Is a personal loan the answer?

cybergirl2

Thanks I know exactly what you mean.
Until now we have had seperate money so we've only really just started looking at the bigger picture. We don't spend more than we earn, but until now (my mass spending review (!)) hoildays and 'extras' such as coffee at the station in the morning etc are things we've not really thought twice about. It's taken the prospect of kids to make us think more seriously about finances .
There's afew things missing from the SOA - haircuts, clothes, presents, and probably afew outgoings of my partners that I've missed etc. but when its laid out like that theirs certainly room for thought. I'll sit down tonight and work out a new plan of action.
And Jes, thanks certainly not harsh
Thankyou

RAS

Hi

Do check out www.entitledto.com and work out what benefits you will get when your child arrives.

You may need several budgets, now, when on mat leave beofre junior arrives, after birth and on mat leave, when mat pay ends but still on mat leave, when returnig to work.

By the way, well done for thinking about it now. It is quite common for people to arrive here either a couple of weeks either side of the birth when they realise things are going pear-shaped big style.

Clear those OD first as they are the most expensive items and will save you most.

See the snowball on sense of cards or www.whatsthecost.com.

in2deep_2

Consolidation loans do not work..........see my signature..:mad:

I was in your position a few years ago....i would give my right arm to be where you are right now.

zippychick

Hi, you could certainly lower your grocery budget - Old style is great for that. You could easily cut it down by £50 a month with some meal planning, a good old fashioned shopping list - drawn up from the meal plan so you only buy what you need for intended meals. There is also a show on BBC called Economy esrtonomy - can show some good principles of stretching food out. Things like utilising leftovers will also help, YOu could also join the grocery challenge . You could cut it more further - depends on your choices and of course you are eating for two now

Also what is the other travel? Can hubby cycle to work? can you walk places to save? Also, i would suggest you add in those luxuries to get a better picture - then you can really see how all those "little" luxuries add up and how much of a difference they could be making towards paying your debt off.

Would also recommend throwing as much as you can to that horrendous hubby debt first. That APR should be illegal :eek:
Yeah at a glance, hubbys debt, your overdraft then sort the credits out rate wise. Seems consolidation loans can go both ways so it depends how strict you really think you can be with yourselves. It would have to be a military operation.

Another option that *may* be available ( and I am not advising this - as i am not advising anything), is you do have potential there to take a mortgage holiday payment break. Their reasons for allowing them are listed here for Halifax . They were strict with me, so i would certainly give one of the reasons listed! You could always make an enquiry - get some quotes for taking a 3 month break , and 6 months. You can only ever take 6mths in one mortgage lifetime i believe (Hfx), but what happens as far as i know is they take the missed payments and add it on to your total owed, so your price increases. If you are on a fixed rate, this price would not change once set. Obviously it depends on if you are tracker etc. You could take avail of this when on maternity leave (if the increased cost is acceptable to you - for the life of the mortgage) - if you took 3 months, that would free up £1623 - just a thought. If you still had the credit cards then, that could be a large chunk paid off. This is providing you have saved enough for the babby.

If your outgoings stayed as above, I see it like this.

disposable income - £1200 app - 2 months = £2400.
After the two months, pay off £1800 - hubby debt, and remaining 600 to overdraft, so you would be 600 overdrawn

Month 3 - you have your disposable £1200, PLUS and extra £194 a month as now won't be going to husbs loan. So month 3 disposable income is £1394

Month 3 debt would be
hubby loan - paid
Overdraft - 600 left
Ccards £3258, £1400, £1111 - ttl 5769

So month 3 £600 goes to complete OD - now paid off! With 794 left over to go to say the £1111 (as on 7.9 and can pay this quicker.) Leaving £317 on this card. You seem to be paying 2.5% of your balance, so guess next months payment is App £7.90 (extra disposable income of £20 to add onto next months)

Month 4 Disposable income is £1394, plus £20 from lower cred balance, so £1414
Debts
[STRIKE]Hubby - clear
OD - clear
Egg - £317[/STRIKE]
Natw £1400
CO £3258
So with your £1414, clear Egg leaving 1097. Put this towards Natwest leaving balance of £303

Month 5 disposable income £1414 plus £7 you were paying for egg so £1421
Debts
[STRIKE]Hubby - clear
OD - clear
Egg - clear[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]Natw £303[/STRIKE]
CO £3258

From your £1421, pay off £303 from Natwest leaving £1118. Put this towards Capital one, leaving a balance of £2140.

