Where do I begin?

all_hours

tashcoupe wrote:

Ok thanks. Unfortunately I will still be working here and living in London august but have noted the other suggestions. WIll try to cut down on eating out and spending on food, and also the gym is a pretty unused extravagance. Any suggestions on what I should do about the credit card that I can't physically pay - the debt company are calling me every day but I don't know what to say? I need to give them approx £400.

I just wanted to say sorry if I sounded bossy. I realise you'll have reasons for making decisions about where to work and live.

Has your company got any travel loan schemes where they pay for an annual travel pass and you pay them back monthly - this works out cheaper than buying a monthly pass.

ms_london

tashcoupe wrote:

Ok thanks. Unfortunately I will still be working here and living in London august but have noted the other suggestions. WIll try to cut down on eating out and spending on food, and also the gym is a pretty unused extravagance. Any suggestions on what I should do about the credit card that I can't physically pay - the debt company are calling me every day but I don't know what to say? I need to give them approx £400.

I suggest you call them & propose something you CAN afford. Although it seems to be that you DO have the money, you just dont WANT to spend it on them!

To a certain point I dont blame you, but you do have an adequate amount to live on whilst you are paying your debts, so its not as though you are getting past on the bare minimum and cant actually afford your minimum repayments.

david_hellier

According to my calcs you have £85.39 per week to spend on any thing including food. You need to make note in a small book and make sure you spend no more than this per week on food, going out, gym, personal stuff etc. Your food and personal items bill is too high. Also you need to reduce your travel bill somehow. I've also included £10 per month OD payoff to get that down. Good luck.
I would also come clean with your bf. Money is the most common cause of relationship breakdown, ahead of infidelity.

income weekly monthly
self 1730.00
partner







total 0.00 1730.00
399.23 divided by 4.33

399.23 total weekly income

spend weekly monthly
rent/mortgage 580.00
council tax 40.00
elec
gas
water
secured loans
TV licence
fines
travel 250.00
bills 50.00
phone 60.00
egg loan 130.00
student loan 150.00
egg cc 50.00
o/d int 40.00
o/d payoff 10.00














total 0.00 1360.00
313.85 divided by 4.33

313.85 total weekly spend

Start= income - spend = 85.39 per week

ntc79

Not bossy at all! I appreciate all advice. To be honest, the travel was always an issue when I took the job. It costs me £15 each day for the pleasure of going to work! I have asked to talk to my boss next week to see if they will help in any way. I also started sorting my stuff out, got rid of one store card, saved to pay it off in full, closed another credit card as the balance was only £200 but now I am a bit stuck and I am worrying about how to start saving too. Not getting any younger and avoiding phone calls from debt companies is not a good way to be.
The student loan company and see what I have to pay/if it can be added on to the balance as suggested.

ntc79

I know that you are right an don;t get me wrong, I know that I am pretty well off salary wise and that I have a lot more than many other people. I just don't know where it goes and am trying to start taking reponsibility for over spending and not meeting payments on my cards.

ms_london

tashcoupe wrote:

I know that you are right an don;t get me wrong, I know that I am pretty well off salary wise and that I have a lot more than many other people. I just don't know where it goes and am trying to start taking reponsibility for over spending and not meeting payments on my cards.

I also understand where you are coming from, as I have been there (see signature). I moved to London so that I could pay off my debt, and have had to stay away from the bright lights & places that eat up your money. I've still had a good time living here, but have found cheaper things to do, or just not gone out quite so much. Difficult to do, but my reward is that I am now debt free & go travelling in 6 weeks - actually with SAVINGS!! :eek: I am 25 myself and my loan was meant to expire in December 2009 where I would have been 29!!

Could you not find a job in London? It kind of cancels out earning a good salary when you have to spend most of it on paying to get there, but I appreciate it might not be so easy finding a job cloer to home.

xx

MCBIRNIE25

Hiya,
there are a couple of issues here.
1) You can claim back the charges from your credit card. This is not to complicated to do.
2) You need to write to the debt company and ask for a full statement of account. These people are not allowed to add charges. I can help with this if you like.
3) Send them another letter, recorded delivery, and tell them to stop contacting you by phone, it is illegal and harrasment, you will only deal in writing. Again, i got a generic letter for dealing with this if you want it.

Quincifer

As has been said above - definitely get rid of gym membership and lower the tariff on your phone.

I would ring the credit card company and ask to go on a payment plan for your remaining debt. Once you have agreed a monthly amount they will not charge you anymore interest and it means you can pay the whole thing off at an amount you can afford with no extra costs slowly building up.

Try to meal plan when you are food shopping and cook in bulk then freeze it in portions. This will save you time aswell as money.

When I got my flat it was through RightMove and as far as I remember they didn't do a credit check.

Good luck x

bargainbetty

One question, why does it cost £15 per day in travel? Can you not get some form of season ticket?

ntc79

Can you possibly send me a generic letter which I can send to the credit card company about them calling/e-mailing etc. I will also ask for a full statement of account and see if I can organise a payment plan. Thanks again