In Debt At The Age of 19

dcampbell86

Hi,

I am currently nearly £5000 in debt.

I have 3 credit cards, one overdraft, a loan to pay back and 3 mobile phone contracts.

I really am finding it depressing have this debt (not the only person!)

How can I repay everything quickly and get out of debt?

My target is to be out of debt by next Christmas.

Does anyone has any advice at all that they can give me to get out debt ASAP?

Also, does anyone have a budget spreadsheet (Think it's that) that I can use to work out exactly how much money I have to spend when I get paid etc?


Thanks
David

gizmoleeds

I hate to say it, but aiming to pay off all £5,000 in a year is a tall order at your age.

Are you living with parents?

Be glad you have realised this early on - many reach £20,000 - £30,000 before taking any action :T

There is an MSE spreadsheet somewhere.

wendyl1967

mse have a budget planner to download and fill in. Be reaslistic and truthfull when you do it.



http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid1089226742,17582,

dcampbell86

Well I am earning £10,510 a year but recently got a payrise and now am earning £13,050 which has got ackdated to 1 November 2005.

Yes, I do live at home with my parents - paying £150 a month in digs.

That link you talk about the MSE spreadsheet - I have "Microsoft Works Spreadsheet" and it doesn't seem to work when I download the link.

wendyl1967

I think you need microsoft excel on your computer to get it too work.

quote from mse site
If you don’t have Excel



Those without Excel, or who’ve tried the above and it doesn’t work, can access the fully automated online version of the planner.



It should work for most people, though technically it needs something called Javascript. If this doesn’t work for you, then the best thing to do is download the latest version of your internet browser. The one major drawback with this version over Excel is that as it is ‘online’ unfortunately you can’t save it, so have all the documentation ready when you do it and print it out at regular intervals.

DebtFreeDetermined_2

Hi David

Im new to all this too, i know how you feel but as said above you have taken action sooner rather than later.

From reading lots of threads on here maybe you could post your monthly outgoings? and income, as a break down to aid people giving advice.

First thing i would look at from your post is why 3 mobile phones? are the monthly phones? if so can you cancel the other 2? or all three and get a pay as you go phone?

All the best

Nick

dcampbell86

Thanks

I cannot seem to stick to a budget at the moment.

I have a habit of paying my friends for stupid stuff.

i.e i pay them £50 to stay overnight at my house on a Saturday night and other stupid stuff.

If i can provide you with figures of what i owe could you possibly advise me of suitable monthly repayments?

wendyl1967

dcampbell86 wrote:

Thanks

i.e i pay them £50 to stay overnight at my house on a Saturday night and other stupid stuff.

If i can provide you with figures of what i owe could you possibly advise me of suitable monthly repayments?

Why do you pay your friends to stay?!

$17mma

Try this site as well. It will tell you in which order to pay off your debts depending on the interest rates.

http://www.whatsthecost.co.uk/snowball.aspx

Why do you need three mobile phones? get rid of two and reduce the one you will be using to a low tariff.


Your loan.. are you paying PPI? if so get it taken off by cancelling it. By doing this you could reduce your payments up to £40 per month and may recieve a refund for what you have already paid in PPI.

Your credit cards are they on 0%? if not switch them to 0% ones then close them..

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/creditcards

Also you speak to your mum and dad, maybe they can reduce your monthly rent until you get yourself in better position.

Your overdraft, how about explaining your current situation to your bank and ask them to freeze the interest. If you dont ask you dont get!

Well done for sorting this out now before it got any worse.

dcampbell86

Well when i got my first mobile phone i got a pay monthy one and i started using that but went over allowances etc.

Then i saw another phone that i wanted and got that on pay monthly and yet again.

You cannot cancel the contract unless you pay the line rental for the remainder of ur contract.

I have just had a payrise so dont know exactly what my wage will be per month.

I always do around 30hours overtime a month and that gets paid at time and a half.

I pay £150 to my parents each month as rent.

I repay £102 for my personal loan.

I have 3 credit cards - one at £500 (the limit), one at £1179 (over the arranged limt) and one at £200 (the limit).

Got an overdraft which is currently at £600 (the limit).

To be honest i am in a mess with money, seems to spending more than i earn a month.

I want to get out of debt while i can since i am still young.

wendyl1967

If you don't already take sandwiches instead of buying lunches.