I put it all on Black. It came up Red. Debt Free in 2009...

TMoose

Hi All

Another day, another DFD. This is to try and keep me motivated to do the decent thing and become Debt Free this year, rather than continuing to spend and taking another x years!

A little about where I am. I'm well paid, educated and ambitious. However I have a nasty habit involving betting on anything that moves (and many things that don't). I'm still fighting that habit, but hoping that my posting on here will help me stay on the wagon...

My SOA :
[pre]Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 0
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2674.16
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2674.16
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Hire Purchase (HP) repayments........... 0
Rent.................................... 600
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 168
Electricity............................. 30
Gas..................................... 20
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 8.33
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 35
TV Licence.............................. 5.64
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 200
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 132
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 3.61
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 25
Entertainment........................... 200
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1467.58

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

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Egg............................2448.5....250.......0
RBS............................2046.55...150.......26.4
HSBC...........................5494......500.......23.16
Student Loan...................1708.98...68.69.....3.2
Mastercard.....................490.69....5.........23.65
Total unsecured debts..........12188.72..973.69....-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,674.16
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,467.58
Available for debt repayments........... 1,206.58
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 973.69
Amount left after debt repayments....... 232.89
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -12,188.72
Net Assets.............................. -12,188.72
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission.[/pre]

The Egg loan is in default and that default will expire 15/3/11, the RBS overdraft is in default and will expire 1/2/11. So I'm not able to get any new credit until then.

I am fortunate that I will get a 4K bonus in 3wks time and this is going to pay the HSBC card.

Keep your fingers crossed for me!

TMoose

OK, so 4K has been paid across to HBOS and I've cleared down the Mastercard...

It feels very good to pay off 35% of your debt in one go. My DFDate is now August Aug '09... getting myself a treat tonight to celebrate and then hunkering on down for the hard slog!

Once August comes I'm moving in with my OH, so I really want to be DF before then, and also able to cope with the moving costs!

GeorgeUK

Hi TMoose

Do you have any creditcards with a low balance that you have maintained your payments on? Some cards give balance transfer offers to existing customers, possibly 0% for 6 months or a low interest for life of balance rate. As these types of BT usually don't require a credit check, it may be a way to reduce the amount of interest you are paying.

debttornado

Well done on clearing 35% in one go (and not finding other things to spend it on). Really diciplined. Good luck becoming DF

laura2481

Hi! cutting back on groceries and entertainment could give you another couple of £100 to play with eg £100 for food (should be do-able if you plan meals and cook at home more. see the OS money saving board for cheap meal ideas) and definitely halve the £200 on entertainment :eek:

If you have a bit of an issue with gambling then perhaps Gamblers Anonymous could help?

good luck, anyway

laura2481

ps your interest rates are pretty high on your credit cards. have you had any late payment/over limit charges you could claim back then use to clear off your cards?

see the 'Reclaim Bank and Credit charges' board if you have

TMoose

Thanks for your comments and support.

George - unfortunately I have no other CC's and now none of my debt is transferrable - RBS is a defaulted OD, HSBC is the OH's CC (God bless 'er) and Egg is with Credit Solutions.

Laura - I will indeed try and cut down my grocery spending, it tends to be my downfall, I think I've fallen in love with Borough Market! As for entertainment, the £200 is a (very generous) estimate. I do try and keep it to a minimum, but I am quite comfortable if I spend this amount over a month. I use this figure purely for budgetting, and then anything left over at the end of the month goes to one of the debts. As for bank charges, I suspect there are some, but I'm actually of the opinion that "I knew that when I signed up, so I should pay". I know this isn't necessarily the prevailing view on these boards, and I have certainly had bank charges reversed when they have been incorrect/illogical (£35 overlimit charge due to a £30 bank charge for instance).

GeorgeUK

Did you also know that the penalty charges that the bank applies to letters or missed payments, they are not allowed, by law, to make a profit on? (nothing like a good stir)

Does your wife have any debt?
The reason i ask is that if she has given you a card which is charging you 23%, could she try applying for a 0% card instead so that there is less interest being paid? I would suggest looking at the virgin creditcard - 0% for 16 months and minimum payment of £25 from 2nd month.

I realise it may seem cheeky to ask this as you are already using one of her cards, but even with the amount of funds you have available it may still take some time to clear everything.