Advice needed for a

nutjam

I am a 31 year old male who would really like to look forward to a debt free future. Hopefully, I will get some good advice from you guys if I tell you my story so far...

Debt today:
(none of the interest rates are 0%)
Student loan number 1 - £12,000
Student loan number 2 - £2,000
Natwest loan - £9,000
Barclaycard - £936
Store card - £446
Overdraft totals - £3,000
Family & friends - £450

TOTAL DEBT TODAY - £27,832

Outgoings:
383.00 rent
209.00 loan
22.50 opticians
23.00 john lewis
23.00 barclaycard
57.28 student loan 1
100.00 student loan 2
100.00 mobile phonebill
20.00 electric
12.50 ntl
100.00 travel
40.00 council tax

Approximate incomings - £1600 per month.

I have no idea how to clear my debt and start saving as I do not want to have to stay in my flat all month without spending any money on a social life as I fear I will fall into depression. I also live in the centre of London where the cost of living is high. I do not have any assets and my family are unable to help me out.

Any advice is highly appreciated.

lynzpower

HI there
Welcome
Just aquick one from me as I have to go to bed soon, but a few things stand out for me

1. Yes your rent is slightly high but for london its not THAT bad. Even in northern cities now, this rent is the norm, so yes if you can reduce it you could.

2. where in central london are you? Could you get by on a bus card? reducing from 100 a month.
3. if thats your opticians price in there, have a look at online contact lense retailers, Ive seen people saying they pay about 8 a month.
4. can oyu not get any 0% deals then on your CCs ,at least what you are paying will reduce the interest?

Lynz
x

nutjam

Thanks for the advice, I will definitely look into the contact lens options, however the travel is unavoidable.

Sweet dreams!

Willsnarf1983

do you mind if i ask how come you came into the debt?

Will

nutjam

I was a perennial student for a while and when I finished uni I continued to live like a student. It is only in the last 6 months I have started to think I have to grow up. Now I am terrified at the state I am in!

Willsnarf1983

least u realise and you need to get out of that state and in the nicest possible way mate...grow up! (which by the sounds like you have!)

keep going!!!

Will

calleyw

A couple of things jump out at me

100.00 mobile phonebill :eek: How much. You need to cut that right back

Is it also right that you don't eat any food.

And you don't spend any money on clothes, hair cuts, magazines, presents, holidays etc.

According to the figures that you supply you have approx £510 left over which is obviously not true.

As you live in London there are tons of things that you can do for free.

I think you need to start with a spending diary to see how much you do have left at the end of the month.

Once you know that you can then set up a budget and then snowball with the money you have left over.

As you have student loans they are normally at a low interest rate so would not touch them for the time being. What about your overdraft what is the interest rate of that?

Barclaycard - £936
Store card - £446
Family & friends - £450

When you start to snowball I personally would work on the three above. I know that your friends and family are not charging you interest but I would get rid of it just beacause I hate to owe friends and family.

All the best.


Yours


Calley

CLAPTON

first step is to recognise there is a problem...congratulations

second step is to really understand where ALL your money goes,
i would suggest you keep a spending diary (i.e. write down absolutely everything you spend for a month)....until you do that you can't prioritise your spending

so how much on food, lunches, going out, haircuts, clothes, newpaepers, presents, xmas expenses etc etc.... all this needs to be added to your SoA before you can properly address the debt issue

you also need to know the cost (APRs) of your debts so you are better able to repay them.

ti1980

The 1st thing that stuck out for me is the mobile phone bill.
Is that tariff or contract?
My contract phone is £19.99 per month and that includes 200 anytime, cross network minutes and 500 texts. For the last 8 months or so I have not paid anymore than the £19.99. There are always deals on mobiles so this should be one of the easier things to change.

lynzpower

Ok, now im invigorated I will say this

Debt today:
(none of the interest rates are 0%) WHY NOT
Student loan number 1 - £12,000
Student loan number 2 - £2,000
Natwest loan - £9,000
Barclaycard - £936
Store card - £446
Overdraft totals - £3,000
Family & friends - £450

TOTAL DEBT TODAY - £27,832

Outgoings:
383.00 rent
209.00 loan
22.50 opticians ( as I said)
23.00 john lewis ( ok this NEEDs to go I suspect the APR is ridiculous)
23.00 barclaycard ( 20%?)
57.28 student loan 1 ( i suspect on your salary you cant get away with not paying these, I know I cant either )
100.00 student loan 2
100.00 mobile phonebill ( ridiculously high. You simply have to stop)
20.00 electric
12.50 ntl ( whats this for?)
100.00 travel ( right, well where do you live? Im in zone 2, and mine is 85 a month, oyster travelcard, why is yours more? You say you cant use a bus card, if you are in central zone, why not? )
40.00 council tax ( seems v low indeed )

As calley said there is stacks of stuff missing, use martins budget planner at the top of the page.

Amazon & ebay will help here, sell anything thats not nailed down. You must have textbooks, clothese, dvds whatever. Just sell it and pay off your highest debts with it.

YOu do need to know where the money is going. You say london is expensive, I disagree, I think the longer i live here the cheaper I find it there are LOAD of things to do on a budget. It sounds to me like you are makingn excuses a bit ( no offence) on why you cant spend less as you live here. You have a good salary and large debts, but cheap rent.

Good luck!!!

bikerqueen

I thought you must have been ill last nigth Lynzpower when when yo missed the 100 quid phone bill...