seen the light but need help

ellieshopaholic

i had my 'lightbulb' moment last week when realised had spent up before i had even bought food because of paying back cards,loan catologues etc etc.
feel terrible that i have got myself in such a mess and really sat downa nd worked everything out and should be clear IF I STICK TO PLAN by 2009.
i really want to be but i am afraid to go near the shops now in case i spend money we can not afford.
i took advise from other notices and we are using the stuff int he cupboards which is quite a lot as i used to buy loads of food we did nto need as well, but the crunch came when i realised once that is all gone we still can not afford to buy food next month.
any ideas on how to get over this blip in my plan, i have done spread sheets to work out all the outgoings,
i am £26000 in debt and thought i could wing it but i am really upset that i have wasted so much money on things we could have done without.
everyone in the house thiks i have gone mad as i tell them to put of lights , don't break anything and if its cold put a sweater on etc.
not sure whether to follow advice to get an 0% card to pay off overdrafts and maybe get soem interest free on the existing cards to get rid of debt faster
i am very old for all this worry and at this time of life should be enjoying going out more and having fun times now children are older but we can not do anything because we have to pay back MY spending!!!

newmoneysaver_2

Ellie,

itwould really help if you could post a statement of affairs - list all your income, all your outgoings including balance, apr and credit limits. That way we can try and help you to cut back on things.

briona

ellieshopaholic wrote:

i had my 'lightbulb' moment last week when realised had spent up before i had even bought food because of paying back cards,loan catologues etc etc.
feel terrible that i have got myself in such a mess and really sat downa nd worked everything out and should be clear IF I STICK TO PLAN by 2009.
i really want to be but i am afraid to go near the shops now in case i spend money we can not afford.
i took advise from other notices and we are using the stuff int he cupboards which is quite a lot as i used to buy loads of food we did nto need as well, but the crunch came when i realised once that is all gone we still can not afford to buy food next month.
any ideas on how to get over this blip in my plan, i have done spread sheets to work out all the outgoings,
i am £26000 in debt and thought i could wing it but i am really upset that i have wasted so much money on things we could have done without.
everyone in the house thiks i have gone mad as i tell them to put of lights , don't break anything and if its cold put a sweater on etc.
not sure whether to follow advice to get an 0% card to pay off overdrafts and maybe get soem interest free on the existing cards to get rid of debt faster
i am very old for all this worry and at this time of life should be enjoying going out more and having fun times now children are older but we can not do anything because we have to pay back MY spending!!!

Hi Ellie

Welcome to MSE! You've taken the first step by working out what you owe and by posting here – well done!

Now, why not post an SOA [Statement of Affairs – all your incomings, outgoings, debts and their APRs]? Sometimes you just can't see the wood for the trees and others will be able to offer brilliant advice that means you can afford next month's food!

Best of luck.

Briona

ellieshopaholic

loan 376.96
virgin 65.00
capital one 65.00
m&S 55.00
catologues 134.00
Next 15.00
c tax 132.40
life ins 10.94
dog insurance 8.34 just managed to get this down this year
overdrafts clydes 500.00
first direct 500.00
tv licence 10.99
mobiles 45.00
sky 46.00
bt 22.00
incomings
825.35 after tax earnings
200.00 maintenance
113.60 f/a
bank charges 30.00 as a total from both
i sset up a friendly savign plan for 10 a month as i have a daughter who will want to get married in the next five years.she does not live at home.
all other bills are paid by my husband ie mortgage, car, petrol, utilities pensions other life insurance and isa who does not go out either this is why we have sky just changed to this package for sky plus and tied to it for 12 months bad move we know. we have switched gas and electric when martin said to do it and are benefiting from that now,
mobiles we get the best deal we think for the way we use the phones(during the day and not at night) we only use the free minutes and texts so never go over the monthly charge for them.Husband needs his for work mostly and i have a son with health problems so like to have phone with me at all times and they go away alot and their father does nto let them phone from house phone so need to be able to speak to me during the day while he is out in the school holidays.

CLAPTON

it would be a lot easier to read, if you could reformat your SoA along the lines below....it separates spending from debt repayments, also provides more information about debts i.e. debt amount, monthly repayment, and APRs..all useful stuff.alos it asked for subtotals so we dont all have to add them up.
also I'm unclear about your domestic arrangements...are you living with your husband...i only ask because it impacts on debts solutions, also if you have savings can you say how much

If you browse the bulletin board you will see examples but the general format is

: statement of income:

: statement of expenditure
this should be quite detailed but excluding debt repayment
: a subtotal to save us all having to add it up

: statement of all debts including
outstanding amount, monthly repayment , APR
a subtotal of the total debt and of the total repayments, to save us having to add it up

briona

Hi Ellie

My thoughts are these:

DEBTS:
Next £15
Catalogues £134
M&S £55
Capital One £65
Virgin £65

I assume these are all minimum payments you're making? The interest rates on Next and the other catalogues will be around 29.9% [which is HUGE!]. This means that for every £100 of the original debt you owed them, you are now paying back £130! As the min. payment on Next is pretty small [in the big scheme of things], is there anyway you could clear this all in one go? It would be one less debt and would save you a hell of a lot of interest... Once you've cleared that debt, you'll have an extra £15pm to throw at the one with the next highest interest rate [without knowing what the APRs are, I have assumed an order for them above].

