Ryan's attempt to drag himself out of debt

ryan1978

Hi

A bit of background. I'm 30 years old and have found myself in some trouble debt wise and I'm really struggling to get out of it. Since student days I've always had some debt but this last year it has got out of control. I broke up with my gf at the start of the year and drowned my sorrows for about three months. Partly due to this and partly due to bad money management I've found myself with the following debt:

£1,900 HSBC Loan @ 22% - rpmnt £55pm
£3.500 Beneficial Finance loan @ 34% - £167 pm
£1,300 Virgin CC maxed out - £50pm
£1,200 Barclaycard maxed out - £50pm
£100 First Direct o/d - £15pm

On top of this I have petrol for my car at about £30 a month, sporting expenses at about £40, phone £18, Council Tax £40 and rent £300 plus what seems to be £50 in utility bills every month. After tax I earn £1,183.

At the moment this has really got on top of me. I'm missing payments on the cards and suffering huge costs which I can't get on top of. I've taken up match betting which has earned me about £500 in the past couple of months but that only keeps me afloat. I suppose I'm just looking for some words of wisdom and support as right now I'm very down over the whole situation and can't see a way out. For the first time I can remember I wake up in the early hours sweating and unable to sleep with worry. I really hope I can get over the worst of this within the nex few months.
Other than getting a better paid job which I'm looking for I can't see an easy way out.

Any words of wisdom or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

whitewing

Hi Ryan,

Try and find how to do a Statement of Affairs (SOA) - have a look at the sticky thread for a Guide for Newbies. It'll be easier to comment on a full list of income vs outgoings...

poorandindenial

There is a SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com

halight

Hi mate....

Do a SOA there are some great people on here that will be able to help you big time if you do this..

Also have yopu thourt about phoning up paypal and setting up a debt managment plan?? This work out for you...
Im on one and when i forst set it up its was such a releife.....

Good luck and all the best

charlie2517

Hi there,

First things first you've come to the right place. Ppl here will offer guidance and at least then you'll get other options and am sure some solutions. May not be ones you want to hear but you should be able to start taking control and then you'll feel less like you're drowning. The loans at 22% and 34% really need to go, one way or another! Defo do a stmt of affairs, REALLY helps! Work way through this site you should be able to save some cash that way. What are sporting expenses? Where can you cut back? Can you rent somewhere cheaper? Get a second job? Have you thought about speaking to CCCS or the like?

Good luck! Hang in there you'll get there!

C x

ryan1978

Thanks for the advise. Sporting expenses are fees for playing football. I run a team but we have to pay the club for pitches etc. Matched betting has proved an invaluable source of income, much better than I would get from an evening job and if I could just get on top of things I feel that with this, I could clear half of my debts at least within a year. My rent is about as cheap as I can get. My credit rating is so bad that I work for a bank and can't even get a loan of them.

How does this paypal repayment scheme work?

Here's my calculations:

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1183
Total monthly income.................... 1183[/b]

Monthly Expense Details
Rent.................................... 300
Council tax............................. 40
Electricity............................. 25
Gas..................................... 25
Mobile phone............................ 20
Internet Services....................... 4
Groceries etc. ......................... 100
Petrol/diesel........................... 30
Car Insurance........................... 20
Haircuts................................ 9
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 573

Assets
Car(s).................................. 1200
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 1200

No Secured Debt

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Credit cards...................2500......80........15
Loan...........................3500......167.......34
Loan...........................2000......95........22
Overdraft......................100.......15........7
Total unsecured debts..........8100......357.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,183
Expenses (including secured debts)....... 573
Available for debt repayments........... 610
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 357
Surplus(deficit if negative)............ 253

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 1,200
Total Secured debt...................... -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -6,900
Net Assets.............................. -5,700

poorandindenial

I think halight might have meant payplan, see this link:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/debt-help-plan#help

but as you have a surplus you should really check out the snowball calculator and see how quickly you can be debtfree by overpaying

www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx

I will have a recce at your SOA in a mo

poorandindenial

ryan1978 wrote: »

Here's my calculations:

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1183
Total monthly income.................... 1183[/b]

Monthly Expense Details
Rent.................................... 300
Council tax............................. 40 (do you houseshare?)
Electricity............................. 25
Gas..................................... 25
Mobile phone............................ 20
Internet Services....................... 4
Groceries etc. ......................... 100
Petrol/diesel........................... 30
Car Insurance........................... 20
Haircuts................................ 9
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 573

Assets
Car(s).................................. 1200
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 1200

No Secured Debt

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Credit cards...................2500......80........15
Loan...........................3500......167.......34 Get rid of this FIRST
Loan...........................2000......95........22 Then this
Overdraft......................100.......15........7
Total unsecured debts..........8100......357.......-

Do pop these in the snowball calculator and see what your debt free date could be

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,183
Expenses (including secured debts)....... 573
Available for debt repayments........... 610
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 357
Surplus(deficit if negative)............ 253 - this is good as it means you should be able to overpay, but if you don't think that you DO have this left it is spending diary time

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 1,200
Total Secured debt...................... -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -6,900
Net Assets.............................. -5,700

In theory you don't look too bad but you haven't factored in anything for travel, xmas/birthdays etc, entertainment, car tax etc etc and this may be eating up your cash.

ryan1978

I get travel expenses through work which is a big help. I have a small family so presents won't take an enormous amount of money but I have to renew car tax this month which will cost me £60. As for entertainment, It varies depending on what I have on each month but I've drastically cut down on going out and probably socialise max once a week now and even then it's usually only for a few hours.

Over the weekend I let my mother know what a financial mess I'd got myself into which I was very reluctant to do being at the age of 30. She has agreed to take an interest free card out on my behalf to assist me for a year which I will eventually pay off myself. My question is will we be able to do a balance transfer for one of the cards or will it count as a purchase? Just need to know so we can decide what type of card to get.

whitewing

Hi Ryan, I'll bump this up for you to see if we can get a few more comments.