My Debt Diary

James240 · 8 February 2006 at 2:41PM

Hiya thought i would start a thread and try to keep it updated like a diary in terms of what i have spent and how i am acheiving getting my debts down. If this is the wrong place to post it the feel free to move :T

Right i currently owe £9623.53 on my Egg Loan

and im trying to get it down as much as possible this year. Below are my outgoings and how im going to cut down on certain things

My monthly wage is £1076.03 and i have £1344 in savings.

Rent: £250

Broadband: £25

Mobile Phone: £80.43

Travel Card: £29.35

Savings: £10

Gym: £37

Loan: £303.71

Overdraft: £163.28

Bank A/C Fee: £10

As u can see my outgoings are £908.77 my wage is £1076.03

Starting from the 1st of March i have made some adjusments to my outgoings and how i spend my money. Ive set my self a budget of around £20 a week to go out and get bits and pieces for myself. (Thus eliminating my overdraft if i stick to my budget) I have cancelled my Mobile phone contract at the moment cos i was spending to much on that due to a carp contract. I have got my self a new line rental which only costs me £12.50 a month with free inclusive minutes (So that means i can save a further £67.93 against this month bill)

I have also cancelled my gym Membership (which is another £37 saved)

Cant change Broadband Provider yet as im in a 12 month contract which doesnt run out until May i think and yes i know im paying £10 a month for my bank account but that gives me a £600 overdraft and i would rather have that just incase i ever need it

Same with my savings would rather have them as a back up just incase anything happens and i have to move out of mates house, etc, etc

So my new outgoings from the 1st of march should total £651.56 Leaving me around £424 Left out of my wages which means i can over pay my egg loan by approx £310 and start making a huge dent in it.

I Have also been good today in that i have said to my friends i wont be going out to lunch with them cos i have made my own packed lunch other wise that would have cost me another £10 in going out for lunch.

hopefully i will make some big inroads into my Debt and im going to use this thread as a sort of diary to keep me motivated :T

James

loubie_lou · 8 February 2006 at 2:54PM

James....

While its a good idea to post a thread about how you are going to get your debt down I can't help but think your savings could be used to pay of your minor debts eg loan and overdraft. Paying these off would leave you with £878 in savings .

Now I don't know what you are using your savings for but if I was in your position I would pay the 2 above debts off and throw the rest at the egg loan. You can always save up again for an 'emergency fund'.

I've read in lots of places on this website that savings interest rates no where compare to the interest rates i'm sure you are paying on your loans or overdraft.

Sorry if I'm butting in to much but I'd thought I'd offer my opion. Good luck anyway!!

LL

tattooed_lady · 8 February 2006 at 2:59PM

Just wanted to wish you lots of luck James!:beer:

James240 · 8 February 2006 at 3:10PM

loubie_lou wrote:

James....

While its a good idea to post a thread about how you are going to get your debt down I can't help but think your savings could be used to pay of your minor debts eg loan and overdraft. Paying these off would leave you with £878 in savings .

Now I don't know what you are using your savings for but if I was in your position I would pay the 2 above debts off and throw the rest at the egg loan. You can always save up again for an 'emergency fund'.

I've read in lots of places on this website that savings interest rates no where compare to the interest rates i'm sure you are paying on your loans or overdraft.

Sorry if I'm butting in to much but I'd thought I'd offer my opion. Good luck anyway!!

