Mrs S.....life after debt

I've been on here for 4 years now (I think I actually had another name before so it's actually longer). If you're super bored, here are my diaries so far!

Diary 1: MrsS is getting serious http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5045594

Diary 2: Debt free before 35 http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5286098

Diary 3: A pound stretching maternity
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5495440

Diary 4: Mrs S, family life and debt
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5687273

So, why the new diary I hear you ask...

In February I was super lucky to be able to pay off the last of my debt (other than the mortgage). I am now finding it difficult to stick to budget and save! I keep trying to remind myself that I'm not a multi millionaire and can't buy what I want, when I want.

A little about me

I'm now 34. I have 2 boys, one 4 year old and the littlest is a year and a half. I changed careers last year from teaching to becoming a finance assistant (the irony :rotfl: ). I now work 3 days a week, earn a lot less but am a million times happier (still not managing to keep on top of the housework though :rotfl: ).

Mr and Mrs S???? That's the million dollar question! We separated right at the beginning of the year. Things have been totally up and down since. We have started getting on so much better and are trying counselling (and that's not cheap!). As things are going, it's looking positive that Mr S will be moving back in, but as they say.....don't count your chickens!

My financial situation

Other than the mortgage I am debt free. I will post an soa later, but I am really struggling to stick to a budget each month. I guess I always thought that the day me debt would disappear I'd have so much more spare each month. That's not the case!! I am starting to pay more bills annually instead of monthly, and am managing to save for things like Christmas and birthdays. It's day to day spends that are the struggle, such as groceries, entertainment, the boys and personal spends. I really need to get a grip on these.

I've seen other diaries where targets are posted daily/weekly and that seems like such a good idea. I'm going to give this a go.

Another issue is saving. I am not saving what I should (some months I'm not 'saving' anything - unless you count things such as birthdays). I'm going to try and fix that. I do have an emergency fund of £2,000 in Premium Bonds (haven't won a penny with them :mad: ), and just over £150 in another savings account (My priority savings goal is for a new shed, I have around 50% of the roof left on mine :eek: ).

I don't want this first post to be super long (though be prepared, there will be some :cool: ). My next steps are to sort out my SOA and set some goals from there.
Starting a new debt free journey
Starting Debt: £5,250
Current Debt: £4,995.50
Amount Paid: £254.50 Percentage Paid: 4.84%
Emergency Fund: £350
«13456722

Comments

  • Hello... subscribed. I'd forgotten that you used to be a teacher, but, like me escaped. It's nice to have a little catch up at the start of a new diary.

    Good luck with the saving.
    Wish.
    Outstanding mortgage: £23,181 (December 19)
    MFW 2020 Challenge Member #10 0/£2318
  • MrsSave
    MrsSave Posts: 1,817
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    Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

    Household Information

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

    Monthly Income Details

    Monthly income after tax................ 832.7
    Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
    Benefits................................ 923.46
    Other income............................ 220
    Total monthly income.................... 1976.16


    Monthly Expense Details

    Mortgage................................ 477.22
    Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
    Rent.................................... 0
    Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
    Council tax............................. 99 Single person discount over 10 months
    Electricity and Gas............................. 55
    Oil..................................... 0
    Water rates............................. 60.5
    Telephone (land line) and internet................... 26
    Mobile phone............................ 31
    TV Licence.............................. 12.37
    Satellite/Cable TV...................... 14.1
    Groceries etc. ......................... 240
    Clothing................................ 50 for the boys - mine comes from my personal money
    Petrol/diesel........................... 80
    Road tax................................ 16.12
    Car Insurance........................... 20.3
    Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 30
    Car parking............................. 0
    Other travel............................ 0
    Childcare/nursery....................... 210
    Other child related expenses............ 83 Dinner money, swimming and rugby
    Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
    Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
    Buildings insurance..................... 8
    Contents insurance...................... 0
    Life assurance ......................... 24
    Other insurance......................... 0
    Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 145 This includes all gifts, parties, cake, Christmas food
    Haircuts................................ 35.4 for me and both boys. Have stretched it from every 6 weeks to every 7
    Entertainment........................... 80
    Holiday................................. 0
    Emergency fund.......................... 0
    Dropbox................................. 6.6
    Boys savings............................ 20
    Personal Money.......................... 70
    Slimming World.......................... 18
    Counselling............................. 45
    iTunes storage.......................... 0.79
    Grocery delivery saver.................. 3.49
    HP Ink.................................. 1.99
    YNAB.................................... 3.5
    Breakdown Cover......................... 3.5
    Total monthly expenses.................. 1969.88



    Assets

    Cash.................................... 1024.14
    House value (Gross)..................... 142000
    Shares and bonds........................ 2000
    Car(s).................................. 800
    Other assets............................ 0
    Total Assets............................ 145824.14



    Secured & HP Debts

    Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
    Mortgage...................... 89500....(477.22)....0
    Total secured & HP debts...... 89500.....-.........-


    Unsecured Debts
    Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
    Total unsecured debts..........0.........0.........-



    Monthly Budget Summary

    Total monthly income.................... 1,976.16
    Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,969.88
    Available for debt repayments........... 6.28
    Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
    Amount left after debt repayments....... 6.28


    Personal Balance Sheet Summary
    Total assets (things you own)........... 145,824.14
    Total HP & Secured debt................. -89,500
    Total Unsecured debt.................... -0
    Net Assets.............................. 56,324.14


    Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.stoozing.com.
    Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.
    Starting a new debt free journey
    Starting Debt: £5,250
    Current Debt: £4,995.50
    Amount Paid: £254.50 Percentage Paid: 4.84%
    Emergency Fund: £350
  • debtaghh
    debtaghh Posts: 1,794
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    I've subscribed x
  • MrsSave
    MrsSave Posts: 1,817
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    Hello... subscribed. I'd forgotten that you used to be a teacher, but, like me escaped. It's nice to have a little catch up at the start of a new diary.

