Struggling with debt

Tixy

Do you and your partner currently rent together? Is this income just your income? If this all the bills or just your share?

Mobile - £40 high if for just 1, can you move down a tariff /switch to PAYG? are you using all mins & texts?

Satellite TV - is broadband included?

Groceries very high if just for 1, okay if for 2 of you.

Nothing budgeted for presents/haircuts/entertainment? I think its best to set a small budget for these out your surplus and then make sure you stick to it (with a spending dairy to see if you are overspending).

Do you know where the surplus £688 is going? have you been paying more than the minimums? is it 'lost money' i.e. you don't have it at the month end but don't know where it goes? If so you need a spending diary for a couple of months where you write down everything (even 20p) you spend. Its the best way to find this money and see if any can be freed up to pay towards your debts.

euronorris

From what I can see above, you have a surplus of around 300 pounds each month. Is that true? Or do you find that you have very little money left, very quickly?

If so, I would recommend keeping a spending diary to recognise exactly where all that surplus income is going. Then, if you can work at holding onto the cash, you make larger payments to the CC's etc and clear them quicker.

Numpty_Monkey

The CCCS website has "debt remedy" thing ,
It gives you an idea and promts about a few missing things

helloiamsteph

Tixy wrote: »

Do you and your partner currently rent together? Is this income just your income? If this all the bills or just your share?

Mobile - £40 high if for just 1, can you move down a tariff /switch to PAYG? are you using all mins & texts?

Satellite TV - is broadband included?

Groceries very high if just for 1, okay if for 2 of you.

Nothing budgeted for presents/haircuts/entertainment? I think its best to set a small budget for these out your surplus and then make sure you stick to it (with a spending dairy to see if you are overspending).

Do you know where the surplus £688 is going? have you been paying more than the minimums? is it 'lost money' i.e. you don't have it at the month end but don't know where it goes? If so you need a spending diary for a couple of months where you write down everything (even 20p) you spend. Its the best way to find this money and see if any can be freed up to pay towards your debts.

Hi Tixy,

The food is for 2 of us, my partner was unfortunately made redundant earlier this year so I get all the food in now.

Most of the surplus £668 goes towards my loan and credit cards, and yes, you're right, the little that is left is usually unaccounted for but mostly goes on toiletiries, emergencies like a new pair of tights etc, and the odd bottle of wine when I deserve it!

O2 won't let me change or chacel my tarrif for another 9 months so can't get out of that one.

Sat TV includes broadband and phone line rental

sarahs999

Not wanting to pry but is there any reason, with your reasonably high level of personal debt and with your partner currently redundant, that you're wanting to buy a house? Buying sucks even more money out of your pocket than renting does and it's a much bigger deal if you can't keep your payments up. And it's just yet another level of debt. Suggest waiting until partner has a new job, and meanwhile tackling your persoonal debts head on so you're more likely to get accepted for a mortgage?

rog2

helloiamsteph wrote: »

O2 won't let me change or chacel my tarrif for another 9 months so can't get out of that one.

You might have to be a bit more insistent - I was, and still am, with O2, and was on a £35 a month contract, with six months left to run - I spoke with their customer service department and explained that I simply could not afford to pay that amount and would, inevitably, fall into arrears which would be of no benefit to either O2 or myself. It took a bit of 'toing and froing' and several letters, but, finally, they offered me a 'loyalty bonus' which, basically, gave me one year free of charge, free upgrade and a 'discount 100' contract which gives me 100 minutes/texts per month for £8.50 a month - that was three years ago and I have had two free upgrades and still pay £8.50 a month.
So it's worth a try.

sarahs999

Also, where are you going to get your deposit from? Please tell me you're not looking at a 100% mortgage (do they do those any more?)

rog2

sarahs999 wrote: »

Not wanting to pry but is there any reason, with your reasonably high level of personal debt and with your partner currently redundant, that you're wanting to buy a house? Buying sucks even more money out of your pocket than renting does and it's a much bigger deal if you can't keep your payments up. And it's just yet another level of debt. Suggest waiting until partner has a new job, and meanwhile tackling your persoonal debts head on so you're more likely to get accepted for a mortgage?

I can see where you are coming from, sarah - but, surely, that will depend on monthly mortgage payment as compared to monthly rental payment?
Also, now is probably the best time to buy
It is, of course, a personal opinion, but I certainly would favour buying over renting any day.

helloiamsteph

Rog - thanks, I will try that. I had a bit of an argy bargy with them last time I spoke to them and was so frustrated by the end of the call I gave up.

Sarah - I am far too scared to get a 100% mortgage! My partners dad is kindly giving us the deposit for our house. Our rent is almost £1000 a month for a 1 bedroom flat (in London) and hopefully our mortgage repayments will be less than that (we are looking to move to Brighton). Obviously it all depends on the market at the time and I'd have no hesitation pushing the buy date back if rushing into things means we'd be worse off each month.

dancingfairy

Outgoings Amount Mortgage £ 0.00
Rent £ 475.00
Council Tax £ 83.00
Electricity £ 20.00 is that really all you pay for electric? if so well done that 's very low
Gas £ 0.00
Heating Oil £ 0.00
Water Rates £ 20.00
Telephone £ 0.00
Mobile Phone £ 40.00 try and negotiate as mentioned above
TV Licence £ 10.00
Satellite TV £ 49.00 woah - quite a luxury here - can you cut back to just the basic package?
Internet £ 0.00
Buildings Insurance £ 0.00
Contents Insurance £ 0.00 you need this
Life Insurance £ 0.00
Groceries £ 180.00 sounds good to me (for 2)- but if you want a challenge head over to MoneysavingOldStyle for hints and tips
Clothing £ 50.00
Petrol £ 0.00
Car Tax £ 0.00
Car Insurance £ 0.00
Car MOT £ 0.00
Car Maintenance £ 0.00
Car Parking £ 0.00
Other Travel £ 85.00 what's this?
Childminder/Nursery £ 0.00
Medical/Dental Expenses £ 0.00
Pets Insurance/Vets Bills £ 0.00
Birthdays/Christmas £ 0.00 Need something here - take your annual figure and divide by 12
Holidays £ 0.00 nothing here?
No entertainment at all?

Also is there a reason why your partner is not getting benefits? or any they getting benefits but paying for their own things?
df