Afterglow's 30 week challenge to being debt free

afterglow_2

well have decided want my debt free life back once and for all, with the money i earn being mine and not the banks!!
so I owe Lloyds £2900 on a loan at 16%, I pay out £188.42 a month, so figure if I pay in £100 a week then im debt free in 30 weeks!!!!
so doing 1 extra shift a week in the pub as a licensee until my loan has gone!
this means i do 4 shifts a week cheffing in the day, and 4 shifts a week until late behind the bar!
so gonna be hard work but with that 30 week goal just have to work towards it:j

and just paid into my bank the first £60 which makes the first week done, so 29 left:T
got a virgin 0% cc to transfer money to to get interest down, hopefully getting a capital one card this week so in 5 weks time can put whole balance on them and no interest.

Anyone got any advice what else i can do, have no way of cutting back any more,
how to get through Xmas!! Am being crafty and makin presents, what else???:rolleyes:

dancingfairy

Hi afterglow - fab username :j .
Have you posted your SOA up here to see if there are any savings that could be made?
Also don't forget to try a spending diary to see where any money is leaking to - cokes/cd's/dvd's/clothes/ makeup(not sure if you are female or not from your username lol/pints after work/meals at work etc/newspapers/magazines etc.
Also try looking for BOGOFS on presents or deals/discounts etc.
Am sure there are some boards with suggestions for cheap christmas present around here - try the MoneySavingOldstyle board for things to make/cook - I'm sure they will have loads of ideas.

Could you get more credit (a cheaper loan or another credit card or 2?) or transfer more onto the 0% card so you are not paying so much in interest so you can pay off the lloyds loan? - check you can pay it off - otherwise bung all the extra into a savings account to get as much interest until you can pay the loan off.

Anyway - that little lot will keep you busy for now. :rotfl:
Good Luck
df x

tealady

Hi I would dig out anything you don't use/need and sell it if possible. Even if your friends just give you a few quid as Mr T says "every little helps"

afterglow_2

well have sold few things on ebay in last couple of months made bout £300 all gone off my debts! so will dig around, lots of £5 items, old rare cd's, records, books, maybe i'll sell a few a week!
as far as soa, cant see how can cut back any more, work as a chef and barman, so most of food and drink is free, OH does music promotion so going out to gigs are free aswell!!
Am a trained photographer so think need to be making extra income of this, sell few proper hand prints/ old pics, think can make between £15-30 profit off each one.
has anyone got a good soa calculator so i can just check.....and am male (so dont use much makeup!)

afterglow_2

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1530
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1530

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Rent.................................... 600
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 70
Electricity............................. 25
Gas..................................... 25
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 25
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 30
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 15
Groceries etc. ......................... 100
Clothing................................ 30
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 5
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 12
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 100
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 30
Total monthly expenses.................. 1087

Assets
Cash.................................... 400
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 2000
Total Assets............................ 2400

No Secured Debt

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
lloyds tsb loan................2896.57...188.4.....16
virgin cc......................800.......25........0
Total unsecured debts..........3696.57...213.4.....-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,530
Expenses (including secured debts)....... 1,087
Available for debt repayments........... 443
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 213.4
Surplus(deficit if negative)............ 229.6

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 2,400
Total Secured debt...................... -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -3,696.57
Net Assets.............................. -1,296.57

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission.

======== Enter any other useful information below ========

e.g. the number of adults & children in the household, the number

of cars included in the SOA or anything else that may be useful.

well just done this, and that looks much better down in print, now where do i
go from here??

afterglow_2

if only i could live on a houseboat or a lighthouse, and save on rent, then i'd be happy so any advice on this would be great! its just the rent is my one stumbling block, live in a 1 bed flat, cheap for brighton!

moo2moo

The £400 in savings would be better used against the loan. You've said most of your food is free via your job but you're still spending £100 a month, try reducing that.

Use the emergency fund and the clothing allowance against your loan thats an extra £60 a month. Is the mobile a contract? Can you reduce that or negotiate a better rate? Whats happening to your £229.60 surplus every month?

With what you're paying at the mooment (assuming your 0% deal is indefinate) you'll be debt free June 2010. Paying off the £400 cash now makes you debt free April 2010, the extra £60 per month makes you debt free by christmas next year.

If on the other hand you paid in the £400 cash and the £60 per month and your £229.60 surplus you'd be debt free next august.

afterglow_2

my aim is to be debt free by mid june, so aiming to pay an extra £60 per week in,
cant reduce mobile contract stuck with it for another 6 months, have reduced it as far as it can go without a landline, the £100 a month goes on household stuff, toiletries, and some store cupboard food, and few cans beer/wine!
little bit extra would be useful, its the hidden things that come up, just paid £40 for personal licence, had take night off work due to injuring meself on bike thats another £40..........

afterglow_2

now today was a far better day, worked out how much needed to cover all bills, with spare, and had £300 left over, so thats gone into the loan already!!
now that feels good, just need to keep the money making and saving momentum up:j

afterglow_2

...well in the last week have decided to get this well and truly sorted!!
got me pub licence so wages go up next week by about £14/week, well it all helps!!
Have done another balance transfer of £700 from virgin, so next week thats going into my loan, so current state:
£1897 on loan, £1500 on virigin (0%!!)
was turned down by capital one, they made bad excuse my address didnt check out, know this isnt tue as have checked my credit files, all fine, could have done with that extra 0% card.
but gonna get my loan amount down below £1500 by xmas so new year figures look good!!
and doing my 99p store shopping, and getting crafty making xmas pressies etc, no spend lots of gain!!