Advice/Guidance Needed Badly

poz_newbie_sel

Hi - keen to be debt-free having run up £12,796 on 4 credit cards. I'm managing but feel seriously concerned - the matter's playing on my mind constantly. Also feeling very isolated (and embarassed that I let this happen) and feel "stuck" - hence this post.

The monthly minimum payments on the credit cards total £285. I prepared a monthly income & expenditure statement and using Martin's tips on the website and in his book have cut back on all non-essential expenditure and now have £400 surplus per month. After making the minimum payments this leaves me with £115 spending cash per month - which is making things really difficult - eg I had to have my central heating attended to last week which cost £175 and has effectively wiped out this month's spending allowance

Last week after doing all the research I applied for a consolidation loan with Northern Rock (£12,796 over 10 years since the repayment sum of £140 per month is a realistic sum for me to afford - but was rejected online without a specific reason being given. I WAS told that my credit file HADN'T been checked and Northern Rock was unable to offer me a loan based on its "criteria". I didn't think I'd be rejected because my credit rating is "Good" - checked using the Moneywatch tool available online.

This has really thrown me and got me feeling stuck/too anxious to apply elsewhere for a loan or other credit. I think the solution lies in a mixture of transfers to 0% (or low life-of-loan) credit cards together with a personal loan, but I'm not sure how to split the total amount between the credit cards/loans and after the Northern Rock experience feel very unsure of which company(ies) to apply to.

Can any experienced money saving experts out there guide this newbie?

Please help me develop a strategy to sort myself out - at this point I desperately need a breathing space - cheers :embarasse

lynzpower

Your best bet is to post your SOA on here for us to have a lookie-see at, see what we can look at?

Are your cards 0% interest then?

Consolidation loans are seldom the best option available - if you post your SOA then we can see what further advice we can offer!

Bokken_2

Welcome to MSE and well done for getting that £400 surplus each month that really is good going.
As lynzpower has said to really take this further and to help in a structured way it would be best to post a SOA.If not everything then what relates to the credit cards and the APR's.and outstanding amounts.
I wouldn't worry too much at this stage about the Northern Rock loan I was rejected by Egg a couple of years ago and went on to open six bank accounts and 12 credit cards including American Express so don't feel too dispondant at this time.
There are some good Life of Balance credit cards out there including the new Intelligent Finance at 4.95%.
So there is a way ahead you just need to make up your mind who is gonna captain the ship into the future the credit card companies or YOU!
Good luck

poz_newbie_sel

lynzpower wrote:

Your best bet is to post your SOA on here for us to have a lookie-see at, see what we can look at?

Are your cards 0% interest then?

Consolidation loans are seldom the best option available - if you post your SOA then we can see what further advice we can offer!

THANKS VERY MUCH FOR A PROMPT REPLY - FEEL BETTER FOR READING THAT CONSOLIDATION LOAN POSSIBLY NOT BEST OPTION. HERE'S MY SOA:

MONTHLY INCOME: 1697.00

OUTGOINGS:

MORTGAGE: 267.00 (SEE NOTE 1 BELOW)
RENT: 231.00 (NOTE 2)
COUNCIL TAX: 85.00 (NOTE 3)
CONTENTS INS: 15.00 (NOTE 4)
GAS & ELEC 47.50 (NOTE 5)
WATER: 24.00 (NOTE 6)
GROCERIES: 300.00
TRAVEL: 86.00
TV LICENCE: 11.00
BT: 16.00 (NOTE 7)
HOME PHONE: 40.00 (NOTE 8)
MOBILE: 40.00 (NOTE 9)
WHICH ONLINE: 5.00
INTERNET BROADBAND: 25.00 (NOTE 10)
MILKMAN: 10.00
CHARITY HELP AGED: 12.00
CHARITY ACTIONAID: 21.00

TOTAL: £1245.50

SURPLUS: £451.50

NOTE 1: COMPLETED REMORTGAGE YESTERDAY - MONTHLY FIGURE BECOMES £187.00 FROM NEXT MONTH

NOTE 2: I HAVE A SHARED OWNERSHIP PROPERTY WITH A HOUSING ASSOCIATION.

