Pandora's spending/debt diary

Pandora_2

Hi everyone, hope you don't mind if I start a diary thingy
Was gonna do my first post after I had my SOA sorted, but seeing as I've just sat reading the forums for the last hour rather than actually do my SOA, I thought I should post first as a kick up the bum to myself to GET IT DONE!! :rotfl:
Quick thing to start it off though, I'm a 'mature' student at the grand old age of 25, haha, and so although I know I am accumulating student debt (loans, fees etc) I am not adding this to my total debt till I finish uni as I won't be paying any if it off till then and it's a set amount that I can't really avoid. So in a couple of years when I graduate (hopefully!) I will add it on then
In the meantime, whilst living on a student income, I am determined to clear off as much as possible of my existing debts :rolleyes:
Actually had my LBM ages ago and have been a lurker on here ever since, with the occasional post, and have been working on clearing my debts as best I could. This is just to keep me motivated really and hopefully if I do run into any problems, some lovely person may be kind enough to help me
Gonna be a good girl now and go through all my paperwork so I can get my SOA sorted. Wish me luck!! :rotfl:
:beer: Pandora xxx :beer:

Pandora_2

OK, so here goes..........

Debts
More Than CC - £1,829.24 - interest and charges frozen - on payment plan
Capital One CC - £2,518.93 - interest and charges frozen - on payment plan
Halifax CC - £6,664.71 - interest and charges frozen - on payment plan
Halifax Loan - £1,266.27 - interest and charges frozen - on payment plan
Halifax Overdraft - £1,846.37 - interest and charges frozen - on payment plan
United Utilities - £338.24 - no interest and charges frozen - on payment plan
Powergen - £440.81 - attempting to sort out payment plan
Total - £14,904.57

Outgoings – monthly
Rent - £360
Council Tax - £0
TV Licence - £11.61
Electricity - £50 approx
Water - £15 approx
Landline phone - £32
Broadband - £22
Mobile phone - £35
More Than CC - £10 - payment plan
Capital One CC - £13.23 - payment plan
Halifax CC - £1.50 - payment plan
Halifax Loan - £1.50 - payment plan
Halifax Overdraft - £1.50 - payment plan
United Utilities - £20 - payment plan
Powergen – nothing at the moment – going to offer £10
Food/household stuff - £100 approx
Travel - £10 approx
Birthday/Christmas fund - £10
Fun!! - £60
Total - £763.34


Income
Bit harder to work this one out
£50 per month from my Mum
£80 per month from my Grandma
£3,675 this years Student Loan
£2,765 this years Student Grant
£800 this years Student Bursary
Also received a £1,576.54 ALF payment (one-off)
Works out at £10,376.54 this year which is £864.71 per month :T

I can't believe that!! :eek: Thats about the same as minimum wage job isn't it??
Never put it all down like that before! Didn't realise I actually had so much money!!
So that means (if I stick to that budget) I have £101.37 disposable income each month!!!!!!! :j

OK!!!! Just need to go make a cup of tea to celebrate. I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO glad I've just done this!!

Back in a bit!! Pandora xxx

bambam00

Hi Pandora

Without going into the rest these seem somewhat high.

I am assuming as you dont list gas you live in a flat. This may make sky not an option but I get sky tv broadband and phone all in for GBP 31.00 per month (free service no good for me as I download quite a bit). If I went for free broadband with sky this would reduce to GBP 26.00. This includes the line rental moved to them from BT.

If sky isnt an option cable do GBP 30 for 3 - Broadband TV and Telephone.

Also when is your mobile contract due to expire?

Cheers

Pandora_2

Hi, yeah no gas in my flat although my landlord wants to install central heating and increase my rent for the privelage! He also wants me to move out for a week while they do the work! I don't think so! Not when I've found a bigger and nicer flat for the same price he wants to up my rent to :rotfl:

