My Story 1 Income, Spouse & 2 Kids

Yes the Electric + Gas was a little overdue - All is cleared now so we should be back to the normal bi monthly payments.

Thanks for the advise Suzie - Got a €50 rebate from the Insurance company.

I suggest giving your wife less money. Go and do the food shopping with her. then give her an allowance for herself. say 30-50 a week

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Good Grief! I had to check the date twice when I read this (and similar remarks). It's 2011 folks, not 1911.

to be fair I'd suggest the same if it was the husband with the money problems - I dont think this is a keeping the little woman downtrodden issue

Thirsty said:

Good Grief! I had to check the date twice when I read this (and similar remarks). It's 2011 folks, not 1911.

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They're in debt and trying to get out of it - we're doing fine, husband has a good job but I'm not working anymore and I don't spend anywhere near €30 - €50 a week, more likely that in a month! If I need something then I'll spend or if I'm meeting friends out or something but that's all. If we were trying to get out of debt then I wouldn't be spending even that much.

Month 3 now Guys - Feeling great this month. Littlewoods in finally gone - I called to cancel the credit on the account so no worries of it happening in the future.

Also I have a large surplus which I'm planning on putting against the BOI credit card

Budget this month:

Mortgage 810
Electricity 100 (Plus balance on the account - Dont want any surprises when the bill comes in)
Phones 65
Internet 50
Food Supplies 500
Car Petrol 90
Littlewoods 300
House Maintenance 78
Bank of Ireland Credit Card 70
Halifax Credit Card 180
Life Assurance 22
Family Debt 50
Kids Summer Camp 130

Total Income: €3,010
Total Outgoing: €2,445
Remainder: €565 + €200 spare cash
Surplus of €765

So the next target is the BOI Credit card currently running @ €2,400

My aim is to have in gone on or before October which is very realistic.

Then onto the Halifax card.

Well done!

Tomtim, well done so far you are doing great.
I'm just wondering why has the mortgage payment decreased - it was €1024 in your initial post and is now down to 810 - have you gotten an interest only period.( might have missed this along the way in the thread sorry if I did).
Also There is no mention of the payment on the BOI loan. what is happening there?

Well done overall though with almost €800 surplus. Keep it up and you know what before too long you will not only have cleared your debt but you will not believe the savings you have.

Yes I'm on interest only until November then its up for review again.

The BOI loan and Over Draft are with the solicitors - I met with mabs to try and negotiate a payment plan so should have an update on this in the coming months.

The main focus is clearing the existing debt one at a time - It will be a long process but its great finally knowing where we stand every month.

Great stuff tomtim. It might be useful to factor in (and save) the amount due for mortgage and BOI loan/OD. You could set up a separate account for these. One of the instant access high interest one's might be useful, such as P/tsb online account offering 4%, or some other option, if that's not possible. Eventually you will have to return to normal payments, and it's as well if you begin to cope with this. You may also need to cope with an interest rate rise. Dealing with these now as if they were happening will give you a more accurate picture of what sustainable budgetting is, and allow you to continue to make savings where possible.

It might also be useful to try & reduce the food budget to 450 pm and see how that goes.

[FONT=&quot][/FONT]Yes I agree - the BOI loan and OD is still hanging over me - My plan is to clear all existing debt before the BOI payments – These will most likely be 500 per month.

My goals and the totals I want to clear are,

BOI CC: 2400 (Oct 2011)
Halifax CC: 4800 (July 2012)
Family Loan: 1800 (Nov 2012)
Mortgage Arrears: 6000 (Dec 2013)

Total: 15,000 @ 500pm = 2.5 years

what exactly does your wife spend the 175 per week on if not food (which comesfrom the 500 budget)- is she still clothes shopping?
you should get her to direct most of this money to littlewoods at least til its cleared especially as i'm guessing she ran up that bill. 39.5 % interest is insanely high- if you can squeez few extra euro from anywher its your highest interest rate by far so should be a priority.

also for who ever does the food shop- apart from buying your tomatoes/ beans/ pasta /cereals from Aldi /Lidl ( half the price ) you can make great savings by watch the meat offers in supervalu and dunnes- they usually have 3 items for a tenner- eg a chicken, 4 chops and a pound of mince. so sounds like not much but means you have have 3 family dinners for 15 euro when you throw in a few spuds and veg.

babies can suck a lot of cash up too so same goes for nappies- see how your 1 yr old goes on aldi nappies- 8 euro for huge pack and they're fine. watch out for deals in boots on baby formula ( normally about 8-9 euro a tin- they often do the 2 for 1 offer on it ), only buy baby wipes when they less than 1.30 a pack, own brand baby shampoo is grand. only buy kids clothes in pennys.

all this ads up to savings over course of a month or more and you shoudl be able to get below the 500 for food easily.
but you seem to be nabk in control so good luck with your savings plan !

Thanks for the comments - The littlewoods debt is gone now - paid in full.

I am monitoring the daily / weekly spend so the 175 is generous. Will keep an eye on it.