NOTE 3: THIS FIGURE INCLUDES 25% DISCOUNT FOR SINGLE OCCUPANCY

NOTE 4: CONTENTS INSURANCE COMES UP FOR RENEWAL NEXT MONTH AND I'M LOOKING TO SEE IF I CAN REDUCE IT WITH A COMPETITIVE QUOTE FROM ANOTHER INSURER

NOTE 5: I'VE JUST SWITCHED DUAL FUEL PROVIDER BUT BECAUSE I'VE MOVED OVER TO A CAPPED RATE MY MONTHLY AMOUNT WILL ONLY GO DOWN BY £1 OR SO

NOTE 6: THIS FIGURE SHOULD REDUCE - HAVE ASKED TO HAVE A WATER METER FITTED

NOTE 7: CAN'T REDUCE THIS FURTHER SINCE I GET LINE RENTAL FOR £11 PLUS NETWORK SERVICES (ANSWERING SERVICE PLUS REMINDER SERVICE) OF £5

NOTES 8 & 9: HAVE STARTED BEING MORE AWARE OF KEEPING THESE COSTS AS LOW AS POSS AND HAVE STARTED USING MSE CALL CHECKER AND MARTIN'S TIPS ON KEEPING COSTS OF CALLING AS LOW AS POSS - BUT MY FAMILY IS ABROAD (PAKISTAN AND THE US); AND MY MOBILE TARIFF IS £25 PER MONTH PLUS £5 INSURANCE). SAVINGS I MAKE AS A RESULT OF CONSCIOUS COST CUTTING HERE SHOULD BE KNOWN NEXT MONTH

NOTE 10: HAVE JUST SWITCHED TO A LOWER BROADBAND TARIFF OF £14.99 PER MONTH - THIS WILL KICK IN IN 5 DAYS TIME.


COMING TO THE CREDIT CARDS - (NB: CREDIT CARD PAYMENTS NOT INCLUDED IN OUTGOINGS ABOVE):

BANK OF SCOTLAND: £2,638 O/S - 0% RATE TILL 1ST APRIL; MIN PAYMT: £53.00
COOP BANK: £3,557 O/S - 0% RATE ENDED 14TH FEB; MIN PAYMT: £71.00
NATIONWIDE: £1,611 O/S 14.9% APR; MIN PAYMT: £49.00
MINT: £4,990 O/S 13.9% APR; MIN PAYMT: 112.00

AT PRESENT, THIS ADDS UP TO £285 PER MONTH. TAKING 285.00 AWAY FROM THE 451.00 SURPLUS LEAVES ME WITH £166.00 PER MONTH 'POCKET MONEY' AT PRESENT

ANY ADVICE I CAN ACT ON? I'M AWARE I'M OVER-ANXIOUS AND PERHAPS THINGS AREN'T SO BAD - BUT WANT TO GET OUT OF DEBT AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE; AND HAVING £166.00 SPARE PER MONTH AT THE AGE OF 43 AFTER BEING IN FULL TIME EMPLOYMENT FOR 20 YEARS IS PRETTY DEPRESSING! (BUT I REALISE THAT ITS MY OWN FAULT I'M IN THIS SITUATION)

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR MAKING ME FEEL LESS ALONE AND ABLE TO 'TALK' TO SOMEONE ABOUT THIS

poz_newbie_sel

Bokken wrote:

Welcome to MSE and well done for getting that £400 surplus each month that really is good going.
As lynzpower has said to really take this further and to help in a structured way it would be best to post a SOA.If not everything then what relates to the credit cards and the APR's.and outstanding amounts.
I wouldn't worry too much at this stage about the Northern Rock loan I was rejected by Egg a couple of years ago and went on to open six bank accounts and 12 credit cards including American Express so don't feel too dispondant at this time.
There are some good Life of Balance credit cards out there including the new Intelligent Finance at 4.95%.
So there is a way ahead you just need to make up your mind who is gonna captain the ship into the future the credit card companies or YOU!
Good luck

HELLO BOKKEN - BOTH LYNZPOWER AND YOUR REPLIES MAKE ME FEEL BETTER ABOUT THE SITUATION. I HAVE POSTED MY SOA AND INFO ABOUT CREDIT CARDS TO HIM/HER BUT INCASE I HAVENT USED THE SITE CORRECTLY AND YOU CANT SEE MY REPLY, HERE IT IS AGAIN:

[REPLY TO LYNZPOWER]:



THANKS VERY MUCH FOR A PROMPT REPLY - FEEL BETTER FOR READING THAT CONSOLIDATION LOAN POSSIBLY NOT BEST OPTION. HERE'S MY SOA:

MONTHLY INCOME: 1697.00

OUTGOINGS:

