New Guy on the scene - poor!!

richyorks

Hey everyone

I am new on this site. And im going to come clean with my debs for the 1st time! I have been trying to hide them for the past 4years or so, but I guess things caught up with me..

I am 25 and fom near Rotherham and still living with parents. However i am way to skint to move out. I work as a business travel consultant which is okay!.. However I have to spend £155 a month just to get to work, plus my board of £160 a month. Thinking... i might be better living somehwere in Leeds. However I dont think I am going to afford it.


Here below is a summery of my debts! (prepare to be shocked cos I know I was !!!...

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[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]INCOME £1098.00[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Main outgoings:[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Board: £160.00[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Car Insurance and petrol £90.00 (Car insurance comes out 8th every month)[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Public Transport £152.00[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Life Insurance £10.99 (Comes out about 28th every month)[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Phone Bill £70.00[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Drinking and outings £50[/FONT]






[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]What is owed:[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Loans[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Bank of Scotland [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Account number: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Payment due date: 10/07/2009 - £302.00[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Balance: £24,232.00 inc interest and insurance (£11,542 is settlement fig)[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]MBNA (Virgin Loans) [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Account number: xxxxxxxxxx[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Payment due date: 11/07/2009 - £176 [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Balance: £8,000[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Credit cards[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]HSBC Credit Card [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Payment due date: 02/08/2009 -£80.00 -Minimum payment-[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Balance: £2,902.63[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Virgin Credit Card[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Payment due date: 28/07/2009 - £50.52-Minimum payment-[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Balance: £1,867.97[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Barclaycard[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Payment due date: 11/07/2009 - £42.00-Minimum payment-[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Balance: £1,800.00[/FONT]



[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Citicard[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Payment due date: 26/07/2009 - £15.00[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Balance: £345.63 [/FONT]




[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Current Account: overdrawn of £230.00 --Overdraft is £1000[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]HSBC BANK PLC[/FONT]



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Anyway..time for action!!!

I am actually awaiting for a telephone discussion on wednesday with "Pay Plan." Does anyknow know anything about them????

I am meeting the payments for the bills, but I think in a few months I will start to suffer...

ALSO WHY IS MY BANK OF SCOTLAND LOAN SO MUCH OF A RIP OFF!!!!!!!!
:O( :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

Early days but trying to keep positive

Rich )

Sue-UU

Hi Rich and good for you for finally wanting to get to grips with your finances.

With regards to you BOS loan, all loans are rip-offs, but if you think they're charging more than they should be, phone and ask them outright.!

A debt management plan is a great idea. Talk it all through with them, don't leave anything out.

Re the BIG [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Public Transport costs, how about advertising for help to get to and from work, and in so doing cutting the costs for the driver and a heck of a lot for you!

[/FONT]I think you're right about living somewhere in Leeds, surely it would be SO costly, unless again, you shared with more than one flat-mate.

How about other payments you're making, such as mobile phone costs etc? Anything you can possibly get down you need to be doing all you can to do so. If you do have a pricey one then ring and chat to them about a cheaper rate.

How about selling things on ebay or a car boot etc?

If I can think of anything else then I'll get back to you. Meanwhile, bumping this up will give others the chance to answer you too. Good luck and really cut back on your spending, you'll be thankful for doing so once you clear this lot!;)

Sue

tealady

Hi.Your public transport bill is HUGE. Here in Brum I get a monthly bus pass for £38 and if I add all the bus companies and train travel to local stations I can still beat your costs by a mile.
Have you asked the bus/train companies re weekly/monthly tickets.
Also check out https://www.petrolprices.com and see who has the cheapest fuel locally. Declutter your car and make sure the tyres are at the correct pressure, it will help.
Oh and if your journey is less than a mile then walk it.
Also if you put up your full SOA we can see what else we can do to help.
Good luck.

Tixy

Hi Rich and welcome to the forum.

Payplan is a good company and is one of a few organisations recommended on here. Debt management plans work well for many people.

Have you checked what the interest rates on all your debts are? This is important information so you know which order to tackle your debts.

Your phone bill is really high, have you shopped around to make sure this is the best deal? Are you using all the mins/texts you are paying for?

If you are doing a DMP you also need to budget for costs that don't occur every month. Budget 1/12 of the annual cost each month so you don't have to use credit. (Once you are on a DMP you agree not to take out any more credit at all) E.g. Road Tax, MOT & car service, haircuts, clothes.

As you are using public transport to commute could you possibly manage without a car? You could make money from selling it and save lots on the running costs. Then maybe in a year or 2 you will be in a better position to buy another.

Looking at your costs
Income £1098
Expenses £532.99
Left for debt repayments £565.01

Minimum payments £665.52

Overspend each month - £100.51

You say you are managing but you are overspending each month by £100- I guess the only way you are managing is by getting further into your overdraft each month or using you credit cards.

Can you do anymore hours at work to increase your income? Do you have any things you could sell clothes/cds/dvds/computer games/books etc on amazon/ebay/car boot sales?

Have you looked at the 'Up your income' board for other ways to earn money? Online surveys/reviews are popular as is mystery shopping. Could you get a second job at the weekends doing bar work or similar?

Regarding your travel costs - is this train fare? bus fare? a season pass? If you are using the train have you looked to see if a bus may be cheaper (it may take longer but is worth it when you need to save money!)

Good luck, hope some of this helps.

Sue-UU

Hi again Rich. Have you heard anything more about your DMP? If not who are you hoping to go with?

Also, try to do another SOA and make sure you include every single item that you spend on throughout the year, that includes gifts for Christmas, Birthdays etc. The best place to do an SOA is here

One thing to always remember here is that you are never alone, there are hundreds of us here either in your shoes or have been there and got through it. You'll be the latter too, one of these days!

Sue