Need some serious help and advice about debt

slickshoes1977

Yeah I get 20% off my council tax and my utilities are as cheap as I can get, I'm very careful with what I use.

I think my main problem is the near £500 a month on loans and credit cards. I just need to chip away at that the best I can. I going to look at transferring my cards to a better rate and go through a fee free company for the loans etc.

Once your in a situation like mine, there is now quick fix. I'm gonna set myself a target, what's realistic? 4 - 5 Years?

Seaxwyn

Hi and welcome slickshoes.

To get a target debt-free date, use the 'Snowball Calculator' at https://www.whatsthecost.com - it's a brilliant tool and really shows what difference finding an extra fiver or so a month will make in the long run.

Your SOA shows a monthly deficit of £81 which is not huge and small changes should easily deal with this (eg shopping carefully and staying in on Fridays).

But if this is an 'average' month there must be many months when the deficit is larger. It would be great if your SOA balanced out on your basic pay, giving you loads more to throw at debts on the months where you get good commission.

Switching your card balances to 0% or low life of balance credit cards would be a big help, as well as raising whatever quick cash you can to bring those balances down. Have you got stuff you could sell?

slickshoes1977

I've the usual dvd, games, books, but also a coin collection that I collected up until the age of 20. There's are a few rare coins in in there. I may look to sell those.

petrafyde

Just re-reading and what Seaxwyn said is spot on. My credit is shot to pieces - but my mother managed her debt (from a business that went wrong) and was very lucky to restore her credit over a period of years and now she's fine.

From what I know, shifting to a 0% balance CC is often the way to go if your credit is in good nick. So effectively you're slashing interest rates to nothing and paying off the sum total you have now with no recurring interest on the balance. If you calculate the interest on the amount standing now (per month) you should be able to see that you can pay that extra bit off per month. Am I making sense? I often don't

eBay, Amazon and Quidco is the mantra I've been using from last week and it's working. Look at my signature? I've earnt over £20 in one week through using Quidco for free clicks (signing up for a weekly email etc) or when I need to shop online go there first and see if they support the retailer. It means cash for nothing because you were going there anyway!

Suggestions:

Soap instead of shower gel - lasts a lot longer.

Cheapest brands in superstore, even stores own beats leading brand pricewise and is often just as good. For example, some of Asda's own brand soups are/were made by Baxters.

Check the other forum for moneysaving when shopping - theres a massive amount of threads which give money off. I used tesco last week, did a £41 shop - got £4 off which was the cost of the delivery. That saved me going to the store and overspending because no matter how hard I try, I always buy extras I shouldn't. With the bogof's etc I actually paid £36.43 for a £45 shop.

Amazon is good for books and costs nothing until you sell something - no listing fees = cheaper than eBay.

eBay for your coins I reckon - or if they're especially rare ring your auction house and ask when their free valuation day is and check out there first and compare to the prices they fetch on auction.

Do the bike thing, definitely. You'll save a FORTUNE. There's nothing wrong with declaring a perfectly good car as SORN once the tax runs out either, if you're managing well with a bike. It's about prioritising. No need to get rid of the car, but you CAN cut the expenditure.

Lastly, CSA. Is your ex living with her partner? Is she claiming fraudulently? No offence and I know full well what its like (being in the same position after I left my ex-bf) But if her new partner is earning a good wage, and you're struggling - then you know your little one will be looked after. If I remember correctly, the fact you're struggling might be taken into account, and if her circumstances have changed since the order was made, the amount can be downgraded thus allowing you a bit more flexibility financially.