MORTGAGE: 267.00 (SEE NOTE 1 BELOW)
RENT: 231.00 (NOTE 2)
COUNCIL TAX: 85.00 (NOTE 3)
CONTENTS INS: 15.00 (NOTE 4)
GAS & ELEC 47.50 (NOTE 5)
WATER: 24.00 (NOTE 6)
GROCERIES: 300.00
TRAVEL: 86.00
TV LICENCE: 11.00
BT: 16.00 (NOTE 7)
HOME PHONE: 40.00 (NOTE 8)
MOBILE: 40.00 (NOTE 9)
WHICH ONLINE: 5.00
INTERNET BROADBAND: 25.00 (NOTE 10)
MILKMAN: 10.00
CHARITY HELP AGED: 12.00
CHARITY ACTIONAID: 21.00

TOTAL: £1245.50

SURPLUS: £451.50

NOTE 1: COMPLETED REMORTGAGE YESTERDAY - MONTHLY FIGURE BECOMES £187.00 FROM NEXT MONTH

NOTE 2: I HAVE A SHARED OWNERSHIP PROPERTY WITH A HOUSING ASSOCIATION.

NOTE 3: THIS FIGURE INCLUDES 25% DISCOUNT FOR SINGLE OCCUPANCY

NOTE 4: CONTENTS INSURANCE COMES UP FOR RENEWAL NEXT MONTH AND I'M LOOKING TO SEE IF I CAN REDUCE IT WITH A COMPETITIVE QUOTE FROM ANOTHER INSURER

NOTE 5: I'VE JUST SWITCHED DUAL FUEL PROVIDER BUT BECAUSE I'VE MOVED OVER TO A CAPPED RATE MY MONTHLY AMOUNT WILL ONLY GO DOWN BY £1 OR SO

NOTE 6: THIS FIGURE SHOULD REDUCE - HAVE ASKED TO HAVE A WATER METER FITTED

NOTE 7: CAN'T REDUCE THIS FURTHER SINCE I GET LINE RENTAL FOR £11 PLUS NETWORK SERVICES (ANSWERING SERVICE PLUS REMINDER SERVICE) OF £5

NOTES 8 & 9: HAVE STARTED BEING MORE AWARE OF KEEPING THESE COSTS AS LOW AS POSS AND HAVE STARTED USING MSE CALL CHECKER AND MARTIN'S TIPS ON KEEPING COSTS OF CALLING AS LOW AS POSS - BUT MY FAMILY IS ABROAD (PAKISTAN AND THE US); AND MY MOBILE TARIFF IS £25 PER MONTH PLUS £5 INSURANCE). SAVINGS I MAKE AS A RESULT OF CONSCIOUS COST CUTTING HERE SHOULD BE KNOWN NEXT MONTH

NOTE 10: HAVE JUST SWITCHED TO A LOWER BROADBAND TARIFF OF £14.99 PER MONTH - THIS WILL KICK IN IN 5 DAYS TIME.


COMING TO THE CREDIT CARDS - (NB: CREDIT CARD PAYMENTS NOT INCLUDED IN OUTGOINGS ABOVE):

BANK OF SCOTLAND: £2,638 O/S - 0% RATE TILL 1ST APRIL; MIN PAYMT: £53.00
COOP BANK: £3,557 O/S - 0% RATE ENDED 14TH FEB; MIN PAYMT: £71.00
NATIONWIDE: £1,611 O/S 14.9% APR; MIN PAYMT: £49.00
MINT: £4,990 O/S 13.9% APR; MIN PAYMT: 112.00

AT PRESENT, THIS ADDS UP TO £285 PER MONTH. TAKING 285.00 AWAY FROM THE 451.00 SURPLUS LEAVES ME WITH £166.00 PER MONTH 'POCKET MONEY' AT PRESENT

ANY ADVICE I CAN ACT ON? I'M AWARE I'M OVER-ANXIOUS AND PERHAPS THINGS AREN'T SO BAD - BUT WANT TO GET OUT OF DEBT AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE; AND HAVING £166.00 SPARE PER MONTH AT THE AGE OF 43 AFTER BEING IN FULL TIME EMPLOYMENT FOR 20 YEARS IS PRETTY DEPRESSING! (BUT I REALISE THAT ITS MY OWN FAULT I'M IN THIS SITUATION)

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR MAKING ME FEEL LESS ALONE AND ABLE TO 'TALK' TO SOMEONE ABOUT THIS

Alleycat

poz_newbie_sel wrote:

MONTHLY INCOME: 1697.00

OUTGOINGS:

MORTGAGE: 267.00 (SEE NOTE 1 BELOW)
RENT: 231.00 (NOTE 2)
COUNCIL TAX: 85.00 (NOTE 3)
CONTENTS INS: 15.00 (NOTE 4)
GAS & ELEC 47.50 (NOTE 5)
WATER: 24.00 (NOTE 6)
GROCERIES: 300.00
TRAVEL: 86.00
TV LICENCE: 11.00
BT: 16.00 (NOTE 7)
HOME PHONE: 40.00 (NOTE 8)
MOBILE: 40.00 (NOTE 9)
WHICH ONLINE: 5.00
INTERNET BROADBAND: 25.00 (NOTE 10)
MILKMAN: 10.00
CHARITY HELP AGED: 12.00
CHARITY ACTIONAID: 21.00

Hi and welcome to MSE!

