I hope I can do this

ftbwannabe · 1 August 2018 at 7:59PM

After putting loads of energy into this today, I can already feel my energy waning & an attack of the 'why bothers' coming in the post.
So here's some things for me to do when I log in tomorrow, instead of moaning or feeling sorry for myself:
-make a shopping list of a week's worth of cheap (& tasty) recipes, order them for Sunday (my regular online delivery slot) & then re-order. (I cook every fortnight, then swap with my other half). Plan what my lunches will be, too, not just dinners. Maybe plan 2 diff week's worth, then I can repeatedly re-order them, not get too bored if there are 2 lots. This way I'll know what costs are coming for food & not have an excuse to nip into Sainsburys for one thing & come out having spent a tenner.
-Maybe even plan a route home that doesn't go past Sainsburys like my current one does? Popping in & treating myself to pricey craft beer & taste-the-difference chocolate desserts are not sustainable habits (sadly). *
-make some playlists of songs I already own, to practise giving up Spotify (can't bear to cancel that dd yet, I have a student discount so it's only 4.99 a month, but still, everything counts...)
-pick one credit card to clear first
-calculate when my debt will be under £10k
-sort out PPI reclaim
-sort out my pensions properly
-snap out of acting like I'm deprived! I have given myself a £140 budget for socialising & entertainment, I have tons of books I haven't read, a great library, an allotment with rent paid for a year, walking to work is free exercise, I have loads of great CDs, subscribe to lots of podcasts & have a very entertaining cat. If I can just stay grateful & not spendy I might get a house out of it.

*Ouch. I miss my beer & chocolate already. Maybe I can save & have them once a month as treats?

ftbwannabe · 1 August 2018 at 8:08PM

Stuff I did today towards clearing debts:
-Turned off my gumtree & ebay alerts/saved searches
-B & L from stores (bf cooking dinner)
-Started this diary & spent a lot of time on the forum
-Reduced phone plan - it's only 67p cheaper a month now, ha! but that's a teeny step (and a chocolate bar a month :-))
-Bought advance cheap london train ticket for a trip already arranged at the end of the month
-worked out my expected spending this month, set up monzo target budgets to reflect that, & moved the difference into a pot in my monzo account. In theory this means I'll have £134 left at the end of the month to add to my card payments
--Called bank for more info on a PPI case
-Called Student Loans for an exact figure on my o/s balance
-Noticed my rent standing order had been set up wrong & wasn't going to go out this month - eek! Thankfully noticed before my rent was late. bank error, grr.
-Sifted through my cds & books & found some to sell or declutter. About a tenner there.
-remembered my bf owes me £6 & remembered to ask him for it
-made lunch for the next 3 days
-Didn't buy chocolate
-didn't smoke

BookmobileBadGirl · 1 August 2018 at 8:26PM

ftbwannabe wrote: »

Hi
SOA DFW
Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household.........
Number of cars owned....................

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1964.89 (my pension is taken out automatically)
Partners monthly income after tax....... n/a, we pay rent & food separately & pay half the bills each
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1964.89

Monthly Expense Details

Rent.................................... 625
Council tax............................. 134
Water rates............................. 39.8
(boyfriend pays electric, gas, tv, insurance, phone, & internet which all work out about the same as the water & council tax I pay)
Mobile phone............................ 17.66
Internet Services....................... 4.99
Groceries etc. ......................... 265 This is very high for two people, are you the only one buying food?
Clothing................................ 0 ]I know it may seem counter intuitive but I would budget some money against this, even if it just £10 to spend on knickers

Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 17
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Entertainment........................... 40
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0 [COLOR="rgb(244, 164, 96)"]Again look to start building up an emergency fund so if you do need to buy something it doesn't put you in more debt[/COLOR]
Socialising............................. 100
web hosting + domain.................... 5.89
Charity................................. 12 [COLOR="rgb(244, 164, 96)"]You are in debt at the moment could this be something you stop whilst you focus on getting rid of your debt, and if you really want to support the charity could you give your time instead of money for a while?[/COLOR]
Toiletries.............................. 10
Total monthly expenses.................. 1291.34

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Halifax........................1079.23...10.79.....0
MBNA...........................8839.83...88........0
Barclays.......................1605.63...37........0
Student Loan...................800.......25........3.1 [COLOR="rgb(244, 164, 96)"]I would focus on this one first, getting rid of the two you are paying interest on is good, it will also shrink the number of debts that you have. I know that helps me mentally feel like I have achieved more.[/COLOR]
Student Loan...................600.......83.28.....3.1 [COLOR="rgb(244, 164, 96)"]you have two separate student loans, are the both true loans or is this amount taken from your salary each month?[/COLOR]
Co-operative...................4280......90........0
Total unsecured debts..........17204.69..334.07....-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,964.89
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,291.34
Available for debt repayments........... 673.55
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 334.07
Amount left after debt repayments....... 339.48 [COLOR="rgb(244, 164, 96)"]Are you actually left with this? If not take a good look at monza and your spending to see where that money is going. If you do have this left I would throw half at an emergency fund and half at your student loans[/COLOR]

