How much for personal spend - can someone help?

graemecarter

hieveryone wrote: »

Thanks

The charges are in the process of being reclaimed, and A+L keep sending me letters updating on the court cases etc, but they have now sent a letter saying I need to pay it back within 30 days?

Also, Lloyds TSB had sent my account to some other dept and I have set up a payment plan paying £10 a month into it - I *think* this shows as a default every month on my credit report - would that be right? That's why I'm tempted just to pay it off...

Thanks again everyone

You need to really get to grips with getting in debt.

You go to court for debt related issues, and you could make your life much harder if you want to go into law or the city.
I know for the compulsory exams people have to take to work in certain aspects of finance (where the big money is in trading etc), you cannot have any blemishes like that on your record.
For my exams to work in securities, you have to declare things like debt etc, before you are allowed to take the exams.

If you want to earn the money you envisage yourself earning, then take action now

hieveryone

graemecarter wrote: »

You need to really get to grips with getting in debt.

Hi

Thanks for your advice, but didn't really come here for a telling off on my money issues - I'm not even that much in debt but it was because I was away and £1.57 turned into £400 of charges. So not faultless on my part, but not totally deliberate or the result of reckless spending.

hieveryone

Anyway, tonight I lifted £200 from my bank account - £100 for petrol for the next 3 weeks (my car EATS petrol!) and £100 for spends. Only 3 more weeks till I get paid before Christmas.

So spent:

£30 full tank of petrol.

£10 on dinner with friend (also £2 tip)
£8 on sweets, cigarettes and water.

Not terrible, but not great either! Tomorrow is a new day!

betti911

graemecarter wrote: »

you could make your life much harder if you want to go into law or the city.
I know for the compulsory exams people have to take to work in certain aspects of finance (where the big money is in trading etc), you cannot have any blemishes like that on your record.

The poster didn't come here for a telling off or a lecture. That type of post is unhelpful.

I'm a solicitor and my debt has made no difference to me career wise. Its held me back socially perhaps as I'm not able to be as carefree with my money as my colleagues but I don't think that's actually a bad thing as when I'm debt free next yr I'll be much more aware re finances etc.

Keep up the good work hieveryone!

graemecarter

hieveryone wrote: »

Hi

Thanks for your advice, but didn't really come here for a telling off on my money issues - I'm not even that much in debt but it was because I was away and £1.57 turned into £400 of charges. So not faultless on my part, but not totally deliberate or the result of reckless spending.

I wasn't telling you off, just saying that if you think you are going to earn big bucks, going to court about debt could really count against you.

And even if it was £1.57 initially, it is now £400.
The debt is £400, and that's what the courts will see

graemecarter

betti911 wrote: »

The poster didn't come here for a telling off or a lecture.

I know, and I didn't tell the poster off

That type of post is unhelpful.

In your eyes maybe, but if the poster thinks that he or she will be earning big money, I think a reality check is necessary. Going to court for debt could be a barrier to entry to some jobs (especially some high earning ones)
I was just making the poster aware of that, as the poster's attitude was rather flippant

I'm a solicitor and my debt has made no difference to me career wise.

As I said, it COULD count against you.

That is very different from saying it WILL

lynzpower

hieveryone wrote: »

Anyway, tonight I lifted £200 from my bank account - £100 for petrol for the next 3 weeks (my car EATS petrol!) and £100 for spends. Only 3 more weeks till I get paid before Christmas.

So spent:

£30 full tank of petrol.

£10 on dinner with friend (also £2 tip)
£8 on sweets, cigarettes and water.

Not terrible, but not great either! Tomorrow is a new day!

the way yu work out how to pay your debts off is the snowball method.

You dont say what the APRS are on your cards or car loan, but the important thing is that you pay the most you can off the highest APR debt.

Buying water isnt a good idea, its something you get for free from home! try to be more organisd with little things like this or your 100 pcm simply wont last. I can tell you this as my diet coke habit was costing me £2 a day most days- 70 quid a month!

Fire_Fox

Hello and welcome! Another student come to add her bit ....

Nobody means to tell you off. But you have asked for advice, and sometimes the advice isn't what you want to hear. You have done brilliantly to identify that you don't have a full handle on what goes in and out of your account each month. The next step is to do a full Statement of Affairs - it takes a bit of time but well worth the effort.

:cool:

Get a glass of wine or a cup of tea, say three months of bank/ credit card statements and add up all the outgoings in each major category - e.g. clothes shops, petrol stations, interest charges. Divide by three for the average monthly cost and multiply by four for the yearly cost. I was shocked at how much I spent last year on Amazon, for example - £600!!

:eek:

Are you a full time student? Why don't you have an interest free student bank account? Unless things have changed Alliance & Leicester don't do student banking? They do have online banking tho, which means you can check your list of DDs is correct really easily.

Have you cut up your credit cards? You are only making minimum repayments which means they are costing you big time in interest. If you just take your debit card out of the house on the days you know you have something essential to get (petrol, a book for college) you won't be able to overspend.

:money:

The problem with doing everything except DDs with cash, is that you may end up six months down the line having spent a lot of money and even less idea whether it mainly went on, say, the car or mainly on rubbish. I got paid in cash until June and, although it did stop me overspending, when I tried to budget for this year I didn't know where a lot of the money had gone as no record on my bank statement.

Hope this helps!

:beer: