Big debt for a small girl! Help needed

iwillbedebtfree_2

Hello everyone,
I come in need of your help.... I will be 25 at the end of this month & my huge debt issues have been hanging over me for what seems like forever!

Here is my situation (edited so I don’t completely bore you!)…

I have lived on my own since the age of 15. When I was 18 Aqua card threw credit at me & I was only too happy to catch it. I maxed out the card within months & only ever paid back the minimum. As my jobs improved, so did the number of companies wanting to give me credit. I took out more cards & the debt mounted up.
I was shaken into my LBM when I was 21 by my older brother when he realised the debt I was in. I then pulled myself together & tried to get on top of it. I have been an avid Moneysaver ever since. I am addicted to this website but new to the forum.
Latest ‘ It doesn’t rain but pours’ situation: I was made redundant in September, so was out of work for 8 months.
I have just found work again now so am trying to build up an Action Plan to shift this debt for good. That’s where you all come in.
I think I am doing all I can at this stage but I’m sure you will spot more areas I can work on.
Here is an overview:

Total Combined income - £2,925
Total Outgoings - £2,133 (inc mortgage, OH debt, wedding savings fund & proposed £550 to clear my debt etc)

I am positive we are saving as much as possible on our home outgoings (Thanks to this site). We are on the cheapest phone, utilities etc. I also do surveys & ebay regularly to make extra cash.

My personal Debt -
Sky Card debt - £2000 at 33% interest!:mad:
Virgin Card - £8500 at 25% interest!:mad:
Mint Card - £1,200 at 10% interest
Loan - £7000 at 10% with another 3 years remaining on 5 year agreement.

As I have only just got back into work, does anyone have any idea how long it will take for me to be able to get accepted for another credit card offering a descent rate?
I need to transfer these debts asap as the interest is sooooo high.

I cant quite get to grips with the Snowball in efforts to see my possible DFD. Any help? I am able to spend a max of £550 per month on shifting this debt.

Hope it makes sense to you! Any advice at all will be greatly appreciated.

crapwithcash82

Hi There, just a quick post to say hello and welcome - you've made a good first step by creating a diary on here, I find it really motivating and you can pick up ideas from other diaries on how to make a bit more here and there, and tips on how to make what you have last!

I'm not too sure about the snowball thing, I've never had a look at it to be honest!! I'm sure someone who knows more will be along soon tho, just wanted to say welcome and good luck - your in good hands on here! x

iwillbedebtfree_2

Thank you so much! Thats very kind.
I just hope people stop by to offer advice but nobody (other than your good self) seems to be viewing this post. Have I entered something in wrongly?

ragstoricheswannabe

Hello!!!!!! i have played with the snowball calcualtor a while back so might help, might not............

you have to put in the amount owed on all debts and then the apr's of the debts and then how much you are paying to said debts. It will then at the bottom show you the payments to be made (including increasing amounts paid when smaller debts are paid off) and a debt free date.......

hope that helps????
love rags
xxxxxxx

Little_Miss_Uni-Debt

Heya!

I've had a play about with the snowball calc (I love that thing!) Basically from the info you have given so far I work out your DFD to be as follows :-

May 2011 - Sky (paying at least 3%+ each month of balance) Starting at £84 pcm increasing by £3 each month and going up to £148 as your other payments get lower.
May 2012 - Loan - Based on your monthly payments being around £175 pcm fixed - is that right?
Jan 2013 - Virgin - Based on paying around £255 pcm as its your highest amount on one card even though it's a lower rate. Also Mint would finish on this month also based on paying 3% min around £36 pcm going down by 50p each month.

So that is the absolute longest it is gonna take. Don't be disheartened if that seems a long time. There's lots of shuffling that can be done that can wear those months away.

Are all your cards up to their limit? Any chance of transferring money from high ones to low ones? Check your loan repayments. What is the fixed amount you have to pay for your loan each month. Do you have payment protection insurance? This will give you a more accurate figure on the snowballer. What are your min payments each month to these cards? Around 3% or lower maybe?

