SOA...here it comes!

The_Aquapanther

Right...here goes;

Monthly Incomings:

My salary - £1,300 or there abouts (just started a new job so not been paid yet...should also look a lot healthier in 3 months after pay review)

Total - £1,300


Monthly Outgoings:

Mortgage/Rent - £0 although I will prob be sharing with a friend at the end of Feb which will increase it to £350 all in.
Mobile- £30 :eek: Just noticed the gits have changed my package....it should only be £15 and I'll be getting that sorted pronto! :mad:
Food - £100 but that will prob increase to around £200 when I move out
Car Insurance - £28.90
Petrol - £100
Newsdemon (newsgroups access) - £5.08 I use it to download stuff (don't judge) and it therefore saves me a lot of money!
Setanta - £10.99 I got them to do a deal for this (and posted the info for you lot too! ), this has run out but I should be able to get it down to £7.50 again!
Loan payment - £121.27
Credit card payment - £32.24
Booze - FAR TOO MUCH....but I am cutting this way down.

Total: £448.40 increasing to £879.99


Other Expenditure Soon

Car Repaires - £100 give or take. Needs the breaks looked at.
Dentist - £100 give or take. Neet to get a tooth looked at.


Debt
Loan - Balance £4,810.22 APR 21.9% :eek:
Credit Card - Balance £1,228.02 APR not sure
Overdraft - £472.23 APR 11.8%

Total - ££6510.47


Credit

Bank Account - £6,455.65 Just taken voluntary redundany so received nearly 6 grand with around another £500 to come at end of month...plus I will be getting paid at the end of the month while I will prob only spend around £100 between now and then.


My main question is....should I use the monet in my bank account to clear my debts?


Cheers!

doodledo_2

Personally I would clear the debts with the redundancy money especially as you have another job sorted already

Then even when you move out you will have a decent amount of disposable income to not only save but also to have a good time :T

The_Aquapanther

doodledo wrote: »

Personally I would clear the debts with the redundancy money especially as you have another job sorted already

Then even when you move out you will have a decent amount of disposable income to not only save but also to have a good time :T

Yeah...thinking it would be a good idea. Especially in the climate we are in, I would rather be totally debt free! AND NOT GET MYSELF IN THAT SITUATION AGAIN!!! :mad: :rotfl:

Only thing on my mind is whether it would be better to stick it in an ISA 'til end of tax year before paying them off?

doodledo_2

Your interest rates are above anything you would earn on an ISA (i think ) so the interest you make on the ISA would be lost on the interest charged on your debt.

I would clear them and set yourself up a regular amount going into an ISA each month.

Lizbeth

Clearing your debts at that APR should be your priority - your money would only earn a few percent interest in a savings account, compared to the high interest on your debts.

But I don't know whether it's worth trying to balance transfer some of the debt onto a 0% card and saving some of the redundancy using this year's ISA allowance (keeping it in there long-term)? It wouldn't be worth doing this if you don't think you'll use all your ISA allowance next year. What does anyone else think?

I agree once you've cleared your debts you'll be in an excellent position to start saving a bit - using your regular income to save towards an emergency fund (to cover things like your car/dentist bills), the first month's rent in advance, ISA etc.

Lizbeth

It probably would be simpler to completely clear your debts and then concentrate on building up your emergency fund (especially as you're not paying rent at the moment), once you've done this you'll be in a position to put money away each month.

The_Aquapanther

Yeah pretty much worked out that I would lose more by not paying off the debts that I would earn with an ISA!

Forgetting that I will not get a full months salary this month, so I'm going to pay off the loan and overdraft...that should leave me with around 2 grand after I get paid.
Spend as liitle as possible next month and then take stock at the end of Feb and hopefully I'll be OK to pay off the CC then too! Does that sound good idea?