Debt free dream

Caspeia · 13 November 2017 at 4:16PM

Hello!
We're a family of four, 2 adults, a 2.5 year old and a 2 month old. We also have 4 cats and a fish! Me and my partner are in our early twenties and we are getting married in March 2018.

I'm normally the one who controls the money (and was quite good at it!) but I've struggled with my mental health recently and have just been spending money left right and centre so we've built up a bit of debt,

Our debt currently stands at:

Honeymoon: £87.50 (due by 26th December)
CC1: £1643.36 (0% interest until Feb 2018)
CC2: £1155.40 (0% interest until November 2019)
Sofa: £1449.56 (0%, on payment plan until its finished)

Total: £4335.82

I would like to pay it all off before December 2018 so we can start saving for a deposit on our own house.

My first goal is to pay off the first credit card before the interest is up and also to pay off the honeymoon. I've got a direct debit to pay £25 off CC2 which is double the minimum payment and the sofa payment is £46.76 a month so that will also be going down but these two are not my priority yet.
I also don't have anything saved up for the wedding, my parents are paying for most of it but I don't have anything to cover my share. I need to work out how much that will be.

This month is really difficult as my partner has gotten a new role at work but he's becoming a salaried member of staff which means he's moving from weekly pays to monthly paid. We have 3.5 weeks that he won't be getting paid and I'm only on maternity pay. I need to work out how much we have until Friday.

166million · 13 November 2017 at 5:07PM

Hi there,
I struggle with MH issues so know how difficult it can be so well done for being here
First thing to do is soa that will show outgoing And income then will show if you can make any savings or pay towards debts
http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php
People on here are really helpful

Caspeia · 20 November 2017 at 8:33PM

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1180
Partners monthly income after tax....... 616
Benefits................................ 300
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2096

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 46.76
Rent.................................... 395
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 100
Electricity............................. 50
Gas..................................... 60
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 18.99
Mobile phone............................ 71
TV Licence.............................. 13.47
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 200
Clothing................................ 50
Petrol/diesel........................... 30
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 100
Childcare/nursery....................... 185
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 41
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 6
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
gym..................................... 29.99
driving lessons......................... 160
cat expenses............................ 100
netflix................................. 9.99
SCAA.................................... 4.34
Total monthly expenses.................. 1671.54

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

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(0)........0
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 1449.56..(46.76)....0
Total secured & HP debts...... 1449.56...-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
CC1............................1643.36...16.43.....0
CC2............................1155.4....11.55.....0
Honeymoon......................87.5......0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........2886.26...27.98.....-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,096
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,671.54
Available for debt repayments........... 424.46
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 27.98
Amount left after debt repayments....... 396.48

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -1,449.56
Total Unsecured debt.................... -2,886.26
Net Assets.............................. -4,335.82

There's a couple of things I've missed out, car stuff, birthdays etc. I need to decide how much I want/need for each section. I'm kind of leaning towards working out how much I will put in an account for each individual thing but keep in all in one big account as I don't need any more accounts than I already do.

Also the debt payments are slightly different than the original post as I accidentally got one wrong, its only off by a fiver but will update the proper totals on the post.

Caspeia · 20 November 2017 at 9:22PM

This week has been a mixed bag of emotions.

On the negative side, my partner has been suspended from his job. He has been falsely accused of something, luckily its on full pay pending investigation. He's been accused of gross misconduct and if they find him guilty then he's been told its immediate dismissal. Its a scary thought but I'm trying to stay positive.

Positives:
I've not spend anything on the credit card since the 13th of November. That's a full week that I have not used the credit card! Everything has been paid for by cash/debit card, I normally have both my cards on me at all times but this time I left them in the house.

Theres been times in the past I've transferred out my savings if I wanted to buy something but I haven't done that either! I've actually transferred so much out of my savings in the past month that the wedding fund is gone and theres no money in the cat account (I have a separate account for the cats where their insurance comes off, save up for their food & vet vills) All I have in saving is £130.

