Got room for one more DFW?

lovelife!

Hello, am making myself post this tonight before I go to bed! Keep putting it off, I am a master of creative avoidance! I have already found the information and spirit of support on this site so helpful, thank you so much to everyone, and I am hoping that doing this will make me keep up my efforts to get myself out of debt sooner rather than later!

Finished a relationship at Christmas which has cost me a lot of money and left me with an overdraft and cc debts. Finishing with OH was the hardest bit, and I am now determined to make the most of my life and not to let the debts get me down (don't manage this all of the time!) Anyhow, have already got rid of some payments and transferred some balances on to a 0% card, and know there are more things I need to try to find cheaper options for.

I took on a second job a couple of months ago thinking I would be able to make some extra payments, and also took in a lodger. Thought I was doing well and just starting to see some progress, but have now been made redundant from my main job. Am trying to see this as an opportunity in the long term, as the job was going nowhere, but obviously it was my main income so now leaves me needing to make up my income from next month. My part time job has offered me more part time hours, which may well become full time at some point, but I will now have to find a way to make £500plus a month to supplement the part-time income.

These are my current outgoings, and I know they need reducing!
NTL Cable 19.50
Water 30.95
Mortgate 448.71
Gas 44.00
Gas Service 13.25
Home Insurance 44.80
Electricity 56.00
Mortgage Protection 19.97
BT tel/BB 78.50
Council Tax 74
Wallis Storecard 10.97
Car Insurance 20.97
Mobile 66.43
TV licence 10.99

Halifax cc owe £1563.72 approx, 22.5%
HSBC cc owe £1935.49 0%
Overdraft £2037.30

Wallis Storecard owe £219.39 24.8%
Debenhams owe £62.41 28% - plan to pay off this month.

Main salary at the moment is £1115.01.
My part time job brings in between £50 - £70 a week depending on the hours I do.

Well, sorry that's been such a long post, just trying to encourage myself and wanted to commit myself to virtual paper so I don't keep avoiding the issue! I don't want to let debt make me miss out on my life, as since splitting up with OH have realised how fast its ticking by. Just need to enjoy it on the cheap now! Anyway, if you're still awake, thanks very much for reading!

corrig24

Hello there and well done for SA, its a good first step, your mobile is quiet high each month, maybe you can reduce your usage/package. You have both NTL and BT, it may be cheaper to have just one provider rather that two.

lovelife!

Hi, thanks for taking the time to reply. I know my phone bills look high, however, I am paying previous debts and the broadband cost on the bt bill, though I know I may be able to get this cheaper, its on my target list! Also, the mobile bill is for two phones, I pay for a mobile for my father by way of a little bit of payback as he helped me out with a loan for which he is being brilliant and not demanding any repayment.

Thanks for your input, its all gratefully received!

kathfisch

Hello and welcome, there's always roon for another

Things that jump out at me:

NTL Cable - is this TV? If so, its a luxury you probably can't afford right now. Why not get a freeview box? If you really want to stay with NTL, try ringing and threatening to leave, they might offer you a discounted rate

Mobile and Home phone are huge amounts - is there any particular reason for this? Have you looked around for the cheapest providers etc? If your phone is on contract, reduce it to the lowest tariff or ideally switch to payg. There is much more advice from very knowledgeable people on the telephones board. Edit, I see you've explained about this now. Still look for cheapest companies etc though, phone your mobile company and threaten to leave (worked for me )

How much is your broadband? There are some fairly cheap providers out there now... and some like NTL will do a deal. I'm constantly being offered phone, tv and broadband for £30 a month from ntl. No idea if this is the best deal but its worth a thought (and much cheaper than what you're paying now!).

Gas service - is this a kind of protection plan? Do you really need it? Could you rather put the money into a savings account for use in an emergency (or, better still, put it towards a debt?!).

Gas, electricity, insurance etc - see if you're getting the best possible deals on everything. use comparison sites (such as uswitch for utilities) and do as much as possible through quidco for added cashback :T

You're right to prioritise your storecard debts, they're likely to be ridiculous rates of interest!

Getting things in perspective, your debts are not as high as some but its all relative isn't it! How likely are you to find something quickly to replace the job you're leaving? Is the full time option at your other job likely to come up soon and is it something you'd like to do?

On your list you don't have food, clothes, going out, other costs associated with the car (off the top of my head - there might be others). If you had some estimates of these figures you'd be able to see how much is left at the end of the month and how this compares the the repayments on your debts.

Ok.... end of my rambling (it's too late for this really )

Hope some of that helps!

corrig24

No probs thats what we are all here for help.....of some kind!!! Have you checked out the snowball download and the budget planner on the home page.

Also have a play around with this http://www.whatsthecost.co.uk/snowball.aspx to see how much interest you will be paying.

lovelife!

Thanks to you both for replying, you're right, it is too late for this and I must go to bed now. I take on board all you say, some of it I already have on my list of targets to check out over the next couple of weeks, and the links I will have a look at over the next few days. Thanks so much for your encouragement, I know my debts aren't as big as some, but they were becoming unmanageable and I don't want to be a slave to my repayments forever! I'll try to work out the food etc, but I shop at Lidl and cheap tesco brands, and don't really ever go out these days. Most months I struggle to put petrol in the car, and I pray nothing breaks, - microwave did, so now I don't have one. Not too great a loss! Since Christmas I have paid some stuff off and reduced interest payments by moving stuff onto the 0% card, and i have made some progress in the total debt. It was well over 6,000 then, and kept going up with charges as I couldn't afford all the minimum payments.

Anyway, I'll be back when my eyes are more open! Thanks again and good night!

black-saturn

OK here's my pennies worth:

NTL Cable 19.50 - Could you go onto Freeview instead?
Water 30.95 - That's very high. Could you go on a water meter instead? I'm on one and my bills have halved since I've been on it.
Mortgate 448.71
Gas 44.00 - This is high too. Could you cut down?
Gas Service 13.25 - Is this one of these payments to gas incase something goes wrong? If so it's very high. Cancel it and put the money in an ISA instead.
Home Insurance 44.80 - This is very high too. My home insurance is £7 per month.
Electricity 56.00 - Also extremely high. Cut down on electric by constantly switching things off that are not in use, having candlight in the evenings, plan what you want to watch on TV and only have the TV on when those programmes are on, measure water for the kettle so you don't boil more than you need to.
Mortgage Protection 19.97
BT tel/BB 78.50 - Again high. Do you need a mobile and this?
Council Tax 74
Wallis Storecard 10.97
Car Insurance 20.97
Mobile 66.43 - High considering the phone bill. Do you need this?
TV licence 10.99

Also you could try selling on ebay. Go round your house and gather up anything you don't need anymore. You will be amazed at how much money you can get for dvds you never watch anymore, videos you never watch anymore, cds you never listen to, clothes you never wear, books you never read, toys the children never play with. You might be able to pay a huge chunk of debt off if you just spend one weekend working on ebay.

Edinburghlass_2

Welcome to MSE lovelife!

First port of call for you I would say is the Telephone Boards

Absolutely certain the users there could get your bb/cable/telephone/mobile bills wayyyyyy down.