Help me stop the rot!

gazstfc

Hi

I am need of some much needed financial help!

Ok, I’ll start with some background of how I have landed myself into the situation that I am in. I have just recently left University with some debts, I know now that a lot of people will say “Students throwing there loan money away!” but my situation is abit different, I didn’t take a student loan till I was in my final year!

Instead of moving to University, I decided to stay at home and travel, which I hoped would save me money in the long run. So for 4 years I travelled to University by car, costing me money in car payments, insurance and petrol. As I was studying I also held a part-time job to earn some money but obviously it got abit tight with money at times, so money built up on my credit card. As I went through University, the money on the credit cards went up and in the 4 years I was at Uni my bank account never out of the red.

I am asking for help/advice on what to do next. I have just started my first “proper” job from leaving University in June and I really need to get a grip on my finances. I am currently earning around £1,300 a month.

I have also moved into rented accommodation so that I am near my job. I am currently spending £160 a month on my car (payments/insurance), selling my car is a possibility (end payments May 06), as I now live in the city and my current employers offer a free shuttle bus to and from work which I can use.

I spend around £30-£40 a month on my mobile phone, which is up for renewal in January, so this may be a possibility to negotiate a new tariff.

I have credit cards about (£3000 (£2000 is on 0%)), an overdraft (interest free), loans (student (£2200) and personal (£3000)) and regular monthly bills.

Please can anyone out there help guide me in the right direction?

Karnam

what are the monthly outgoingd? what can you vut down on? what bills do yoiu have that could be cut?

Bargain_Rzl

gazstfc wrote:

I am currently earning around £1,300 a month.

I have also moved into rented accommodation so that I am near my job. I am currently spending £160 a month on my car (payments/insurance), selling my car is a possibility (end payments May 06), as I now live in the city and my current employers offer a free shuttle bus to and from work which I can use.

I spend around £30-£40 a month on my mobile phone, which is up for renewal in January, so this may be a possibility to negotiate a new tariff.

I have credit cards about (£3000 (£2000 is on 0%)), an overdraft (interest free), loans (student (£2200) and personal (£3000)) and regular monthly bills.

Please can anyone out there help guide me in the right direction?

How much EXACTLY are your outgoings? Rent? Council tax? Bills? Food? You will need to break everything down to this level of detail, and post the interest rates of your loans, if you want some solid advice on where you might be able to cut back.

[Deleted User]

From what you have said if I were you I'd definitely get rid of the car. That will be a good saving in itself.

Also, you might like to consider switching your phone to a pay as you go? Try and restrict your usage to incoming calls only. I'm no expert of tarrifs etc... and you may get some good deals nearer the time - but with pay as you go you have to find the money to credit the phone in the first place (as long as you don't use a credit card).

In fact - cut up your credit cards!

See if there are any ways you can cut down on utilites use at home. Put a few extra layers of clothing on instead of turning up the heating for example. Check out any BOGOF offers in the supermarkets when you go shopping. Shop with a list and don't be tempted to stray from it.

Pack you own lunch for work. Much cheaper than shelling out £5+ per day.

Take advantage of ANYTHING your employer offers, including the free shuttle bus. See what else is on offer. Uniform cleaning maybe or clothing allowance? Discounts for various other things?

Make sure your council tax bill is correct. If you live alone you should get a discount. Shop around for cheaper insurance and utilities - use the various comparison sites.

Ask for gift tokens from your favourite shops if people want to know what you want for Christmas.

Hope some of this helps.

tomstickland

I think you can work your way out of this without too much pain. You owe around £8K and you need to get to work paying this off. Luckily, you've identified your situation before it's got out of hand. Sell the car and cut back the phone or replace with pay as you go and you can have £200 per month straight away to throw at debts. If you aim to clear the debt in 2 years then you need to be paying off £333 per month, an easily attainable target I think.

You need to clear the £1K on non 0% credit card, or move it to a 0% credit card.