Newbie in need of advice

Ceri_2

Hiya, new to the forums, am trying to read through & see what other people do to cut debt but I do need advice on my own.

My current debt stands at £9199

broken down it is

Barclays - 3059.55 - 6.9 % for life of balance

Egg - £4385.98 - £1800 on 15.9% and the rest of 0% apr (fell into the anniversary trap)

Mother - £1754.00 - 0% apr for life!!

I also have a 60k mortgage which I took out last year.

Some of the debt is my own fault, well all of it is, but it was down to about 3k last year but my sis was ill & I did a lot of travelling to see her (200 miles away) and petrol & services & hospital parking etc went on the card, then this year, a week after I signed on, my boiler packed in & a £2600 boiler went on a card.

I do have another card, halifax one, but no special apr's on that at the moment. But since I have 2 weeks left on my anniversary offer on egg, I am thinking about moving all my egg debt to halifax & then moving it back as soon as it disappears off egg.


Mom says she can take monthly payments from me & doesn't need the money asap, but I am concerned about this & would prefer to pay her back in one go.

My original thinking was to get an unsecured loan and drop the payments down to about £150 a month which would leave me about £50 a month to save up for car stuff & the birth of my neice or nephew in a few months time.

But, after talking to my bank (my credit rating does not appear to be that great so didn't want loads of companies credit searching me), the best thing I can do to bring the payment amount down is to take a £10k loan out over 10 years. The monthly payment being £177 and the apr at a horrible 9.9%

This leaves me a bit to save each month, and if I don't save I have to ask mother for money each time the car goes for service, mot, tax or insurance.

However, after getting the paperwork (nothing is signed), I felt sick knowing I would have to pay back £21k after adding interest & payment protection.

So my questions are as follows

Should I stick with the credit cards & be a tart whenever a good apr comes up?

Should I go for the loan mentioned above?

or should I keep the barclaycard debt where it is (as it is an ok rate) and get a loan for the rest?

What are your thoughts on payment protection?

To help you with these answers I will just say that if I don't count the credit cards I have a disposable income of £200 but I do want to save £50 a month for upcoming car things each year.

I also don't have a perm job at the moment, I am temping covering maternity so could be jobless in 6 months.

I will be interested to see your thoughts,
thanks
Ceri

Ceri_2

Perhaps I should add that I have called my mobile company & managed to cut my monthly bill from £35 to £10 a month & only loose 100 mins a month. Making a saving of £300 a year

Called Sky & told them I wanted to cancel due to lack of funds & they cut my bill from £21 a month to £7.50 a month for 6 months - I will cancel completely in 6 months. Making a saving of £81 in the first 6 months & £126 on the following 6 months

Planning on cancelling broadband & losing internet (will go on pay as you go dial up which will stop me dialling up!) but already paid up till mid april so calling them in the next few weeks. Making a saving of £300 a year (minus the odd call charges to dial up)

aaarrrggghhh

I'm relatively new here as well, but in terms of cost-cutting, after reading your post re: a new boiler, is there any way you could cut your energy bills at all? Cheaper gas and cheaper electricity has saved my parents a huge amount, enough for a holiday (we have a big house).

Ceri_2

adammccance wrote:

I'm relatively new here as well, but in terms of cost-cutting, after reading your post re: a new boiler, is there any way you could cut your energy bills at all? Cheaper gas and cheaper electricity has saved my parents a huge amount, enough for a holiday (we have a big house).

Am doing that at the moment. Bought this house last may & with the probs with my sis not everything got done. My cousin filled in a hole in the kitchen the other day that had been letting in a nice draft. Am waiting on free cavity wall insulation & loft insulation (a perk of getting the boiler) and we def need the loft doing! The old boiler was a fair few years old anyway so this new one will hopefully cut costs, but to be honest I have started just sitting in bed with my duvet over me rather than turn up the heat. Already got dual fuel & after comparing don't think I could make any savings by switching.

Have energy saving light bulbs & have started turning everything off if I don't use it at that precise moment. Am on an energy saving kick at the moment

A bad day yesterday left me a few quid down the pan after buying fish & chips & chocolate.....whoops....must stop that

aaarrrggghhh

Nothing better than snuggling up in your own (or somebody else's, I suppose) bed, is there? I actually prefer it when it's really cold (no heating) - I love getting warm under the blankets.

God, I am odd. It rhymes.

bommer

I'm sure there will be a more experienced moneysaver along soon with some good advice, but best thing first is to post a list of your income and a complete list of your outgoings per month.

Ceri_2

bommer wrote:

I'm sure there will be a more experienced moneysaver along soon with some good advice, but best thing first is to post a list of your income and a complete list of your outgoings per month.

Thanks

I do & don't see the point of that, I have cut down or cancelled every bill I can, if I cancel anything else I will lose endowments (3 years left to mature), health benefits & such like. I know I have £200 disposable income. Not sure if I want to share to the world my total incoming & outgoings. If someone can explain exactly why I may be prepared to do that off the forums.

Sorry but as much as I want help I do want to keep my privacy.

