Help

GeorgeUK

Hi Red - a few queries, but i'll go through everything in order for now.

Mobile phone............................ 30
PAYG?

Groceries etc. ......................... 300
How many is this for? Have a look at the old style board for meal plans. Have you moved down a brand (shops own)?

Clothing................................ 25
Every month? Might be able to cut this a bit.

Entertainment........................... 100
Should be able to cut this down until you have the debt under control. Even halving this would help.

Natwest overdraft and loan are 0% - is this correct?

You should have £229 left after paying everything each month. Do you have this? If not, you should keep a spending diary to see exactly what you spend your money on so you can see where to cut back or find a cheaper alternative.

Have you actually missed payments to your cards/loan?
Have a look at your credit report (free at experian if you cancel within 30 days) and see if there is anything on that. Also check how many credit checks you have had recently. You can have about 3 credit checks in a 6 month period before it starts to affect your credit score.

You could try putting the above into the snowball calculator to see what you may owe in 12 to 18 months time. If you put extra money towards the debt with the highest APR and just pay the minimum on the others, you will reduce the debt faster.
https://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx

red20

Hi George, Thanks for answering quickly.

I will go through the things in your order.

The mobile phone is a contract but the contract is nearly up so I am going to get rid of that in the next couple of months and go on PAYG. Hopefully this will help a little. and I will pay off debt with the money I save.

The groceries is for 2 people but I think I may have overestimated slightly. I am also now using own brands (I didnt before) so this figure should go down, I just wanted to give an estimate of the past really to give a better view of overall spending. I must admit I have been a bit of a spender in the supermarket, not sure why but it seems like a weakness. Now that I have admitted to myself though, I think that will change.

Clothing was also an estimate but I did have to spend a bit because of a new job. Shirts/suit/trousers etc. not expensive ones but still all adds up. So hopefully this figure for clothes will also decrease and I can start to pay off more.

I agree and I think 100 for entertaining is way too much so I will definately be cutting this amount down. I dont think I thought about this before as it all adds up over the month.

The loan debt was originally 5000 but they already included the interest to show exactly what I would be paying. So the loan is 0%. As for the overdraft it was a graduate overdraft so I am unsure of the interest at the moment. I will have to get back on that one.

I have missed a few payments (Direct debit) and that is why I am in more trouble at the moment as the bank have charged me as well. I have asked the bank to give me the charges back but they have not got back to me, do you have any idea how I can get them back quicker?

A spending diary sounds like a great idea as I do have some money at the end of the month but it is not the 229 is it calculated at. Thanks for the snowball link as well. I will do that now so see the situation a little clearer.

George thanks for taking the time out. I think I have lived in my little debt bubble for too long now and talking to someone really helps. I managed to get a half decent nights sleep last night after opening up to people like you and it helps for people to point out where I may be going wrong and as you say, every little bit helps.

Sorry If I have missed anything out.

Thanks again

GeorgeUK

We're a friendly bunch here Red - feel free to talk/vent/rant/rave whenever you feel like it. From what you have posted up, bankruptcy should be totally off the cards now as you can meet the minimum payments and still have some money left over - even before you start making other savings from your expenditure.

The only thing not mentioned yet is the credit file. If you don't think you'll be needing to do any credit checks in the near future (and you haven't had too many recently), it may be possible for you to apply for a 0% credit card. Just make sure if you get one that you never spend on it. Alot of people cut it up as soon as they get it. If you can get a 0% card, you may be able to transfer the balance from one (or more) of the cards completely. Sometimes if you have a nil balance on a card you will be offerred an incentive to keep it open instead of closing down the card. This may enable you to get another 0% offer for 6 months or a low interest life of balance card. You may be able to reduce the interest quite a bit but first you should check your credit file.

Quincifer

George has pretty much answered everything I could think of there haha!

It's probably a good thing that you have over-estimated at the start for your groceries and entertainment allowances because once you start your spending diary and keep a track of where the money is going you might end up with more left over to help yourself out than you realised.

Something that wasn't suggested that helps me alot with spending on groceries is online shopping, I don't know whether you have considered it?
You do have to pay for delivery (but this can be cheaper if you pick the right delivery times) and I find if I add things to my 'basket' on the website as i use them throughout the week/month/etc then when it comes to me ordering the groceries I'm not tempted to buy anything other than what I know I need (it can be so tempting to walk down the biscuit aisle just to browse when you are in the supermarket...haha). So yeah, its just a thought because it helps me loads.

x

Horace

It might sound a bit like granny teaching you to suck eggs but how about making a list of what you need before you go shopping and stick to it? Buy your meat at a local butchers (often cheaper and certainly nicer than supermarket meat), buy veg from a farm shop or a greengrocers again you will only be able to buy what you need and what the supermarket expects you to have (this cuts down on waste too). As said before the moneysaving oldstyle board will be great for meal planning tips, recipes for cheap food and shopping tips.

Look at the freebies board as you may be able to pick up some free cinema tickets. Certainly sign up to receive Martin's weekly email because that will point you in the direction of money off vouchers for meals etc. It all helps the entertainment budget.

If you have stuff that you no longer use, try ebaying it or selling it at a carboot.