Month 6 Disposable income 1421 plus 35 you were paying to natwest so £1456.
Debts
[STRIKE]Hubby - clear
OD - clear
Egg - clear[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]Natw clear[/STRIKE]
CO £2140
Pay £1456 off CO, leaving balance of £684.

Month 7 Disposable income £1456 - clears CO, leaving you £772 leftover . The good news is, your debts will be paid,and your disposable income would now be around £1456 plus CO £100 , so £1556 by month 8

Obviously I am not sure how many months you have left of work but i'm up late, and i can't sleep and that was good to try and work out, even though it may be wrong. The point it is easier to pay them - or more than you thought before the baby arrives - than you maybe thought.

Even if you did this for 3 months, you could clear you hubbys debt, your overdraft and most of your egg card.
Using my very crude rough figures above, you would owe £3258+1400+317 so 4975. So in 3 months, your debt would reduce from £8769, so thats a reduction of your debt by approximately 44%!

Then you have a smaller chunk of debt to deal with and bigger monthly outgoings. Dunno, sorry, im trying to be helpful but imagine i have confused the hell out of you. I take full responsibility for any wrong figures, i am tired but i think theyre right!:rotfl:
Good luck

GeorgeUK

Could you try to get a 0% Virgin Credit card or another card that allows 'super balance transfers'?

This would allow you to transfer money from the card to your current account as part of the promotion and you could then use this cash to pay off the loan.
Also, the minimum payment would be the greater of 1% or £25 per month (for 16 months) - slightly better than what it is now.

cybergirl2

Hi All,
Thanks so much for all the advice.
A loan is not the solution!
I've sat down with my partner and we've had a good hard look at our finances and worked out a strict budget to sort this out. I've got to finish the detailed plan this weekend but its very similar to Zippychicks suggestion, with some saving for baby essentials included - I want to pay cash for the things we need - never again plastic!
I'd love to cut the £200 other travel but its my partners monthly train ticket cost, and I've already reduced the figure by changing from daily to monthly.
Many thanks for all the help x

RAS

Well done so far.

Can i suggest that you go over the the other forums and check out all the free offers for mums to be. Also join https://www.freecycle .org and NCT for free or low cost baby gear.

Fortheloveofmoney

Wow, so instead of being in debt for the next 5 years you have the opportunity to fix this before the little one arrives and be debt free (except mortgage). That's fantastic!!! I tell you, the feeling that your salary is entirely yours (after normal bills of course) is amazing!!! Good luck.

zippychick

cybergirl2 wrote: »

Hi All,
Thanks so much for all the advice.
A loan is not the solution!
I've sat down with my partner and we've had a good hard look at our finances and worked out a strict budget to sort this out. I've got to finish the detailed plan this weekend but its very similar to Zippychicks suggestion, with some saving for baby essentials included - I want to pay cash for the things we need - never again plastic!
I'd love to cut the £200 other travel but its my partners monthly train ticket cost, and I've already reduced the figure by changing from daily to monthly.
Many thanks for all the help x

Brilliant, brilliant! I am so genuinely pleased you now are working on a plan. that's great news and removes a lot of stress. Once you have your plan you will feel much better, honestly! Because then it's under control

Keep us posted on how it all goes. I think there is a place here you can write a DFW diary if it would help you.

Congrats :T

Happytogetdebtfree

Wow zippy chick good detailed plan i like your thinking hope it's of use to cybergirl, cybergirl I look forward to seeing your plan I love it when a plan comes together hehe catch up soon x