Time to turn this around

FiscalPickle · 4 December 2017 at 6:38PM

I had my lightbulb moment recently. Despite the fact I have a good job in an industry that means I should know better, I've got myself into a bit of a pickle. The goal for the next 2 years will be getting out of debt, out of the consolidation trap and into a good position re savings. The 2 years after that will be aimed at saving for a house deposit. My debts are:-

HSBC loan £7872.48
Virgin credit card £4019.39
MBNA credit card £2825
Car loan £5011
Tax bill £139

Grand total of £21,266.47

- I realise this doesn't add up please see post dated 18/12/17 for explanation!

Once Christmas is out of the way and I've paid the tax bill, which is due at the end of the year, I've worked out a budget as follows:-

Rent, household bills, food 1060
HSBC loan 238.56
MBNA CC 75
Virgin CC 400
Car 94.89
Car ins 29.08
Car service & repairs 50
Contact lens scheme 26
Entertainment 50
Christmas & birthdays 80
Clothes/shoes 50
Hair 40
Holiday fund 60
Emergency fund 50

This comes to £2303.53, my nett wage is £2,305. I'm throwing all I can at the Virgin balance until I've paid the spending part off, £1200 of this is on 0% until November. Then I'll concentrate on the MBNA, then the HSBC loan. Then I'll reevaluate. The HSBC loan is 7% APR, I'm halfway through paying that so most of the interest has probably been paid. I've set up the piggy accounts for car maintenance, holidays and emergencies. I've been in the habit of saving for Christmas and birthdays all year for some time now. Here goes!

HairyHandofDartmoor · 4 December 2017 at 7:33PM

Good luck with your debt busting

.

redofromstart · 4 December 2017 at 7:52PM

Happy new diary, and good luck with it

enthusiasticsaver · 4 December 2017 at 8:05PM

Good budget. Was the HSBC a consolidation loan and have you sorted out where you are overspending?

beanielou · 4 December 2017 at 10:46PM

Happy shiny new diary

FiscalPickle · 5 December 2017 at 12:00AM

Hi enthusiastic saver :j
Yes, the HSBC loan was to consolidate a smaller loan and some CC debt as I’d got a bit lost with 0% balance transfers.

I’ve sorted an Excel spreadsheet, have put incomings, outgoings and what I’ve spent on CCs for the last 6 months in to see where I’m going wrong. It’s a combination of the consolidation trap and living a lifestyle I just can’t afford at the moment. So I’ve set my budget and will stick to it. Some other things I’ve done recently to take back control...

1. Worked my bum off and got a promotion. Small pay rise this October, plus a further £3k PA next October taking me to £41k before tax
2. eBayed a lot of stuff, made £170 so far
3. Made a Christmas budget, planned what I’d buy and stuck to that
4. Made inroads on tax bill - £145 so far

FiscalPickle · 5 December 2017 at 12:04AM

My to do list for the next few weeks:-

1. Pay remainder of tax bill by end of year
2. Aim to further reduce food spending - use the freezer and store cupboard more effectively
3. Use a snowball Calc to work out DFD
4. Take jar of spare change to bank - there’s at least £50 in there
5. Join local library

FiscalPickle · 5 December 2017 at 2:33PM

Today is planned as a NSD.

Went to the library at lunchtime, which will save me a packet as I love to read physical and Kindle books. The best Kindle bargain I got this year was War & Peace for 99p, took be blooming months to get through that! However, you can't beat free so the library it is until the debt is £0.

I've been bringing sandwiches in to work for a little while now, as I totted up the spend in M&S and other sandwich shops over a period of working weeks and the figure was astronomical :eek:
The plan for lunchbreaks now is packed lunch from home, which comes out of the grocery budget and a walk - free.

Part of the reason for my debt accumulation was that my previous job was affecting my mental health, so I took it upon myself to live high on the hog (on credit). I'm now coming out of that fog, recently it has come to light that I've also gained around 20lbs. (I knew this anyway, but was in denial). I would like to do Weight Watchers or something similar as this has worked well in the past, I like the structure of these plans and the accountability of the weigh-in. Now I just need to find the MSE-friendly way of doing this....

FiscalPickle · 6 December 2017 at 12:13AM

A successful NSD, happy with that. I have a couple of books from the library to get stuck into, I think my reading range will widen considerably now. I'm very impressed that I've managed to go a whole 24 hours without popping into the shop or coffee place on the ground floor of my workplace even once.

Have started looking at store cupboard ingredients, I'm planning on making chickpea burgers for tomorrow's tea as there is a bag of carrots in the fridge and a tin of chickpeas in the cupboard. A bit of frozen veg and some basmati rice cooked with half a stock cube should make that a nutritious and cheap tea. Before, if I was feeling tired or just generally CBA I would invariably order a Chinese or pizza. The owners of these joints may not be able to holiday in the Caribbean next year :rotfl:

UncannyScot · 6 December 2017 at 12:33AM

Hi FiscalPickle

Another big book fan here...
Check out BookBub and GoodReads for cheap deals on e-books and kindle offers etc.
Myself and friends share a VAST library of e-books which we refer to as The Unseen Library, between us we have built it up over the last few years and swap files etc.
Also have loads of real books

Looks like you have a sound game plan and walking everywhere is a great way to keep active and shed unwanted weight.

Keep on keeping on, you're doing grand so far

wishingthemortgaheaway · 6 December 2017 at 2:23AM

Hi FiscalPickle, your library may offer schemes whereby you can borrow e-magazines, Ebooks and audio books as part of your library membership. It's definitely worth looking into.

Time to turn this around

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