My own debt diary.

kelie

I thought it would help bring things home to me if I kept my own debt diary and progress since so many of you have inspired me to finally sort things out.

Basically, apart from my existing debts / bills I need to scramble together 30k as fast as possible. I posted in the mortgage free section about buying my ex out of our current house. The thread is here.

So here goes. Currently I have the following accounts/cards/debts

Natwest Mastercard: -£1,789.45
Virgin Visa: £0
I owe my mother: -£2000.00

Total: -£3789.45

I have a mortgage I share with my ex. We have approximately -£117,000 outstanding on a house that we bought for £177,000. I wanted to try and buy him out but don't think it's possible and he is saying he wont sell for at least 6 months. We've been told the house has gone down in value and I don't want to lose my share of the deposit we put down.

My monthly wage is variable as I am self employed, however for April I worked out I earnt around £1500.00 and I'm hoping to increase that each month.

My monthly bills... (my half of most bills anyway!)

My Half of Mortgage: £354.88
Council Tax: £68.00
Contents/Buildings Insurance: £12.60
Gas/Electricity: £21.00 (this is going up soon)
Home Phone: £20.75
Broadband: £9
Mobile Phone: £43.35 (in 18 month contract until April 2009)
Life Assurance: £9.87 (for old house. need to cancel!)
Gym Membership: £28.50
Weight Watchers: £9.95
Blockbuster DVD Rental: £14.99

On top of this I have a couple of business expenses (these are approximate as it is billed in dollars) which include:

Software License: £75
Servers: £260

Total: £927.89

I havent put in food/drink/luxuries as I havent worked out how much I spend on that and I need to put together a budget and REALLY cut down. I spend far too much on food and drink for myself and my unemployed new boyfriend. I think I am barely breaking even / possibly losing money per month.

For every bit of income I get in, I put 30% of it away into a savings account to pay for my tax bill for the next year. I got caught out by that hence why I owe my mum £2000 for last years tax when I didn't save anything.

The current balances of my bank accounts are:

Current Account: £146.09
(I have a 2.5k arranged overdraft should I need it)

E-Savings (for tax): £1,650.45

Business Account: £500.00

ISA: 0

Joint Account with Ex for Bills: -£844.87
(We have a 2k arranged overdraft on this one)

I need to boost my income using the MSE techniques (I even applied to do text sex for a company since I am on the computer all day lol but no reply) and I need to reduce my outgoings especially when it comes to food and drink / going out drinking etc.

Here's to the future!

Poosmate

Hi Kelie and welcome to DFW.

I can understand you're ex not wanting to sell at the moment as the house prices are going down but don't forget that when/if they start to rise again you will have to pay your ex other half more to buy him out.

Does your ex still live at the house? If he's moved out and has to find rented accommodation he may not be in a position to pay half the mortgage on top of his rent so I wouldn't bank on his other half of the mortgage indefinately.

One of the easiest ways to make a bit of extra income is to take in a lodger, not sure how much you can charge before having to pay tax on it but it's around £4.5kpa! Yay!

The £75 you pay for software, is that every month or is it a one off fee?

Also, I know this will sound harsh but I've been bitten, keeping your unemployed new boyfriend is not exactly going to inspire him to get another job (sorry I know that sounds very cynical). I know he's not likely to start paying bills in your house if he does get a job but at least you will be able to still have a social life without all of the cost because he will be wining and dining you! lol.

I think you've answered your own question to some extent about reducing your outgoings but you are spending nearly £55 pcm on gym/dvd and weight watchers. Are these absolutely necessary? Could you knock them on the head even for a short while?

Also, if you are now living in the property on your own have you claimed the single occupancy tax rebate (25%) on the council tax?

Just a few things to think about.

Hope that helps

Poo

kelie

Hi

My ex still lives in the house. He's just away temporarily at the moment. Thankfully it's 3 floors, he has the top, I have the middle.

The new bf doesn't live with me officially. He doesn't have a key but he has spent 2 months (apart from 4 days) living here too. Messy situation I know. I'm pushing him to get a job doing anything since he's being far too picky.

I've just cancelled my weight watchers subscription and as soon as I find the 3 DVDs I have here from blockbuster I will cancel that too and post them back. The gym's a little more tricky but I am very tempted to cancel that as well. My sister will be VERY unhappy with me! lol

My ex refuses to take in a lodger. I thought if the new bf got a job and officially wanted to move in he could pay 1/3 of the bills but it's not looking likely plus then the ex has to live with the new guy which isn't going to work.

The £75 for software license is a monthly fee, again I'm trying to look into how to get rid of it and use something else instead. I need the servers as I'm not technical so they do everything for me and its a very very good service.