Hope no one take offense at this.

Ceri_2

adammccance wrote:

Nothing better than snuggling up in your own (or somebody else's, I suppose) bed, is there? I actually prefer it when it's really cold (no heating) - I love getting warm under the blankets.

God, I am odd. It rhymes.

Much better in someone else's & that someone else is there *wink*

Chortle_2

Welcome to MSE :beer:

I've been a DFW for a long while now, but only recently joined in with posting on the forums, so I'm probably not as qualified as some on here to advise you, but I'll give it a go until the others arrive

I think the reason that they normally ask for an SOA is to see where they can save people money, (and they can save £££'s even where you think its all been cut to the bone!) but it does sound like you've already done a lot of the things they'd advise anyway.

I *know* they'll tell you that consolidating is a VERY BAD IDEA though!

I don't know your exact figures, (min payments etc, see, another use for SOA's ) but I've bunged the details you've given us so far into a snowball calculator quickly, and according to that, paying off £150 p/month correctly (your disposable, less the £50 for car etc - and assuming a monthly pmt of £50 to your mum...) you would be out of debt in September 2012, and it'd cost you somewhere in the region of £3.5k in interest in that time. Compare that to a ten year loan (debt free date of 2016, assuming you didn't fall into the trap that people normally do, of taking out yet more credit) and over £10k in interest!!!!!

Just based on those (admittedly very rough) figures, consolidating is clearly NOT the way to go!

Have a go at the snowball calculator yourself - www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx - with the accurate figures, and see for yourself.

I know that posting an SOA seems a bit, well, intimate, but no-one on here will know who you are, so its not really that personal. 99% of the people who'll read it are (or at least once were) in the same position as you, so it isn't like you'll be judged, and honestly, they may be able to offer you advice on something that you'd never have thought of on your own. Sometimes we are just too close to our own situations to see them logically.

HTH

moozie_2

Hello there and welcome

I would not advise you to get a loan at all. The figures don't add up in favour of it. Also, are you absolutely certain that if you got a loan, you wouldn't run up debts again? Many on here, including myself, have fallen in the trap of consolidation, only to find ourselves in a worse position later on. However, we are all different and only you know what you can achieve.

In terms of payment protection, I am not sure how beneficial it is to you at the moment if you are temping. It would help your repayments if you didn't have that added on but again, your choice.

As for the SOA, it is not suggested you post it because people on here are nosey or want to identify you. IT is often the case that another person can see a saving where you have missed it. That's all. We are all here to help each other and the forum is one of the most open and helpful I have ever come accross.

Best of luck and keep posting.

Ceri_2

Chortle wrote:

Welcome to MSE :beer:

I've been a DFW for a long while now, but only recently joined in with posting on the forums, so I'm probably not as qualified as some on here to advise you, but I'll give it a go until the others arrive

I think the reason that they normally ask for an SOA is to see where they can save people money, (and they can save £££'s even where you think its all been cut to the bone!) but it does sound like you've already done a lot of the things they'd advise anyway.

I *know* they'll tell you that consolidating is a VERY BAD IDEA though!

I don't know your exact figures, (min payments etc, see, another use for SOA's ) but I've bunged the details you've given us so far into a snowball calculator quickly, and according to that, paying off £150 p/month correctly (your disposable, less the £50 for car etc - and assuming a monthly pmt of £50 to your mum...) you would be out of debt in September 2012, and it'd cost you somewhere in the region of £3.5k in interest in that time. Compare that to a ten year loan (debt free date of 2016, assuming you didn't fall into the trap that people normally do, of taking out yet more credit) and over £10k in interest!!!!!

Just based on those (admittedly very rough) figures, consolidating is clearly NOT the way to go!

Have a go at the snowball calculator yourself - www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx - with the accurate figures, and see for yourself.

I know that posting an SOA seems a bit, well, intimate, but no-one on here will know who you are, so its not really that personal. 99% of the people who'll read it are (or at least once were) in the same position as you, so it isn't like you'll be judged, and honestly, they may be able to offer you advice on something that you'd never have thought of on your own. Sometimes we are just too close to our own situations to see them logically.

HTH

Thank you Chortle.

I had been thinking consolidating was a bad move, but I am trying to pay as much as I can off my cards but at the moment can only pay the min. Tomorrow should be the day I get my egg card statement & know for sure if I can manage that min payment - fingers crossed!! If I can't make the min payment I am in deep do do!

Want to seriously pay my mom £50 a month. She is paying my car insurance next month but I have already added that to the debt I owe her so that figure won't actually go up. And getting rid of the car is not an option as I am not close to good public transport & need to the car to get to work.

Will post my SOA when I know the egg figure so it is more accurate.

Still not keen on this idea but if it helps ppl suggest things then I will do it, I don't have much choice I seriously need help. (I know I don't have as much debt as some ppl but I hate just paying the min amount)

I have tried in the past to sell things on ebay but nothing sold & I ended up out of pocket cos of the fees. I do still keep things on amazon marketplace though and I have had sales on there, but not made much money.