Joining the club

the_drifter

Hello all.

been lurking for a while, been meaning to get started so thought I might as well get my first post up to get me focused.

Debt was around £112k, though slightly down now. Have a huge debt from divorce, bad loans to family/friends, a couple of dodgy business decisions and spending what I shouldn't have.

I make a half decent salary, even after the spousal maintainance and so should be paying down my debt each month. Working out my SOA which I will put up shortly.

Had a quick go at the snowball calculator which came out with a DF date of 12 years! - so something needs fixing.

Hope to post more soon, but for now, howdy to the gang.

justruth

Hi, welcome aboard x

looktothefuture

:hello: Hellllllloooo there, welcome to the first day of the rest of your life and it's a pretty awesome place to be!

katie2407

post your SOA to see if there is anything that could be cut to help you get the DFW date down

halight

Hi
And welcome to the club you are in the right place to get all the help and suport and advice to get you on the road to being debt free..

Good luck

the_drifter

Thanks for the welcome all

well here is my draft SOA

regular income 2100
irregular ot 200

Total Income 2,300

csa arrears 85
gym 37
rent 630
tv licence 6
elec 30
council tax 75
phone+internet 23
mobile 80
travel costs 190
car tax 15
car insurance 65
car repairs 50
food 250
entertainment 100
monthly debt repayments 1000

Total expenditure 2636

net deficit -336

Though it is a net deficit, it still means I have reduced my overall debt by £300 taking into account the above debt repayments and interest. I guess on a monthly basis I don't always feel the shortfall as some annual costs end up on my cc

I have 2 mobiles, but they are on a cashback scheme which I have not accounted for above. Should hopefully receive some sort of loyalty bonus from work in Jan I have not accounted for either.

My lbm came when we had a first round of redundancies at my company and I realised that no one is safe.

No idea on accurate food costs but as of last week I have started keeping a daily diary of expenditure to see if my soa is accurate.

Unfortunately signed a new tenancy agreement back in September just as rents have started to fall..doh.

anyway, small steps as they say

katie2407

which credit cards to you have and what are the interest rate on them

quick look at SOA
GET

katie2407

which credit cards to you have and what are the interest rate on them

quick look at SOA
get rid of the gym
mobile phone bill high
how many are you feeding £250 can be cut by at least £100
car insurance seems high


join up to the cashback and survey sites, sell on ebay and amazon anything you no longer need

the_drifter

thanks for the feedback

Gym is something which I use and can't do the specific exercises without the gym equipment

mobile is high as I took out 2 contracts on cashback. If I get all my money, the 2 lines would have cost me about £50 for the year for basic line rental.

Food I have no accurate idea on. Started keeping a spending diary, which should hopefully tell me how much I actually spend and where I can cut down, though I do know that lunches are costly and I have taken a packed lunch on a few occasions now.

Will used the break over christmas to find those things for ebay in new year

the_drifter

The highest interest rates I'm paying at the mo are 7.9% on the 5k loan and a 2k cc. All other credit cards are at 5.9%, 4 k on zero % until August.

Sea78

Hi welcome to the board :hello:

Is the amount you are paying on CSA arrears also including the current payments to CSA too? Do you have any gas to pay? I assume you houseshare if your TV is only £6?

Sea xxxx