Why is spending money so easy......

Snwps · 13 June 2019 at 9:33PM

BUT paying it back so hard??!!

I've always had some sort of debt and it's been up and down all of my adult life. Its gradually been going up the last couple of years and I put it down to poor budgeting and lavish overspending on holidays etc and foolishly thinking consolidation works!

My total debt figure stands at £37,493.25 and is made up of 2 loans, 10 credit cards and money owed to HMRC. This debt is a combined debt of DH and myself but as we share all finances I'll be keeping track of everything together.

I've done a SOA and can see where I'm going wrong. Will post in a while (not quite ready yet). It pains me to say I have no savings/emergency fund and the cars need some work for next months MOTs so that will have to go on the credit card but then they will be cut up so that I can concentrate in shifting this burden.

I'm not going to lie this is going to be boring and slow at times but really want to plan to succeed......I will get there.

Snwps · 13 June 2019 at 10:35PM

OK so here goes -

Loan 1 - £3,774.42
Loan 2 - £3,130.82
CC1 - £5,862.84
CC2 - £1,167.18
CC3 - £3,059.10
CC4 - £4,535.64
CC5 - £1,313.00
CC6 - £4,051.80
CC7 - £2,161.40
CC8 - £1,724.64
CC9 - £2,582.96
CC10 - £3,249.45
HMRC - £880.00

CC8 / CC9 / CC10 are the only cards currenty accruing interest so they will be the first I'll tackle. The other cards are on 0% deals due to end next year so I've got my work cut out to get as much sorted as possible by then. Loan 2 is due to end July 2020 so just 14 payments left then will have the £223 to pay towards the credit cards.

Bill wise I've done the usual MSE switch to the cheapest deal on as much as I can and regularly monitor this. At the moment all bills are up to date and we're making just over minimum payments on the cards. I'm hoping for a slight increase in income end of August/beginning of September so should be able to throw more at the debt. The contract with the mobile phones is due to end in November so I will be contacting my provider end of October to give the notice to cancel as I'll be switching to a Sim only deal - this should save about £50 per month.

Plan:
- Stick to food/grocery budget shop of £80 per week (Shop at Aldi)
- No unplanned spending - use YNAB to its full potential
- Start emergency fund (ASAP)
- Keep making minimum payments (currently stands at just under £1000 per month so even just by doing this will make big dent in debt - any extra will be bonus)
- Keep looking for second job

I've had a couple of interviews this week and have another on Saturday. Just waiting to hear back. It would be such a help having this extra income. Will keep you posted on how this goes.

Starmummy · 14 June 2019 at 9:35AM

Good luck. You seem to have a good plan there. Keep posting even when you have slip ups...it will help you get on track.

SM

DancingInTheRain · 14 June 2019 at 1:24PM

Good luck, lots of support on here x

GreenQueen · 14 June 2019 at 1:33PM

Good luck OP. The biggest step can be admitting you have a problem, and you've already done that"!

How many are there in your household, do you have DCs?

Snwps · 15 June 2019 at 12:04PM

So there are 2 adults, 2 teens and a dog. My teens eat as much as we do (if not more) so could count it as 4 adults!!

No change in finances since my last post.

I've not heard back on the 2 interviews I've had this week. Although I've logged onto the online application site and one is showing as unsuccessful so I'm not holding my breath for either. Its a little disheartening but I have to remind myself that I can still clear this debt without a second job it will just take a bit more hard work and a little longer.

Has anyone on here got a second job? How do you think employers see you as an applicant applying for your second job? It is a positive thing, in that you've showed by your first job that you can uphold a job or would they see if as a negative thing in that you're not as reliant on them for the income, with it being your second? Plus you cant be as flexible as you have to work around your first job.

I used to think it was a positive thing but the more I think about it the more I find it difficult.

I have another interview this afternoon, so wish me luck.

We went out last night for an hour to DS2 presentation night. Budgeted £30 spend, only spent £12 so rest can go towards the food spend for the week.

Weather is a little rubbish this weekend so cant see us going far. This means good news in that we wont spend any money.

Snwps · 16 June 2019 at 5:23PM

Cold wet weekend here so not been far or spent much money. Been out for lunch today visiting family so saved money as they also cooked us a Sunday roast. On way home popped to supermarket to get stuff for packed lunch for the week. Was very disciplined and only bought what we needed and cost just £14.00. Used the money left over from Friday night so all within budget.

Been thinking a lot this weekend of targets and where I want to be by end of the year. So here it is:
1) Emergency Fund - £1000
2) Christmas will be saved and paid for this year, not on credit cards as in previous years. We currently have £900 saved so this is on target. I've reduced the standing order now but will still get to the £1200 by end of October.
3) Would like the total debt figure to be below £30k - this means we need to pay off £7500 in the next 6.5 months. This is doable by just making minimum payments plus a bonus due end of the year.
4) Stick to budget. This is a big one for us as we then to spend now worry later. I'm really concentrating on new spending habits so that we go into 2020 with a good balanced budget so that I can see if we can pay additional towards the debt.

