Help Please - Debt Under £1000

missgiggles2008

Hi, This is my first post - so hoping it will be okay! I am certainly in a fortunate situation in that i live at home with my parents and so my outgoings are relatively low. However I seem to of got myself into about £700 of debt, £300 on a credit card (16.9% interest) and then the rest is in an interest free graduate account, this is interest free until june 09.

I get paid monthly and after bills etc i get about 700 ish pounds to myself to spend.

I still worry about this debt - and i feel silly because alot of people on here have it worse than me. I am aiming to pay off the credit card first as this is the one with interest - however if anyone can reassure me about this debt that it is going to be ok, and what they would do to clear it off.

Thanks so much for listening to me!

Any information would be great!

Aim: Debt free by end of Dec 2008.

KiKi

Hi there missgiggles

Well done for posting! If you can please post up your SOA (Statement of Affairs), showing all your incomings and outgoings, and we can have a look at it and advise you of where you will be able to make changes to be debt-free before the end of the year.

The link to the SOA is one of the posts at the top of this board.

KiKi

missgiggles2008

My SOA is as follows:

Income £1050
Rent £120
Gym £43
Phone £45
Petrol £75
Card Repayments £50

Total left after bills - £717

This is each month - and i live at home and use my mums car - so thats why the bills are so small.

Thanks for your help!

timnicebutdim_2

Could you have a couple of skint months before christmas i.e October/November and pay £350 per month to clear the debt? It would mean your spending is halved for 2 months but your debt would be gone. Your right about paying the credit card off first as this is the one with interest charges (although not likely to be much on £300). :beer:

missgiggles2008

It's not likely to be much? I have to say i have been a bit bad recently with it as i have recently changed my bank account so finances been a bit awol! I have opened an alliance and leicester account which should give me £100 before xmas. I just worry because i have been bought up with the view that all debt is bad.

I am also starting a second job next week, which will pay roughly £50 a week extra, just so i can try and clear the debt off

missgiggles2008

To me personally i think i need to save as much as i can now, living at home, i am 23 and not wanting to live at home forever - so now is the prime time to save and get some money behind me.

Is it worth just paying all debt off now, or paying only bit by bit off the interst free overdraft as i have it until jun 09?

My friend said to put all the debt in one place, but the interest free account is only up until £500.

timnicebutdim_2

You've definitely got the right attitude towards debt- wish i was like that when i was a student a few years back before i got my fingers burnt! As said already the interest on £300 per month is nominal i.e. under £10 but the sooner its gone the less you have to worry about it

missgiggles2008

I guess I have - but it still worries me - having any debt at all. My way of thinking is if i can pay off as much as i can and just go to the gym lots with my friend - as the gym is already paid therefore making me not spend any money anywhere else! I graduated 2 years ago - so i should of cleared it by now! It's just so easy to spend money isnt it! lol.

Got your fingers burnt?

I am off to the gym in a minute actually! Saving money as i don't get paid until Tuesday. AAlso our payrise is going through in october which is 5.3%!!! yippeee!

poorandindenial

Hi missgiggles

Just a quick note to say...

save after you have cleared your debt (that which isn't interest free) as you will pay more for debt than you will make on your savings, so throw it all at your debts then once cleared throw it all at your savings, it will feel odd at first but in the long run you will get more money faster.

Well done for sorting this out early, you hevae a healthy approach.

This doesn't apply so much to you as you seem to have a fairly healthy attitude to debt but is a note for your friend really: your friend's approach to get all debts together isn't always right, often consolidation is BAD BAD BAD as it leaves credit cards free to run up again and often just prolongs large amounts of interest. It is only a good move if the interest is GENUINELY lower (charges and length of loan etc etc taken into account) and if you have will of iron not to run debts up again (I thought I did when my debt was at £6k, look at what that got me up to.) Different forms of debt can be compared at www.whatsthecost.com./snowball.aspx

bigbeff

I wish this was all the debt I had!! Don't panic, just pay off what you can afford. As you are living at home you don't have much outgoing so make the most of it and just pay it off. You have a healthy attitude, you will be fine

thepinklady

Welcome missgiggles,

You have come to the right place to get your debt sorted. You have quite a bit of money left over each month, are you able to chuck £500 at your debt in September and October? then you will be debt free. I know its good to save too, but you will still have £200 left in September and October for yourself or maybe save half? then in November you can start saving. I would definately clear the debt first then start saving.

You are in a good position at the moment to clear that debt, so don't panic. Like others have said, you have a healthy attitude towards debt so you will be fine, and hopefully not get yourself into any more debt.

Keep us updated on your progress
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