Hope that explains a bit! xx

Nala

The new bf doesn't live with me officially. He doesn't have a key but he has spent 2 months (apart from 4 days) living here too. Messy situation I know. I'm pushing him to get a job doing anything since he's being far too picky.

I thought if the new bf got a job and officially wanted to move in he could pay 1/3 of the bills but it's not looking likely plus then the ex has to live with the new guy which isn't going to work.

Sorry kelie but I think he's having a laugh! He's living with you rent/bill free. Be strong and tell him to get a job, any job, and start contributing or he's out. Sorry to sound harsh and a right cow but I've seen one of my best friends in bits over a chappie like your new boyfriend.:mad:

The gym's a little more tricky but I am very tempted to cancel that as well. My sister will be VERY unhappy with me! lol

I'm sure she'll understand - but if not she can't hold the strop for long

The money you have saved for taxes - could this earn you a better rate in a cash ISA?

Poosmate

Excellent start Kelie.

I have to agree with Nala on the new boyfriend front I'm afraid and also with your savings for the tax (I missed that one).

I'm slightly intrigued now, your ex has the top floor, you have the middle, who gets the ground floor? Or is that communal? lol.

Good luck with the gym cancellation and your sister.

Poo

kelie

My Esavings account is higher than my ISA at the moment as its online only Not by much, but every little helps as they say!

Next on the list is to find these blockbuster DVDs which have disappeared and post them back.

I'm staying in tonight working until 3am to try and get in extra cash. The new bf has gone home to his parents then he'll go out drinking with his brothers and probably roll in around 2am or 3am.

Sidetrack but why is is that you actually care more about the guys who treat you like crap than the ones that treat you like a goddess?

kelie

I'm slightly intrigued now, your ex has the top floor, you have the middle, who gets the ground floor? Or is that communal? lol.

Yep communal lol. Its a kitchen, living room and a downstairs toilet. Mind you when the ex is here he normally uses it a lot more than me. I live in my bedroom

Poosmate

Sorry Kelie I was just being nosey there! I thought it would be something like that.

Please, please be careful with this new boyfriend of yours - he's out on the town whilst your working your fingers to the bone? That can't be right! I hate to see or hear of people being taken for a ride - been there, done it and got the T-shirt! lol I hope it's just me being really cynical and your new man will come good afterall, he's entitled to spend some of his unemployment benefit on himself as long as he's not taking you for a fool. I hope he's not and I hope I'm wrong!

Anyway, I hope you find those DVD's soon!

Good luck

Poo

kelie

He's not even claiming benefits! lol I think i might be being taken for a ride and I know the sensible thing would be to stop and get rid but I cant seem to go through with it

Nala

kelie wrote: »

I'm staying in tonight working until 3am to try and get in extra cash. The new bf has gone home to his parents then he'll go out drinking with his brothers and probably roll in around 2am or 3am.

Sidetrack but why is is that you actually care more about the guys who treat you like crap than the ones that treat you like a goddess?

Erm, being nosey here too. So who's paying for the new BF's night out? Please please please tell me it's not you!

You do realise, don't you, that Poosmate and I are going to nag and nag you until you get rid of the deadweight

Poosmate

Oh dear! lol

OMG! Why are we lol'ing!? This isn't funny, we have to get serious.

Sorry to be a bore but lets get back to the important stuff.......

ok, so your ultimate aim at the moment is to gather together £30k to buy your other half out. That figure I presume is based on the equity you had in the property. You believe the house has devalued (as most have atm) so that figure might actually be £25k or less now. If you are going to earn/save that amount of money in just 6 months then you really don't need a freeloading hanger-on in your life right now (or ever!).

I notice your joint account is in debit by £848. A good place to start would be to get that account in order and reduce the overdraft facility greatly if not completely. The reason I say this is because there is nothing to stop your ex taking out the other £1100 maxing it to it's limit and leaving you to pick up the tab! My ex did this to me to the tune of £5k he worked for cash in hand and literally disappeared. The bank came after me because I was working and owned my own home. They would not let me disassociate myself from my ex and wouldn't freeze the account so whatever I paid in, £156 per month, he took out! There was nothing I could do about it until I stopped paying them. I finally settled it with them by paying them a full and final payment of £2800ish (it was more than half the debt). I had to liquidise some assets and sell my possessions to do it.

My advice to you would be to save at least £354 per month now because that is roughly how much you will be paying for your mortgage if you can buy your ex out. (And that's on top of the 30% you are saving for the taxman!).

I think that's enough for one post, I need to go get coffee!

Hope this helps.

Poo