Buddiebabe's SOA / Debt Diary

buddiebabe

Hi there

Im 28yrs old and im in debt....... that feels so much better :T

Before xmas i owed nearly £45000 on credit cards £20000 on loans and my mortgage of £25200 due to just sticking my head in the sand and using my credit cards thinking that it would all just go away. I seemed to be managing by using one credit card to pay another then realised that there was no money left on my cards to pay the next bill. Went to the bank for some advice and left in tears as the advisor basically said that it was my own fault and i had no one to blame but myself.... I knew that but was looking for some help and advice not a lecture ...
My work has a financial advisor that was very nice and didn't judge me and organised a re-mortgage for me. This left me able to start to sort out my finances. I know that a re-mortgage is not always the best option but it helped me at the time.
I now have a mortgage of £ 66000 with 25yrs to pay (i've no intention of moving in the near future so my mortgage is fixed for the next 3 years) Im not worrying about my mortgage at the moment. Once all my debts are paid off then am going to concentrate on the mortgage.

I had my full watt lightbulb moment in February when someone from work told me about this site and now im addicted and am doing everything i can to pay off my debt from working extra hours to selling anything and everything thats not tied down.

Am listing my SOA and i hope that you can give me some help and advice:

Incomings:

Monthly wage £940.00
Weekly wage (2nd Job) varies between £59.27 to £69.02 per week approx £280 per month
Ebay £150 (usually make approx £75 per week selling things on ebay have averaged this to £150 as its not guaranteed)

Total £ 1370.00

Monthly Outgoings:

Mortgage £451.02
Critical Illness / Life Insurance £13.91
Council Tax £86.00
Gas £15
Electricity £22
Phone £15
Sky £42.50 ( this is my only extravagence... i don't drink, smoke or go out and this i pay for from my weekly job - am tied into keeping sky until october 06 - 12 month contract taken out Oct 2005)
Home Insurance £10.00 (paid yearly in full)
Car Insurance £22.00 (paid yearly in full)
Mobile £75.00 ( know this is very high .... contract due to end next month then can reduce this - changing to pay as you go)
AOL broadband £17.99 (another 3 months before i can change this)
Petrol £40.00
Food £80
TV Licence £10.00 (save tv licence stamps)
Road Tax £10.00 (save post office stamps for this)

Total £ 910.62

Credit Cards

Barclaycard £5600 (limit £5700) APR 17.9% Min payment £134
MBNA £4675.59 (limit £5000) APR 20% Min payment £80
Morgan Stanley £2260 (limit £2400) APR 14% Min payment £47.50
Royal Bank of Scotland £7078.75 (limit £10000) APR 6.9% until July 2006 Min payment £166
Skycard £800 (limit £1000) APR 0% until June 2006 Min payment £24.00

Total £ 20414.34 Minimum payments £451.50

That's all income and outgoings

I also have the following savings:
£353 saved for xmas
£130 on an ASDA savings card
£119 saved towards car / home insurance
£87 worth of points on my Boots Advantage card

I have been reducing the limits on my credit cards as i am reducing my limits. I have paid off and closed 4 credit cards since joining this site as before this i would have kept my cards ( incase i needed them for an emergency ) but they were always a temptation.
Think thats everything not sure if anyone can give me any help or advice. I'm going to keep this updated as it will keep me on track by writing everything down.
Thanks for listening.
Buddiebabe x

Littlemiss-lotsofdebt

Hi buddiebabe

It sounds like you are making a fantastic start - well done!! I can't actually see any ways of helping you further but I am still a newbie!! But someone will be along shortly with more advice.

lots of love and luck
LMLOD xxxxx

oops_a_daisy

wow buddie babe you seem to be a money saving expert through and through - Martin would be proud :money:
Can you move any of the money on the higher rate c/cards to the lower ones ? or get LOB cards to reduce the interest ? or a bank loan at a lower rate and cut up cards altogether ?

crossleydd42

Can you get a part-time evening/weekend job to get a boost of income to start paying it off faster? Even one for a few months would help to kickstart things off.
Good Luck!

buddiebabe

Hi oops a daisy

Thanks for replying

I cannot get another credit card at the moment. I have applied for a few 0% interest cards but have been declined. So have decided that im just going to concentrate on paying my MBNA card as it is the highest interest card. I don't really have enough available credit on my cards to transfer between them. The only card that i have any credit on is my Royal bank card, however they will only let you transfer 75% which i did!!! :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:
I am not going to apply for a bank loan as i did this before then again and again each time paying off my cards then running them back up again.

