MeestaDimples SOA and SOS!

linniestorm

Also, just having a closer look at the SOA, you've got some credit limit left on your Virgin card and some time left on your 0% deal, why not shift some loan from the highest rated apr over to it to cut down on the amount you're paying interest on if you can?

Also, I'm assuming you haven't spent on the Virgin card and it's now cut up! As you seem to be quite like me and loose with the spending habits!! I make a note of the card details somewhere secure though in case they ever ask for them for security or something (though no using it for online shopping of course! :rotfl: )

justruth

I'm a little confused on one or two points, and affraid that maybe you still haven't truely understood or expressed your position.

As pointed out by another forum member, you appear to have £202.50 spare each month, however your post does not show a full budget, have a look at the budget planner on this site, sort out all your outgoings in full each month so you can clearly see where all your money is going. Once you have your budget dont be affraid to use it! Also another member pointed out that your cahoot flexible loan is very much over limit (£5367), does this have a different interest rate, are you being charged fees or have we got the wrong end of the stick and that is the £2900 spare within your limit? Your Virgin Credit Card repayments are £100 a month on £4852, do you have an IVA with them already which would exclude you from transfering some of your other debt, and if so have you double checked that the 0% still applies? I ask this as MBNA usually require 5% minimum repayment which I worked out as £242.60, however if this is less then again as another member has already mentioned transfer some of the interest acruing debt to the 0% card. The sofa appears to have been brought on credit, what is the APR on that?

Certainly evaluate your spending, write down every penny you spend, it is a fantasic exercise as it makes you think about what you are spending, and ask yourself each time you go to buy something if you want it or need it. Look at your bank account, is it the best one for you, are you able to reclaim bank charges from the last 6 years? I found just looking at my statements from the past 6 years made me see where I was wasting money.

Last but not least you're not alone, and well done on deciding to take action against debt!:beer:

james32_uk

Just a thought, in a DMP you do pay back everything you owe. It would allow you to make repayments at a rate that gives you a decent standard of living and potentially stop interest and charges. It's worth a discussion at least.

cattie

loobyloo1980 wrote:

I didn't know that!!! Hmmm, that will give me something to think about. I wonder what channels you get free. Probably not the ones I would watch, thats the problem, ha ha ha.

Loobyloo, I think you get roughly the same channels as people with a freeview box do. Now Film4 is a free channel you also get that.

MeestaDimples

lynsayjane wrote:

is this a boob or are you six grand over your limit?

Nope - that was a boob. My limit is £8,900.

lynsayjane wrote:

firstly, hi and welcome to dfw! you seem to have things locked up fairly tight, my only thoughts are do you need the mobile so high when you have a house phone? i'd lower it to the minimum if you have a contract (this won't increase your term) or switch to payg.

Contract being lowered by £12 as of next month!

lynsayjane wrote:

are you contacts as low as you can get them cost wise? i think there are other threads on getting the cheapest...hopefully a contact user will be along shortly.

Didn't realise I could get the contacts lower so will look into this pronto.

lynsayjane wrote:

how many do you feed for £60? you should be able to cut that down a bit with some meal planning or changing from brand names to savers items.

£60 is my bill for the month - is that really high? I plan every meal and also bring sandwhiches into work each day.

MeestaDimples

loobyloo1980 wrote:

Well your SOA seems pretty good actually but if my maths is right you seem to have about £200pcm 'spare' when you subtract your outgoings from your income. Is this spent on stuff like clothes, birthdays, etc? Or is it spare cash? If it is spare cash then you could be throwing extra at your debts every month with it. If it used for something like clothes etc, then you need to add it in to your budget to avoid overspending and cheating yourself into thinking you have spare money when you don't. Other than that, I can't really see where you could cut back. I think everything looks pretty reasonable.

I have £200pcm to live on - going out, buying clothes and birthday presents. Does that seem too much at my disposal? I have a mahoosive family which means a birthday almost every month & 6 in September!!

loobyloo1980 wrote:

Have you thought about snowballing your loans to see if you can pay them off more efficiently? Try https://www.whatsthecost.com (?) and see if you can save yourself some interest just by juggling how you pay your loans back. It has done wonders for me and brought my debt free date closer

Never heard of this before so will definitely look into it - thanks.

lynsayjane

MeestaDimples wrote:

£60 is my bill for the month - is that really high? I plan every meal and also bring sandwhiches into work each day.

its not REALLY bad, if it was 100 that would be really bad. two thumbs for taking the sandwiches to work! :T

out of interest where do you shop? i don't have one near me but a lot of oflks on this site are fans of aldi/lidl for a cheap shop. me personally most of my stuff is asda smart price, don't think there is anything i've tried i haven't liked, and it does make a difference to the total.

MeestaDimples

lynsayjane wrote:

its not REALLY bad, if it was 100 that would be really bad. two thumbs for taking the sandwiches to work! :T

out of interest where do you shop? i don't have one near me but a lot of oflks on this site are fans of aldi/lidl for a cheap shop. me personally most of my stuff is asda smart price, don't think there is anything i've tried i haven't liked, and it does make a difference to the total.

I shop in Tesco as it is 3 minutes from my flat. There is an Aldi in Brighton, but is about 3-4 miles from where I live and would need a bus journey and anyone who lives in Brighton knows how expensive the buses are - £1.80 flat fare one way! I do shop in the Co-op from time to time as their bogoff's are better than Tesco's.