First thing I would say is your food bill is extremely high for a single person. You could easily cut this by at least £150 per month by cooking more from scratch or at least partially, making sure you bring packed lunches into work etc.

Secondly, if you want to cut down, you could ditch the Which subscription, lower your charity donations (I won't say get rid of them as I know how important they are to many people).

Thirdly, is there any way you could cut your travel costs down? Buy a bike, walk more, travel card?

richgirl

Also they look at the total debt oustanding as a % of total available credit. So if your a high debt % say above 80% then it will hurt your credit rating.

magentadreamer

Well done on freeing up the extra £400. One thing that screams out to me is your food bill, I'm assuming it's just for one person.

Have you thought about taking a packed lunch to work? that'd save you buying lunches etc. Where do you actually shop? Have you tried the discount places like lidl or Aldi? I do a big stock up shop once a month online at Tesco's using various discount codes to get money off or extra points. I then go to my local Lidl and buy fresh stuff there eg veggies/fruit/diary etc. If it's a case of you can't cook -join the club and take a look at the O/S board on here you'll get loads of tips on cooking plus reducing your shopping bill. Last month I spent £137 on food to feed me DD age 8, two cats, a house rabbit, a guinea pig plus hammy - ok when i ran out of the posh cat food the cats weren't amused with Lidl's finest cat food!

poz_newbie_sel

Sorry I didnt understand your post - could you explain? Or am I being dense <duh>? Cheers for responding

scottishspendaholic

Hi poz,

magentadreamer means the MSE Old Style board - where you can find loads of receipes and tips on cooking cheaply on a budget - is that what you were confused about?

It seems like you've done a fantastic job at getting your finances as low as possible. I would agree with everyone about the groceries budget - you could lower this to £100 ish a month - or if that's too strict, then lower it by £50 a month every month and finding new ways to save and new bargains every month will become addictive!

I know you mentioned about your phone bills and needing to call abroad etc., but do you think that you could possibly cut down the mobile - and switch to pay as you go and top up with a £10 capped limit every month? Then just use that for texts/very odd call and use your home phone for everything else?

Another thing I would suggest would be to keep a spending diary - write down EVERYTHING you spend EVERY day - every coffee, paper, pint of milk etc - I've been doing this since the new year and it is SHOCKING! It really helps with the discipline.

Hope this helps

scottishspendaholic x

poz_newbie_sel

magentadreamer wrote:

Well done on freeing up the extra £400. One thing that screams out to me is your food bill, I'm assuming it's just for one person.

Have you thought about taking a packed lunch to work? that'd save you buying lunches etc. Where do you actually shop? Have you tried the discount places like lidl or Aldi? I do a big stock up shop once a month online at Tesco's using various discount codes to get money off or extra points. I then go to my local Lidl and buy fresh stuff there eg veggies/fruit/diary etc. If it's a case of you can't cook -join the club and take a look at the O/S board on here you'll get loads of tips on cooking plus reducing your shopping bill. Last month I spent £137 on food to feed me DD age 8, two cats, a house rabbit, a guinea pig plus hammy - ok when i ran out of the posh cat food the cats weren't amused with Lidl's finest cat food!

CHEERS :T MY FOOD BILL IS INDEED FOR ONE PERSON. YOU'RE AMAZING GETTING YOUR FOOD BILL DOWN TO £137 FOR LAST MONTH. I SHOULD FOLLOW YOUR LEAD: HAVE BOTH TESCO AND LIDL NEAR ME.

I STARTED TAKING A PACKED LUNCH INTO WORK AS OF LAST WEEK. THANKS ALSO FOR BRINGING THE O/S BOARD TO MY ATTENTION - (ASSUME THATS ONE OF THE FORUMS, DOES O/S STAND FOR ANYTHING?)

THANK YOU SO MUCH - REALLY APPRECIATE ALL THE RESPONSES - IT REALLY IS HELPING