Deluded debt free wannabe possible?

A question about : Deluded debt free wannabe possible?

Hi all,

I'm new to this forum - thanks for taking the time to read this post. I could do with a little guidance.

Basically I'm in a situation where my wife and I are doing 'ok' financially. we are in our mid/late twenties - I am the bread winner of the family (about Ј38k) and my wife earns around 8k working part time.

The deluded bit came from me thinking previously that I would be 'sorted' when I got to this sort of salary, but we're still at the point where we struggle financially, especially with paying of the (admittedly modest) debt we have, and saving up for a mortgage is a joke to be honest. Is this normal? We have a little one and his childcare costs are around Ј250.

We dont have a car, but I suspect my role at work may be changing and as such I may need a car to get to a new site (no company car available).

I dont feel that we live extravagently, though I am just surprised that we still cant manage to make any significant in roads with our debt and savings. I feel we have what may be an average household income, though we have modest rent etc. How on earth do people save up a deposit for a house, or even pay a mortgage on an average household income?

A confused and probably deluded cheesy wiggles!

Best answers:

• Hi CheesyWiggles,
  Try posting a statement of a affairs for your house hold (so include all income) and see what the geniuses of MSE have to say
  https://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php
  (make sure to remove the link at the end or it'll stop you posting as a newbie)
  do you know your debts and the APRs?
• def agree with the soa as this may seem where money is going out and savings can be made,
• The budget tool is a real wake up call, I was spending Ј60+ a month in coffee shops, and Ј30 a week in canteen lunches, a was wasting money and not realising it. When it does the little pie chart that shows where it goes, there is no escape!
  I had been debt free for nearly a year and had made no real progress with saving, two months after starting to use YNAB I have Ј900 in my ISA.
• Is it just me who thinks 38k is above average? When I think of an average wage I think of 25k at the most, and normally around 21k.
• I was spending Ј60+ a month in coffee shops, and Ј30 a week in canteen lunches
• *ahem,
  If we're going to do anything useful here perhaps we can get back to encouraging the OP to shed some light on things with an SOA->
  Quote:
• I suppose the glaring things here will be higher than average spending on entertainment (ok, extravagent!), the fact that we have a decent surplus at the end of the month, the fact that we have cash in the bank to offset against the loan and the higher tv costs. We have just found that we've had quite a few unplanned (but should have been planned) expenditure that have eaten into this surplus, or if im honest, the figures on this soa weren't managed well. I'll pull out the bank statements with the mrs later and post a summary.
  Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
  Household Information
  Number of adults in household........... 2
  Number of children in household......... 1
  Number of cars owned.................... 0
  Monthly Income Details
  Monthly income after tax................ 2034
  Partners monthly income after tax....... 558
  Benefits................................ 94.3
  Other income............................ 0
  Total monthly income.................... 2686.3
  Monthly Expense Details
  Mortgage................................ 0
  Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
  Rent.................................... 550
  Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
  Council tax............................. 88
  Electricity............................. 42
  Gas..................................... 42
  Oil..................................... 0
  Water rates............................. 34
  Telephone (land line)................... 15.99
  Mobile phone............................ 55
  TV Licence.............................. 24
  Satellite/Cable TV...................... 40
  Internet Services....................... 20
  Groceries etc. ......................... 350
  Clothing................................ 50
  Petrol/diesel........................... 0
  Road tax................................ 0
  Car Insurance........................... 0
  Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
  Car parking............................. 0
  Other travel............................ 130
  Childcare/nursery....................... 190
  Other child related expenses............ 60
  Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
  Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
  Buildings insurance..................... 0
  Contents insurance...................... 7
  Life assurance ......................... 0
  Other insurance......................... 7
  Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 25
  Haircuts................................ 20
  Entertainment........................... 220
  Holiday................................. 0
  Emergency fund.......................... 40
  Total monthly expenses.................. 2009.99
  
  Assets
  Cash.................................... 1500
  House value (Gross)..................... 0
  Shares and bonds........................ 0
  Car(s).................................. 0
  Other assets............................ 0
  Total Assets............................ 1500
  
  No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
  Unsecured Debts
  Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
  Loan...........................3500......133...... .14
  Overdraft......................750.......7........ .20
  Total unsecured debts..........4250......140.......-
  
  Monthly Budget Summary
  Total monthly income.................... 2,686.3
  Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,009.99
  Available for debt repayments........... 676.31
  Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 140
  Amount left after debt repayments....... 536.31
  Personal Balance Sheet Summary
  Total assets (things you own)........... 1,500
  Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
  Total Unsecured debt.................... -4,250
  Net Assets.............................. -2,750
  Created using the SOA calculator at stoozing.
  Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.