Need some help managing my finances please.

Jpop_2

Hello everyone,

I have a few debts that i can still manage at the moment but i am starting to feel the pinch now....especially in the last couple of months.....maybe someone could give me some guidance please?

I am single guy and i take home about £1500 a month.....

I bought my parents council house with the discount they got and i am staying there at the moment, i have a few debts scattered around and would like to try and sort them out....here is what i pay each month.....

£300 -Morgage
£280 -Egg loan
£60 -Egg Credit Card
£150 - Abbey Credit Card
£30 - Abbey Credit Card 2
Bank of Scotland Credit Card £40
£70 Littlewoods catalogue
£40 Sky
£28 insurance

This is what i owe.....

Morgage - £27.000....house is worth £120.000
Egg Loan - £9.000
Egg Credit Card - £1.600
Abbey Credit Card - £4.000
Abbey Credit Card 2 -£300
LittleWoods - £700
Bank of Scotland Credit Card £600

I have never missed any payments on anything and can still manage but i need to get these debts tidied up a bit.

I have 7 years left to pay on my morgage, i thought about seeing my morgage provider and asking to borrow some money to clear the othere debts so i only have one payment to make a month, but then a few more years would be added onto my morgage....a bit worrying with this reccession looming and jobs being lost.

I have never actually dealt with the morgage....my parents sorted that out, i just make the payments.

Has anyone got any tips to help me out please?

It would be most appreciated:D

paybacktime2008

If you do a soa (statement of affairs) www.makesenseofcards.com it will make your ingoings/outgoings clearer for you. It really made me have to think as I filled it in. Post your Soa on here and I'm sure someone will come along and advise!

Good luck

dancingfairy

I would agree with the OP , an SOA would help us give best advice. However perhaps you could cut the sky down? - that would free up a little cash to speed up repayments. Maybe you could join a challenge on here to pay off one of the debts - maybe the 300 pound one?
A spending diary might help you see where you money is going and if there are any leaks there that could be better used to pay off a debt or two.
Also if you post a full SOA with amounts owing, interest rate, min payments etc - you may be able to transfer some of the debt at a higher interest to a lower one so you can pay off the debts faster.
Good Luck
df

pepe2008

Without sounding too harsh, maybe the attention needs to be paid to the spending which is not in your 'budget'?

there is £500 a month 'spare' so the small CCs could be cleared in 3 or 4 months with no real strain. the Littlewoods debt is, I presume, for mail order shopping. You have a substantial disposable income, why are using such expensive means of shopping?

A little attention to detail and discipline in your spending will keep you out of serious debt droblems in the future.

The time to do this is NOW. Well done for taking a serious look at your finances to control them before they control you.

bank_of_slate

Hi Jpop and welcome!

Can you cut down on grocery bills? how much do you spend on grocery shopping, lunches etc
and keep a spending diary over the next month of unnecessary expenditure E.G newspapers, coffees, snacks etc to see how much change is filtering through.

I would say the Littlewoods debt is one to pay off as quick as poss because it is such a high interest rate!
...Linda xx

Jpop_2

Thanks for all the replies

I will try and do the statement of affairs thing.

I have always worked this way....i have never been good at saving, i have always took out credit and payed them up, but i think now the extra money that i should have should be going towards improving the look of my council home.

Thanks again.

nick1977

Jpop, I think your first post sums up your position pretty well! You aren't in any major trouble, just need a bit of organisation. The one thing you forgot to include in your summary was the APR rates of the outstanding credit. Like Linda says, the Littlewoods one is likely VERY high!
IMO there is no need to make drastic changes to your lifestyle unless you want to clear the debt quickly. What you need to do is live within your means, and prioritise any spare cash.
Everyone's situation differs, but if it were my money I would do the following each month:
1) Pay all mimimum payments
2) Anything you need for the month e.g. food, petrol buy using the credit card that has the LOWEST APR.
3) Use all your remaining monthly income to pay off the card that has the HIGHEST APR.

Once you clear a card, cancel it, and when you are left with just the one work at paying that off.
I reckon some people hear will scratch their heads in confusion at that, but hey everyone's different!

Nick

pepe2008

Jpop wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies

I will try and do the statement of affairs thing.

I have always worked this way....i have never been good at saving, i have always took out credit and payed them up, but i think now the extra money that i should have should be going towards improving the look of my council home.

Thanks again.

Concentrate on getting shot of the interest charging debt, then you'll have more money to improve your house. Why GIVE money to the credit industry when you dont need to?