Still aim to get a second job. DH is also looking to increase hours at work by they are so up and down it's difficult to forward plan.

We're not having a family holiday this year due to the finances. The kids are not bothered to be honest but would like to go away for a few days/week camping in August, depending on cashflow/weather (UK weather is not the best at the moment).

No work tomorrow as car is in the garage. So saving on commute/fuel but car repairs set to cost £40/£50 so one step forward, three steps back.

Hope everyone is having a nice weekend.

Snwps · 17 June 2019 at 9:31PM

I've been reading some fab diaries on here over the weekend and picked up loads of hints and tips. One of which was to split the debts into when the 0% deals end. I've copied and pasted this off my spreadsheet so not sure if this will work. Here we go:

Name - Start Amount - Current Amount - Int Rate - Deal End Date - Amount Paid Off - % of amount paid
Capital 1 £2,582.96 £2,582.96 30.3% £0.00

0.00%
Vanquis £1,724.64 £1,660.86 29.8%

£63.78 3.70%
Halifax 1 £3,249.45 £3,300.56 19.5%

-£51.11 -1.57%
Tesco 1 £1,474.80 £1,409.80 0.0%

31/07/2019 £65.00 4.41%
Tesco 2 £4,051.80 £4,051.80 0.0%

10/01/2020 £0.00 0.00%
Tesco 3 £4,388.04 £4,388.0 0.0%

19/02/2020 £0.00 0.00%
B/card 1 £1,044.71 £942.66 0.0%

20/03/2020 £102.05 9.77%
B/card 2 £587.78 £587.78 0.0%

01/07/2020 £0.00 0.00%
Hitachi 1 £3,130.82 £3,130.82 9.20%---- 28/07/2020 £0.00 0.00%
B/card 3 £1,049.90 £1,049.90 0.0%

01/08/2020 £0.00 0.00%
B/card 4 £1,853.25 £1,853.25 0.0%

01/09/2020 £0.00 0.00%
M&S CC £1,167.18 £1,167.18 0.0%

12/09/2020 £0.00 0.00%
Halifax 2 £3,059.10 £3,059.10 0.0%

18/10/2020 £0.00 0.00%
PO £1,313.00 £1,313.00 0.0%

15/01/2021 £0.00 0.00%
MBNA £2,161.40 £2,161.40 0.0%

28/03/2021 £0.00 0.00%
Hitachi 2 £3,774.42 £3,774.42 15.90%---31/07/2021 £0.00 0.00%
HMRC £880.00 £880.00 0.0%

01/02/2023 £0.00 0.00%
£37,493.25 £37,313.53 £179.72 0.48%

Snwps · 17 June 2019 at 9:47PM

Well that didn't go as planned and looks way more complicated than it is. Need to rethink this lay out for next time.

enthusiasticsaver · 17 June 2019 at 11:05PM

Spending money on credit cards is easy unfortunately. As you say consolidation also rarely works as people do not change their spending behaviour so their financial pressures just get kicked down the road and invariably the debt increases. You seem to be a classic example of that so I am glad you recognise that consolidation did not help you sort out your debt problems.

As you say budgeting is boring but is necessary for almost all of us. An soa is a good start and a spending diary but I think you have said you know where you are going wrong. Difficult to comment further without an soa but I would definitely target those Capital and Vanquis credit cards first. I also agree an emergency fund is a must to stop you adding to the debt. Also a car maintenance savings pot.

Hopefully you will get that second job as that will help a lot.

Snwps · 19 June 2019 at 2:06PM

Done the weekly food shop last night. I've budgeted £80 per week (we normally spend much more due to as and when top up shops, so for now we've put the budget at £80 per week and will review this in a month or two to see if it's not enough/too much). I was really pleased to only spend £34.34, so with the Sunday shop for the packed lunch stuff we should be well under budget this week, meaning the difference can go to the Emergency Fund. Fingers crossed this goes as planned this week.

Also taxed the car last night for the year. Was only £20 but I've budgeted this as a planned spend this month instead of opting to put it on the credit cards and repay later. Baby Steps...

Filled the car with Petrol this morning on the way to work filling the tank at £39.78 so just under the budget of £40, this should last more than the week.

On the job front, I've not heard back on the one I was waiting on so I've assumed I've not got the job. I'm still looking and have spread the word to family and friends that I'm also looking for a second job. I had a few comments like 'what do you need another job for' and 'don't do too much you'll kill yourself for money' but it would make the whole situation so much easier.

Feeling positive at the moment as the next few weeks seem to be looking OK.

Why is spending money so easy......

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