Debt-Free or Die Trying

sephrenia

Woo okay I finally did this thing.

Anyway, I figure that first I better introduce myself. I'm Emma, I'm 27 and I'm married to Martin who is 47. We have two kids together and he has 7 kids from a previous relationship. I'm a Full-Time Uni student and a Part-Time evening worker to boot.

I have to say that I have one of 'the' cruddest credit records going and I know that I need to do something to sort it out rather than sit and moan about how I don't know what to do. Well, after reading this site for a week or so I have a fairly good idea of what needs to be done and with that in mind, I have ordered my credit record from Experian.

This is going to be hard for me as my hubby controls the finances and he is as bad as I am yet thinks he has better control when he holds all the bank cards. Funny though, how we are still spiralling into debt and my credit record just gets worse and worse ugh! Still, I have to try with or without his support :mad:

Anyway, I'm aiming to slowly wrest control of the finances from him and finally begin to climb out of the well of debt we've fallen into.

I totalled all my debts up from both past and present and I reckon I'm around 27-30k in debt with my student loans on top, as well as about 6k under my maiden name and I really need to get this started before I graduate from University.

I have no credit cards (mainly because I'm so bad even the sub-prime lenders laugh at me) although I do have two prepaid cards, Splash and tuxedo Mastercard.

I'm hoping to make a good start this year and then have gotten rid of my doorstep loans by next year and some of my old debts paid.

Once my record is in better shape I 'may' get a subprime card to make my credit record look better but I'm not aiming for that for at least two years. I've also cordoned off the 'apply' button so I don't go near it again for at least a year.

Anyway, now I've written my book, let's see how well I do

GeorgeUK

Well done Emma.

Looks like you're getting organised and ready for action.
If you post up a statement of affairs, we may be able to spot areas in which you can make some savings.
http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

Also possibly worth checking to see if you can reclaim bank charges or credit card charges.
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/

Tesco_points_addict

Just wanted to wish you well Emma, you can do it!!!!

TPAx

sephrenia

I messed that up royally so I'm just going to type it all out by hand lol.


Monthly Income after tax: £440 pm
Partner Income: £0
Benefits: £796 pm
Other Income: Uni Grant £726 pm (divided over 12 months)



Outgoings

Rent: £400 pm
Doorstop Loans: £230 pm
Electric: £80 pm
Groceries: £150 pm
Gas: £50 pm
Entertainment: £30 pm
Internet: £37 pm
Cable: £33 pm
Phone: £11 pm
Travel: to and from uni £30 pm
TV Licence: £12 pm


I reckon thats about it and I am already cutting the cable and internet because I am with virgin media so I'm going to reset to their 3 for £30 deal and deal with hubby afterwards because I surely can't afford internet that high any more.

Other than that I haven't got a clue!

Thankyou both of you for replying to my thread

GeorgeUK

Gas and electric are waaaaay too high. Have a look at some comparison sites for a better deal. (uswitch, moneysupermarket)

Can you have another shot at putting the data into the SOA calculator? It would help to know the full amount of the debts as well as their APR. If you have something paid annually, just divide by 12 and put that figure in. Not much else there to cut. What about haircuts, birthdays, insurance etc? You could talk to hubby and possibly do a joint SOA. If you pay the minimum to all the debts then throw everything else at the highest APR, you'll save quite a bit in the amount of interest you pay out. If you cannot overpay anything due to it being a loan, then after the other debts are paid off, you might be able to put the extra into a savings account then pay the loan off early when you have saved enough.