credit card problem

tomboy29

Hi all, ok i havent posted much on here before so bare with me.

I wondered if anyone could help me on the best thing to do. I have 4 credit cards, all pretty much maxed out. The payments on them per month are of course rediculous and due to a few minor blips on my credit report i cant transfer the balances to any better rate cards and i also cant get a consolidating debt via my bank again due to the credit report.

So does anyone have any sensible ideas on how i can save money?

Currently one of the cards minimum payment is £128.00 and they are charging me £127....so a £1 drop per month...great! lol

Look forward to any help or news you have,

Cheers

Tomboy29

DarkConvict

You need to post up an SOA in MSE format - http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

Help on filling out the form - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=107280

Unless we can see what all your debts are, your income/outgoing it is impossible to suggest anything practical.

Have you spoken to a debt charity and this yet, national debtline, CCCS and PayPlan are good starting points.

tomboy29

hi darkconvict, thanks for the advice, i havent heard of those companies before so i will look into that. cheers

details below, i hope i completed it correctly. Im sorry but i dont have the %rates to hand at the moment.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 2
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2300
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 160
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2460
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 630
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 128
Electricity............................. 113
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 50
Telephone (land line)................... 20
Mobile phone............................ 35
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 20
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 200
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 100
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 11
Contents insurance...................... 12
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 9
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1328

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 200000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 5000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 205000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 140000...(630)......3.97
Total secured & HP debts...... 140000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
credit card....................10000.....128.......0
credit card....................5000......58........0
credit card....................3000......50........0
bank overdraft.................5000......60........0
Total unsecured debts..........23000.....296.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,460
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,328
Available for debt repayments........... 1,132
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 296
Amount left after debt repayments....... 836
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 205,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -140,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -23,000
Net Assets.............................. 42,000

MrsTinks

Wel.... obviously something is missing... because according to that you have £836 left at the end of each month AFTER paying your minimum amounts?

tomboy29

yeah i must have missed a few things off, i usually end up with about £400 left before food and petrol etc.....sorry about that i suck at all this...hense the mess im in already lol

Tixy

You need to budget for things even if you don't pay them each month, so car insurance, road tax, car servicing etc. Clothes, entertainment etc. Budget 1/12 of the annual cost in your monthly budget.
Work through old bank statements to see where its going and if you are still stuck then start a spending diary where you write down everything you spend.

Its about taking control of your money and we all suck at it to start with! Then you can work on reducing costs so that you can start to pay more off the cards.

good luck

MrsTinks

If you have £400 at the end of each month where is this going? What debt are you overpaying? It should be the one with the highest APR...

tomboy29

hiya, ive tried again and added a few things on. one of the cars cost sme nothing except petrol and child costs probably only £50 per month.

thanks for the advice tixy! ive just started an excel sheet for all my outgoings so i can build my own budget calculator so thats a start!

really appreciate your help!



Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 2
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2300
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 160
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2460
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 630
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 325
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 128
Electricity............................. 113
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 50
Telephone (land line)................... 20
Mobile phone............................ 35
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 20
Internet Services....................... 10
Groceries etc. ......................... 200
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 150
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 11
Contents insurance...................... 12
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 9
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1725

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 200000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 5000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 205000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 140000...(630)......3.97
Secured Debt.................. 5000.....(125)......0
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 12000....(200)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 157000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
credit card....................10000.....128.......0
credit card....................5000......58........0
credit card....................3000......50........0
bank overdraft.................5000......60........0
Total unsecured debts..........23000.....296.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,460
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,725
Available for debt repayments........... 735
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 296
Amount left after debt repayments....... 439
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 205,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -157,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -23,000
Net Assets.............................. 25,000[/b

tomboy29

MrsTine wrote: »

If you have £400 at the end of each month where is this going? What debt are you overpaying? It should be the one with the highest APR...

the £400 left over seems to be going on petrol, food shopping and the misses needs a few quid too for her and the baby. i normally end up £200 down each month......thank god for mum and dad! lol

thanks mrs tine!

josephine82

Hiya!
I think the budget calculator is the best idea. You need to be realistic and budget money every month for EVERYTHING. That includes food, petrol, money for your other half and the little one, car maintenance etc etc etc

The SOA you have posted is great but I think you now need to think about your budget and going forward and what is realistic. At the end of the day you want to have allocated money for everything and try to put the left over money towards your debts.
Play around with the calculator, sit down with your other half and draw up a plan!

Its much easier to stick to something when its realistic and includes everything!

I would definitely start a spending diary as well for the little things that you may 'waste' money on without realising it (starbucks was my downfall......!)

Good luck!
Jo

tomboy29

hi josephine thats really good advice i really appreciate that. Ive started my excel spreadsheet for spending etc and will talk to the other half this evening so we know whats what.

Hopefully i can slowly but surely start cutting away at those debts and get my credit report up to scratch so that i can transfer my debts to cards that wont cost me so much money!!

thanks again and have a good xmas!