Have you tried calling your card companies and saying your having trouble paying and ask to reduce the rate. Esp for Sky. I know it has worked for a lot of people and it doesnt hurt to ask. Be bold and bring down that DFD date! It'll come sooner than you think!

Hope this helps!

iwillbedebtfree_2

Hello Little Miss Uni-Debt!

Thank you so much for doing that for me - It really helps.

Here is some extras info for you:

Sky - Paying the 3% each month. I wrote off to all of my creditors last month asking them to freeze interest or anything that would be of help! Sky have just written back to me asking me to phone in so I will do that today.
Loan -My monthly repayments are £179 fixed so you were very close! I would of course love to be able to pay this one off early but it's only at 10% compared to the big 33% corkers, so it can wait!
Virgin - Up to my limit here. Paying 3%. Again , I will call them today to see what they can do. They did reply to my letter by saying that if they did do anything to help me it would be stored on my credit report. I’ve never missed a payment on anything - Even in these hard times - So didn’t want me asking for help to go against me. What do you think?
Mint - Up to my limit. Paying more than 3% at the moment but will go with what the Snowball says & prioritize elsewhere!

When the rates were lower on Virgin I move some debt over to it but them I was stung by the massive hike in interest when I lost my job.
I don’t have PPI on any of them.
I reclaimed some old bank charges back too but had to use that money to live on during the past few months.

After next June, the amount I can repay will be much higher as we are saving for our wedding. Once that is outta the way we can still put the same amount of 'wedding fund' aside & hammer down this debt!

Thanks again, I really appreciate it.
xxx

Intergalactic_Floozie

Hello, congratulations on getting another job following your redundancy. You'll find a lot of people have time to read threads but not to post on them particularly if they don't necessarily have anything useful to add. Good luck!

Fire_Fox

Can you complete a full Statement of Affairs so we can see what is going in and out (bills, debts, savings), what your minimum payments are, etc.etc. It's easier than getting the wrong end of the stick or having to ask questions and then remember to come back for the answer!
http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

Little_Miss_Uni-Debt

Heya!

No problems, glad it helped! The snowballer is great and does work out the cheapest solution. However when I was paying my cards off I couldn't help start with the lowest balance first. Just having one less debt even if its a small one feels very good :-)

Just think, you could get rid of your Mint card in just about 3 months - then that'd change your snowballing quite a bit!

Really, if you forget about the loan - as that is fixed you're looking at £371 pcm to throw at your cards. That is quite a hefty chunk - you jus gotta decide which will keep you motivated more, focussing on the costly debts or blitzing those small ones sooner.... It's a toughie!

iwillbedebtfree_2

Hey Little Miss Uni-Debt,

I just rang Sky & asked what they could do to help the situation. The answer in short was- Nothing! Other than putting me on a 'Reduced Payment Plan' that will go on my credit file for 6 years, they will not reduce the interest at all. Ive been a great customer, never missed a payment etc but they werent interested.
By that point I was in the zone, so rang Virgin. They were much better about things. The lady told me that after another 2 months of no activity on my account, they will look at reducing interest to 12.8% for 12 months- WAAYY better than what im on! That should change the snowball quite a bit too.

Yeah, I know what you mean about Mint & I am very, very tempted to just get rid of that one first - I will have a think about it.

Thanks again for your help - You have been great already (May need more Snowball help though!)

Little_Miss_Uni-Debt

Hi again,

Well done on getting Virgin to consider reducing their interest - that is a fantastic result! As for Sky, well their unhelpful-ness (if there is such a word! ) is just another reason to get rid of em sooner rather than later! They'd be more likely to keep you as a customer in the long term if they had helped you out!

Seriously though, that is an amazing reduction on the interest for your biggest balance.

Did you know that now... (courtesy of the snowballer of course!) just by reducing your interest to say (rounding up) 13% for a period of 12 months that has taken your overall interest payments on your cards from

£6493 to £4458!!!!! That is a saving of £2035!! Not bad for a 10min phone call eh!

Not only that but you have reduced your DFD by 6 whole months! :eek: It has gone from 50 months to 44months (just on your card payments) Just think, you could use that money towards your loan to pay it off even sooner!

What a great start! :T