Finally realised that I need to act........!

mani99

Where do I begin? Firstly I think I should say that I am awful with money, I really have no love for it and spend without thinking. It's finally hit me that if I keep this up my future will not be a pleasant one. I bought a house this year and I know I've gone above what I could afford, and it didnt help that I hammered my credit cards while re-decorating.

BUT.... Im now determined to get my debts cleared especially as now that I have met a wonderful woman and we are looking to get married next year. I dont want her to have to suffer because of my stupidity.

As you can see from my sig, I have plenty of debt and don't realistically think I will have cleared them by this time next year. The aim is to clear as much as possible but also save up money for the wedding.

I would like any advice on ways that I can train myself to stop spending on things which I don't need and also anyway which I can earn an extra £500 a month.

I have already made a start by bringing my own lunch into work, and I cant believe that I never did this before as I'm eating healthier and saving money!

All comments and suggestions will be much appreciated.

OliveOyl_2

Welcome & good luck.
When you have a moment you could post up your SOA and let the good peeps on here have a rummage and make suggestions as to where you can trim your budget further so that your debts are cleared faster.

mani99

Sorry, what is SOA?

mani99

If it's a break down of my income and outgoings then:

Income: £2000

Outgoings:
Mortgage and Council Tax - £1000
Loan - £212
Credit Cards (Min) - £300
Gas, electric, phone - £120 (max approx)
Travel - £150
Total - £1782

As you can see, not much left over. I tend to then start using my Credit cards again.

A real mess.

OliveOyl_2

that's the idea, there is a sticky at the top of the page that gives a template, that way you don't miss out anything vital.

With the credit cards it is a good idea to list the APR, then you/we can have an idea which ones need binning the fastest. This will lead you to a snowball (lovely jargon here!) at whatsthecost.co~ and you can work out how fast you could clear the debts.

sorry about being so brief, I'm supposed to be at work

mani99

OliveOyl wrote: »

that's the idea, there is a sticky at the top of the page that gives a template, that way you don't miss out anything vital.

With the credit cards it is a good idea to list the APR, then you/we can have an idea which ones need binning the fastest. This will lead you to a snowball (lovely jargon here!) at whatsthecost.co~ and you can work out how fast you could clear the debts.

sorry about being so brief, I'm supposed to be at work

No need to apologise, I appreciate the help. I too am at work!

I will give more accurate detail.