Paying off my Mastercard

x_toonangel_x

Hi everyone,

I am 22 years old and managed to get talked into taking out a credit card a year ago with the lovely(!) HBOS.

I then of course, had every intention of using my card when need be, and then paying it off at the end of every month, but when my partner lost his job I ended up getting further and further in debt to Mastercard, my card has now been at the full limit of £1,750, and has been for almost 6 months now.

I pay off as much as I can a month, which is usually around £35, but then my overlimit charge and interest is maxing it again!

I've cancelled my repayment cover, as that was making it even harder to pay the card off, and my job is 100% secure, so I know I won't need it.

Anyway, I've tried applying for 0% cards, with no luck.. My mum has given me £700 towards paying it off, which I am going to pay back to her monthly, and I am cashing in my pension (should get around £400).

So my question is, once I have paid off the £1100, where should I go from here? Should I carry on paying off as much as I can a month until it is cleared? I want to get this paid off as soon as poss, as my credit rating has always been great, up until now!

Sorry for the essay, and I appreciate any advice

Horace

Hi and welcome

How about posting your SOA (Statement of Affairs) https://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html? That way the good folks on here will be able to help you cut back to free up money to chuck at this card.

If you have applied for several cards recently and been knocked back, don't apply for any more for at least 6 months, then apply for a 0% balance transfer card or a life of balance transfer card.

HTH and look forward to seeing your SOA.

skintchick

Yes, we need to know more really, about your income and outgoings, before we can advise. I'd be surprised if £35 really is all you can afford to pay - bet we can find you some money somewhere.

x_toonangel_x

Hope I've done this right....xx

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 0
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 975
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1000
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1975
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 660
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 89
Electricity............................. 30
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 25
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 80
TV Licence.............................. 10
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 75
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 200
Clothing................................ 60
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 15
Contents insurance...................... 50
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 50
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1354

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
Mastercard.....................1750......35........16.9
Total unsecured debts..........1750......35........-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,975
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,354
Available for debt repayments........... 621
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 35
Amount left after debt repayments....... 586
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -1,750
Net Assets.............................. -1,750

x_toonangel_x

Bear in mind, I will now be paying £50 a month to my mum for the money she lent me, and also, she is taking me and my partner on holiday in July, and we need to save our own spending money (approx £600 for both of us, for 2 weeks in Corfu)

dotstar24

x_toonangel_x wrote: »

Hope I've done this right....xx

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 0
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 975
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1000
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1975
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 660
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 89
Electricity............................. 30
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 25
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 80 (this is high are you PAYG?)
TV Licence.............................. 10
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 75 (go to the basic package or get freeview)
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 200 (this is really high,try looking on the MSE old style board for tips eg cooking in bulk and freezing)
Clothing................................ 60 (you don't need this)
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 15
Contents insurance...................... 50 (no expert, but this seems high)
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 50 (whats this?)
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1354

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
Mastercard.....................1750......35........16.9
Total unsecured debts..........1750......35........-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,975
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,354
Available for debt repayments........... 621
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 35
Amount left after debt repayments....... 586
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -1,750
Net Assets.............................. -1,750

hope this helps x

x_toonangel_x

Phone: is for me and my partner, both of us are on £40 contracts (High, I know, but they're 18month contracts so can't do much about that at the moment)

TV: Yes, you're right, we can go to basic package, can't change to Freeview at the moment, as we are in a contract.

Groceries: I personally don't eat that much as I watch my weight, however, my boyfriend eats SO MUCH food, but will definately have a look at what you've suggested.

Clothing: Again, don't need this...you're right, however, the past couple of months have been necessary buying (Boyfriends work pants ripped and work shoes broken etc)

Contents Insurance: That was actually for a couple of things we have on finance, I just didn't know where to put it at the end, so I put it in any box.. sorry x

Other Insurance: This is £50/month that I have to pay to HBOS, as they overpaid on my salary, and I owe them £952, although I have so far paid off £400 of this, so not long to go now!

Horace

Hi, I would also keep a spending diary, so that you know where you are spending e.g. lunches at work, coffees out, newspapers etc.

When work trousers get ripped, get a needle and thread and repair them rather than buying new all the time.

You have nothing listed for entertainment nor for presents or haircuts, you need to put something in here.

Try and have some No Spend Days and any money you save, put towards the debt. To help with the holiday spends, start clearing your loose change into jars e.g. if you save £2 coins they soon mount up etc.

If you are on a contract for your television services with cable or sky say you want to have a smaller package and switch, if they want to keep you as a customer they will let you change.

HTH

Fire_Fox

x_toonangel_x wrote: »

Bear in mind, I will now be paying £50 a month to my mum for the money she lent me, and also, she is taking me and my partner on holiday in July, and we need to save our own spending money (approx £600 for both of us, for 2 weeks in Corfu)

You are basically cashing in your pension (a bad time to do this) to go on holiday?! You should really look hard at this plan - perhaps post on the pensions board. £600 is an awful lot for holiday spending money, and it's actually going to cost you a lot more in lost pension long term ... That's after an extra 17% in the short term (£700) because saving up your spending money is stopping you pay off the credit card.

Ditto your telecoms spending. At the moment it £165 a month or £1980 a year. Multiply by 117% to get the true cost makes over £2300 a year! :eek: Consider trying to cut packages to the minimum, sell one or both phones to fund the next few months contract.

x_toonangel_x

Thanks everyone, will definately start to do all those things.

What do you think the best amount to be paying off a month is?

Obviously I don't want to put the £700 on the credit card, for it to be eaten up by interest, really want to stay on top of it now.

xxx

Fire_Fox

It really depends on how strict you want to be, and how much breathing space you have in the budget (a lot!). Firstly I note on another thread that you have an overdraft - this should be added to your Statement of Affairs. Also have you cut up that credit card yet?

Spend the next week cutting back where you can (advice as above), then sit down again and work both forwards and backwards. You know you have - in theory - £600 a month free for debt repayments and for odds and ends. Where is this going now? How much do you want to throw at your card? When would you like to have the card and overdraft paid off by? How much does that equate to each month?

You have three months until the holiday - that's potentially £1800 (or more if you cut back!!) which would actually pay off the card completely! Are you willing to be that strict or would you prefer to take a little longer? There is no 100% right or wrong answer, just learning new habits and finding what will work for you as a couple.

It is generally not recommended that you start saving until you have paid off your debts - that is because you won't get a decent interest rate in comparison to what you are paying on a credit card. My suggestion for your holiday (if you really really must go), is to set a more sensible budget and get a 0% credit card with only that limit and that can be used for free abroad. When you get back, put it in a bowl of ice and freeze it for emergencies: when the 0% runs out cut it up and cancel it. Otherwise try to pay off your overdraft and then use that, paying it off ASAP when you get back. Don't forget to budget for the 'other' holiday expenses - new clothes (us girls!), train or taxi to and from the airport, airport food, texting your mates from the beach ...