what to do need help PLEASE!!

Kazzer

Hi, not sure if I should try balance transferring a couple of my existing credit cards (Mint and Halifax balances of £5700 and £2500) leaving me with a Barclaycard with £1700 on it. I've got an overdraft which is going up each month, it was £2,142 end of last month and I take home £1335 a month. I'm getting more and more worried about it. Advised before to open another bank account but not sure who to go to and how this will help. Should I get a loan to pay everything off? I've got a Northern Rock loan already which has another 6 years to go (unsecured) which balance is about £14500. any ideas would be welcome.

tealady

Hi. The 1st thing I would do is post your SOA so we can take a look and help you sort out the best way to go with this.

Fortheloveofmoney

As Tealady says do your statement of affairs. It really is the first step as you need to find out where you are before you can begin on the what you should do.

You won't find many fans of consolidation loans on this board as a lot of us have been there and done that.

Dig out your bank statements and bills, make a cuppa take a deep breath and begin.

There will be a way out of it I can promise you.

Kazzer

Thanks guys for your replies. Where do I get a SOA?

poorandindenial

statement of affairs calculator at https://www.makesenseofcards.com basically is an itemised incomes and outgoings for your circumstances.

Kazzer

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1335
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1335
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 312.5
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 63
Electricity............................. 10
Gas..................................... 10
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 10
Telephone (land line)................... 10
Mobile phone............................ 17
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 120
Clothing................................ 5
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 5
Car Insurance........................... 15
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 5 pay for service in one go
Car parking............................. 20
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0 rent a house don't have cover
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 20
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 725.5

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 2800
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 2800

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Personal Loan..................17000.....246.......19.76
Credit Card....................5700......128.......0
Credit Card....................2500......65........0
Credit Card....................1700......42........12.9
Overdraft......................2100......0% up to £1,000 haven't
got info on me at moment for interest rate on rest of OD
Total unsecured debts..........24800.....481.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,335
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 725.5
Available for debt repayments........... 609.5
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 481
Amount left after debt repayments....... 128.5
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 2,800
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -24,800
Net Assets.............................. -22,000

Kazzer

I've done a SOA, what should I do now?

RAS

is this one income and hhalf the household expenditure?

Also Do you have 128 left at the end of the month?

You need to add the OD to the debts list and find out what the APR is.

Fortheloveofmoney

Kazzer wrote: »

My comments in red

Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1335
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1335
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 312.5
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 63
Electricity............................. 10 This seems low is it correct?
Gas..................................... 10 As above
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 5 As above
Telephone (land line)................... 10
Mobile phone............................ 17
TV Licence.............................. 8 This is around £12 per month now the price has increased
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 120
Clothing................................ 5
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 5 Is this enough? This only works out at £60 per year.
Car Insurance........................... 15
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 5 This just covers the cost of the MOT. Do you service your car?
Car parking............................. 20
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0 You should have this
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 20
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 725.5

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 2800
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 2800

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Personal Loan..................17000.....246.......19.76
Credit Card....................5700......128.......0
Credit Card....................2500......65........0
Credit Card....................1700......42........12.9
Total unsecured debts..........24800.....481.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,335
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 725.5
Available for debt repayments........... 609.5
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 481
Amount left after debt repayments....... 128.5
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 2,800
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -24,800
Net Assets.............................. -22,000

On the face of it you have a good surplus to throw at your debts but I do think some of the above has been underestimated. Are the APR's correct? If not you need to find out what these are and concentrate your effort on paying off the one with the highest APR.

wizk1

Although you don't have much credit card debt, you way want to consider moving it's existing balance to a 0% BT deal. If you've got a high interest rate on your current account overdraft, you may also want to consider moving your account to Alliance & Leicester or Abbey, who may be able to provide you with the same overdraft, again at 0%

Kazzer

Hi, thanks for your replies.

I share a house with a friend which we rent at £625 per month. We halve all the bills etc inc Council Tax. We don't have any contents insurance. I've edited the SOA a little bit. My OD has been included now which I forgot!! That is at 0% interest up to £1,000 but not sure the rate after that as I haven't got my papers with me now. I don't have any money basically I'm living off my OD every month, my wages pay off some of that and then I'm overdrawn straight away again by about £700-800 before I have to start paying everything off again so my OD is now getting higher which is worrying me.

Thanks.