Taking the plunge

moneysavingvirgin_3

Firstly I would like to take my hat off to everyone!! :T I have been reading various threads for quite a while now and these have given me the strength to face up to my debts!
I am currently in about £20k of debt. The thing that scares me the most about being in this much debt is the time it will take to clear! Stupid I know!! I deal with finances on a daily basis at work but when it comes to doing my own I can't face it. I have no will power and my OH is no help because he just gives in too easily! When I feel down I have an overwhealming erge to go shopping. Whether it's food, clothes, toys...anything really!! I've managed to control it the last couple of times by trying to focus on other things! I'm hoping by taking the plunge I will have even better control over it.

My Debts are: Virgin Credit Card £7071.50 0% apr until Nov 09, Lloyds TSB Airmiles duo card £3355.00 17.4% on purchases and 24.9% for cash. about £500 of this balance is for cash advances. Lloyds Tsb Bank Loan £9300.00 don't know the APR for this I can't find the paper work. (5yr loan £9000 taken in Aug'07 - monthly p/m £256) OH Debts - Halifax O/Draft £465.41 (with debt agency no int accuring) Halifax Credit Card £677.21 also with debt agency no int accuring. Grand Total £20869.12 :eek:

All I can say right now is "SMALL STEPS" take one day at a time! :cheesy:

andy40

Hi,

as you say, one day at a time. Just think how good it will feel when you are debt free and you won have to feel this when you do go shopping!
If shopping takes your mind off your problems and makes you feel good then you need to find soemthing else to take its place.
Im fairly new here myself but I find working out ways to make and save money entertainment in itself!
Take an interest in money and work out why you ended up here and then work out how to stop those habits that got you here.
All the best.
Andy

moneysavingvirgin_3

Thank you Andy. I am really determined to do this and hopefully turning my attention to saving money rather than spending it when I don't need to will be alot more satisfying.

Numpty_Monkey

:hello:Hi MSV

like Andy said saving money becomes a new habbit, as does playing around with the debt calcs and spreadsheets
And this site:p

If you want you can put your SOA up and see what the clever and good can find to help you on your debt free journey
http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

Have you had a look at the snowball calc
http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx?country=uk
you could become addicted to that:A

Welcome aboard:T

Lula-Hula

Hello & welcome to possibly the most addictive site in the webiverse

Well done for admitting to your 'weakness' & if you've been reading threads then you probably know that sooner or later someone's going to suggest you post up a Statement Of Affairs, might as well be me :rolleyes: .

If you havent already then I recommend a game on the snowball calculator www.whatsthecost.com which will help you work out which debt to pay first.

Lots of luck on your journey, there'll be plenty of support & advice here when you need it

Lula

Lula-Hula

Damn Numpty, you beat me to it on every thread

moneysavingvirgin_3

Thank you Numpty Monkey and Lula-Hula. I will certainly give the SOA ago and especially the snowball calculator. Sounds very interesting!

Lula-Hula

moneysavingvirgin wrote: »

Thank you Numpty Monkey and Lula-Hula. I will certainly give the SOA ago and especially the snowball calculator. Sounds very interesting!

It is, & will keep you so occupied that you actually forget to spend any money too

madmich666

Hiya and welcome.

I just wanted to say that whenever I got down in the dumps I would spend money playing bingo. I managed to change the habit that if I was having a poo time and wanted to play bingo I said to myself "if I can justify spending x amount on bingo I should pay that off my debt". Now I dont play bingo that often and if I'm having a bad day I make a payment to one of my credit cards and found that it feels better having less debt than playing bingo.

You have made the first most difficult step by posting on here :T
I found the snowball calculater really helpful and got loads of help when I posted my SOA.

moneysavingvirgin_3

I hope I've done this right!

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1200
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1000
Benefits................................ 75.2
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2275.2

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 501
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 74
Electricity............................. 55
Gas..................................... 71
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 34
Telephone (land line)................... 90
Mobile phone............................ 60
TV Licence.............................. 10.13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 61.5
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 110
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 20
Road tax................................ 12.5
Car Insurance........................... 60.62
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 25
Car parking............................. 56
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 156
Other child related expenses............ 9.75
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 17.68
Contents insurance...................... 28.42
Life assurance ......................... 17.16
Other insurance......................... 14.07
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 30
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1553.83

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 92500
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 2000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 94500

Secured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 78000....(501)......0
Total secured debts........... 78000.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Loan...........................9300......256.......0
Virgin.........................7071.59...200.......0
Lloyds Tsb.....................3355......100.......0
Halifax 2......................677.21....60........0
Halifax 1......................465.41....50........0
Total unsecured debts..........20869.21..666......

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,275.2
Expenses (including secured debts)....... 1,553.83
Available for debt repayments........... 721.37
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 666
Surplus(deficit if negative)............ 55.37

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 94,500
Total Secured debt...................... -78,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -20,869.21
Net Assets.............................. -4,369.21

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

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

This is for 2 adults 2children

Numpty_Monkey

moneysavingvirgin wrote: »

I hope I've done this right!

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1200
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1000
Benefits................................ 75.2
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2275.2

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 501
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 74
Electricity............................. 55 Is this the best deal you can get? go through a cashback site,
is everything turned off not on standby?
Gas..................................... 71Is this the best deal you can get? go through a cashback site, Turn your heating down a few degrees, off in rooms you don't use, wear extra layers of clothing
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 34
Telephone (land line)................... 90:eek: this has to and can be cut
Mobile phone............................ 60 Are these on contracts? go PAYG if you can
TV Licence.............................. 10.13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 61.5:eek: This needs to be cut down, Monitor what channels you watch, and cancel what you don't, you can get Landline, Internet,Sat/Cable for less than this
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 110 :T
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 20
Road tax................................ 12.5
Car Insurance........................... 60.62 Check you are getting the best deal, go through a cashback site
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 25
Car parking............................. 56
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 156
Other child related expenses............ 9.75
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 17.68 Check you are getting the best deal, go through a cashback site
Contents insurance...................... 28.42Check you are getting the best deal, go through a cashback site
Life assurance ......................... 17.16Check you are getting the best deal, go through a cashback site
Other insurance......................... 14.07 whats this for?
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 30
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0 need one of these
Total monthly expenses.................. 1553.83

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 92500
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 2000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 94500

Secured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 78000....(501)......0
Total secured debts........... 78000.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Loan...........................9300......256.......0 ?
Virgin.........................7071.59...200.......0 ?
Lloyds Tsb.....................3355......100.......0?
Halifax 2......................677.21....60........0?
Halifax 1......................465.41....50........0?
Total unsecured debts..........20869.21..666......

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,275.2
Expenses (including secured debts)....... 1,553.83
Available for debt repayments........... 721.37
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 666
Surplus(deficit if negative)............ 55.37

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 94,500
Total Secured debt...................... -78,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -20,869.21
Net Assets.............................. -4,369.21

Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission.[/font]

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

This is for 2 adults 2children

I've left a few comments in red, hope they don't seem harsh

The big stand out ones are your Landline/mobile/sat/cable:eek: £211.50 per month is spent here
thats £2538.00 a year
I pay £17 a month internet/landline(free evening and weekend calls) locked into contract, £21 sky , less than £5 on PAYG
Any insurance needs to be checked for the best deal you can get :money:
and go through a cash back site :T