Im just going to concentrate on paying the min payments on my cards and any extra to MBNA.

Thanks x

buddiebabe

crossleydd42 wrote:

Can you get a part-time evening/weekend job to get a boost of income to start paying it off faster? Even one for a few months would help to kickstart things off.
Good Luck!

I work full time Monday to Friday 35hrs and then work part time at night and saturdays for approx 12 - 18 hours per week. The rest of my spare time ( Sunday) is spent listing things on ebay and catching up with the housework and sleep! There are just not enough hours in the day or i would get another job!!!

thirdparty

I would definitely get rid of sky £500 a year is way to expensive especially considering your debt. Cancel it and try watching just the free channels for a couple of months and rent out a few DVDs if desperate.
This together with the savings on the mobile means you can pay an extra £100 per month £1200 per year.
Don't you think this is better than watching sky? Anyway, do you have time to watch TV?

buddiebabe

thirdparty wrote:

I would definitely get rid of sky £500 a year is way to expensive especially considering your debt. Cancel it and try watching just the free channels for a couple of months and rent out a few DVDs if desperate.
This together with the savings on the mobile means you can pay an extra £100 per month £1200 per year.
Don't you think this is better than watching sky? Anyway, do you have time to watch TV?

I forgot to mention that im tied into a 12 month contract i will update my 1st post. I took out a Sky + subcription last October i am going to contact them to see if i can reduce the package that i have. The good thing with Sky + is that i can record all the programmes that i want to watch and watch them when i get the chance :rolleyes: Once my subsciption period is up then i will consider getting rid of it completely.

scottishspendaholic

Hi buddiebabe,

I just wanted to say I think you are doing really well! You must be really exhausted, having 2 jobs and doing all that selling (and all the added work that takes when something sells) on eBay - make sure you take time for you - have a bath with some candles and a book and wine or have some friends round - you sound like you are doing an awful lot.

Here are my comments on your SOA:-

Have you got single persons discount for your council tax? I'm assuming you live alone?

Do you need a landline? I've been very lucky this week, threatening to leave my mobile provider (contract up) and got through to disconnections. I now have 300 cross network/landline minutes a month (5 hours) and 30 texts for £5 fixed price (T Mobile U Fix - special deal for me but I'm sure you could find something like this?). I then added a 200 text bundle on top for £10 and I now know that my bill will always be £15 each month (inc VAT) and allows me to make 5 hours of calls (evenings and weekends only which is fine 'cos when I'm at work, I abuse their phone) a month and send 230 texts - I think that's pretty good. Would getting rid of the landline phone on just having the mobile (for the moment), be an option for you?

What about car repairs/MOT costs?

I think you are a shining example to us all - saving for tv license/Christmas/road tax etc every month - I only wish I could get this organised - well done, I think that's excellent!

I wish you all the best and I'm proud of you - I look forward to seeing you update this. You go girl, we're all with you!

scottishspendaholic x

moozie_2

Hello buddiebabe

Just wanted to say you are doing so well, keep it up! :T

I have read your SOA twice and I can only suggest you take a look at the OS board for ideas on how to reduce your food bill. Even cutting it down by £5 will be good as that's £60 a year to throw at the debt.

One other thing, are you still adding on your savings? Your Christmas fund looks very healthy in particular and it may be worth stopping the input into it for now and use up and spare cash for extra debt repayments.

Anyhow, well done and keep posting.

tyllwyd

I'm a bit puzzled about how you manage to earn so much on e-bay? Are you selling second-hand goods that you own already, or are you trading - because if you are trading, you really ought to be thinking about tax etc.

And it's just a tiny point, but £87 points on an Advantage card sounds like 'money' that isn't working very hard for you at the moment. Why not gradually start spending it to take that money off your grocery bills, or else add it to your virtual Christmas/birthday present savings pot, so that you don't have to save more cash towards them.