So, where do I start?

Ads1982

Hello all! After a couple of years of juggling debts etc I have decided that I need to try and get my finances in order.

I currently owe £3800 on MBNA credit card at 0%, ending Dec 08.
I also took out a £12,000 loan at 8.9% through A&L in March 07 (car and previous credit card debts). I took this out over 60 months and am currently paying £246 a month.
I have a mobile phone which costs £35 p/m, although contract ends in November.
Besides this I am always in my overdraft and by the end of the month am usually on my limit, which is £1500.00, and it costs me about £20 a month in interest charges!

I have a mortgage with my partner and together with all the bills I contribute £850.00 a month to our joint account (covers mortgage, council tax, cable, food, insurances etc). We have no equity in our house as we only bought it a few months ago on a 100% mortgage. My partner does not earn as much as me, therefore, lowering my share of the mortgage and bills is not an option.

On the plus side I have realised that I do not need my car anymore and therefore am looking to sell it. I should get approximately £4k for it.

I earn approximately £1500 and get paid every 4 weeks (i.e 13 times a year).
I get paid twice in January, which means one of the paypackets will not need to have the deduction of the £850 bills and £246 loan, which gives me another £1k to help out.

I have two other credit cards, with Natwest and Barclaycard with about £4.5k credit limit combined, and no debt on either of these.

I suppose my question is where do I start?! Is it worth trying to find another 0% credit card deal and transfer the MBNA debt? I am very worried because I have no savings and am constantly wondering what if something goes wrong with home etc!

Any advice appreciated.

Regards

donny-gal

Not a DFW regular, but I think more detail is needed before you can decide. I think you need to draw up a proper SOA, so that you see the full picture, together with keeping a spending diary to find out why you are going into the overdraft every month.

You need to read Martin's guide to balance transfers to see what category you fit in before you know which to apply for, it is one the main MSE paid under Loans/Cards.

Why do you need the other two credit cards if you have no debt on them. I usually close mine so I can re-join when offers come on, but I suppose that is dependent on Credit record?

DG

GeorgeUK

Hi Ads

Seems you've been around for a while, but there is a new tool for SOA's that is quite helpful. Hopefully we'll be able to spot some savings you can make in your expenditure.
http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

Remember that you may be able to get 0% or low interest life of balance deals from existing cards without a credit check. You can usually have 3 credit checks in a 6 month period so bear that in mind when considering applying for a 0% card.

Might be worth looking at your spending and seeing if there is anything you can cut back on until the cards are cleared so that you won't need to use your overdraft.

Ads1982

Thanks guys!

Donny-gal...I don't need the other two credit cards I guess...I just have them...never really thought of getting rid of them! I combined my debts on these onto my MBNA card a while ago!

Regarding my overdraft the reason I am constantly in it is I am now in a rut so when I get paid, it just about pushes me into a positive balance, but by the time my living costs and loan cost go out I will back in the red!

Okay....I have done a full SOA...combined with my partner!

Monthly income: £2480 (albeit I get paid twice in January so will have a spare pay packet).

Debts

MBNA: £3800
Alliance & Leicester: £12,000 (albeit I have made 18 out of 60 monthly payments now)
Partners loan: £4000 (She has made 11 out of 36 payments)
My overdraft: £1500
Partners Overdraft: £500

Outgoings

Mortgage: £1005
Council Tax: £112
Personal Loans: £371
Gas/Elec (Npower): £50
Groceries: £150
Virgin (includes phone, broadband and cable): £65
Gym (joint membership): £70
Water: £7
Car insurance: £30
Petrol (my partner has to drive to work): £150
Mobile Phones: £55
Life Insurance: £15
Buildings and Contents Cover: £25
Pet Insurance: £13
Credit Card Payment: £25
Interest on using overdrafts: £20

I make this £2163.00

Looking myself the gym looks like an easy thing to cut, but it is the only exercise me and my partner get and it is something we enjoy doing together so would ideally like to keep this going.

As I said in my earlier post I am selling my car so should have about £4k coming my way for that.

Thanks for looking at this and I am going to definitely start a diary and write down everything that we are spending!

