Working towards being debt free and a new house.

A question about : Working towards being debt free and a new house.

This could be a long post with a lot of rambling as I'm not sure where to start.

Me and DH currently owe Ј26,059 (I know right down to the penny what we owe ) and are working our backsides off to clear it all away
This is only a fraction of what we originally owed. I've decided to post on here (it's taken me 18 months since I joined mse to finally feel confident enough to write everything down on here) as I need it to serve as a reminder to me to keep ploughing through this debt as we both really want that end goal.

I'll start at the beginning way back in 1999.
We did as many people have in their twenties and ignored our parents advice and spent money we didn't have. I finally realised the extent of our debt when i signed up to check our credit reports in 2009 (for both me and DH) and saw in black and white the amount we owed. My memory is a little hazy but a recent calculation has set the figure at Ј68,000 in early 2009. This was the peak of our debts and i was a figure I've been scared to utter for many years since. Nobody knows exactly how bad we were, just me and after a few months DH (I initially kept it to myself while i tried to get my head round everything).
Like many other people I have no idea where some of it has gone (3 brand new cars over the years account for quite a bit).
On top of that we have a house which was bought for Ј30,000 many years ago and after remortgaging a few times (yes I know how stupid it was) the mortgage ended up at Ј100,000

Seeing this written down makes me feel sick but I've felt the need to post it here to serve as a reminder to myself and DH that we will not make the same mistake again down the line.
I set myself up a spending diary in January 2013 (back then it was a little notebook, today I have a 2014 diary) which documents every penny we spend and all money that comes in.
I've just totted up how we've handled our debt in the last 5 years (using the free to access credit report)

2009 = Ј63600
2010 = Ј62200
2011 = Ј55200
2012 = Ј47900
2013 = Ј37600
2014 = Ј26000

In the last couple of months we've had an agreement in principle on the mortgage for the new house we want to buy (new build, not very mse i know) and we have about Ј38k in equity in this house, so the new mortgage is on the proviso that we clear all our debts before we move (I know a mortgage shouldn't be used to clear debts, but we're happy to go down that route as any spare money when we move will be used to overpay and bring down the balance).

Sorry for rambling, we have gone it alone in clearing off the debt, I've posted on here as money recently has become less tight as monthly commitments have been removed. I don't want us to become complacent, we can keep working on this debt

I wish I'd posted this at the start of last year, but at the same time I just couldn't bring myself to write it down

Best answers:

