plea for help: sorting debt out

black-saturn

£50 per month on gas looks high too. Maybe you could try to cut that down to half by putting a jumper on instead of the heating, cooking 2 days worth of meals at a time and just reheating it in the microwave the next day. Another good tip is to leave the oven door slightly open when you have finished cooking. The heat from the oven will help to heat the house a bit. You will have to watch the little one though.

You could try washable nappies although I appreciate they are not ideal for everyone. Or if he/she is 2 you could give potty training a go.

homersimpson_3

1) look for cheaper gas, electricity and insurance
2) is car essential?
3) £20 per week on food for work is way over the top. take a packed lunch- probaly far more nutritious. if you don't have time in the morning make up your lunch box the night before. only takes 5 mins! you can easily have 5 healthy lunch boxes for about £5-7.

mountainofdebt

You can increase your chances of getting another card with a promotional deal by reducing the limits on the credit cards that you already hold.

Also if you do get another card transfer the balance from the card attracting the highest interest although I appreciate that if you do this, your mothly repayments will probably be as high.....but at least it won't attract the interest!

Whatever card you transfer the balance from CANCEL the card once the trasnfer is competed. Cutting up the card is no good ...credit card companies look at the amount of available credit you have .....they're not to know that you've cut up the card are they????

southernscouser

zenith1820 wrote:

HI Guys

* £9000 borrowed from my mother

* £5000 on my old natwest credit card (pay around £110 per month min payment)

* £7000 on my alliance and leicester card (with 9 months 0% apr), i pay the minimum every month but once the 9 months are over ill have probs paying the min as it will be quite high for this amount.

* £ 6000 personal loan (with interest its around £8000) for 5 years

total debt is £29,000

Firstly, is your mum charging you any interest and how desperately does she need the money repaid? How are you paying it back at the moment?

Whats your NatWest card rate and when does the A&L 0% run out?

Do you have the exact APR for your loan? How long left to go?

southernscouser

zenith1820 wrote:

Income:
Employemnt: £1156 per month
Child Benefit £60 per month
Tax Credit: £80 per month

Outgoings:
£110 per month min payment for natwest c/c
£79 per month min payment for alliance leicester card (9 months 0% apr)
£180 per month bank loan
£165 per month council tax
£50 approx per month gas bill
£30 approx per month electric bill
£310 per year water bill
£41 per month car insurance
£175 car road tax per year
£20 per week petrol
£20 per week on sandwich/food at work
£50 per week aprrox on shopping for whole family (includes food/nappies etc for 2 year old child)
£41 per month home insurance

"

Don't mean to intrude but is there a partner you live with coz if not your council tax looks quite high!

Also the regulars will say that your gas and electric could be cheaper although Martin suggests to hang on for the moment rather than switching.

Also I work out that you have £200 a month spare! What does this go on?

Also you haven't accounted for TV license, phone, mobile & sky (possibly).

Sorry to put a downer on things but the more accurate you are the easier you will find things.

zenith1820

HI Guys

Thanks for all the help you have given. Just another question. As I pay the min on my credit card payments how long would you say it would take me to repay that off (£5000 on natwest and £7000 on a&l, both at 16.9% apr) and what amount of payments do you think i should make to finish them off quickly rather than getting another loan to pay these off. i could also set some money aside each month and pay my mother and then give her the money every year bit by bit. ive slightly over done the weekly payments on bills, work lunch etc as i get low bills in summer and higher ones in winter so decided to stick to the winter bills and can always put the left over money aside if there is any. i would prefer to be able to pay the credit card payments as i buy and sell itmes on ebay etc and may be able to make more money and pay these off instead of having to wait for 5/6 years as with a loan from the bank.
any suggestions about the amount of money i shoulkd be paying to get rid of the credit card payments sooner?

Robert_Sterling_3

"s I pay the min on my credit card payments how long would you say it would take me to repay that off (£5000 on natwest and £7000 on a&l, both at 16.9% apr)"

Surprisingly perhaps it would take more than ten years.
This is because the payments get less as the amount you owe gets less.
It is a bit like cuting a piece of paper in half and throwing away half of it.
Then you cut what you have got left in half and throw away half.
When will it all be gone? Answer never.


"and what amount of payments do you think i should make to finish them off quickly rather than getting another loan to pay these off.
any suggestions about the amount of money i should be paying to get rid of the credit card payments sooner?"

The more the better.
Concentrate on earning more, spending less and increasing your monthly credit card payment.

skintchick

People have said it all I think, but just so you know, you spend more per week on your lunches than I spend on my entire food bill for myself!!! I take lunches to work, and eat well in the evenigns, all for £15 a week. Get over to the OldStyle board for help on cooking cheaply. You'll save a packet.

southernscouser

Also have a look at the snowballing link on this website.

http://www.whatsthecost.co.uk/snowball.aspx

Play around with the different ammounts you put towards your debt, it's quite fascinating!

zenith1820

what ive been thinking is that if i leave the natwest loan (currently £6000, £180 repayment per month) and pay £250 for the natwest cc (instead of the current monthly min payment of £110) and £250 for the a&l cc (instead of the £54 min payment per month, but this will become more when the 9 months 0% apr is over). add the other expenses etc and it works ut to be around £1100 per month and i should have £200 left over for a rainy day or use that to pay off my mums loan.

what do you guys think?