Second time lucky... debt free diary.

Good afternoon all. As title says, this is my second time here. I started a few years ago, debt started to go down. Then DH was made redundant! He refused to sign on and we lived from the credit cards (think he was suffering depression). I have major mental health issues but went back to work almost 2 years ago but we were scraping by while dh tried self employed (something I desperately didn't want him to do).

In February he started a part time, temp job but has been working full time hours and looks like he could be staying at least for now.

I've been off work for a month as I have something growing on my ear drum, vertigo is now under control, still waiting for hospital appointment but...

From Friday we should have 2 full time wages coming in!!

Cards have been removedso we cant rely on them and ive got my lists ready. I'm dreading posting this but here goes...

Loan: £414 last payment this month!
CC1: £830 min payment £25 on 5% for life rate
CC2: £6987 0% till Jan 18
CC3: £3185 0% till june 17
CC4: £9035 0% till july 17 on 830 the rest 0%till sep 17
CC5: £8816 think it's 0% for 18 months

Total: £29267

We have also had a sofa. payments don't start until its delivered. Ours had collapsed and we are currently on beanbags. We have had a nice one to hopefully last. The payments on that are £90 a month 0% for 4 years. so im going to add the £4287 (I think the insurance cost more than 1 chair) to the starting total.

Total: £33554

I don't know how long it'll take to be debt free but my aim for now is just seeing it go down not up. Thank you for reading if you've made it all the way to the end.
LBM in April 17 - £14998/£33554 (44.6%) paid. Mortgage@1 June 18 = £9935/£76350 paid.Total debt @june 18 £102311 now £84972GC Jan £40.99/£500 2021 declutter 85/2021 items 0/20 bags clothes
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Comments

  • charlies_tribe
    charlies_tribe Posts: 1,447
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    Just looking at the figures and to make it look more bearable in going to break it down into 10 chunks (that may work out at a year each chunk but I hope not).
    So first 10% is £3355.40 so that's my first aim by the end of the year. Printing off a 100 square and colouring it in as I go (33.56 per square). Going to try and update totals on the 1st of each month.
    I know its only a small start but at least we can see it going down.
    LBM in April 17 - £14998/£33554 (44.6%) paid. Mortgage@1 June 18 = £9935/£76350 paid.Total debt @june 18 £102311 now £84972GC Jan £40.99/£500 2021 declutter 85/2021 items 0/20 bags clothes
  • charlies_tribe
    charlies_tribe Posts: 1,447
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    Well yesterday was a NSD, going to see how many we manage for the rest of the month, may not be great with kids being off. Today was a spend day as DH brought moana on his way home this morning.
    I was up until 2am this morning going through al the accounts and writing down the bills. Due to a tax credits back payment, I've got 1 account with £1000 sat in it, This will be topped back to that each month, its a 'children' account. It pays dinner money, trips, clothes, swimming/dance lessons anything that's not 'food' the dvd came out of this account, birthdays and christmas. If the moneys not there they cant have it.

    I've also got £1000 in a 'house' account which will be topped up after the children account. This is more our emergency fund but we have so much we need! We are sleeping on an old mattress on the floor and DH is suffering constant back ache, the boys mattress has popped springs and squeaks like mad, the fridge freezer has to be turned off completely and defrosted every 2 weeks or it stops working. The boiler has had it, really needs replacing, we have to have the heating on for a shower, if the heating's not on the showers cold but the radiators are on full.

    Its just prioritising that account to get everything so it's not going on CC's again.

    I've always worked from 1 account, everything builds up in it over the month then on the first I transfer the bill money to that account, food money to another and then what was left to the children's or extras as it was then. Will be nice to have a 'house account and not worry to much if anything needs replacing.

    After both accounts are topped up anything left over will go as extra on to the cards. I used to chuck every spare penny at them and then everything would break at once and I'd have to resort to the CC's.

    So our bills account looks like this...
    Mortgage £581
    Npower £114
    Park £55
    Netflix £9
    Water £59
    Tv license £13
    Scottish widows £8
    House ins £24
    Phone/internet £50
    Scottish widows £6
    Tesco mobile £7
    Vodafone £35
    Car tax £19
    Lottery £18
    Car ins £102
    Council tax £120
    Total 1220

    Food account gets £200 a week, this covers food, pet food and fuel. I really need to work on the fuels. Fuels probably about £30 a week and pet foods about £20 so spending about £150 on food (theres 7 of us).

    That gives me a few things to work through getting cheaper.