I know my phone/broadband/mobile costs are high, nothing I can do about them though
Will explain......
There was no phone line in my flat so I have had to pay BT to get one installed which also meant getting tied into a 12 month contract with BT for my line rental. NOT what I wanted but apparantly there was no other way. Couldn't afford to pay the installation fee in one go so have the cost included in my monthly bills which is why that is so high. Asked my landlord if he would contribute towards it as it will increase the value and appeal of the property and will obviously be here long after I'm gone but he said no, if I want a phoneline I can pay for it myself :mad:
With the broadband, I admit I was a bit silly! Didn't shop around like I know I should have as I was just so desperate to get online Need to have internet access to do my course at uni as they don't give anything out on paper anymore unless they really have to, which means all notes and handouts are online. I know some people just go to the library to view and print them, but I suffer from a variety of mental illnesses and so find it incredibly difficult to work in the library Luckily, I have had a disability assessment at uni, and they have said that they will contribute £15 per month towards internet access at home for me. So once I start getting that, I will only have £7 per month to pay unless I can change it. Think I'm in a contract there as well though
And again, I was a bit of an idiot with my mobile phone I'm stuck in my contract for another 12 months although I will be able to reduce it to £25 per month in about 6 months time. It's a strange combination of contract and pay-as-you-go, but it means that I won't go over the £35 per month, or if I do it will only be a pound or 2 as you can set a limit on how much you spend over the initial £35 which covers your line rental and calls and texts.

I'm going to see what I can do about getting out of the BT contracts but I don't hold out much hope!! Money grabbing ******* :rotfl:

Plus I would LOVE to have Sky or Cable TV!! :rotfl:

Pandora_2

Morning all,
Realised last nite that although I've worked out how much I have on a monthly basis, I needed to work out if I have gone over budget or not as I don't get a regular wage, and so only have a small amount coming in now until next student year. So below is exactly how much money I have now and how much is still to come in before 1st October. Might get next years student loan before then but I don't know yet, so thought it would be wise to see how much I have to live on until then. I've worked it out for a 6 month period, but will adjust it each month as I've not taken into account this last week of March, and who knows whats gonna happen!! (Fingers crossed a nice little job to up that income even more )

Money available
Change box - £2.11
Purse - £236.80
Bank - £2,781
Available Overdraft - £1,250
Total - £4,269.91

Money still to come before 1st October
Mum and Grandma - £780
Bursary - £280
Total - £1,060


Money to last till 1st October
£5,329.91 – including overdraft
£888.31 – per month
Disposable income – £124.97


Estimated spend till 1st October
£4,580.04 (according to budget)

1st October – should have £749.87 still available in overdraft

Doesn't look too bad at all!! Actually have more money available each month according to this budget, but I do have a few large things that I'm going to need to pay for in the next few months due to moving house, so I will probably need to use all that extra money rather than being able to increase paying off my debts

Looking for a job though so hopefully will be able to get a nice chunk of debts paid off with my wages

evab_2

HI have you signed up for the survey sites and cash back sites, some take a while to build up but its worth it for the extra pennies that come in. I was going to suggest a small job too but make sure it doesn't affect your studies.

Other than the phone etc already mentioned, the electric seems high, have you got storage heaters? on a pre-pay meter? is there any way you can reduce this.

Oh and finally hello!

Ev

Pandora_2

Hi Ev,
I'm a member of loads of survey sites and make sure I do every survey available, have had LOADS of vouchers but I tend to pick the Amazon vouchers as I love reading. I figure that while I'm sat home reading a book it's saving me from going shopping or to the pub, and as the book was free its even more money saving :money:
Plus I do tend to sell a lot of the books on Amazon and GreenMetropolis after I've read them (unless I really love it) so do make a little extra money that way as well
I also make sure I shop through cashback sites when I'm buying online but as I rarely buy anything online I'm not getting very far there. Do go through Nectar Estores when I buy on Amazon or Ebay so I get Nectar points as Sainsburys is pretty much the only supermarket I can get to, expensive I know
With regards to the electricity, I don't have gas so everything (heating, hotwater, cooking, lights etc) is all powered by the electric. On a prepay meter and it just seems to eat electricity. My flat is absolutely freezing as I have a damp cellar underneath me Got some stupid electric 'heaters' that hardly give off any heat at all, need them on for a good few hours even to get a fraction of the chill out of the air :mad: I tend to wear a LOT of extra clothes when I'm at home to try and keep the heaters switched off as much as possible (sat here with 3 pairs of socks, 2 jumpers, gloves and scarf on right now!) Kind of extreme money saving, but I also try and use candles at night instead of electric lights (and yes I do have energy saving bulbs) unless I really need to be able to see properly!!
Take my mobile phone charger with me everywhere I go so I can charge it up using someone else's electricity whenever possible (preferably businesses and uni, not friends!)
I cook in bulk really cheaply and freeze it in individual portions as I live on my own. Do a really big internet shop every 3 months and try to just buy the fresh stuff as and when I need it as it always ends up going off :rolleyes:
Make sure all my plug sockets are switched off if I'm not using the things plugged in.
Can't think of anything else I can do to cut down my electric bill though. Any other suggestions would be more than welcome :T

evab_2

fair enough, pre-pay meters are money guzzlers definitely! sounds like you're doing everything possible may be if you move into the other flat your new landlord might allow a normal meter?!

