Been in debt all my adult life, this madness is going to stop!!

oinkbubbadoo · 19 July 2017 at 9:02PM

Hi, I sometimes sell stuff on eBay and the postage is always more than you think. A friend told me about parcel2go . You go on the website , type in the weight and dimensions of your parcel and they give you a quote. It's usually half the price of Royal Mail and you can print the label and drop at a,local shop (they use DPS and Hermes) Hope this saves you a few bob.

JoJoC · 20 July 2017 at 9:11AM

Welcome to the boards - sounds like you're doing a great job making overpayments and getting things on ebay.

Thanks oink for the parcel2go reference - I've bookmarked it as I seem to be stung with postage semi-regularly.

All the best in your journey

TeaRex · 30 July 2017 at 5:55PM

Things have been crazy with work, been leaving at 7am and getting home 7pm so haven't had much time to read the boards and post. My job means I work somewhere different all the time, I do training for new staff for a well known high street name so have to travel all the time. Currently on site somewhere that is a 3 hour round trip and Im there for two weeks so its quite draining!

Mainly been waiting for pay day which is on Monday, so will make payments etc on Tuesday and update here!

I made £35 on ebay which I have paid off the Lloyds CC and I got the £15 refund from my overpayment of tax. So thats an extra £50 gone!

Scott_Weiland_2 · 30 July 2017 at 6:23PM

TeaRex wrote: »

Things have been crazy with work, been leaving at 7am and getting home 7pm so haven't had much time to read the boards and post. My job means I work somewhere different all the time, I do training for new staff for a well known high street name so have to travel all the time. Currently on site somewhere that is a 3 hour round trip and Im there for two weeks so its quite draining!

Mainly been waiting for pay day which is on Monday, so will make payments etc on Tuesday and update here!

I made £35 on ebay which I have paid off the Lloyds CC and I got the £15 refund from my overpayment of tax. So thats an extra £50 gone!

Best bits of advice I can give is have a look at a few things:

join topcashback.co.uk
Have a look at once you have done that confused.com and go compare money for nothing for it applies to maybe switch home/car insurance or energy providers.

Have a read of other people's diaries on here there's load you can pick up tips wise. Have you done an SOA?

Re having a clear out have a look at ziffit.com/webuybooks.co.uk/music magpie. Some are on top cashback
And they are a better alternative to fleabay ie no fees no postage etc etc and if you complete the order via top cashback extra money :-)

TeaRex · 30 July 2017 at 7:34PM

Hi Scott, thanks for reading

I am joined with Quidco but I always forget about it until after I have made online purchases! So annoying! I will look at topcashback too, Im guessing its similar to Quidco.

I already sorted my contents insurance, I think it was around £35 for the year, we only live in a small flat at the moment. My partner works for a big supermarket and we got discount with them!

Our flat is privately rented and we are on gas/electric meters so can't switch without landlords permission. We spend about 10-15pm on gas and 25pm on electric so not too bad at all.

I have a company car so don't have to tax or insure it, this is a massive saving! It does affect my tax code (this is actually why i got a tax rebate as they incorrectly worked out my cars value) but I can use it for personal use which is great. Its going in for a service on Tuesday but I won't have to pay anything. I do have to pay for diesel though but I am getting nearly 80mpg at the moment so spending around £60 a week. This week for example I did 600 miles for work and I get 9p per mile back so thats £54 I'm waiting for so it all kind of works out.

I have done an SOA for myself but never posted it. Ive cut back on pretty much most things as been on this debt busting train for a while even though my diary is quite new! My partner is luckily quite conscious of spending so helps keep me on the straight and narrow. Ive pretty much sold everything I can to get extra money, Ive already sold all my old console games and books and bits and bobs! I even sold my yankee candle collection and huge nail varnish collection as I had a phase of being obsessed with owning them but only wanted them 'for best' so never used them!

Thanks for the tips though, I must find time to read other people diaries. I find them so inspiring so maybe a goal for me is to spend half an hour getting involved every day.

TeaRex · 30 July 2017 at 8:01PM

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1480
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1480

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 250
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 15
Gas..................................... 10
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 18
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 25
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 200
Clothing................................ 10
Petrol/diesel........................... 50
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 3
Life assurance ......................... 10
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50
Haircuts................................ 12.5
Entertainment........................... 50
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Acrylic Nails........................... 30
Savings................................. 100
Total monthly expenses.................. 833.5

Assets
Cash.................................... 500
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 500

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Lloyds CC......................2130......57........22
Argos Card.....................1648......78........22
Barclaycard....................4747......20........0
Total unsecured debts..........8525......155.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,480
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 833.5
Available for debt repayments........... 646.5
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 155
Amount left after debt repayments....... 491.5

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -8,525
Net Assets.............................. -8,025

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.stoozing.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

Here is my SOA. Its quite sparse as my partner pays for council tax, tv licence, phone/internet. The 250 I pay him covers my half of rent (our flat is only 400pm) and also towards the council tax. I pay for spotify and NOWTV (included under entertainment) I also pay for most of our groceries but we get discount at his work (big supermarket). It might seem high as we have his two children a lot of the time so this also covers their breakfast/lunch/dinners that we give them. We get a takeaway twice a month and this is included in groceries too.