    Right better go sort some children before they wake the DH
    LBM in April 17 - £14998/£33554 (44.6%) paid. Mortgage@1 June 18 = £9935/£76350 paid.Total debt @june 18 £102311 now £84972GC Jan £40.99/£500 2021 declutter 85/2021 items 0/20 bags clothes
  • charlies_tribe
    charlies_tribe Posts: 1,447
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    edited 9 April 2017 at 12:42PM
    Last night I did a shopping order. only ordering stuff needed for the children (why are they always hungry when off school?). I kept going back until it was under £50, hoping it lasts all week We need to use stuff up from the freezer as it will need switching off this weekend to defrost. Will write a list of what's left in there in a minute.

    Spoke to DH and he said he would rather get a fridge freezer first as turning it off every 2 weeks will be costing a fortune in refreezing. He would like to replace the American style, I'm wondering if separates would be better as a lot more freezer space, I know they will miss the water/ice though. I've just looked at some good ones with a lot more storage (to freeze meals) and the energy use a year is half an American style (and a lot less than the one we have now).

    Toady will be a NSD as DH at work again tonight so children enjoying the sunshine in the garden.

    Spends so far this month (only since starting the diary).
    Grocery:£49
    Entertainment:£10

    Tomorrow will be a spend day as they have been waiting for months for star wars to come out.

    NSD 2/3
    LBM in April 17 - £14998/£33554 (44.6%) paid. Mortgage@1 June 18 = £9935/£76350 paid.Total debt @june 18 £102311 now £84972GC Jan £40.99/£500 2021 declutter 85/2021 items 0/20 bags clothes
  • enthusiasticsaver
    enthusiasticsaver Posts: 15,445
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    Your groceries bill is massive so I would have thought there was room to bring that down but I suppose it depends on how big your family is. The sofa is also really expensive.

    Good that the cards are on 0%, you have stopped using them and you will have an extra £414 if the loan finishes this month. Having a target is a good idea and you could put it in your signature so you can see it coming down each month. The American style fridge freezers with water/ice dispensers are lovely but huge and very expensive to run. We have always gone for a normal fridge freezer and a separate freezer in the garage which we only use at Christmas and in the summer for lollies, ice creams etc. We defrost it and leave it unused in the spring and autumn.
    I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the Debt free Wannabe, Budgeting and Banking and Savings and Investment boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.
  • charlies_tribe
    charlies_tribe Posts: 1,447
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    Thank you for your post enthusiasticsaver. My grocery bills are huge. I'm going to try and keep track of what we spend to see where it goes. Especially while we have both been working full time and problems with the fridge freezer stopping working, we have also wasted so much food. There's 7 of us (DH and DS1 can both eat enough for 2) 3 Labradors, 2 cats a snake and fish.
    The sofa is expensive but we wanted something that would last and be comfy. We needed 2x3 seaters and a 2 seater. We also paid extra for the recline as my youngest are asthmatic and we spend regular nights on the sofa. I know another cheaper sofa may not have lasted long.

    Still arguing with DH over the freezer. He wants an American at £900. I was looking at the cheaper separates, He said they wont work out any cheaper and probably break down so wanted a better brand. I compromised for the bosch separates, a bit more Expensive to buy but cheaper to run, if one ever fails we only have that 1 to replace (unlike now where we have to sort both out), more freezer space, £90 cashback (ends today) and £300 gift card only making them 100 more than the American he wanted.... but nope, he's having none of it so I give up, he can defrost it every 2 weeks! Or I'll just order them and not tell him till they turn up. Will keep an eye out for other offers...sorry for the rant, I just don't think he realises I'm trying to clear the debt or how much work its going to take.
    LBM in April 17 - £14998/£33554 (44.6%) paid. Mortgage@1 June 18 = £9935/£76350 paid.Total debt @june 18 £102311 now £84972GC Jan £40.99/£500 2021 declutter 85/2021 items 0/20 bags clothes
  • enthusiasticsaver
    enthusiasticsaver Posts: 15,445
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    Can I ask when we're you last debt free? Is this £33k + accumulated over time. If your DH is not on board it is very difficult to budget if he constantly spends money you don't have. If you buy a £900 freezer from your house account that clears it out leaving nothing for real emergencies meaning next months money is allocated before the month has started. I am not sure he realises how bad your situation is. How much do you intend to pay each month off the debt?
    I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the Debt free Wannabe, Budgeting and Banking and Savings and Investment boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.
  • charlies_tribe
    charlies_tribe Posts: 1,447
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    edited 10 April 2017 at 9:41PM
    Thank you for taking the time to post Enthusiasticsaver- I think we've always been in debt. When we bought the house (15 years ago) it needed a lot of work (some still not done) and instead of offering extra on the mortgage the man at the bank said 'and you'll need a credit card for all the work?..' Then we had DS that has kabuki syndrome so I stopped working, then DH being made redundant. The cards were just.. easy money, I guess.

