My Debt Free Journey starts today

A question about : My Debt Free Journey starts today

Hi all

I am so pleased that I listen to Jeremy Vine on Radio 2 every day and therefore have been listening to Martin Lewis. I finally plucked up the courage last night to visit this website - mainly , I admit, to get the dowloaded letter to reclaim bank charges. Im hoping for a VERY large payday on thats score.
OK - so here's that the bit that bites: Worked out (with the help over the snowball calculator) https://www.whatsthecost.co.uk/snowball.aspx
that I (actually we as its me and hubby) owe................

Ј65,290.79

It's owed on a number of credit cards (7), unsecured loans (3), secured loans 1) overdrafts (1) and arrears on mortgage.

I am determined to get this payed in 3 1/2 years (sooner if we get the charges back from the bank) and try to teach my children that this is definitely NOT the way to live. You know, not answering the phone, never opeining the post amd pretending it s not that bad.

I have a good income from my job (Sales Rep) of approximately Ј1000.00 a week, have a fairly big mortgage (Ј143,000) and 4 children. We both have a small income from being semi- pro musicians of about Ј15,000 pa too (joint).

I do have other outgoings to: petrol (Ј150 per month), nursery fees (Ј100 per month), dancing school (Ј40 per month) food (Ј500 per month) and ...
I gamble

There I said it.

Not huge amounts, but I play online bingo most nights and some weeks I am spending about Ј80 per week. I do win, but it all goes back on of course.
My hubby smokes as well.

All comments, sugestions and help would be appreciated.

Thanks for listening

golddigger

Best answers:

