my debt diary....(yeslek)

yeslek

well i'v been around for about a month or so now and have made a few changes already.
currently

monthly earnings £800-£950 (dependant on hours worked)

outgoings -
£220 - rent
£273 - lloyds loan (8.9%)
£ 30 - mobile phone
£ 33 - currys pc (ends nov 06)
£ 84 - ford car credit (ends jan 07)
£ 50 - (£946) - halifax credit card (19.9%)
£ 50 - (£907) - bank of scotland credit card 0% for 9 months
£ 7 - account charge
£ 50 - petrol
total outgoing - £797

i also have £1280 savings at 4.5% and a student loan of £1100 (approx) 3 times a year.
as you can see i'm just about managing. though generally my wage is £850+ but the lowest has been £800 through my own fault of finishing early (if i leave early i dont get paid for the hours i'm not there)
so i usually have about £50 left to spend on going out to doing X, Y and Z.
i dont smoke or drink so as long as i'm not silly this is usually plenty.

- i transferred a £900 balance from my barclay card (29.7%) to bank of scotland at 0% for 9 months and hope to have it cleared by the time the 9 months runs out.

- i will use as much of my student loan (left over) to pay both credit cards. i estimate i will have about £400-£500 left from my first installment after various books/fee's have been paid.

the plan is to leave uni with just the student loan debt as it's a much lower interest rate than the loans/credit cards.


- i'v stopped going out every night like i used too, as not only does it get old fast but a fiver for a night out add's up.
- i'v stopped going the cinema as much unless its orange wednesday or i get free tickets through the likes of seefilmfirst
- i'v started selling stuff on ebay in an effort to clean out my room and raise some much needed extra dollar.
- i bring breakfast/lunch to work with me instead of spending eating out, and i make an effort to nip home to eat instead of buying a pub meal for example.
- i flash my student card any chance i get
- i've stopped spending on my cards unless i have the money in the bank to transfer instantly (i have electron so sometimes need to fall back on my credit card) i'v got out of the mind frame of 'oh i can pay it later'. if the money is not in the bank i dont spend it.
- i use clubcard/loyal cards/cashback sites when buying or spending anything.

i'm always looking to more ways to help me save or raise a little extra.

yeslek

i'v decided to close as many credit card accounts as i can.

i seem to have accumilated 5 differant cards and i only have a balance on two.
so bye bye lloyds and barclaycard
capital one i lent to mom to help with ntl issues so will have to hassle her to clear that couple of hundred asap, not only for her own good but so i can get rid of another, high interest card.

i cant seem to find anything online to cancel the accounts so will have to wait until i get home and called them.

Annie_Fanny

When cancelling the cards it is best to write to them and get them to send you written confirmation of the cancellation which you can then keep for your files.

When closing my Topshop card this is the letter I wrote:

Dear Sir/Madam

Account number: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (Topshop)

I wish to close the above account due to a change in my financial circumstances. I have destroyed and disposed of my store card. When the account has been closed could you please confirm this in writing.

Yours sincerely

Also what is the £7 account charge for?

Annie

yeslek

thanks for that

the £7 is an account charge (lloyds) for sentinal card cover / aa road cover / mobile insurance.

it worked out cheaper to pay this for just the aa road cover an £250 for car insurance than £450 a year with rac cover / insurance

James240

Would it not be possible to use some of ur savings against the higher APR debts? like paying off the Curreys Pc debt and the ford car credit? and will also leave u £117 better off that u can throw at other debts

Annie_Fanny

Yes what are the APRs and Debt Amounts? Can you overpay on any of the loans? If you can I would do it as some of those APRs are gonna be crazy high and your savings account will only be getting 4/5%...

Annie

James240

Annie_Fanny wrote:

Yes what are the APRs and Debt Amounts? Can you overpay on any of the loans? If you can I would do it as some of those APRs are gonna be crazy high and your savings account will only be getting 4/5%...

Annie

totally agree with Annie, is it possible you could list yuor debts with the APR's and then peeps here could give u some ideas what to do

Prudent

The outgoing you listed don't cover things like food, presents, haircuts etc. How do you finance these. Do consider using the savings to reduce the debt.

yeslek

- i'v updated the first post with interest rates

i still live at home so the 220 is what i give mom each month and covers most of that.
if i fall short i try and fall back on my uni loan (i try an save half of it to cover me for these short falls from one installment to the next)

i'm reluctant to touch my savings for debt's as i'm not in a secure job, i dont get sick pay - unless i'm signed off for 3 days + of which i only get SSP - and i'v survived 2 redunceys already so the savings are if my job goes tit's up i can cope bill wise for a month or so until i find another job.

currys pc ends in a few months then i will be £33 better off a month so wwas thinking of throwing that at the loan as over payment each month.
the same goes for ford car credit as it ends in january.
i'd rather let those two run their course that risk getting in deeper.

the plan at the moment is to also clear both cards by the time the 9 months interest free period ends which if i throw an extra couple of hundred at from my uni loan is very possible.
i plan to have the cards, the car, and the pc all gone by march. leaving me with an extra £200 to hammer down the loan payments.

i was hoping that i wouldnt need to apply for the student loan in my third year also and if i can get everything down enough i'll be able to do this.

James240

yeslek wrote:

- i'v updated the first post with interest rates

i still live at home so the 220 is what i give mom each month and covers most of that.
if i fall short i try and fall back on my uni loan (i try an save half of it to cover me for these short falls from one installment to the next)

i'm reluctant to touch my savings for debt's as i'm not in a secure job, i dont get sick pay - unless i'm signed off for 3 days + of which i only get SSP - and i'v survived 2 redunceys already so the savings are if my job goes tit's up i can cope bill wise for a month or so until i find another job.

currys pc ends in a few months then i will be £33 better off a month so wwas thinking of throwing that at the loan as over payment each month.
the same goes for ford car credit as it ends in january.
i'd rather let those two run their course that risk getting in deeper.

the plan at the moment is to also clear both cards by the time the 9 months interest free period ends which if i throw an extra couple of hundred at from my uni loan is very possible.
i plan to have the cards, the car, and the pc all gone by march. leaving me with an extra £200 to hammer down the loan payments.

i was hoping that i wouldnt need to apply for the student loan in my third year also and if i can get everything down enough i'll be able to do this.

Yeslek if you pay off the PC and Ford car thing you will be a £117 a month better off now!! This will go a long way into making a big dent in ur current loan and credit cards mate :beer: I know u want savings behind u but if u clearthose two u will be in a better situation

Annie_Fanny

I totally agree with James240....if you don't believe us have a look at Martin Lewis' say on the matter. If that doesn't convince you nothing will...

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid1103213261,45760,