Pandora_2

Hi, sorry for the delay in posting again but was stuck on a train for most of yesterday and then had a REALLY long lie in today
At my Mum's now for a few days so electricity at my flat is going to be at a minimum (just fridge and freezer) and also means free food!! :j
I know the flat I want to move into has storage heaters, and will be going to see it again on Monday and have a big list of questions to ask the landlord. The place is a lot warmer than mine though anyway so wont need the heating on as much, and storage heaters work much more effectively as well.

Now for the bad news........
I completely fell off the wagon yesterday and gave into tempatation. I knew yesterday was going to be a bit of extra spending anyway (train fares and stuff) but me and Mum had booked in for a pampering session, makeover and photoshoot (all free) and then you had the choice of whether or not to buy the photos....think you can see where this is going Yes, I bought the photos....£500 :eek: I don't know what possessed me!! I just feel sick at the thought of it, but theres nothing I can do about it now. Just have to work really hard at getting a job, selling stuff on Ebay, doing surveys, finding money on the floor etc and hopefully will be able to cover the cost of it.
Technically I can 'afford' it but I know I shouldn't have done it, and that money could have gone to my debts or to the sofa and bed that I'm gonna need to get for my new flat.

That's it now though, I have a target to reach (and an extra reason!) for making money, so I'm definately gonna work hard at it!!

The rest of my spending yesterday was a bit naughty as well and I'm so ashamed to post it, but I suppose that's why I started this diary thing in the first place, to make me NOT spend so I don't have to face you all with the horrors of my spending habits

So, Wednesday 26/3/08 - Spending diary
Taxi to train station - £4.90
Train fares (return ticket) - £18.60
Lunch - £5.24
Photoshoot - £500
Chinese - £4.10
TOTAL - £532.84:eek:

On the plus side I did find 5p on the floor :rotfl:

Pandora_2

Hm, I really think I've been a bit stupid starting this diary thing when I did, as this week is a pretty expensive one as I've gone visiting my Mum, which means meeting up with all my friends here and that of course means spending money.
Ah well, will keep going and then redo my budget when I get back home. This weeks spending is going to make the next 6 months VERY tight though, so I will be doing my best to make as much money from nothing as possible which should hopefully make things a bit easier.

So spending for yesterday, 27/3/08 is.....
Cigs - £4.69
Beer - £2.55
Chippy - £2.35
TOTAL - £9.59

Not great I know, but would have been a lot more if we hadn't won the pub quiz and got free beer :beer:

Plus, those cigs will last me ages as I'm not allowed to smoke at my Mum's so only having a couple when I'm out with friends at the moment, meaning that 20 pack will probably last a whole week if not longer!! Better for my health and my purse Am working on quitting as I know I would save a fortune by not smoking at all, but I do spend a lot less than I used to as have cut down a lot.

Didn't find any money yesterday but I have started to sign up for mystery shopping and when I get home I will get a load of stuff on Ebay and Amazon. Gonna have a look around this site again now for any other ways I can make money May as well do what I can while I'm at my Mum's, as it's saving my electricity bill!! :rotfl:

Pandora_2

Right I've signed up to GrassRoots for Mystery shopping but theres nothing available in my area. Also signed up to RetailEyes last nite but I can't log in. Tried getting a new password but it still won't work :mad:
Signed up to Slice the Pie ages ago but never got round to starting it so will give that a go today and see what it's like.
Just received the test to see if I can work for AQA so gonna start that, seems fairly easy so fingers crossed I will be raking it in soon :rotfl:
I'm going to join the 'make £10 a day' challenge when I get back home in a few days as I can't really do too much while I'm at my Mum's house. I'm hoping to double it to £20 a day but not gonna start off with that as my target as it will seem like a hopless task at the beginning.
As nice as it is here at my Mum's and seeing my friends, I can't wait to get home and start making money!! :rotfl: