Ok here is my story.......

bristolbloke28

Hiya

I have just had a lightbulb monent (Im 28 by the way and in full time employment in a resonably good job which pays not bad) after reading these pages for the past few weeks I have decided to bite the bullet and post my story and see if anyone can offer any help / advice etc. Its a long story how I got into this pickle and not a very nice one looking back but all thats sorted now and Im in a good place etc, all I want to do is get this little lot of my back and buy a house (currently live with parents) and enjoy life to the full as I have learnt the past few years that its far far too short.

Right I have been going over my excel spreadseet tonight and updating things etc this is the current state of play as off Now (06/11/08) :-

HSBC Master Card current balace £0 zero % expires GONE
Egg current balace £0 zero % expires GONE
MBNA current balace £2,739 zero % expires GONE
Capital One current balace £7,500 zero % expires October 2009
Halifax current balace £5,263 zero % expires August 2009
Pay Pal current balace £1,385 zero % expires April 2009
Lloyds current balace £850 zero % expires Jan 2010

Total Debt as of 06/11/08 = £17,737

I guess seeing as MBNA is the only card im currently opaying interested on I should clear this ASAP, im going to try and move some to Paypal and Lloyds but my limits on those are small 2k and 1k, I want to try and get rid of MBNA asap and also close down my HSBC and Eggs card on saturday

I have bought all the xmas presents and also paid for two holidays next year already so Im not in a bad way that way, I have also just taxed the car for a year (insurance due in Jan but should be about £300 i think) and my mobile contratc is up next month so can move to a much better value for money tarriff i believe.

I take home about £1,850 a month but Im due a pay rise which should take it up to around 2,000 a month, I like my social life and obviously run a car and pay house keeping.

Any ideas ? I have read about this caculator that can help and work out a Debt free date, I cant find it ?

Any help / advise would be great to hear

whitewing

try www.makesenseofcards.com Statement of Affairs for a full list of income vs outgoings and post back on here to get some specific comments for cutting down.

poorandindenial

The one you want is the snowball calculator at www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx

Oh and if you can post a full SOA it will help us find money you never knew you had (www.makesenseofcards.com - click on the statement of affairs calculator)

bristolbloke28

Hiya everyone sorry i havent been back since my original post, i have been so busy, I have managed to move a few bits and pieces about (balance transfers) and now only have the MBNA card that im passing any interest on, I currently have £1489 on this card which is my next target to get paid off.

Was thinking of sticking some stuff on eBay, I have had a look and books dont seem to go for much, what does ? Any ideas ?

Was also debating with looking for some part time work with xmas coming maybe behind a bar or summit, any tips ?

halight

Hi mate,
Take a look at the up your income threds. For ways of makeing a bit more cash. e.g. cash back sites, doing servays, pay per clicks, and sites to get shopping vocher from (if you dont wont them then maybe your parents will)

All the best and goos luck

andy40

hi BristolBloke,
Welcome!
Im new to this, but advice I would offer is STOP and get out of debt now!

I started getting into debt at the about the same age as you, with a decent income and I though I could handle it and have all the nice things in life.
10 years later Im 60k in debt and barely getting by!

You mentioned Xmas presents and two holidays next year, if I had my time again I would have NO presents and NO holidays until it was all cleared.

Dont mess up a large part of your life for trivial stuff you wont even remember this time next year.

Andy

bristolbloke28

Hi

Thanks for the responces, especially Andys, thats really thought provoking.

I have decided to try and give myself a new budget of how much I spend on clothes, petrol, social life, gym, sports etc, im thinking of trying to limit this all to around £400 a month which would mean only going out once a week drinking (but thats a good healthwise improvment) this would free up alot of money to go towards the debts.

The holidays are only small break really one city break and a ski trip, all of these have been booked via cheap airlines with hotels seperate etc so all done the cheapest possible way.

I guess you still have to live but look at what you spend (waste) needless cash on, such as food in work, magazines (when you look at it £4 ish for a magazine that is half adverts is really poor value compared to a decent book) its surprising how this stuff adds up.

I have also started collecting all my lose change and putting it in a piggy bank, im hoping this will provide me with enough cash to cover over the Lloyds card (£850 to be repaided by Jan 2010, so in theory if I save £65 a month in change (£2 a day roughly) I will have by this time (Jan 2010) paided off the Lloyds card naturally by making the payments each month hopefully, and if not will have enough to cover the left overs and some.

I have seen other people saving £2 coins etc but I just chuck andthing into mine

ElizabethJH

If you love your social life then a part time job in a bar is a great idea! Try and choose somewhere that you might go out to anyhow - and it'll also make you realise that you don't need to spend loads of money on an alcohol fueled night out!

ElizabethJH

PS I know that flyering for some places for a few hours before midnight can gain you free entry to event and some spending money for the night... if I wasn't already working 10-6am most weekends then I'd be doing that I'm considering it for the week days!!

andy40

hi again bristolBloke,
I hope my last post made you think.
I do like the say you put your holidays 'The holidays are only ...'!
I made several attempts in the last 10 years to work out a budget; pay back my debts AND have a decent standard of living. But all to no avail, it was the standard of living that came first. Only this credit crunch and actually made me stop and do what I need to.
Yes enjoying life is important but think long and hard about what you do now and how long its effect will last.
I wish you the best.

Andy

jenjade

Hi Bristolbloke.:p

I have recently completed my debt free journey the main things that helped me become debt free and then free up money to save were

~ selling on e bay, amazon, play etc
~Think about what i use and really want and get rid of everything else!!
~join challanges i love the competition and i need to be pushed so make £10 a day challage etc are great also pay any extra cash you make off you debt;)
~ think before you buy anything even a drink DO I NEED IT?!:o
~check out the up your income board for ideas on making ectra cash

also a bar job sounds like a great idea a night out for free and the extra money could come straight off your debt.:beer:
Take Andy's advice and be aware of when you are not on the debt free journey and you need to tighten your belt more.

Good luck and keep posting you can do it If you really want to and if you don't really want to the debt will grow and grow and grow!!!!! BE WARNED!!:eek:

Looking forward to following you progress. Oh it is nice to see someone local to me on here!;)