I failed.

theoretica

Your first priority needs to be stopping your debt growing. As your SOA stands you have an income of 1450, living costs of 1228.24 and adding up the payment on your debts is another 403.57. Result: 1450 in and 1632 out so your debt is growing by £182 each month. You need to cut some things down or you will never be debt free. Where are you going to immediately find at least £182 savings each month? I agree saving by renting somewhere cheaper might be the easiest on your lifestyle, but you need to fill the gap somewhere else until you can move. Others have pointed out the obvious places to be thrifty.

You are paying Lloyds 147 a month- if this is all because of the 3000 overdraft this is the equivalent of 58.8% interest rate and needs urgent attention.

[Deleted User]

I found, when I had some pretty minor debt compared to others, that I made a challenge of it. I decided to get a buzz from paying off another £50 on the credit cards rather than spending it on sh1te that never made me happy anyhow. If you can decide to make this a challenge of gamesmanship rather than viewing it as deprivation it helps - and, like debt, the MSE habit snowballs!!

Now I have (low!!)4-figure savings despite being on disability benefits but I feel security like never before.

Yeah the nights out are more low-key and probably limited to orange bogof movies & a 50% off pizza but it's still a night out!

ETA: you haven't failed - you just haven't started yet!

Mikeone

@joolzred

Absolutely spot on! Make the DFW life a buzz itself and it becomes its own reward.

:j

Frenchgirl

Hi I want to say well done for posting, I know how hard it is. Have you thought about staying in but inviting your friends over. I cant afford to go out so I invite friends over, we all bring something to share ie food/drink. Its a lot cheaper then the pub!

Sharon87

I was going to suggest becoming debt free doesn't mean depriving yourself of fun, just have fun doing cheaper or free things.

What I'm really confused about is the £100 overdraft charge? What's that for? Is it charges for going over your limit? If so that's the most important thing you should worry about right now.

Nottoobadyet

Hey mate -

I'm 22 as well and can understand a lot of what your saying (moving in with mum as madness, being embarrassed of telling partners...). Just wanted to say keep your chin up and you'll get out OK - money isnt immaterial in a relationship but so many people have debt these days that no one but the most naive would be shocked by your situation.

And hey, if you learn to cook a bit you can slash your grocery bills and have her round for lovely dinners at home, girls love a fella that can cook!

davidgmmafan

Another thought has just occured to me if you are getting £100 per month in charges what is this for? If it is returned items or being over your limit then this will more than off-set any savings you make for paying by direct debit. Cancel the lot and setup standing orders or bill payments so that you are in control.

Pretty much as soon as you get one charge that wipes out any savings that you would have made.

gonzo127

Mr_Original wrote: »

Thanks to all for your thoughts so far, here is my SOA as requested, sorry for not posting it before:

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 0

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1450
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1450

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 550
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 62
Electricity............................. 7.5
Gas..................................... 20
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 7.75
Telephone (land line)................... 8.5 - are you sure this is right monthly line rental is usually in the region of £12
Mobile phone............................ 50 - this is very high do you really use it that much? and what do you use it for? you can get £15 a month contract with (1000-3000 texts)
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 4.99
Groceries etc. ......................... 175 - very high for one person currently £40 a week try to do it for £30 to start of with just by dropping a brand and meal planning then try to improve with batch cooking etc
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
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..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30 - who do you buy for as you are looking at £360 for the year try only buying for close family for the time being
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 100 - this is a lot, i am sorry as i know you like a social life but £25 a week going out is extravigent when you have debts that you are struggling with
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Gym..................................... 48.5 - really? can you drop your package or just cancel and go for a run or do some at home? currently nearly £600 a year on this!
Online backup .......................... 7
Lloyds overdraft fees................... 100
Lloyds interest......................... 30
Lloyds account charge................... 17
Total monthly expenses.................. 1228.24


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

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
FirstPLus......................16570.....215.2.....8.3
Lloyds loan....................5000......138.4.....15.42
RBS overdraft..................100.......0.........0
lloyds overdraft...............3000......0.........17.76
egg money card.................500.......15........21.9
egg credit card................500.......15........21.9
purchase credit - del..........550.......19.97.....18.9

Meet dave: unfortunatly im in a contract till the end of June and I cannot move. I live just outside london in an expensive area, so would be looking to move to somewhere cheaper once that is over. Trouble is wherever i move will cost me in transport, i currently live a 10 min from work

studentjames: I did think of moving home, but i dont really think i could cope with it. plus it costs about £250 in transport so i would not be saving a huge amount as my mum would want rent

I am trying to wrap my head around how much sacrifice i have to make! It seems irrational to cut every single spend out of my monthly budget except bills and food, what sort of life is that?!

made a couple of comments next to the places where i feel you can make improvements

you have stated that you and your GF go out every week somewhere, have you thought about trying to do this only once a fortnight and the other week do a nice romantic meal at home, with a good cuddle on the sofa whilst watching a film

its not about cutting everything out, if you can afford to keep some things thats great, however if you cant afford them, really what other option do you have. the simple thing is if you can not get to a point where you are living within your means you will just get further and further into debt until that horrible moment where there is no money at all and you cant afford food let alone going out.

matildabean

It's no use worrying over what you spent the money on, you owe it now, just vow that you'll clear the debts and never borrow again.
You said your credit rating is knackered, I would go to the CCCS (search this site for more info). They'll contact your lenders and negotate the interest down, sometimes to 0%, then you can actually start paying off the money you owe, rather than wasting your money on interest. They will calculate how much you have spare each month and then you pay it to them and they pay out to the lenders. This obviously affects your credt rating but you said that's gone anyway, at least this way you will feel like you're getting somewhere and can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

matildabean

It's no use worrying over what you spent the money on, you owe it now, just vow that you'll clear the debts and never borrow again.
You said your credit rating is knackered, I would go to the CCCS (search this site for more info). They'll contact your lenders and negotate the interest down, sometimes to 0%, then you can actually start paying off the money you owe, rather than wasting your money on interest. They will calculate how much you have spare each month and then you pay it to them and they pay out to the lenders. This obviously affects your credt rating but you said that's gone anyway, at least this way you will feel like you're getting somewhere and can see the light at the end of the tunnel.