Tomtim

that's a very impressive turnaround in the last few months - well done

tvman

well done Tomtim

I am inspired by your commitment tomtim, I know I am only of the lucky ones (so far!) and I am well aware that I could be in the same situation easily in a couple of months if I lost my job. This thread should be a great training session for people who want to reduce their debt. I monitor our outgoings weekly using a spreadsheet and once every month I look at an outgoing and aim to reduce it even by a few euros. One of our main things we do when we want to buy something is to look at it, write down WHY we want it! Then wait a week or so and if we still think we need it then we buy it,(we often forget what we wanted in the first place) but we would never buy something we didn’t really need if we did not have the cash in the bank, our only loan is the mortgage as we took a similar approach to what you have done about 2 years ago. It is worth it; please keep it up and even this post. It gives you a focus and encouraging comments. My Partner has a budget of 300 euro per month which is transferred to her bank account monthly I have the same. So If we want to go out, go on holiday / weekend away or need clothes it comes out of our individual accounts, the joint account then pays all the bills and even that now is building up savings but that is then used for emergencies. We intend when the joint account reaches €1500 is to move that money to a savings account that we can’t touch for 40days. Then build it up again and transfer that money etc.

Note : we are also 1 Income, Spouse & 2 Kids (net income 3200 including Child allowance) similar outgoings but no CC or overdraft debts).

we will watch this post with interest.

truthseeker said:

You havent listed any entertainment expenses or gym etc... Make sure to include these in your budget so you dont accidently run over.

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+1
You need some sort of social life or you'll end up going off the deep end.
Maybe once a month out together and once a month out with friends.??

Hi All,

Another quick update - Month 5 now (Things are looking up)
I didn't post anything for month 4 because we had a holiday that cost €950 so wiped us out - I personally knew by going it would cause financial grief but foolishly agreed to go.

Anyways Budget this month:

Mortgage 820
Gas/Electricity 100
Phones 65
Internet 100 (Didn't pay in month 4)
Food Supplies 500
Car Petrol 90
House Maintenance 80
Bank of Ireland Credit Card 100
Halifax Credit Card 200
Life Assurance 22
Family Debt 50
Kids Club 80
TV License 160
Car Tax 100
Car Insurance 133 (First payment for new policy - 38pm for 10 months)
Family loan 300 (Because of the holiday )
Home improvement 100

Total Income: €3,700 (Slight increase this month)
Total Outgoing: €3,000
Remainder: €700
Surplus of €700

So everything is paid and with the increase in income this month I can knock a good bit from the Bank of Ireland Credit card.Overall happy with how things are progressing.

Tomtim, thanks for the update. You might post current outstanding balances on the CC's so as it can show how you are getting on.
could you use the €700 surplus to actually pay for the car insurance rather than having the 10 monthly installments to pay and then you could put the installment money away each month and you will have insurance money up front from next year.

I've followed this tread for a few months and greatly admire the way Tomtim has taken control and set out on the correct road. Like many peeps he is coming from a place where he did not understand his expenditure.

But then I see €950 on a holiday. I just don't understand this.

We are not in the difficulties that tomtim is in but still decided against holiday this year. I think people have to get this holiday idea out of their heads for a few yrs. Have a holiday at home in your own house with a few day trips with a picnic doing things you could not normally do while at work. A holiday is about changing the daily routine. e.g. having the dinner in the garden on a tuesday.

Phones + internet still at €115 / mth - this is unreal.
Find the lowest package available that gets a basic connection. We pay €45 / mth for all local calls (anytime) and 8mb internet to Vodafone. There is a €40 package with off-peak calls. Plus we allow €20 each for mobile. Total €85.

JoeRoberts said:

I've followed this tread for a few months and greatly admire the way Tomtim has taken control and set out on the correct road. Like many peeps he is coming from a place where he did not understand his expenditure.

But then I see €950 on a holiday. I just don't understand this.

We are not in the difficulties that tomtim is in but still decided against holiday this year. I think people have to get this holiday idea out of their heads for a few yrs. Have a holiday at home in your own house with a few day trips with a picnic doing things you could not normally do while at work. A holiday is about changing the daily routine. e.g. having the dinner in the garden on a tuesday.

Phones + internet still at €115 / mth - this is unreal.
Find the lowest package available that gets a basic connection. We pay €45 / mth for all local calls (anytime) and 8mb internet to Vodafone. There is a €40 package with off-peak calls. Plus we allow €20 each for mobile. Total €85.

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Ah well now he already said it wasn't the best idea. I know lots of people who aren't in the best financial place but still went on holidays this year. Mental health is very important too, you should do whatever it takes to stay healthy.
Keep going Timtims, you're doing well!

Month 6 is finished - Getting easier now although the morgage will be jumping to 1100/1200 from December and the €20,000 BOI loan has came up with the solicitors, I sent them an offer letter which hopefully will be accepted otherwise it will be going to court.

Budget this month:

Mortgage 900 (Still on interest only)
Gas/Electricity 155
Phones 55 - (Soon to be 25 - My contract is nearly finished)
Internet 40 (Saving 10 per month on this)
Food Supplies 500
Car Petrol 90
House Maintenance 80
Bank of Ireland Credit Card 100
Halifax Credit Card 300
Life Assurance 22
Family Debt 190
Car Insurance 39

Total Income: €3,021
Total Outgoing: €2,471
Remainder: €550

Will be able to put some money onto the BOI credit card this month and have a contingency incase anything comes up.

Thanks for the comments so far, its really helps knowing people are following my story. It certainly makes for a better home life knowing there is money there from the first of the month until the end.