    Minimum payments will be made on everything first and then whatever is left, allocated. I'm hoping about £700 a month. I'm only on SSP while waiting for hospital app and DH is only contracted for 7 hours, but been working 30, although will work 60 this week so we have no exact monthly figure.
    Spoke to him today and we are going to try turning the water off to the freezer to see if it stops happening, wondering if there's a leak we cant find.
    Some of the debt was a new car after ours broke down and the conservatory to give us more space (7 of us in a small 3 bed) but the rest has just been on things we cant even remember.

    He's off tomorrow so going to go through everything with him then. I don't want the kids to suffer, hence keeping the kids account topped up in case DH is finished at the end of his temp contract but I hate, hate, hate having so much debt and I really want to work on it.

    Today has been a spend day but I knew it would be.
    £48 from the childrens/entertainment account. DVD for the boys (they wanted to go to the cinema but I wouldn't spend the £70) The kids have had a small toy/book instead of easter egg (£28 between them, I know eggs are cheaper but I hate buying so much chocolate) and fakeaway tea after swimming lessons, pizza for kids and tikka for us £10. Normally we would have ordered £30+ to be delivered when we got back.
    LBM in April 17 - £14998/£33554 (44.6%) paid. Mortgage@1 June 18 = £9935/£76350 paid.Total debt @june 18 £102311 now £84972GC Jan £40.99/£500 2021 declutter 85/2021 items 0/20 bags clothes
  • I've been trying to do some rough figures and may be able to almost double the payment on good months. All I can do is make sure everything's paid and go from there.

    Luckily our credit ratings aren't as I've never missed a minimum payment. I know our interest on mortgage could be a lot lower, maybe once we are debt free we can look at it.
    LBM in April 17 - £14998/£33554 (44.6%) paid. Mortgage@1 June 18 = £9935/£76350 paid.Total debt @june 18 £102311 now £84972GC Jan £40.99/£500 2021 declutter 85/2021 items 0/20 bags clothes
  • enthusiasticsaver
    enthusiasticsaver Posts: 15,445
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    Ok so your posts have thrown up a few red flags and I definitely think your DH needs his own lightbulb moment as he seems to be spending money regardless of the fact he is on a temporary contract and you have such high unsecured debt. Getting a remortgage for a better rate will be hard if his income is not secure and you have have a lot of unsecured debt.

    As you say you have been sucked into the easy money trap by spending without a budget. Having the 2 accounts for the house and children is a good idea though and keeping the food and bills money separate is also good. What needs to change is the impulse to reach for a credit card when something breaks or you want to buy something. The only way to address this is to stop spending on credit. Ideally you would have saved for a sofa but as you are spending so much on debt repayments my guess is you have little room to save. This will only change as the debt reduces.

    You do need to turn this around now as I imagine 5 years ago your debt was closer to £20-£25k and 5 years before that it was lower still. Eventually you will need a bigger house. Your kids will get more expensive as they get older. You will get closer to retirement and retiring with debt and little savings would be miserable. Your DH needs to realise this even if you have or you will be constantly fighting and you need to work together.
    I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the Debt free Wannabe, Budgeting and Banking and Savings and Investment boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.
  • charlies_tribe
    charlies_tribe Posts: 1,447
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    Thank you for your reply again Enthusiasticsaver.

    I have sat with DH and I'm hoping things are going in the right direction. We've decided, for now, to aim for 5 years to be debt free. That's £560 off the debt every month. We are going to aim for the £700 every month to cover any interest or just pay it off earlier. Hopefully leaving us some money for the time being for everything that needs doing without resorting to the cards. Luckily he seemed to be with me on this. Giving a DFD of 1st april 22 or before (i'm hoping way before).

    As I've not posted for a couple of days... we have spent £8 on top up grocery, £9 on a prescription, DH had £5 for some cans (he asked for some more yesterday, I said no, he didn't argue.. That's a first. Had to do a shop for tomorrow, estimated £52. (All rounded up. Hoping by writing each spend on here I can add each category up at the end of each month

    We have also had a phone call to say sofas coming next week, not in may like we thought, so have used the house account to start the decorating. £168 so far for ceiling plastering, wall paper and tools and some bulbs for lights that had already blown.

    fridge/Freezer had packed in Tuesday morning, managed to salvage almost everything, defrosted and working again at the moment but it seems to be lasting less time each time we defrost it.

    Will hopefully be a NSweekend as DH working till Wednesday. Did a estimate for car insurance earlier and can almost half it at renewal!

    Right I've waffled long enough, will update any spends over the weekend (Just realised our last loan payment is Monday, will be strange to see that balance gone).
    LBM in April 17 - £14998/£33554 (44.6%) paid. Mortgage@1 June 18 = £9935/£76350 paid.Total debt @june 18 £102311 now £84972GC Jan £40.99/£500 2021 declutter 85/2021 items 0/20 bags clothes
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