Really need help to cope with debt - please

TheCrimsonAvenger

gonzo127 wrote: »

hi well done on posting this however there are a few bits which are missing, such as is it just you or others in the house do you own a car etc

anyways as to the other comments i have added in above, i do think you might need to re do your SOA as i am not sure it is a realistic view as there is no travel costs, no water costs etc

anyways even with a £400 overdraft taking up your money you would still have nearly £200 surplus each and every month to improve your debt payments.

now seeing this i would definatly say you should be able to sort your situation out with a GOOD budget however i think you will need to re-train yourself with some things.

a good plan would be to make a spending diary in which you write down EVERYTHING you spend from a 20 pence newspaper to a £50 drinking binge so you can see where in a normal month all yoru surplus cash goes, it will probably be a real eye opener!

Thanks for your help gonzo127
The rent is massive (it's Central London) it's good for where I am, moving would be a huge upheaval. Council Tax is low where I live.
It is all electric, we have our own water.
I'll check re the mobile phone. You're right about the groceries. I have an annual travel card from work which they take out of my salary before I get it.

TheCrimsonAvenger

the_cat wrote: »

Ok, good start with the SOA but realistically it can't be accurate yet. If you are running out of money in week 2 of the month then you are spending much more than you have said.

Work out what you have REALLY been spending for the past few months and average it out. These are the figures you should be using at the start of you debt free journey. If you genuinely don't know where the money goes, a spending diary is in order to find out!

Good point think I'll do a spending diary for April.

gonzo127

well to start off with if you have time (online banking is a real bonus sometimes) is go through last months statement and try and mark off every item ever time something went out with what it was for ok you will have a few items which you might not know what it was for but this sort of retrospective spending diary might help get yourself focused, especially if a lot of your spending is on things you cant pin point what you actually spent it on

Percy1983

As above looking at your last months transaction may be a great help, if you draw cash try and list what you bought with that cash.

It does seem all your money is going somewhere and that needs bringing under control.

Out of interest how much of your debt can you quantify? I say this as i managed to figure where a lot of my debt came from (New Car, New TV etc). If you can't say where your debt has come from in full then you are going to have to change your habits.

My one word of advice is that debt clearing isn't a race, some on here may say you should cut all luxuries to clear your debt, Yes this is the quickest way but its not a crime to take longer to clear debts and still have a life.

Eitherway you are on your way now, well done on facing upto this. Hopefully you will get all this cleared and learn from it along with the many more of us.

miss_missy

hi
well done on the soa but you really need to include everything and list all your debt separately
have you checked you tax codes correct just you take home pay seems a bit lower than i would have thought even if you are paying a pension i would have though it be a little higher just a thought, unless you get taxable benefits and if so are they worth it? as we found my partner was paying for a health benefit through work that really was not worth it just a thought to check out

good luck with the soa

TheCrimsonAvenger

Percy1983 wrote: »

As above looking at your last months transaction may be a great help, if you draw cash try and list what you bought with that cash.

It does seem all your money is going somewhere and that needs bringing under control.

Out of interest how much of your debt can you quantify? I say this as i managed to figure where a lot of my debt came from (New Car, New TV etc). If you can't say where your debt has come from in full then you are going to have to change your habits.

My one word of advice is that debt clearing isn't a race, some on here may say you should cut all luxuries to clear your debt, Yes this is the quickest way but its not a crime to take longer to clear debts and still have a life.

Eitherway you are on your way now, well done on facing upto this. Hopefully you will get all this cleared and learn from it along with the many more of us.

A lot of my debt went on things I couldn't afford but thought to myself I'll put it on the card but clear it at the end of the month. Of course I didn't and the debt remained. I've learnt a lot of things I was doing wrong which meant my debt spiralled but not early enough alas.

TheCrimsonAvenger

miss_missy wrote: »

hi
well done on the soa but you really need to include everything and list all your debt separately
have you checked you tax codes correct just you take home pay seems a bit lower than i would have thought even if you are paying a pension i would have though it be a little higher just a thought, unless you get taxable benefits and if so are they worth it? as we found my partner was paying for a health benefit through work that really was not worth it just a thought to check out

good luck with the soa

Thanks I'll definitely check my taxcodes as they do seem wrong. I pay a pension (100pm) and have BUPA as well as Gym. These are all set from Jan - Dec and can only be changed in November.

dancingfairy

Have you got anything you could sell - ebay or car boot? some people have made a lot of money from ebaying things lying around the house.
Good Luck
df

miss_missy

TheCrimsonAvenger wrote: »

Thanks I'll definitely check my taxcodes as they do seem wrong. I pay a pension (100pm) and have BUPA as well as Gym. These are all set from Jan - Dec and can only be changed in November.

hi
great i would check it out as from online salary checkers your after taxes/ni pay should be approx 2575 per month take the 100 for pension thats a diff of 225 per month thats 2700 for bupa and gym per year? if its correct are they worth doing through work could you get cheaper ? someone else maybe able to help you with regards this but i think you should def look into it

TheCrimsonAvenger

miss_missy wrote: »

hi
great i would check it out as from online salary checkers your after taxes/ni pay should be approx 2575 per month take the 100 for pension thats a diff of 225 per month thats 2700 for bupa and gym per year? if its correct are they worth doing through work could you get cheaper ? someone else maybe able to help you with regards this but i think you should def look into it

Thanks have tried it - looks OK though. Had two tax codes through for 2010/11 which look wrong (K code and BR) BR I know is emergency and K I'm guessing as I have taxable benefits.