I have a spreadsheet where it worked out daily how much I need in my account to cover bills so when money comes in, anything above that figure can be allocated elsewhere. Tax credits came in today so going to allocate that money. I never use this towards bills as it seems to always change, its very unreliable so I just use it as 'bonus' money, I'm going to start using this towards the debt instead of wasting it

SunshineBecks · 20 November 2017 at 9:50PM

Good luck on your debt busting!

Becks

Caspeia · 21 November 2017 at 6:33PM

So I've made a list of everything I need to pay off for the wedding, its looking at around £1500 for everything I still need to pay. Current savings... zero. Only 4 months to go which is absolutely stupid of me. I had almost £1000 saved up 5/6 months ago and I used it paying off the credit card cause it was at £2500 which was at its limit. I've looked back at my statements and every month I've paid off between £300 - £400 but I then spent £400 - £500. I have nothing to show for it, its mainly on takeaways and meals out. Loads of £5/6 spends in shops, getting a drink and a snack.

Last night I remembered about quidco, earlier this year I used it to get cashback for the cats insurance as they had a good deal on it but never checked it again until last night. £50 ready to be cashed out, just set up the payment details so in a few days that will land in my account! This is going straight towards the cat food as I have no money set aside for it. I buy in bulk every 10 week or so, it costs me £210 for their food and some treats as well but I've decided to cut their treats out so it takes me down to £177.75, their favourite flavour is the vension but its expensive so for this one order while I get things sorted I will buy the basic cheaper flavours which comes to £165.60. I have enough food for a month so need to put some money towards that each pay day. Theres 4 of my pays and one of my partners before I need to order it. After the next order I will start paying weekly again to their account so I have 10 weeks to save up instead of only 4.

I decided to put the tax credits money towards the honeymoon since that needs paid off first. The last £87.50 has been paid off! I also remembered the baby will need a passport, I will do this in January.

then paid £23.36 off the credit card.

Totals now

Honeymoon: £0
CC1: £1620
CC2: £1155.40
Sofa: £1449.56

Total: £4224.96

Total payments off of debt £110.86 which is 2.6%

I'm setting myself a goal of being under £4000 by the 31st December... £224.96 to pay off in 40 days time.

Caspeia · 21 November 2017 at 9:01PM

So normally our weeks look like this... go shopping for food, forget it exists, buy 90% of our meals out and about, throw out rotten food, occasionally throw any slightly good food in freezer. Repeat cycle.
This week we've still eaten a few meals out and about but its only about 25% of our meals out and the from home.
Tonight I couldn't be bothered cooking and normally we'd order a takeaway. I almost did but decided against it. I had some left over tuna pasta from last night, there was only enough for me and the toddler. So I made my partner a curry dish from the left over chicken from a few nights ago. An onion, tin of chopped tomatoes, chicken and some tandoori spice mix we had. He then wanted to have it with hash browns (strange combo I know!)
I decided to check the freezer to see what there was. I discovered to flat breads with garlic butter on them and a couple of balls of mozzarella also in there so I'm going to make them into pizzas for tomorrows tea with some sweet potato fries I also found.
Thursday night I'm going to have sausages with sweet potato mash (can you tell I love sweet potatoes)

There's some lamb mince in the freezer I can use on Friday, not sure what I want to make yet. I'm thinking either spag bol or meatballs as we have all the ingredients already in the house.

I'm also going to make some carrot and lentil soup for lunch tomorrow. My auntie bought me a soup maker a couple of years ago, its brilliant but doesn't get as much use as it deserves. Roughly chop veg, throw it in with a stock cube and some water. 21 minutes later I have fresh soup. I love soup and so does the toddler. Shes refusing to eat her lunch at playgroup so I might start sending her with soup, just need to hunt out a thermos as the playgroup won't heat up food. Everyday shes coming home with her sandwich left over, her banana left over and her yoghurt left over. All she has is a smoothie.

Scott_Weiland_2 · 21 November 2017 at 9:16PM

Right two things jump out

first thing re your soa is pet insurance i understand you have cats etc but 400 quid plus py is a bit steep. I would if your not a member join top cashback.co.uk and look at quotes on that or do they sensible thing ie just open a savings account and whack 20 quid pm in 4 vet bills as a precaution and bin the insurance.