C/Tax £132.40pm
That is HUGE! Are you in arrears with it or do you just live in a ridiculously expensive Council Tax area??? I share with four other people – I think we do get some kind of a discount – and between us we are only paying £70pm for this!

Maintenance £200pm
What is exactly is this for? It seems a huge amount to be paying out/putting aside for emergencies... If this can be cut down/removed altogether it would free up money to clear the debts with the highest APRs...

Sky £46pm
I know you said you've just changed to this and are stuck in a 12 month contract, but it is a lot of money to pay out each month and I doubt that anyone watches all of the available channels. It might be worth talking to them to say that you are unhappy with the service and would like to cancel. They probably won't cancel it for you but may offer a discount for a few months. Every little helps.

Hope this helps. Gotta go back to work now.

Briona

D&DD

Hi Ellie whizz over to the old style boards when you get a chance they are fantastic on there and can help you make a meal out of virtually nothing! It takes a while for the budget to kick in once you start but in a few weeks hopefully things will start to be easier.
Do start a spending diary as well as this helps to see where every penny goes then you can start to address the needs against the waste!

MrsTinks

How recent is "just" with the Sky? You have a cancellation period I think...
Briona: The maintenance is an income I believe

ellieshopaholic

sorry did not know how to set it out for you all to look at.
answer to questions: council tax is fairly cheap we thought as it includes our water rates in scotland there is no discoutn to have as i am married.
will try to get sky reduced.
the maintenance is received fronm ex husband not put out, that is for two boys which is nto alot to receive when they are 11 and 14.works out 27.50 a week each boy.
my new husband and i are together i will try and put the soa in better order , i am not meaning to be dizzy just been under a lto of strain trying to keep it from my husband how much i owe, he knows about bank loan as this was for divorce debts, i was one of the few wives that got stung rather than the man. i got the house but had to pay the legal aid board ten percent of the value of the house in return for my legal aid.i also had to get a mortgage for the house which was bought in cash and then pay for the heating to be put in as it did not have any and other things it was missing!!! butmy new husband has taken that payment on to free up some of my wages to pay off the loan.
taking on board what you are saying about next it is minimum payment and is only £181 o/standing on that so may get it paid off in two months.If managed to get something else reduced.afraid do nto know all my APR's you all must think i am really stupid.
incomings:
wages 825.35 after tax
Maintenance rec'd 200.00
tax credit (forgot about that as that gets paid to one of the overdrafts) 42.11
family allowance 113.60
total incomings£ 1181.06

Debts
loan 18557.88inc interest= £15542.00 o/s started 07/05 pm £376.96
virgin5000.00 o/s 5000.00 pm £55.00
capital one 2000.00 o/s 1920.62 pm £65.00
m&s 2000.00 o/s 1900.00 pm £55.00
Next o/s 182.11 pm £15.00
catlogues o/s 1984.99 all interest free pm £134.00
overdraft first direct o/s£ 498.99
overdraft clydesdale o/s £494.32
total debt to date £27523.03 total payments pm £700.96

monthly direct debits £ 46.00 sky
£45.00 o2
£8.34 dog insurance
£10.94 life assurance for mortgage
£10.99 tv licence
£132.40 council tax
£10.00 scottish friendly
£30.00 bank charges
£22.00 british telecom
total direct debits £305.67
Is this better for everyone to see my SOA and help me?
ellie

Murtle

Well done for posting your SOA. Do you know the APR's for the loans and overdrafts? They are useful to know to advise which ones to attack first!! Also what are the totals that you owe, ie on Next you are paying £15 per month, how much have you got left to go??

Re: post above I wouldn't class the Council Tax as huge, mine is nearly that for a flat!
The maintenance is money coming in, I guess it's maintenance for the children as they live with Mum, not Dad?




loan 376.96 (total = £?.??)
virgin 65 (total = £?.??)
capital one 65 (total = £?.??)
m&s 55 (total = £?.??)
catologues 134 (total = £?.??)
Next 15 (total = £?.??)
c tax 132.4
life ins 10.94
dog insurance 8.34
bank charges 30.00
tv licence 10.99
mobiles 45
sky 46
bt 22
1016.63

incomings
after tax earnings 825.35
maintenance 200
f/a 113.6
1138.95

overdrafts
clydes 500.00
first direct 500.00
are the £30 bank charges due to the overdrafts or because of something else? and are they monthly paid or one offs??

Murtle
x

Murtle

defo NOT stupid honey!!!

M

x