Hello Everyone!

dannyboykurb

Hi Guys,

My name is Dan - 29 Years old and in debt!

I've been reading the forum for a while now, decided to sign up today as I have to do something about my debt situation.

It has been going on since I was 18. On my 18th Birthday I was bombarded about Credit Cards, Loans etc, and decided I would get a C Card 'just for emergencies' Anyway 11 years on, 6 Cards and several personal loans later, I arrive at a point where my intrerest payments too much to handle! I'm not actually too sure what to do now, where to turn etc. I have a big mortgage with my Partner and a high level of personal debt. Tried speaking to 2 of my Card companies today but they were "very sorry, but we can't drop below 25% APR" Not good!

Looking forward to speaking to you guys!

Dan

MyLastFiver

Hi Dan, your problem is far from unusual on these boards. Welcome. Firstly - complete a Statement of Affairs using the calculator on this thread: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=107280
Post the results in full on here, and we'll be able to give you more precise advice.

Until you do that, I'll just say that there will definitely be a way to solve your debt problem, although you may have to adjust your lifestyle.

Good luck.

dannyboykurb

Well, here goes my attempt at a SOA.

My Salary - £1077
Partners Salary - £1300
Total - £2377

Outgoings
Mortgage - £907
C/Tax - £102
Gas & Elec - £ 65
Water - £17

Sky Tv & Brodband - £75
TV Licence - £11.37
Mobile Phones - £10

Food - £ circa 125
Petrol - £70
Car Insurance - £ 35

Pet Insurance - £20
House Insurance - £11
Life Insurance - £18
Critical Illness cover - £12

Total £1478.37

Now for the fun part - not!
Personal Loan - HSBC - Balance £6054 APR 7.9%
MBNA C/Card - £4514 APR 25%
MBNA C/Card - £2237 APR 25%
Cahoot C/Card - £796 APR 14.9%
Bank of Scotland C/Card - £5858 APR 6.9 fixed for life
Barclaycard - £1066 APR 5.9 fixed for life
MINT C/Card - £2913 APR 11.9%
American Express C/Card - £921 APR 5.9 fixed for life

I think that's everything I cn think of for now. Basically I know that everything is paid I am left with £45 for the month.

MyLastFiver

How about car tax? Entertainment? And do you really only spend £125 a month on food? How much are your debt repayments? How much is your house worth? Car? Use the comprehensive SOA on the link I gave you - when you can be arsed filling it all in!

tirednewdad

dannyboykurb wrote: »

Well, here goes my attempt at a SOA.

My Salary - £1077
Partners Salary - £1300
Total - £2377

Outgoings
Mortgage - £907
C/Tax - £102- ask to spread over 12months instead of 10
Gas & Elec - £ 65 slightly high. turn everything off thats on standby
Water - £17 change to water meter if not already

Sky Tv & Brodband - £75 cancel sky. you can get phoneline and broadband for under £25
TV Licence - £11.37
Mobile Phones - £10 cheaper deals available. just threaten to cancell and don't accept thier first offer

Food - £ circa 125 -
Petrol - £70 drive with lower revs. Go to petrolprices.com for your nearest and cheapest petrol station
Car Insurance - £ 35 shop around, this seams expensive

Pet Insurance - £20 sounds horrible, but can you really afford a pet?
House Insurance - £11
Life Insurance - £18 could be used to reduce credit cards
Critical Illness cover - £12 could be used to reduce credit cards

Total £1478.37

Now for the fun part - not!
Personal Loan - HSBC - Balance £6054 APR 7.9%
MBNA C/Card - £4514 APR 25%
MBNA C/Card - £2237 APR 25%
Cahoot C/Card - £796 APR 14.9%
Bank of Scotland C/Card - £5858 APR 6.9 fixed for life
Barclaycard - £1066 APR 5.9 fixed for life
MINT C/Card - £2913 APR 11.9%
American Express C/Card - £921 APR 5.9 fixed for life
Focus your funds on paying off the biggest APR's first, while just paying the minimum on the other balances. See if you have be unfairly charged if you have missed a payment and look to claim it back.

I think that's everything I cn think of for now. Basically I know that everything is paid I am left with £45 for the month.

see what you've got to sell on e-bay.


goodluck.

dannyboykurb

Car tax is £66 every 6 months. I'm not too sure what entertaimnment is anymore. We litrally go to work, come home and that is it! We haven't been out since we got back from Holiday last August as we can't afford it.

With regards to food - yes we do only spend £125.

My total credit card debts add up £18308.49. Mimimum payments total £330.14, of which £256.79 is interest.

House is worth £125,000, we paid £136,000 for it. Car is worth £1500, no savings and no assets. Think that's it.

GeorgeUK

The SOA calculator may be better to use - easier to see what is or isn't there.
http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

Try putting in the figures from last month instead of guesstimating them.

When was the last time you or your partner applied for credit?
Have you looked at your credit report recently?
Have you tried reclaiming bank charges?

dannyboykurb

I have tried using the SOA as you advised, I'm not sure I've done a very good job of it though! I'm sure you'll let me know if I have made any mistakes.



