How do you know if your debt is bad debt??

TweeyPie

Credit rating is good, have applied for HSBC card to BT Cap one and Monument onto, should I do life of balance on the others?

Tutor is essential at the moment.
School dinners too, due to working hours of me and hubby kids have to feed themselves at night.

TweeyPie

Oh yes, at the moment too scared to leave Secure Homes, know exact amount going out and when. Don't want anything important to start bouncing.

JAMIEDODGER

thats 3 suggestions you have turned down straight away, are you sure you have reached that lightbulb moment yet hun?

magentadreamer

I'd ditch Secure homes then check out the cheapest ways of paying your Gas/Elec.they'll be charging you something for paying bills you could pay yourself. If Secure Homes included all utilites how come you pay £173 for fuel??

£78 for school dinners is alot -pack lunches could be done at half the cost. Could you not also leave a meal ready for them to warm up while you and hubby are at work? Stews,baked potatoes etc all spring to mind. With a homemade pudding perhaps.

you have two mobiles on different networks surely it would be best if you needed to contact each other to be on same network. You spend £50 a month or £600 a year on them could you not switch to pay as you go ones?

check out your car insurances are they the cheapest? I'm assuming fuel is petrol and not gas/elec/coal etc which I thought it was at first oops! do you need two cars?

Ditch the Capone cards and Monuement cards ASP -transfer them to your new HSBC and any balance spare BT your next highest card to it. See if any of the cheaper APR's have room for even small BT's to get rid of high APR debt.

I understand the need for a tutor but it's money you can't afford at the moment.

you can do this at first it all looks horrific but it is do able

TweeyPie

Have just renewed car insurance (yes we do need both cars, public transport is not that good here in the sticks) used confused.com and am certain I got the best deal, have just done then same with house insurance.
Will be changing the mobiles when the contract ends in March.
Have requested the BT of the Capone Cards & monument.

TweeyPie

Any advice on payment protection, while our payments are made thro Secure Homes they have a payment protection, do I need to take out separate cover when I leave Secure Homes?
Sorry to be a pain with all these questions

beeniemac

Confused.com pretty much never finds the best deal I'm afraid. I spent about 3 hours phoning insurance comanpies and saved £500 over the best one offered by confused.com

Hope you get it all sorted Leaving Secure Homes sounds like it should be your first big step, then try swapping those high intrest cards.

I don't see why you need a tutor? Most kids don't have them don't forget.

TweeyPie

Need the tutor daughter has been expelled. Car insurance quote not bettered by any one else, accident last year didn't help.

*Sparkle*_3

First of all well done on the changes you are making!

JAMIEDODGER wrote:

thats 3 suggestions you have turned down straight away, are you sure you have reached that lightbulb moment yet hun?

From what i've read, i agree with JamieDodger.

The fact of the matter is you cant keep on making excuses and somethings got to give, you either need to cut back or earn more.
You can on keeping going on like you are now and the sooner you realise that, and hit the "light bulb moment" the better!

Good luck and best wishes

GreenFingers_2

Hello TweeyPie,

With regards to your question on Bad Debt….

Personally I think Bad Debt is any amount of money borrowed to purchase personal ‘things’, ‘nice to haves’, ‘I want this, that or the other’ and so on….. things that should really be saved up for first. :rolleyes:

Not So Bad Debt on the other hand is money borrowed for investment purposes with the proviso or intention it pays for itself – businesses do this all the time, students do too by investing in their future through education.

I guess we all have a bit of both during our lifetimes.....