Looking for a little advice!

EagleGreen

cheers suthern scouser. At present, my outgoings don't exceed my income, I have typically in the region of £350 p.m. left over. I have done some calculations and by my reckoning I can increase my monthly available money to approx £600 whilst also having a date in 4 years time of being CC free.

And I WILL cut up the cards ... defo!

southernscouser

EagleGreen wrote:

cheers suthern scouser. At present, my outgoings don't exceed my income, I have typically in the region of £350 p.m. left over. I have done some calculations and by my reckoning I can increase my monthly available money to approx £600 whilst also having a date in 4 years time of being CC free.

And I WILL cut up the cards ... defo!

No worries mate. Get a SOA on here and I'm sure we will be able to free up even more than that! :beer:

Tr@cker

Do we know roughly what that % of income is re: lending ? I was thinking on the lines of a % of yearly income but there's other factors as regards credit limits. For instance my credit rating is good but as a tenant im granted much less than friends who have equity.

chevalier

As far as I can see there are only two ways of paying off debt. Earn more, or spend less. You have a golden opportunity here, to get free before you have the added pressure of children, and how expensive they are.
You don't say when the wedding is, but between now and then can you
1) Change your energy supplier, telephone, mobile phone to a cheaper rate? This would free up money to pay off your credit cards/loan
2) Is you house and contents insurance the cheapest you can find for the cover you want? If not then have a look at the insurance part of this site for ideas.
3) Do you cook from scratch or live on ready meals? If the latter relearning to cook (an interesting experience I know from myself!!!!), could save you lots a month, and will be healthier too.
4) Do either of you smoke? Could you give up? Not the best time I know before a wedding but another massive saving if you could.
5) Could any of the wedding expenses be paid for as wedding presents? Eg someone buy the bridesmaids dresses, some one pay for the cake etc? This would make paying for the wedding easier.

Unless you are really determined, taking out a loan to consolidate the cards may mean that you do that and run up the cards again.

Snow balling is where you pay the minimum on the card with the lowest interest ( in this case the 0% one) and throw all the extra money at the one paying interest - either the loan you already have, or the 4.8% card. This saves on the interest paid.

Best of luck with it all.

EagleGreen

My SOA

Salary - £1900 per month
OH - £2100 per month

Outgoings

Mortgage £804
Council Tax £191
Loan £222 - under 12 months to go.
Gas £20
Elec £20
BT £20
Sky £45.00
Food £250
Life Insurance £65.00
Petrol: £150.00
Amex BA: £240.00 (Balance £7957)
Hfax : £350 (Balance £17,500 (eek)
Car Insurance: £51.29
Car Loan: £230 (just new 3 years to go)

That leaves us with plenty money right? £1300+ Problem is, most of the balance is the OH's ... my disposable is only around £350.
It's the £25K of CC debt I want to get rid of.

Annie_Fanny

Are you tackling all of your debts together as a unit? I don't quite understand what you said in your last post...

And as a starter - the Sky has got to go! £45 a month = £540 a year!

lynzpower

Eagle,
the fact of the matter is you are overspending. Otherwise you wouldnt be in debt. You already have one loan, ( what was that for) and now 25k on credit cards. And now a car loan as well.

YOu think you have loads of money left - do you?

Annie_Fanny

Amex BA: £240.00 (Balance £7957) (4.8% LOB)
Hfax : £350 (Balance £17,500) (0% until Feb 07)
Car Loan: £230 (just new 3 years to go) (What is the apr on this loan and are there any overpayment or early settlement fees?)Loan £222 - under 12 months to go (Again any overpayment/early settlement fees?)

Have you looked at the snowball calculator yet? For instance instead of paying £600 across the two cc's - I would make a minimum payment to the Halifax card and pay the most you can towards the Amex card to clear it asap. Can you get the info re the loans?

Again can I ask the question - when do you plan to get married? Who will be paying for the wedding?

EagleGreen

lynzpower wrote:

Eagle,
the fact of the matter is you are overspending. Otherwise you wouldnt be in debt. You already have one loan, ( what was that for) and now 25k on credit cards. And now a car loan as well.

YOu think you have loads of money left - do you?

Thats Helpful!! Thanks for that!

Car Loan is not mine, but my partners. All of that is our combined outgoing. If you read it right, you'll see I DON'T think I have loads of money left!

Cheers Again

EagleGreen

Annie_Fanny wrote:

Amex BA: £240.00 (Balance £7957) (4.8% LOB)
Hfax : £350 (Balance £17,500) (0% until Feb 07)
Car Loan: £230 (just new 3 years to go) (What is the apr on this loan and are there any overpayment or early settlement fees?)Loan £222 - under 12 months to go (Again any overpayment/early settlement fees?)

Have you looked at the snowball calculator yet? For instance instead of paying £600 across the two cc's - I would make a minimum payment to the Halifax card and pay the most you can towards the Amex card to clear it asap. Can you get the info re the loans?

Again can I ask the question - when do you plan to get married? Who will be paying for the wedding?

We have 95% of the money for the wedding already, basically her dad is paying for the majority but we have £7000 of our own to put towards it. By stating that I was getting married, my focus is I want to have more disposable each month. The wedding is mostly paid for, I just want more per month in case of emergency before the wedding, which is in 3 months.