Household Information[/b]
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1077
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1300
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2377

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 907
Secured loan repayments................. 171
Hire Purchase (HP) repayments........... 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 102
Electricity............................. 30
Gas..................................... 35
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 17
Telephone (land line)................... 10
Mobile phone............................ 10
TV Licence.............................. 11
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 75
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 125
Clothing................................ 15
Petrol/diesel........................... 75
Road tax................................ 11
Car Insurance........................... 35
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 20
Buildings insurance..................... 5
Contents insurance...................... 6
Life assurance ......................... 18
Other insurance......................... 12
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1720


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 125000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 126500


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 169000...(907)......5.99
Secured Debt.................. 8500.....(171)......7.9
Total secured & HP debts...... 177500....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
MBNA Card......................4514......100.......25
MBNA Card......................2237......46.23.....25
Bank Of Scotland...............5858......58.58.....6.9
American Express...............921.......24........4.9
Barclaycard....................1066......23........5.9
Cahoot Card....................796.......13.91.....14.9
Mint Card......................2913......65........11.9
Total unsecured debts..........18305.....330.72....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,377
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,720
Available for debt repayments........... 657
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 330.72
Amount left after debt repayments....... 326.28

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 126,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -177,500
Total Unsecured debt.................... -18,305
Net Assets.............................. -69,305

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission.[/font]

GeorgeUK

Mortgage................................ 907
Interest only or repayment?

Council tax............................. 102
If paying over 10 months, can you ask to pay over 12?

Electricity............................. 30
Gas..................................... 35
This is pretty good, but look at the comparison sites to see if you are getting the best deal (uswitch, moneysupermarket)

Mobile phone............................ 10
PAYG?

Telephone (land line)................... 10
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 75
Internet Services....................... 0
Are all of these on a package? satellite is quite high.

Groceries etc. ......................... 125
Have a look at the old style board for mean plan ideas. Have you moved down a brand? (shops own)

Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
You should have something here unless you don't pay the bills for the car.

Car Insurance........................... 35
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 20
Buildings insurance..................... 5
Contents insurance...................... 6
Life assurance ......................... 18
Other insurance......................... 12
Again, i'd look at the comparison sites, but these seem like pretty good prices.


If you don't have £320 left at the end of each month, you need to find out where this is going. Kep a spending diary and update it every day. This should let you know where you are spending the extra and you will be able to possibly find a cheaper alternative or cut back on whatever it is.

Is it possible to transfer any of the higher balance debts to one of the other cards? Possibly on a Life of Balance offer?

Can you get a new 0% card and trasnfer some of that debt so you are not paying as much interest? If you can clear one of the cards, you may be offerred a life of balance or 0% for 6 months deal as an existing customer. This also won't ususally require a credit check.

boredofbeingathome

dannyboykurb wrote: »

I have tried using the SOA as you advised, I'm not sure I've done a very good job of it though! I'm sure you'll let me know if I have made any mistakes.



Household Information[/b]
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1077
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1300
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2377

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 907is this repayment? You could change to interest only for a short term
Secured loan repayments................. 171
Hire Purchase (HP) repayments........... 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 102spread over 12 months if poss
Electricity............................. 30You could shop around for cheaper tarrifs and get cashback through quidco
Gas..................................... 35
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 17
Telephone (land line)................... 10Combine all of your packages and reduce your satellite to basic channels some very good deals about to include phone, broadband etc..use cashback sites to maiximise, mine is not above £25 for all of these so you could save yourself a fortune
Mobile phone............................ 10
TV Licence.............................. 11
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 75
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 125mealplan and budget you could shave off a bit more
Clothing................................ 15
Petrol/diesel........................... 75
Road tax................................ 11
Car Insurance........................... 35shop around and use comparison sites and get cashback.i saved over £150 this year
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 20shop around
Buildings insurance..................... 5
Contents insurance...................... 6
Life assurance ......................... 18
Other insurance......................... 12
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30cutback, start looking at ways to maximise points etc for these
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1720


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 125000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 126500


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 169000...(907)......5.99
Secured Debt.................. 8500.....(171)......7.9
Total secured & HP debts...... 177500....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
MBNA Card......................4514......100.......25
MBNA Card......................2237......46.23.....25
Bank Of Scotland...............5858......58.58.....6.9any chance of playing afound with these to utilise existing balance transfer deals? Barclays do a life of balance transfer try and get some of high APr cards on first
American Express...............921.......24........4.9
Barclaycard....................1066......23........5.9
Cahoot Card....................796.......13.91.....14.9
Mint Card......................2913......65........11.9
Total unsecured debts..........18305.....330.72....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,377
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,720
Available for debt repayments........... 657
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 330.72
Amount left after debt repayments....... 326.28

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 126,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -177,500
Total Unsecured debt.................... -18,305
Net Assets.............................. -69,305

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission.[/font]

Hi just added a few ideas i am sure you can get things down further..be ruthless with absolutely everything you can,it will pay in the long run.

Good luck.

edit to say George beat me to it..but you see what DFW does to you..we all sing from the same hymn sheet at times.

dannyboykurb

Cheers for the advice.
The mortgage is Repayment - we're tied in to 2011.
Gonna go for PAYG on the mobile phone.

Problem with the cards is that I exhausted all of my 0% offers I could find. Then I tried to apply for 2 new 0% cards but was rejected.

So basically, at the moment, I have HSBC calling me back tomorrow evening to go through getting a consolidation loan! This is the only way I think I can get out of this mess. I have also started looking for a second job to boost my income!