stressed, confused please help

DVardysShadow

DarkConvict wrote: »

Not much i can suggust so i did this instead

http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx

<spreadsheet redacted>

DC - you are suggesting taking the loans down to £5/month? I would think that these should stay at the agreed amount? On the 25% cc's I would take those down smallest first, as it cuts more slack along the way.

Nottoobadyet

Just a thought - are you getting your council tax discount? if its just you in the house you should get 25% off.

McKneff

Do you have a water meter, if not, get one yesterday,

Far far cheaper than water rates and you do have some contol over consumption.

If not, withina year you can go back.

bluebag

As other posters have mentioned make sure you are getting the council tax discount you are entitled to, a water meter saved my mother a fortune too.
There are savings to be made without living on bread and water.
You'll get there!.

daviesalie_2

I can't recommend doing a snowball enough! Like you most of my debts are on cc's. Make sure you have the exact interest rates and minimum payments. You really will see light at the end of the tunnel:T.

Before I posted on here I worked out that it would take me about 4 years to pay off my debts, but the snowball has halved that...having that knowledge really spurs you on I promise.

The other thing to keep in mind is the amount of money you'll have left over each month when your debts are cleared.

I only started taking my debt busting seriously about 2 weeks ago. I spent 2 weeks before that fooling myself about how much I owed and spent every month. Then I had my LBM and haven't looked back. I've started a Debt Free diary on here which is REALLY keeping me motivated - I'm living, breathing and even dreaming about my finances at the moment. I think I'm getting addicted to this forum, which can only be a good thing coz its free and I'm not out spending what I can't afford :j

Also, I'd recommend doing another SOA with your last 3 months bank statements in front of you and be completely honest with yourself. The first SOA I did was SO under-estimated and I knew when I did it I was fooling myself:o. You must be overspending by more than £7 a month to have built up these debts.

Good luck with it and let us know how you're getting on x

DarkConvict

DVardysShadow wrote: »

DC - you are suggesting taking the loans down to £5/month? I would think that these should stay at the agreed amount? On the 25% cc's I would take those down smallest first, as it cuts more slack along the way.

Im not suggesting it, but the SOC calculator needs a minimum payment figure, as i don't have one to hand i used the lowest it allowed.
I agree the min payments need to be made on existing debts, whatever that figure may be.