    Good luck with the saving.
    Wish.

    Ah yes, escaping was one of the best things I've done in life!!
    Starting a new debt free journey
    Starting Debt: £5,250
    Current Debt: £4,995.50
    Amount Paid: £254.50 Percentage Paid: 4.84%
    Emergency Fund: £350
  • MrsSave
    MrsSave Posts: 1,817
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    Forumite
    debtaghh wrote: »
    I've subscribed x

    Thank you :)
    Starting a new debt free journey
    Starting Debt: £5,250
    Current Debt: £4,995.50
    Amount Paid: £254.50 Percentage Paid: 4.84%
    Emergency Fund: £350
  • MrsSave
    MrsSave Posts: 1,817
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    I know there are things I could shave from my SOA, but I'm just trying to work on finding that balance between living and saving!
    Starting a new debt free journey
    Starting Debt: £5,250
    Current Debt: £4,995.50
    Amount Paid: £254.50 Percentage Paid: 4.84%
    Emergency Fund: £350
  • riotlady
    riotlady Posts: 442
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    Good luck sticking to your budget! Will be watching with interest :)
  • MrsSave wrote: »
    Ah yes, escaping was one of the best things I've done in life!!

    Me too, and that I'm itself makes me a little bit sad. I used to love my job.

    SOA thoughts:
    Mobile phone £31 a month, when can that be cut?
    £50 a month on the children's clothes. Do you really spend that much? Is it a separate line in YNAB, can you see how much you actually spent over the last year. Does this include school uniform?
    £35something for hair cuts. This feels a lot too over the course of a year, can you track actual spending over 12 months.
    When will the childcare bill reduce due to funded hours?
    Nothing on contents insurance??
    Outstanding mortgage: £23,181 (December 19)
    MFW 2020 Challenge Member #10 0/£2318
  • MrsSave
    MrsSave Posts: 1,817
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    The leftovers fom my SOA will be the start of my mortgage overpayment. I am aiming for a minimum of £20 a month, which will knock 11 months off the mortgage.

    Any extra income/selling/surveys/cashback/council tax free months will firstly go the mortgage overpayment until it reaches £20. After that it will be split in the following ways:

    Mortgage overpayment: 10%
    Shed savings: 30%
    Holiday: 20%
    IPad savings: 5%
    Household bits: 20%
    Emergency fund: 5%
    Car: 10%

    Once I've managed to save enough for a new shed, I will amend this.

    Groceries

    My aim (though I failed today at the first hurdle!) is to budget £50 a week for the main shop, with £10 for a weekly top up of fruit, milk and salad. This includes all household items, and nappies for my youngest.

    Income

    Over 50% of my income comes from child maintenance and child/working tax credits. I am so fortunate to be living in a country where, since Mr S moved out, I have this help available. I definitely do not take this for granted, and this is the first time I've ever applied/received. If things work out with Mr S and he moves back in, this will all stop. That would be my ideal situation. Once ds2 is at school I aim to increase my hours at work. I currently work 3 days a week, and am fortunate to have family on hand for childcare on 2 of the days. If I worked extra now I would end up needing to pay for childcare on those days, so financially it makes no sense.

    Other savings

    I have very recently started skimming the bank accounts every week (kind of using the save a penny a day method) and moving the money to a separate savings account. I hope to have saved £334.89 by November by doing this. I was thinking this could be for Christmas/ds2's birthday, but realistically I shouldn't need to with the budget I have for it already. So, I think this will go towards next year's holiday.
    Starting a new debt free journey
    Starting Debt: £5,250
    Current Debt: £4,995.50
    Amount Paid: £254.50 Percentage Paid: 4.84%
    Emergency Fund: £350
  • MrsSave
    MrsSave Posts: 1,817
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    Forumite
    edited 19 May 2018 at 10:05PM
    Me too, and that I'm itself makes me a little bit sad. I used to love my job.

    SOA thoughts:
    Mobile phone £31 a month, when can that be cut? It is a lot, my iPhone is one of my weaknesses. I'm 6 months into a contract so nothing I can do at the moment.
    £50 a month on the children's clothes. Do you really spend that much? Is it a separate line in YNAB, can you see how much you actually spent over the last year. Does this include school uniform? This includes school uniform, all clothes, coats and shoes. Ds2 has needed 3 new pairs of shoes this year already :eek: Ds1 has needed new trainers, school shoes and wellies this year. I bought him a supermarket pair of trainers but they rubbed the tops of his feet which left him with a cut on each foot, so ended up in Clarks for those! I do buy as many of the clothes as I can from the supermarket (thankfully they're too young to notice brands!)
    £35something for hair cuts. This feels a lot too over the course of a year, can you track actual spending over 12 months. My cut is expensive at £34 a time (every 7 weeks) and the boys are £8.40 each (every 7 weeks) The boys cuts I won't manage to get much cheaper here. For me, though, I have been through so many hairdressers. I hate going, and struggle to find someone I like! It is something I review from time to time.
    When will the childcare bill reduce due to funded hours? I think I have quite a while for that yet. Though in Wales I think (from what I remember with ds1) it is pretty much the same time as they start school - they start the term after their third birthday here
    Nothing on contents insurance??forgot to mention, that's included with building insurance

    Thank you for your comments, I think I've answered them all. There are aspects of the job that I miss. There are far more that I don't!
    Starting a new debt free journey
    Starting Debt: £5,250
    Current Debt: £4,995.50
    Amount Paid: £254.50 Percentage Paid: 4.84%
    Emergency Fund: £350
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