• Well done Golddigger! Your on the right track, if you post you SOA then you will get some fantastic advice from the board.
  You've got a great income, so you should clear you debts in no time. Good Luck with it.
• Oh heck,
  I can't help you, but you've made a very big first step coming here.
  Loads of people to help and not to judge.
  Best thing I've done in the last couple of days is to actually admit that I've got a debt problem and ask for help here.
  Keep posting golddigger.
  Loads of lovely people here to help us
• i concur with the above
  Post up your SOA and we can take a look and see where we can advise to better your finances.
  Welcome to MSE
• Thank you weegie.
  REALISED I'D MISSED A CREDIT CARD OUT, SO RECALCULATED ON THE SNOWBALL AND IT COEMS TO
  £71877 - OOUCH
  OK I think my SOA areMONTHLY)
  INCOME: £5200 (approx)
  BENEFITS: (CHILD & DISABILITY LIVING ALLOWANCE FOR MY SONE) £160
  OUTGOINGS: MORTGAGE Northern Rock £900 @ 5.1%
  GAS Atlantic £45
  ELECTRIC Atlantic £95
  WATER Seven Trent £45
  COUNCIL TAX £95
  PETROL £150 (variable)
  CAR TAX (2 cars) £20
  INSURANCE £80
  BUILDINGS & CONTENTS £35
  LIFE INSURANCE £45
  FOOD £500
  CHILD CARE £100
  KIDS EXPENSES £100
  DINNER MONEY £110
  CLEANER £100 (I KNOW, I KNOW!)
  BUSINESS EXPENSES £40
  DEBT: MORTGAGE ARREARS £200 Northern Rock @ 5.1%
  CREDIT CARDS
  mint £300 @16.9
  egg £200 @16.9
  lloyds platinum £300 @ 15.9
  halifax one £200 @ 9.9
  marbles £250 @16.9
  GE Money (mothercare) £45 @19.9
  LOANS Northern Rock unsecured £100 @6.4
  Lloyds loan 150 @6.4
  Kensington Secured loan £456.56
  LLoyds overdraft £50
  TBI Financial (15 yr old debt) £30 @ 0%
  (ALL THESE DEBT PAYMENT ARRANGEMENTS WERE MADE TODAY)
  TOTAL IN: £5360
  TOTAL OUT:4741.56
  mmm
• good luck golddigger, you'll find this site really helpful and very addictive!!
• Welcome to the boards, they are a great tool to help you sort out your debt, so you've made the right move by coming here!
  First off, I think you know that cutting back on the cleaner should be your first port of call. I understand if you and your OH have a demanding job this might not be easy at first, but if you have any slightly older children they might be able to help you out around the house in return for a little bit of pocket money!
  Also have a hunt around this site to see if theres anyway you can get better deals on your life insurance/car insurance etc. I found this article which might help you out with your childcare costs: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi...29566540,79743,
  Good luck
• For fear of stating the obvious, you're going to need to get rid of the Bingo, cigarettes, and cleaner. I know they're nice to have, but they're non-essential items, and if you're not firm and strict with yourself from day 1, you'll never make it.
  Do you need two cars as well? Would it be feasible to manage with one? Could public transport be an option? Good luck!
• Hi Nicola
  Thank you for your input
  To answer some of your queries
  OUTGOINGS: MORTGAGE Northern Rock Ј900 @ 5.1%
  GAS Atlantic Ј45
  ELECTRIC Atlantic Ј95
  WATER Seven Trent Ј45
  COUNCIL TAX Ј95Seems high, check through uswitch to see if you can get it chearperI have checked that I am in the right council tax band and it is correct. Coventry has a higher than average Council tax
  PETROL Ј150 (variable) Do you need two cars? Can you cut this down at all?I am a travelling sales rep and my hubby is a singer who travels the country - we have to have 2 cars - also one is an MPV as we have 4 children
  CAR TAX (2 cars) Ј20 as above.
  INSURANCE Ј80 Is this necessary?car insurance that is - should have said and that is for 2 cars
  BUILDINGS & CONTENTS Ј35
  LIFE INSURANCE Ј45
  FOOD Ј500 This is really high, head over to the OS board. You could cut this in half with careful planning.Ј125 per week for 6 of us (2 adults, 2 teenagers, 2 younger ones)
  CHILD CARE Ј100 Is this necessary?this is with our jobs being long hours - this will end when my youngest starts school in September
  KIDS EXPENSES Ј100 What are these?Ballet lessons, drama lessons and running club
  DINNER MONEY Ј110 This is high. Take sandwichs instead? not sure I could do packed lunches for Ј7 per week per child
  CLEANER Ј100 (I KNOW, I KNOW!) An expense that you can't afford.
  BUSINESS EXPENSES Ј40 What are these?I am essentially self emplyed - have to post my sales deals off every week, they cost Ј4.50 to post
  Maybe I should have said that I have 4 children at the beginning ! Sure eats into the money - especially as this doesnt include school trips, uniform, shoes and clothes.
  I appreciate everyones comments and suggestions
  golddigger
• hiya you could definately save on the food budget and the kids lunch money, have a nosy at the os board for inspiration. for my sons packed lunches i make traybakes (homemade lemon drizzle mmmmmm!)/flapjacks etc and slice into individual portions wrap in greaseproof paper and freeze in a couple of big labelled tubs in my freezer so i always have an ongoing supply of goodies to give him and as they are frozen they are not easily accesible by my eating machine of a son (i find these are the expensive things to buy all those goodies from the shop add up) if you make a different thing every weekend and freeze then they have a good selection to choose from every day and its cheap i also make huge batches of sausage rolls cook them then wrap individually in tin foil and freeze and just take them out the night before to defrost. i also send my son to school with cold tuna pasta/salads and cous cous in tubs or homemade soup in a small flask when its cold or wraps with a small amount of grated cheese and loads of lettuce and a piece of fruit every day with a reusable bottle of squash or water. i reckon you could give all 4 of them a decent lunch for the week for well under a tenner.you could even make up the sandwiches for a week and freeze (no salad) if you cant be flaffed to make it every night. the key is to have lots of different size tubs to put lunches in but once you have those you are away! if you can get your mind into the right frameset im sure you could do it! best of luck...angchris
• Well done on taking the first steps. Your debt does seem a lot at first, but compared to your income, it's really not that bad, and should be manageable within the target you have set yourself.
  I agree with the advice about cutting your grocery bills and would add that you could try getting your hubby to smoke roll-ups. Sounds grim, i know, but he will get used to them and might even prefer them after a while (I do).
  Best of luck
• HI ALL
  thanks for that guys - we started a spend diary today and it does help you to stop spending when you know you'ev got to write it down! I sell advertising to shops and businesses so am often working in shopping centres/ town centres so the temptation is always there. Today I put my purse in my car boot when I went on appointments so I c ouldn't spend anything.
  My only expenses today were postage (for work) and £90 sending off letters with cheques to the bank asking for my charges! Good investment me thinks.
  I will see what my husband thinks about the lunches. He does all the home things as I work full time. The kids are very unhappy about it, which I can understand because they have really nice school dinners. Do you think that you could do really packed lunches for 50p a day per child? Even for a teenager?
  My oldest son does have a job - he babysits for us! We pay him £5 if we both are working in the evening. He is 13 1/2 so not yet old enough for a paper round.
  My hubby has just informed me that the cleaner is £50 per month not £100! OK, what would I know? Gave up the bingo last night. Cancelled my account. Hubby does smoke roll ups already so its not a great expense.
  gonna start saving the £2.00 coins too.
  whats a pigs back???
  Golddigger
  Earned £1500 this week so can pay off electricity that we owe.
• Hi Golddigger - congrats on taking the plunge - you certainly won't regret it. In our area you have to be 13 to be a paperboy, so maybe you could check if it is the same where you are. My son has been doing it since he was 11, but it was in my name and I had to go with him, so it was all legal and above board - maybe you OH could do the same?
• Angchris - Have been really inspired by your posting - thanks very much.
  My OH is always spouting the 7P's to me so to see it in your signature made me smile as most people don't know what the 7P's are - have yet to put them into action tho'
  Am going to start doing the cooking/freezing thing and pasta/cous cous also for my kids to try and save the Ј17.50 I am currently spending on dinner money
• Where I live you can have a paper round at 13
• Best of Luck. It makes me feel upset to see people trying hard to bring up a family and do their best when a huge debt shadow hangs over them.
  Face it head on and blow its nuts off xxxx