• Start of October, debts outstanding as of today.
  Loan Ј6300
  Bcard Ј3500 (0% finishes December 28th)
  Tcard Ј973 (Ј600 @ 0% finishes September 2015)
  Lcard Ј3811 (0% finishes February 2016)
  3.5% loan Ј10553
  Right it's a new day so I'm going to sit down and work out my budget for the month.
  I've allowed Ј200 a week for groceries, fuel, after school clubs and anything else I've missed. Also allowed a spare Ј200 for new kitchen and hallway flooring.
  I think I have Ј200 spare after all of that so I shall be paying another chunk off that pesky credit card
  Feel like I'm off to a good start, still woke up this morning feeling positive
• Hi Dipdap, didn't want to read and run so thought I would say hello!
  Well done on getting as far as you have already with your debts, you're doing a great job. Have you ever posted an SOA on here to see where you can cut back? I found it quite helpful.
  The one thing that stands out to me is Ј200 a week seems A LOT for food and petrol and things, how many is that to feed, and is there a lot of travel to work or something involved?
  I find meal planning helps with the food budget, but you maybe do that already. We budget Ј100 per week for food and stuff, and anything left from that comes off the debt.
  Will subscribe to you diary and keep up to date with your progress.
  Mrs S x
• Hey Hun
  I did wonder if anybody would read my diary, thanx
  Depending on who's here there can be up to a maximum of 7 of us.
  Looking at my spending diary, the Ј200 is the maximum I set aside for everything I have to shell out on that week, I'm obviously going wrong somewhere there's food, fuel, dance classes, basketball club, bus fares, ciggys (not me!)
  I really need to find some time for an SOA but I know if I do one somebody will tell me the Ј100 a month TV,phone and internet package should go
  I'm not very good at being told off!
  I'll grab a pen and paper at some point and see exactly where the money goes each week (I've been writing it down a year and a half but still haven't digested exactly what goes where!)
• Love your username Dipdap, my two children adore good old Dipdap!
  Sounds as though you are well on your way to beating your debt! *subscribes!*
• Hey Hun, thanx
  I've only just figured out what subscribing means
  I thought I'd pop back on and jot down my spending log for the day.
  Ј15.57 boots (expensive deodorants which work wonders on stinky kids!)
  Ј9.39 on grocerys (bread, milk, yogurts and some pizzas)
  Ј9.00 on DD dance class.
  Ј28.00 on amazon (2 football shirts for DH, curse you deal websites!)
  Ј2.98 on McDs (DH had dinner while working)
  Total spend for the day = Ј64.94
  Dance class is usually an unavoidable expense, DD has been dancing since she was little and in a few years she can pay for it herself!
  The deodorant stuff is brilliant, although it's about 6 quid a bottle, I had a voucher so am stocked up for 3 months
  DH used to always want the current footie shirt (if he liked it) but we stopped getting them at full price a while ago. If they come up at a reasonable price I'll grab one for him. Probably shouldn't have bought 2 (different colours) so will probably cancel one before it's shipped.
  Groceries, I really need to sort this one out as I never do a full weekly shop (can't drive) and tend to grab stuff almost every day
  Time to myself tonight as DH is away with work, I may have to write up a shopping list for the weekend might have to give this meal planning thing a go
• Hello Dipdap
  You are doing a splendid job on the debt crunching and good on you!
  I have read your first post and well done for it.
  I will check in and see how you are doing!
  All the best from the Cap'n on the South Coast
• Hey dipdap,
  You have been doing fantastically well and you are very brave to post here and admit where you may have made mistakes in the past and have learned from them. Well done!
  If you want to post a SOA then here's the link:-
  https://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php
  No one will tell you off, the good people of the forum will advise and make suggestions of successes they have found but what you decide to do has got to be something you, your family and your lifestyle can adapt to.
  I'm sure you diary will give you added motivation and support and I wish you all the best on your journey ahead.
  #subscribed
  Good luck
  DB
• My goodness you have been working hard, well done so far looking forward to seeing you over on Mortgage Free Wannabee.
• Morning all thanx for reading and taking the time to reply
  I'm having a day out today, meeting up with DH, but it's gonna cost me Ј6 ish in bus fares, boo!
  Free cake and coffee with vouchers
  I've got Ј20 in nxt vouchers, Ј40 in debnms vouchers and a fiver for bdy shp to use
  Funny thing is when I have a set amount on a voucher to use I tend to spend ages looking and end up not buying anything
  At least I get to go shopping I do love a good day out and the kids love the bus trip
• Hope you have a lovely day out - we all need a little treat now and again and I think if you deprive yourself of the little treats, you end up having a meltdown and a massive spending splurge!! I do anyway, I have terrible willpower and no patience!
  Look forward to reading your SOA, promise we'll be kind! I find these forums are full of nice people (mostly!) on the same journey trying to clear their feet and rectify past mistakes.
  Enjoy spending your vouchers!
  Mrs S x
• We had a lovely day today
  Spending for today, I'm loving seeing it written down, it don't half make me think about what I'm spending when I know I have to write it down
  Ј7.05 on bus fare I sometimes forget how expensive buses can be
  Ј2.73 on food (bread, milk and some squash)
  Ј1.90 on chips (lazy dinner tonight, fish out of the freezer and chips from the chippy )
  Total spend for the day = Ј11.68
  Have had a pretty good day, did lots of window shopping and didn't see anything I liked in the shops I had gift cards for so didn't use them
  I was very pleased with myself as Disney shop had lots of frozen stuff on display, but I was a good girl and didn't buy any
  I've written a meal plan for next week (just need to work on desserts).
  Monday - pizzas
  Tuesday - burgers
  Wednesday - curry
  Thursday -pizza
  Friday - gammon and chips
  Saturday -pizza
  Sunday - Sunday dinner from the choice of freezer meat and usually trimmings
  I know pizza pops up 3 times, I have an influx of them in the freezer due to buying them really cheap so it seems daft not to use them
  Have put in an online shopping order which seems to be easier than wandering the supermarket with a trolley, am gonna see how that goes as I never usually do a shop for the week
  Tomorrow I plan to do my SOA
• Hello you
  Well done like we were saying the other day you have done fantastically well and i KNOW you will do this
  I will keep an eye here to make sure you keep it updated
• Hey Bubbs I did wonder if you'd come over for a read I know you'll nag me if I don't keep this updated
  Paid just over Ј300 off a credit card today (it don't half feel good to do that )
  Was waiting for the bill to turn up as half the card has a 0% bt on it and half doesn't so hopefully have cleared off all the bit that doesn't now
  Going to work out for dinner for tomorrow, think we'll go for the usual freezer Sunday I have a feeling we have a chicken joint in the freezer that will go down well
  Very proud of myself today, I didn't buy that nice soft rug I saw for my lounge
• Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
  Household Information
  Number of adults in household........... 2
  Number of children in household......... varies between 3 and 5, depending on how many I have to feed!
  Number of cars owned.................... 1
  Monthly Income Details
  Monthly income after tax................ 800
  Partners monthly income after tax....... 2000 (base salary is about Ј1600, DH has overtime currently guarenteed till Xmas)
  Benefits................................ 518
  Other income............................ 0
  Total monthly income.................... 3318
  Monthly Expense Details
  Mortgage................................ 520
  Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
  Rent.................................... 0
  Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
  Council tax............................. 81
  Electricity............................. 70 varies based on meter reading
  Gas..................................... 30 as above
  Oil..................................... 0
  Water rates............................. 42
  Telephone (land line)................... 15 part of package
  Mobile phone............................ 23
  TV Licence.............................. 13
  Satellite/Cable TV...................... 60 part of package
  Internet Services....................... 25 part of package
  Groceries etc. ......................... 400 not exactly sure how much we spend a month here, needs better calculation
  Clothing................................ 100 again not sure exactly how much this should be
  Petrol/diesel........................... 150
  Road tax................................ 10
  Car Insurance........................... 39
  Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 45
  Car parking............................. 30
  Other travel............................ 100 (school bus fares)
  Childcare/nursery....................... 74
  Other child related expenses............ 0
  Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 12
  Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
  Buildings insurance..................... 8
  Contents insurance...................... 5
  Life assurance ......................... 41 we're keeping this policy in place until we move for conveinience, then we'll end it and get a better deal
  Storage unit fees....................... 100 (most of the junk is currently in storage until we get this house sold, am going to try and haggle a discount)
  Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20 not sure with this as i buy stuff in sales and keep it hidden
  Haircuts................................ 30
  Basketball.............................. 12
  Dance................................... 90
  Lottery................................. 18
  Total monthly expenses.................. 2163
  