Candy0107

[quote=

Monthly income: £2480 (albeit I get paid twice in January so will have a spare pay packet) - can you save the 'extra' paypacket to throw at your debt?
[/color]
Debts

MBNA: £3800
Alliance & Leicester: £12,000 (albeit I have made 18 out of 60 monthly payments now)
Partners loan: £4000 (She has made 11 out of 36 payments)
My overdraft: £1500
Partners Overdraft: £500

Outgoings

Mortgage: £1005
Council Tax: £112
Personal Loans: £371
Gas/Elec (Npower): £50 - Can you do anything to reduce this (turn heating down/use energy saving products etc?)
Groceries: £150 - can you cut this down, there is a thread somewhere on the forum which says something like, I would buy Value X but not get Value Y (it is a list of recommendations for example, I would buy Sainsburys Basics apples 40p vs Sainsburys Granny Smith apples £1.60 ish.
Also, you could save yourself a fortune by cooking from scratch - sure you have to experiment, but that is the fun of it.
Virgin (includes phone, broadband and cable): £65 - can you shop around for a better deal?
Gym (joint membership): £70 - I agree if you dont want to get rid of it, can you get it cheaper anywhere else (council owned gyms/leisure centres etc). If you have a pass to a national gym membership (ie Fitness First/Virgin Active etc) and you live in a large town where there is loads of competition, can you look around. Also, try local schools and colleges.
Water: £7
Car insurance: £30 - search around for this, and go through Quidco
Petrol (my partner has to drive to work): £150
Mobile Phones: £55 - can you go PAYG (and top up at Boots ~ 4x more points), or look round for a cheaper alternative. Also, can you use Facebook/email instead of calling/texting people?
Life Insurance: £15 - search around for this, and go through Quidco
Buildings and Contents Cover: £25 - search around for this, and go through Quidco
Pet Insurance: £13 - search around for this, and go through Quidco
Credit Card Payment: £25
Interest on using overdrafts: £20 - can you move your account to a 'basic' account where there is no overdraft (best thing I ever done), then you could pay a set amount off each month

I make this £2163.00

Looking myself the gym looks like an easy thing to cut, but it is the only exercise me and my partner get and it is something we enjoy doing together so would ideally like to keep this going.

[/quote]

Hi, excuse any spelling mistakes (it is really early). I notice that you don't include anything for personal spending money, haircuts or toiletries, do you buy shampoo etc with food shopping, and cut your own hair?

I am sure that more people will give suggestions on the areas that need 'tweeking'.

Take care
Candy

RAS

Ads1982 wrote: »

Monthly income: £2480 (albeit I get paid twice in January so will have a spare pay packet).

Debts

MBNA: £3800 APR?
Alliance & Leicester: £12,000 (albeit I have made 18 out of 60 monthly payments now) - APR?
Partners loan: £4000 (She has made 11 out of 36 payments)APR?
My overdraft: £1500 - APR?
Partners Overdraft: £500 APR?

CAn you make early payments on the loans without penalty?

Outgoings

Mortgage: £1005
Council Tax: £112
Personal Loans: £371
Gas/Elec (Npower): £50
Groceries: £150
Virgin (includes phone, broadband and cable): £65 - (get a better deal and swap via quidco if possible)
Gym (joint membership): £70 - At some stage you need to ditch this for a short while as you ned to turn the finances round. When is the renewal
Water: £7
Car insurance: £30

Car tax
MOT and maintenance?

Petrol (my partner has to drive to work): £150 - get you partner to read mMArtin's article on driving economically
Mobile Phones: £55 - Ditch these ASAp and go PAYG, in the mea-time can tyou downgrade?
Life Insurance: £15
Buildings and Contents Cover: £25
Pet Insurance: £13
Credit Card Payment: £25
Interest on using overdrafts: £20

I make this £2163.00

Plus other car related costs
Holidays
Ents?
Clothes?
Shoes?

Thanks for looking at this and I am going to definitely start a diary and write down everything that we are spending!

Hi You are missing several things from the SOA, so keep the spending daires and investigate your previous bank and credit card statements.

Close the old cards to improve your credit rating and look tfor a better deal in a few months.

Once we know the APRs, it will be easier to advise how to tackle the budget.

ameratsu

Barclaycard are doing a lifetime balance transfer rate at the moment for existing customers - you can do it online or ring them up - I've just transferred almost £5000 to them as my Virgin 0% deal is ending shortly and I've just had a letter from them, saying the interest is going up to 20%!!!!

If you do apply for a new card, make sure it has the facility to balance transfer into your bank so you can clear your overdraft.