I put £50pm into a pot for xmas/presents. I get my hair cut every other month and this costs £25. I don't drink or smoke. My luxury is my acrylic nails, this is once a month!

My car is a company car so no expenses for that apart from diesel. I fill it up with more than £50pm but I can claim back my work miles so only spend around £50pm for private use.

Think thats it, but feedback welcome! I think in August Im going to save every receipt and see exactly where my cash/debit spends go!

Lucy5781 · 30 July 2017 at 9:13PM

"I think in August I'm going to save every receipt and see exactly where my cash/debit spends go!"

I did this once, was a massive eye opener!

I'd had my DRO in place for a week when I met my now DH and his son was seven at the time. He was living in a two bed flat as we we have DsS 2-3 nights per week.

Almost four years later he's also free of unsecured debt but now has our mortgage in his name on a three bed house which we moved into a year ago, DS was born two months later, we're currently planning out budget 1st Birthday party for him in just over six weeks time.

Glad you're already doing so well clearing your debts!

Lxx

Scott_Weiland_2 · 30 July 2017 at 9:45PM

TeaRex wrote: »

Hi Scott, thanks for reading

I am joined with Quidco but I always forget about it until after I have made online purchases! So annoying! I will look at topcashback too, Im guessing its similar to Quidco.

I already sorted my contents insurance, I think it was around £35 for the year, we only live in a small flat at the moment. My partner works for a big supermarket and we got discount with them!

Our flat is privately rented and we are on gas/electric meters so can't switch without landlords permission. We spend about 10-15pm on gas and 25pm on electric so not too bad at all.

I have a company car so don't have to tax or insure it, this is a massive saving! It does affect my tax code (this is actually why i got a tax rebate as they incorrectly worked out my cars value) but I can use it for personal use which is great. Its going in for a service on Tuesday but I won't have to pay anything. I do have to pay for diesel though but I am getting nearly 80mpg at the moment so spending around £60 a week. This week for example I did 600 miles for work and I get 9p per mile back so thats £54 I'm waiting for so it all kind of works out.

I have done an SOA for myself but never posted it. Ive cut back on pretty much most things as been on this debt busting train for a while even though my diary is quite new! My partner is luckily quite conscious of spending so helps keep me on the straight and narrow. Ive pretty much sold everything I can to get extra money, Ive already sold all my old console games and books and bits and bobs! I even sold my yankee candle collection and huge nail varnish collection as I had a phase of being obsessed with owning them but only wanted them 'for best' so never used them!

Thanks for the tips though, I must find time to read other people diaries. I find them so inspiring so maybe a goal for me is to spend half an hour getting involved every day.

Ha ha if its all key meters make sure you have all energy saving light bulbs fitted lol

Re quidco its basically the same the same as topcashback so thats cool. All i would do is get into this mindset when you buy any goods or services online think can i get cashback. I have earned since i went on topcashback 480 quid and that was about 18months ago.

All the below companies are on cashback sites and people dont realise, i recently got 60 quid changing broadband supplier and 15 quid for buying a load of train tickets off trainline etc

Ebay
Just Eat
Evans Cycles
Argos
Dominos
Asos
Gap
Superdry
Tescos
Hungry Horace
Mothercare etc etc etc etc

TeaRex · 6 August 2017 at 7:01PM

So I have made my big payments this month totalling £403
£198 to the Argos card
£185 to the Lloyds CC
£20 standing order to the defaulted Barclaycard

I have also withdrawn £200 from my account and put into a separate purse, this is for our food shopping throughout the month. So whatever food we buy, it has to come from that and when we run out, we run out! And will have to eat whatever is in the cupboards!

Ive put £170 into savings this month. £150 in my online savings and £20 cash in my xmas savings.

I still have £126 in my 'debt repayment' account but I need to get diesel for work next week which will cost me £50. I am awaiting £60 for an expense claim though which goes back into this account.
Whatever is left in this account at the end of the month will go as an extra payment to the cards.

Haven't got much else planned for this month though, Im seeing some old friends from where I used to live so need the diesel for this which is nearly 400 mile round trip so will cost around £40 Im guessing, and will probably spend around £20 for gifts for them which I will take out of my savings (haven't seen them both together for a year)

Thats it for now I think!

TeaRex · 13 August 2017 at 6:15PM

Well the £200 spend on food is not going well as we are two weeks in and there is only about £15 left. My partner and I decided to start a new diet plan, we are doing a low carb diet so been out to buy lots of meat for this. We were buying from a large supermarket but today we went to Lidl and stocked up as their meat is british and fresh and also cheaper it seems! So fully expecting to top up the pot but the fridge has never looked so full and the freezer is full of things suitable for the kids as well so hopefully this should last us a week.

I haven't made any more debt repayments yet and probably won't now. Im on two weeks annual leave from work so won't need to get any diesel for a while, and Im awaiting another £60 expenses claim to be paid which will pay for the fuel to see my friends.

Hope everyone is enjoying the sunshine

Been in debt all my adult life, this madness is going to stop!!

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