Help to sort out my debt

SparciaM

Hi, I've been on here for a few months now and it's been good, but today my car cost me a further £300 to repair it, so my monthly budget this month is terrible - but what can I do?

Debts:

Cahoot Personal Loan, 9.7% £3400 remaning [Ends 2009] - £106.50pm
HSBC Personl Loan, 7.9% £7000 remaining [Ends 2010] - £160.90pm
HSBC Credit Card, 14.9% £500 on balance [Pay minimum each month]

Bills:

Rent £275pm
Gym £49pm
Gas and Electric £30pm
Phone and Internet £15pm
Mobile £30pm
Petrol £50 - £70 pm
Water £15pm
Food £30 - £50pm
Socialising £40 - £150pm

I only get about £800 - £850 a month after tax, so not much once my bills come out.

I've just applied for a staff loan at 4.5% to try and consol one of my loans, but I don't know what else I can do bar overtime and strict no going out policy. I only go out one a week and I do buy CDs or anything. I only spend on living and nothing more.

Can people think of any other ways I can cut back so I can save about £50 a month for a rainy day if the car happens again!

THE_LONE_RANGER_4

my advice would be try and join a credit union if you can manage to save £35.00 plus per month they are always handy for a rainy day ,you can borrow up to 3times the value of your savings, go on the web type in uk credit unions find your nearest. to be fair try and cut down on your social life funds £150 is a bit steap when your on a budget, incorperate your gym in to socialising ,my gym has a bar small restaurant , some i no dont but i cant see where else you can cut down, as your income is quite low unless you can take on any extra work reguards andrew

skintchick

The gym, mobile and socialising can all be cut/axed.

You have more going out than coming in right now, so you have to sort that out before things get any worse.

Can you use a cheaper gym or do stuff at home instead as that is very expensive.

Use your mobile less to save cash.

Stop going out so much definitely!! Stay in, go out maybe once a month and don;t spend too much, don;t get taxis home, etc.

you need to focus on the HSBC cc as that has the higest interest rate, so you need to really hammer it and pay it off.

can you get a second job? rent a room out? sell stuff on eBay?

follyfax

If I were you I'd get in touch with CAP (a free debt counselling organisation - they are a christian charity) who sorted out all my debts for me - they pay all my debts on my behalf from an account I pay into every month and they speak on my behalf to creditors and have got interest frozen, negotiated manageable repayments for me, all sorts - I got peace of mind back after they stepped in - they are brilliant: http://www.capuk.org

southernscouser

Have you tried flogging everything you don't need/want/use on ebay? Can always be good for a couple of hundred quid first time round!

Your social money seems to be the obvious cut back! Between £40-£150 is quite a gap! Can you restrict yourself to say a score a week?

Also regarding your gym membership. I know alot of people will say give it up but if you do use it regularly then in my opinion it's worth it however, do you not have a cheaper one near you?

little_miss_broke_2

Hi

I'm pretty new here, so my advice may not be great, or what you want to hear

2 things strike me from your list:
1. The gym - that's pretty expensive and maybe something you should knock on the head till you're a bit better off. Maybe you could walk more (so you're still getting your exercise), would also help with your petrol costs.

2. Socialising - that's quite a varied couple of figures you've got there. Maybe you should make it one "fixed" amount, say £50 (or less, preferably) and go out twice a month instead of every week. I know that might sound a bit harsh, but i'm not going out at all at the moment to try and reduce my debts.

SparciaM

Gym is on a 12 month contract and has 5 months remaining - I've considered paying it all off on a 0% CC and cancelling and paying it back slowly!.!

Mobile is also on a 12 month contract and cannot be changed for atleast 4 months - the £30 on my mobile, is a saving for me as my last contract was nearly £45 a month!

Socialising does vary. A normal night out will set me back £15 - £20 and that is walking to and from town. I just drink far too much beer! I've decided to cut the drinking to once a fortnight from this week and see what happens.

Have gave my mum all my DVDs and CDs and asked her to sell them at a carboot at £3 a pot, which if all sold would give me £150!!!

I work 12pm-8pm, so not the best shift for another job. I do overtime where available, but after tax it doesn't seem that worth it!

I guess it's a case of making a daily note of all spending each month and then see where I can cut back. My big thing is that I've cut back on no holidays this year. Was in Rome in Jan for 4 days at £150 all in, but that was my only treat for the year!

CLAPTON

can i ask how accurate the spending budget is e.g. you have a car but there's no provision for car insurance, MOT, servicing / repairs
do you spend anything on food at work or parking the car
are there any travel costs other than petrol?
do you ever visit the optician or dentist?

my feeling is that you are probably living by borrowing more and more because your income is simply not enough.

is there any way to get a better paying job or work significant overtime or a part time job. you need about £200 more to live and service your debts.

you dont say your age or situation but could you live back at home so you could save rent costs?

muddled_midget

If it's just beer that's the problem when you go out, try having a pint followed by a pint of coke, before having another beer. I don't know about prices where you are but here a pint of beer is about £3, and coke about £1. It's also quite easy to explain to friends, just as doing it for health rather than for the money problems if you don't want to tell them all. This way you won't feel as if you're depriving yourself. Even better would be to go out once a fortnight, and alternate your drinks. Also try not to get involved in a round system if you're doing this, it ends up costing you just as much for half the alcohol!

southernscouser

SparciaM wrote:

I work 12pm-8pm, so not the best shift for another job. I do overtime where available, but after tax it doesn't seem that worth it!

You should only be paying the basic rate tax on your overtime as you don't earn enough to be in the next tax bracket!

And besides, every penny helps and while your at work earning money you can't be in the pub spending it!

MORPH3US

Some great advice above so not much I can add.

1 thing I would say, would it be possible to sell your car, use the money to pay off debts and save a lot of money (insurance, tax, petrol etc) in the process!

M