SOA what do people think?

binaryuniverse

OK. Time to see if anyone has some advice on this:

I get paid £202.37 a week after tax and NI. Per month this is what comes out as a minimum.

Rent - £262.50
Council Tax - £54
Phone/Broadband - £10.50
Mobile - £23
Gas/Elec - £29
TV Licence - £5.93
Food - £50
Travel costs - £80
Vision Express - £14.95

HSBC Loan - £394 (49.25 per month)
Barclays - £1796 (£36 per month. 6.9% APR)
Citibank - £1150 (£26 per month. 6.9% APR)
HSBC - £66 (17.9% APR)
M&S More - £1478 (£37 per month. 3.9% APR)
Halifax - £830 (£8.30 per month. 0% APR)

Overdraft Halifax - £1000 limit. £930 (£1 per day (avg £30))
Overdraft HSBC - £200 limit. £10 (19%)

Total £716.33

It doesn't give me much room to manoeuvre nor much of a social life. If something unexpected comes up then I'm in trouble. I can just about meet the minimum payments on my credit cards and have managed to knock about £500 off the total since spring. All the listed cards are balance transfer cards and no spending is done on them. I have 1 more credit card with zero balance on it that I use purely for emergency purchases (ie food or my travel pass) and then pay off at the end of the month. Both the Citibank and Barclays are LOB cards but the More card goes up to 20.9% in February and the Halifax 0% offer ends around July 10.
I might try HSBC to see if they'll raise my overdraft limit to £1000 and then pay off the Halifax overdraft with it. Then work on paying off the HSBC overdraft, but would be slightly cheaper per month than £1 a day.

RAS

Hi

We need to know your personal circumstances. Are you flat-sharing or living at home?

What would happen if you got the Halifax OD down within the limit, as this is costing you 3%per month.

talana

Hi there!
So your income of £202.37 pw works out as £870.19 per month on average (weekly figure x 4.3)
Take away the £716.33 outgoings above and you have £153.86 left over.

From that I would give yourself a little for a social life and odds-and-ends, but if you can manage to allocate half of that to overpaying the debts you'll soon see results.
Perhaps wipe that 17.9% HSBC card for a start, and then focus on the Halifax OD as you say.

binaryuniverse

I'm sharing a flat with a mate of mine so all costs are halved between the 2. All costs shown are what I pay. My plan is to clear the overdraft first and then start throwing any spare cash at the credit cards. Unless I find a new source of income though it looks as if it's going to be a long, slow process.

MinniMe_2

well done for getting it all down on "paper"

Is there anyway that you can reduce your travel costs? car sharing or anything?

Also what is the 14.95 to vision express? If it is contact lenses can you switch to cheaper lenses or buy direct online?

bargainbetty

Could you consider a second job? Perhaps bar work - that means you get out of the house in the evening in a social setting, but you make money rather than spend it. I used to love it!

Throw any extra you have at the highest interest debts, but keep paying the others - maybe look at transferring the balances from the M&S card to one of (or split between) the LOB cards when the deal expires which would empty it. Then cut up the card!

Look at having cheap nights out, free tourist attractions, inviting your mates around for a DVD and wine night (or pot luck meals - everyone brings a dish in keeping with a theme (Indian night, Italian night etc). You might find they are looking to have some cheap nights in as well - everyone is saving pennies these days.

Good luck x

talana

binaryuniverse wrote: »

I'm sharing a flat with a mate of mine so all costs are halved between the 2. All costs shown are what I pay. My plan is to clear the overdraft first and then start throwing any spare cash at the credit cards. Unless I find a new source of income though it looks as if it's going to be a long, slow process.

Hence why I suggested clearing that £66 on the HSBC card first, as it'll be an immediate result and give you some psychological encouragement.

Another alternative re the Halifax overdraft - if you're not going to be able to clear it for some time regardless, then you're resigned to paying £1 per day. In which case, you may as well use it to it's full extent as you won't be paying any extra. (Indeed, you could even ask Halifax if they'll extend your OD facility.)
So you could pay down others by putting as much as poss on the OD and make it work for you.
It's worth considering.

binaryuniverse

MinniMe wrote: »

Is there anyway that you can reduce your travel costs? car sharing or anything?

Unfortunately not. But I will be working on getting a job closer to home in the new year.

Also what is the 14.95 to vision express? If it is contact lenses can you switch to cheaper lenses or buy direct online?

Yes it is for lenses that are delivered direct to my door. Already had a look at Martins guide on getting cheaper lenses and for what I pay I'm on a pretty good deal already.

Could you consider a second job? Perhaps bar work - that means you get out of the house in the evening in a social setting, but you make money rather than spend it. I used to love it!

I'd be useless at bar work. I can barely hear what people are saying in a normal environment, let alone when people are trying to shout at me what they want to order. I could look into something extra on the side tho.

I'm going to try and shift as much of the More card debt to Barclays when that offer ends, but its not going to be a lot as it only has a £2300 limit (£2070 allowed for BT) and they won't raise my limit in order to do more. The Citibank offer was in the cards initial period.

The loan will be paid off in July which will give me an extra £50 in my pocket a month. I'm hoping by then the overdraft will be cleared so I can start throwing the money at the credit cards. Also by then I'm hoping to be in a better paid job and less travelling costs. I'll hope for the best but plan for the worst!

binaryuniverse

talana wrote: »

Hence why I suggested clearing that £66 on the HSBC card first, as it'll be an immediate result and give you some psychological encouragement.

Yup, I should have that paid off just after christmas.

Another alternative re the Halifax overdraft - if you're not going to be able to clear it for some time regardless, then you're resigned to paying £1 per day. In which case, you may as well use it to it's full extent as you won't be paying any extra. (Indeed, you could even ask Halifax if they'll extend your OD facility.)
So you could pay down others by putting as much as poss on the OD and make it work for you.
It's worth considering.

Not a bad thought. I'd rather clear the overdraft as quickly as possible than put it deeper in to pay off one of the cards though. Probably more for psychological reasons than financial. Worth considering. I dunno if Halifax would extend the overdraft even more. I'm pretty much near the limit of my credit lines from what I can tell.

EDIT: Just checked online. I'm guaranteed a £1150 overdraft.

binaryuniverse

Quick bump on this to see if anyone else has any advice.

RAS

RAS wrote: »

What would happen if you got the Halifax OD down within the limit, as this is costing you 3%per month.

Hi can you answer this question?