gone out today)

Aqua
10/6 - Default Notice

Drafty
26/5 - Default Notice
18/6 - Termination Notice

TickTock
30/5 - Default Notice
15/6 - Notice that Default has been recorded but no notice of termination.

The Money Platform
18/6 - referred to CRS for debt collection

Oakbrook Finance 
No further visits
18/6 - email to let me know Default Notice will be served shortly.

The others have been usual collection activity including Default sums and arrears notices. Lots of calls from 118118 but have phone set to do not disturb. 

So some of them are progressing quite quickly, particularly Drafty and TickTock. The plan is to wait until they all Default before setting up payments through self managed DMP and ensure I have sufficient for an emergency fund. Could take a while! 

In other news, I have my cheap Talk Mobile sim and will set that up tonight. £5.95 a month which is an improvement on previous plan with Vodafone at £22 a month.

I have a month's food shopping now and spent £110 after using some vouchers that were in my phone wallet, worth over £100!  My aim next month is to spend £200 max on food. I'm learning some money saving tactics and discovering tinned food isn't that bad actually (beyond the usual tinned tuna and sweetcorn).

I have also skimmed off £50 from the dog food bill this month. Buying in bulk and deciding they can all eat the same thing, rather than their special diets for weight, gastric issues etc. They do well on current food so going to try and stick with that. Maybe blend with some Aldi dog food and see how that goes (when I next go to town to visit the store). Also found a cheaper joint supplement which will cost the equivalent of £5 a month rather than £10 a month for the previous supplement.

Have a couple of vet bills coming up in July. Horse vaccination and one of my dog's annual eye check up (she has cataracts). So I'm budgeting to pay those from June and July pay assuming will have 30 days to pay the invoice. It means cutting back on other things e.g. limiting myself to 2 tanks of fuel if possible. Going forward money will be put aside each month for these things.

I've also signed up to some paid survey sites to earn a few pennies. Will try and make some time each day to do a couple. 

Well done. Lots of things going on but also you are focusing on the money and how it works for you. It's brilliant what you have achieved so far with regards to budgets and spends 

OopsIdiditagain1

Thank you, I really appreciate your encouragement