Next same again 840 plus for mobile phones can that not be reviewed lowered etc I pay 29 for mine pm and a tenner for a giff gaff sim only for my son.

Caspeia · 21 November 2017 at 10:56PM

Cats.. I have four of them so its never going to be cheap! I do have an account for them... I just kept dipping into their account constantly. I'm not getting rid of the insurance. Its just too risky in my eyes.
Knowing my luck, I would have a couple of them needing treatment at the same time and completely draining my money away. I've seen a couple of family and friends have huge bills with their cats, my friends cat ate a bit of cooked bone, it got caught in the cats stomach and had to have surgery costing over £2000. The cat has issues with their gut now.

Mobiles I should have explained, I pay 3 contracts. Mine, my partners and my sisters. Mine is £21 and my partners is £27. I just automatically put the cost of all 3 mobiles on, my sister gives me the money in cash every month for her phone (and also half of Netflix, we share the account) Maybe I should have not included her one (or included the money she gives me) I took out the contract for her originally as she was babysitting my toddler a lot before maternity so it was a 'thank you' but now she pays it herself, when the contract is up in June she is opening her contract in her name. My partner is considering taking the insurance off his contract which will lower it to £21 as well.

Scott_Weiland_2 · 22 November 2017 at 1:41AM

492 quid for cat insurance per year is high i can understand with 4 cats you want to keep it but have a look at getting it cheaper. Think of it this way you maybe able to save a few quid on top cashback per month and on there from memory some pet insurance companies will pay 40-50 quid for a new pet insurance policy.

I recently got my other half to join topcashback and got 15 quid just for referring her its easy money. I think gocompare does a thing via topcashback that even for a quote re pet insurance you get £2.50 ish.

Caspeia · 23 November 2017 at 3:46PM

So I've used the credit card but for once it was actually on purchases I needed rather than wanted. Its all things for the wedding. I'm proud of myself for thinking through purchases instead of just buying the first thing I see!

1st thing I bought was the rings. I originally had a budget of £200 for both of our rings. We both just wanted a plain band and when I originally looked I found ones at about £90 each I liked. I looked yesterday and went on a different website, Goldsmiths. I went via quidco. I found two rings we liked, combined cost £110. I'm a student so I decided to check my discount apps and found a 10% off code, bringing the rings down to £99 for the two of them! There's £2.48 cashback show Iing on my quidco account, hopefully it pays out.

2nd thing I bought was a smart collared bodysuit for the baby and a pair of shoes for the toddler. Found a code for 20% and free delivery so the shoes should have been £9.99 but ended up being £7.99 and the vest should have been £7.99 but was £6.39. Total cost: £14.38

Total spend on everything: £113.38

My original budget for the baby was £70 on a custom made kilt, I realise this is very expensive so I've found a kilt on amazon for £19.99, a bow tie for £2.03, kilt socks £8.99 (all sitting in my basket, not actually bought them). Vest was from H&M which was £6.39. Total cost for his outfit: £37.40

I had a budget for my toddler of £40 for her outfit, we have a dress in the house that has never been worn and is the same colour I've picked for the wedding colour scheme. Instead of buying a new one, she will wear this one. It was hidden in a cupboard and I had forgotten about it. I've bought her shoes to match, bringing her total cost down to £7.99 on a pair of shoes.

My next thing on my list to organise was favours. I had originally set a budget of £50 for everyone. I had a look around and I've decided to get little net bags and put heart shaped chocolate in the bags. Total cost for these off of amazon are £26.87

So compared to my original budget (which was based on things I had seen and wanted to buy)
...
Rings: £99 instead of £200
Baby: £37.40 instead of £70
Toddler: £7.99 instead of £40
Favours: £26.87 instead of £50

Total: £171.26 instead of £360
Less than half the price I originally wanted!

I have £57.88 worth of things to buy from amazon. I've been using swagbucks the last few days and I've got exchanged my first lot of points for an amazon voucher. I also went on my partners quidco account and exchanged the money in his account for amazon vouchers.
Its not much but when it clears we should have £6.79 in vouchers. I've decided to challenge myself and see if I can get all £57.88 in amazon vouchers!

Debt free dream

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