  Assets
  Cash.................................... 0
  House value (Gross)..................... 110000
  Shares and bonds........................ 0
  Car(s).................................. 7000
  Other assets............................ 0
  Total Assets............................ 117000
  
  Secured & HP Debts
  Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
  Mortgage...................... 72700....(520)......2.5
  Total secured & HP debts...... 72700.....-.........-
  Unsecured Debts
  Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
  Lcard..........................3811......100...... .0 ends Feb 2016
  Tcard..........................975.......20....... .0 Ј600 is at 0% ends Oct 2015 the rest is being cleared off this weekend
  Bcard..........................3500......90....... .0 ends just after Christmas, reverts to normal APR which is probably about 20%
  Loan DH........................10553.....232.......3.5
  Loan me........................6300......304.......12.1
  Total unsecured debts..........25139.....746.......-
  
  Monthly Budget Summary
  Total monthly income.................... 3,318
  Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,163
  Available for debt repayments........... 1,155
  Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 746
  Amount left after debt repayments....... 409
  Personal Balance Sheet Summary
  Total assets (things you own)........... 117,000
  Total HP & Secured debt................. -72,700
  Total Unsecured debt.................... -25,139
  Net Assets.............................. 19,161
• Hey hun, thanx for reading
  After posting I had a feeling it may need tweaking, im gonna give myself a couple of weeks to work with the figures and see how it goes.
  Currently having my dinner break at work, I've realised I haven't done my spending for the day so will sort that out when I get home in the morning.
  I feel like I've had another good day today
• Hey dipdap,
  SOA's almost always need tweaking. The 1st one is almost like a trial run. It's good to get one out there though so you have a focus and something down on paper/spreadsheet to work with. I know this was a big step for you so congrats for doing it
  Keeping a spending diary and tracking everything over the coming weeks will help with the tweaking and will also highlight any areas that are slightly out or missing.
  Dinner break at 1:30am = night shift then
  You are so focused and motivated, which is fab. Glad you've had a good day. It is contagious though and once you start seeing the savings and results, it then makes you want to find more savings and see more results
  I don't know if you are a lover of spreadsheets but I found this on another post and fell in love with it
  https://www.vertex42.com/ExcelTemplates/budgets.html
  Keep up the good work
  DB
• Yeah I'm a night shift worker (fits round DH nicely )
  Got home from work this morning and fell straight asleep, so will jot down yesterday's spending now.
  Ј12.00 on paint (we're making this house look saleable so the odd thing is gonna keep cropping up ) and carpet glue.
  Ј5.00 on gym (one of the kids classes, not me )
  Ј4 on DH ciggys (not much I can do about this one!)
  Ј6.87 on food (stocked up on a shed load of reduced to clear crisps for the kids lunch boxes, plus some other lunch box bits)
  Total spend for the day = Ј28.81
  DH is a smoker (drives me mad) he did stop for ages as we just couldn't afford it, but he started back up again a while ago (can't remember how far back now). The deal was he could have 2 lots of 10 a week but since he's been doing overtime the deal is he has 10 every other day. It seems to work ok and makes him more tolerable to live with when he gets grumpy I can't talk though as when I get grumpy I reach for the chocolate
  Little bits for the house are inevitable at the moment we need to make this house look saleable so if it involves spending a tender on a bucket of paint (or a hundred quid on flooring which were due to buy ) then so be it