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -17,204.69
Net Assets.............................. -17,204.69

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

I have had at look at your SOA please feel free to ignore it, you know your needs

UncannyScot · 1 August 2018 at 8:39PM

Hi
RE missing the craft beers... you could try brewing yourself

I brew a batch a month for between £15 to £25 for 40 pints worth of excellent ales...
Yes, there is the prep and clean up involved and the wait for it to be ready.
However, the results are excellent and much cheaper in the long run and if you brew in rotation as I do you'll always have a decent ale to hand

I'm currently enjoying a lovely pint of IPA which has cost me about 63p to brew...

ftbwannabe · 1 August 2018 at 8:45PM

UncannyScot wrote: »

Hi
RE missing the craft beers... you could try brewing yourself
I brew a batch a month for between £15 to £25 for 40 pints worth of excellent ales...
Yes, there is the prep and clean up involved and the wait for it to be ready.
However, the results are excellent and much cheaper in the long run and if you brew in rotation as I do you'll always have a decent ale to hand
I'm currently enjoying a lovely pint of IPA which has cost me about 63p to brew...

Ha, what a good idea! One I had NOT thought of at all. I already love making my own bread, sewing, knitting, gardening - brewing could be my next DIY project!

ftbwannabe · 1 August 2018 at 8:54PM

BookmobileBadGirl wrote: »

I have had at look at your SOA please feel free to ignore it, you know your needs

Thanks for taking the time to look at it, much appreciated.
Yes, that's my monthly food for 2 weeks of dinners, 4 weeks of bfast & lunch. I haven't been able to reduce it, but I'll keep looking for ways.
I have 4 student loans, old-style ones (pre 98) that have been sold to 2 diff companies, hence 2 dds. It's weird & irritating, but legit. I am so used to having them (I graduated in 99!) that it's never occured to me to try to pay them off at more than the standard monthly payment, isnt' that silly?! Wow.
I understand why people are noticing my charity direct debits. I like your suggestion to help with my time instead, that's a really good idea! I haven't been able to bring myself to cancel them as they are nominal payments to charities that make me feel less desperate about the state of the world (eco groups, oxfam, amnesty, etc). But, yeah, I could help out in person instead - thanks for that!
I have never been left with the money my SOA reckons I have. I am amazingly good at spending every single last penny in my account (or more) every single month. I have managed to finish the last 2 months with £40-50 left over though, since starting to use Monzo, so I'm slowly improving. Having my spending so visible in their app is definitely making a difference.

Again, thanks. No need to reply to this - thanks for the good suggestions I hadn't thought of :-)

pidge04 · 1 August 2018 at 11:21PM

efes_shareholder wrote: »

We can be the naughty forties club ................A past of bad budgeting and costly experiences ( but probably also some great memories ) but a future of available wage and assett building

Never stop learning Ladies , Every day is a school day

Love this!

pidge04 · 1 August 2018 at 11:23PM

That is a REALLY good idea about donating your time!

ftbwannabe · 2 August 2018 at 1:52PM

Update:
Feeling brighter today than I thought I would. It's nice knowing I Have A Plan (and, lunch & bfast ready made in the fridge ;-).
Fiddled around with my budget & I might be able to pay £600 a month to my cards if I really concentrate. I heard about the 100 square idea today & set myself one up for a goal of paying off 3k by end of December - that's £600 a month for 5 months. Broken down into £30 a time it feels manageable, and with my generous food + entertainment budgets I shouldn't feel deprived. I've just made a payment to a card for £30 so that I could tick the first box off right now :-)

Main things for me to manage over that 5 months is that I'm an emotional spender, and a lazy one. I noticed this when examining my outgoings over the last few months. I like to treat other people, I don't like other people to feel uncomfortable about me being skint (I bet they never even think about it!). I spend to avoid feeling bad, and to show my affection. Which is stupid, because I'm also verbally & physically affectionate & I doubt any of my friends needs me to also spoil them. Especially since they already have their own houses..

enthusiasticsaver · 2 August 2018 at 2:08PM

You seem to be doing well but a few things I would mention.

When clearing debt don't forget about saving so you are not tempted to put unexpected expenses on a credit card. You don't have a house yet or a car so a smallish emergency fund should do. Also don't forget about saving for things you know you will spend on like christmas, a big social occasion, birthdays etc etc.

Once your debt is gone then concentrate on saving for your house. Getting rid of the debt is the best thing you can do to help that. Enlist your friends help in looking for free or cheap stuff to do. Maybe agree on limits for birthdays,christmas presents. Don't be tempted to treat them. You cannot afford it.

Tackle the emotional spending by taking money out of the equation when thinking of things you like to do. There are loads of free stuff you can do. Walks in park, reading books from the library, dvd afternoons or evenings.

Is that groceries figure just for you or for you and your boyfriend? If just for you it is way too high. Meal plan and look into shopping at Lidls or Aldis if you are using an expensive supermarket. If it is for both of you are you sure that you are both splitting costs fairly? Maybe draw out groceries and entertainment money in cash each week and that will concentrate your mind on sticking in budget.

I hope I can do this

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