LL

hiya Loubie

my over draft was paid off when my wages went in this month was including it in my list so people could see where my money had gone this month and my loan is £303 a month not just whats left

although i do take on board what u say about savings i prefer to have that money behind me just in case i do need to get my own place a bit sharpish. (Everything is good at my mates house lol) i.e. if him and his girlfriend have an accident and she gets pregnant lol so would rather have that money behind me and ignore having it altogether at the moment :T thanks for the advice on the savings though

Kevicho · 8 February 2006 at 3:21PM

As lou says, savings are pointless if you are in debt because the interest rates are usually in the banks favour

Egg usually allow overpayments, so id clear the OD and put those savings against the loan

Other than that it sounds like you are doing everything else possible to cut down

Good luck

Kevicho · 8 February 2006 at 3:23PM

Have you thought about alternative ways to earn money such as ebaying, or a part time job ?

scottishspendaholic · 8 February 2006 at 3:29PM

Hi James,

I'd echo what loubie-lou and Kevicho have said about the savings - but at the end of the day, it's up to you. P.S. Use a condom! :rotfl:

Also - I would switch sharpish to a fee free bank account. I'm no expert on this - but I'm sure there are accounts around that let you have a limited overdraft allowance and don't charge a fee/interest - especially if you are planning on paying this off soon/or have done already (couldn't work that out from what you said). Banks rely on people being too lazy to change to the best deal.

Have you signed up for the new mobile contract? If not, I would seriously consider getting a PAYG phone - I know its not as handy not having nice phone or lots of free minutes, but an O2 genie gives you 300 free texts a month or 100 free minutes - you just have to top-up £10 a month.

You are doing really well though and seem really determined - well done!

scottishspendaholic x

James240 · 8 February 2006 at 3:37PM

yeah sorry guys, just to clarify ive paid my overdraft off with my wages so as long as i stick to my budget of £20 a week i wont be overdran by the end of this month. and ive just signed up to a new mobile contract Scottishspendaholic. I did consider pay as u go but it would work out to dear for me but thinks for the advice

James240 · 8 February 2006 at 3:39PM

Kevicho wrote:

Have you thought about alternative ways to earn money such as ebaying, or a part time job ?

Giving serious consideration to going out and getting a part time job at the moment kevicho, just trying to push to be trained at my current job at the moment so i can do some overtime at the weekend so just wating on that at the moment. If im unable to get trained i will certainly try to get a parttime job :T

Daniel_B · 8 February 2006 at 3:50PM

James240 wrote:

Broadband: £25

Mobile Phone: £80.43

Travel Card: £29.35

James,
I know you are aware your paying too much for Broadband, but by now you'll no doubt be aware that you can get packages for £14.99 a month, that are very good, as long as you are not a heavy downloader.

Re your mobile phone, that strikes me as a huge bill - is that every month?

If you spend that much on calls/rental a PAYG is defo not cheaper for you.
PAYG is only cheaper if it is lightish useage.

Do you make most of these calls whilst out and about?

If not, and you amke calls at home, then surely it would be cheaper to get your own BT line installed, or as you have broadband, why not look into calling over IP, or using one of the providers such as Primus, or even 18866/1899.

I send texts, and even though I don't pay for them, I always make sure I send a full text - ie I use all the characters, and instead of asking 1 question per text, I'll try and ask a whole selection in the one text.

texts are what, 10p each, so if your sending 16 texts per day,and you can cut it by 3/4, you would save yourself £1.20 per day.

Simplistic I know, but worth looking into.

Travel card - is that a tube one??

Be pro-active and see if your employer will offer you a travel loan - mine does, as do many in London and elsewhere around the country.

This works in 3 ways that I have experienced - either they ask you for your travel details, they get the ticket for you, and take the money out monthly from your salary.

or they give you a cheque made payable to the relavent comapny - and you go and buy your ticket - money comes out of your salary as above.

They give you a cheque made payable to yourself, or perform a BACS transfer straight into your account, and you get the ticket that way.

Allthe above have been 0% loans, but you need to check this as it is bound to vary.

The latter of the three options is what I am able to use, stuck it on AMEX Blue card, and got £26 cash back as a result - result indeed.

On average, I work out this saves me approx £40 per month - your saving youd be less as your monthly travel cost is less, but still worthwhile - at a guess you might save £6 per month this way.

Better in your wallet than theirs though

lottie26_2 · 8 February 2006 at 4:17PM

Just wanted to wish you good luck in becoming debt free xx

My Debt Diary

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