I've messed up big time

zulubabe

I've always been rubbish with money - just over 6 months ago I moved out of my ex's home and have since gotten more and more into debt. I'm at breaking point now & don't know what to do - I cant get any more credit. I need help and advice. I get paid on Wednesday so will need to know by then what I should be doing.

Additional Info: I do get charged for going over my overdraft - I have had 1 £25.00 charge from HSBC - I'm not sure how many I will incur in March for going over so badly this month though.

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................ 1062
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1062

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 375
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 85
Electricity............................. 25
Gas..................................... 25
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 26.83
Telephone (land line)................... 20
Mobile phone............................ 30
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 12.5
Groceries etc. ......................... 100
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 32
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 12
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 15
Entertainment........................... 20
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 820.45


Assets
Cash.................................... 70
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 70

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
HSBC...........................2993.16...75........21.9
MINT...........................1600......36........15
HSBC DEBIT CARD................975.95....0.........19.9
EX PARTNER.....................100.......50........0
Total unsecured debts..........5669.11...161.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,062
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 820.45
Available for debt repayments........... 241.55
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 161
Amount left after debt repayments....... 80.55

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 70
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -5,669.11
Net Assets.............................. -5,599.11

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using Firefox browser.
I have a £25.00 overdraft charge to come out in March as well.

I havent included food - to be honest this probably comes in at £25.00 a week if that.

Please help!

concerned43

you have not said how much your cards are costing you each month, if you are over your overdraft are you getting charges?

Cleosmum

Have you checked if you are getting all you are entitled to? https://www.entitledto.com

Also pop all your details into the calc at http://www.makesenseofcards.co.uk/soacalc.html and post up the results here.

I think there are some obvious ones that need to be cut back, such as hair and beauty and gym, and Im sure you could get a better deal if you looked at your mobile and also sorted phone and broadband into a package.

zulubabe

SOA updated

heatherykins

Can you negotiate a better deal on your broadband? We pay £7.50 per month as we are O2 customers - any chance of you being able to cancel your orange contract and going PAYG with O2 as this will save money on mobile bill and take £5 per month off of broadband bill. OR look for another combined deal from someone else??? You are with Orange for Mobile, BT for landline and O2 for broadband - a combined offer with one provider will save you heaps! Cashback sites will offer you cashback for signing up for such deals which will give you a payout a few months down the line (again, I think O2 are doing something pretty big on Quidco just now) but dont sign up to anything until you know if you can cancel your existing contracts.

Why not stop Gym payment for 6 months and exercise at home or walking - massive saving there until you are back on your feet!

Contact lenses per month are EXTORTIONATE!!!! I'm paying 9.25 per month through Boots and I'm currently hunting for a better deal because I know that this can be beaten - There are links on here - use the search for Contact Lenses to find them!

Hair and Beauty £23 per month??? What are you doing/buying? Can you buy a cheaper brand till you are back on your feet? Do you have a mate who can cut your hair for a fiver?

Just some suggestions based on what you've posted, but I'm just new to this game too, so someone with better experience can advise you further!

Hope you get on track xx :-)

zulubabe

Cleosmum wrote: »

Have you checked if you are getting all you are entitled to? www.entitledto.com

Also pop all your details into the calc at http://www.makesenseofcards.co.uk/soacalc.html and post up the results here.

I think there are some obvious ones that need to be cut back, such as hair and beauty and gym, and Im sure you could get a better deal if you looked at your mobile and also sorted phone and broadband into a package.

I do use my gym membership & am reluctant to give it up as it helps with my depression - and I can't find a cheaper gym as this is council run. Unfortunately I'm on contracts with O2 & BT & Orange as these are minimum contracts of 18 months I can't negotiate at the moment. Hair is having my hair coloured at the college with highlights £30.00 every 2 months and eyebrow threading - 2x a month at £4 a time

zulubabe

heatherykins wrote: »

Contact lenses per month are EXTORTIONATE!!!! I'm paying 9.25 per month through Boots and I'm currently hunting for a better deal because I know that this can be beaten - There are links on here - use the search for Contact Lenses to find them!

Unfortunately due to my astigmatism I need Toric contact lenses & they are also gas permeable as I tend to have dry eyes. I will look into getting cheaper though

Cleosmum

If you want to make a dent in the finances then something has to give. If you use the link above and pop your SOA stuff in then its easier to work out where you are, and less likely to forget things like car tax, petrol, food, entertainments etc.

And what is eyebrow threading?

nikki2804

I have astigmastism (sp) too and my contact lenses cost £15 p/m from specsavers. I also had dry eyes etc and they were fine.

Unfortunatley if you are struggling for money then you will need to give something up. Buy a set of tweezers and ditch the threading. I get my eyebrows waxed once every 4 weeks and pluck in between. Highlights? Deemed a luxury even at student prices i'm afraid. Would dye my hair one colour and leave for a while.

As I tell my OH (in regards to luxuries) if you can't afford it you can' have it.

Regarding contracts, I beleive that after 9 months you can negotiate with them however at the end of the contract the retention deal will be crap.

I agree with the others though, post an SOA using the link provided, stops you leaving stuff out.

And just to reiterate, ditch the luxuries. Summers coming in, ditch the gym and take up walking/jogging/power walking. You can rejoin when your finances are back in the black.

zulubabe

Eyebrow threading is where they use a cotton thread to pluck your eyebrows. I think I'll be giving up the gym as I cant see how I can give up on the other items as I'm tied up in contracts. I will also try to see if I can somehow get different contacts.

nikki2804

zulubabe wrote: »

Eyebrow threading is where they use a cotton thread to pluck your eyebrows. I think I'll be giving up the gym as I cant see how I can give up on the other items as I'm tied up in contracts. I will also try to see if I can somehow get different contacts.

Why not get a cheap pair of glasses for now?