Newbie :) wanting to be debt free

lilherbz

Hi Everyone,

I have been lurking around here for a few months picking up a few good tips and advice. Its nice to know there are other people who have debts and there are nice people who dont judge us poor souls who are learning the hard way of money management.

I like to think i am not in too far over my head and I have realised i will end up in trouble if i carry on. I want to sort this out before i end up totally in the poop. My debts include 2 cataloges, credit card, loan and 2 over drafts. My total is around £5000, it might not seem like much but its enough to rake up alot of my hard earned pennies every month I did get a loan to clear all my debts and have a clean slate but stupidily thought i could handle things and started spending again, so i am now back where i started and have this loan too.

Since moving in with my OH i have had to look at the finances and try to sort them out. I hope i am heading in the right direction but i feel like i need some help from the experts to help stay on the straight and narrow.

I am hoping to go trawling through the depts of the wardrobes and cupboards later and put some things on ebay. Have a clean out and make a fresh go of things.

I am not an ebay whizz so any tips you have would be gratefully received!!

xxx

Tixy

Hi lilherbz and welcome to DFW.

Many of us, like you, have learned the hard way that consolidation loans often make things worse not better.

Have you worked out a monthly budget to see how you can maximise what you can pay towards your debts each month?

Another good starting place is to start keeping a spending diary to keep track of where all your money goes.

Good luck with ebaying.

[Deleted User]

if you post a SOA (statement of affairs) people on here will be better able to advise you of where cuts can be made in your sepending and other helpfull hints and tips:

www.makesenseofcards.com

good Luck

lilherbz

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1114
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1114
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 100
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 50
Electricity............................. 35
Gas..................................... 35
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 30
Telephone (land line)................... 15
Mobile phone............................ 25
TV Licence.............................. 25
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 11.99
Groceries etc. ......................... 125
Clothing................................ 25
Petrol/diesel........................... 150
Road tax................................ 15
Car Insurance........................... 40
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 30
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 25
Total monthly expenses.................. 806.99

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 1500

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
cataloge.......................430.......40........NaN
cataloge.......................50........20........NaN
Credit Card....................900.......65........28
Overdrafts.....................600.......20........0
loan...........................3600......214.......NaN
Total unsecured debts..........5580......359.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,114
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 806.99
Available for debt repayments........... 307.01
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 359
Amount short for making debt repayments. -51.99
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 1,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -5,580
Net Assets.............................. -4,080
Created using the SOA calculator at .
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.


This is my expenses my OH does not get involved with my money and dont dont with his. Maybe someone could tell me what this is and how it works lol xx

[Deleted User]

Do you not get any tax credits for your child?

Electricity and gas - check comparison sites to see if you are getting the best deal for your usage.

Water rates - are you on a meter?, this could work out cheaper depending on your usage.

Your TV licence fee is high - it should be half of this.

Mobile phone - this could be cheaper if you took a sim only contract (£10-£15). Are you still within the contract period? can you reduce your tariff until the end of the contract if you're locked in.

Clothing - cut this out, only buy the bare essentials until you have paid off your debts.

petrol/desil is high - do you use the car for work? can you use it less? Drive more efficiently?

£50/month on presents is unaffordable at the moment - cut this right back until you are debt free - only buy for close family at christmas/birthdays. Christmas presents for child only.

You also might be able to make cut backs on your food bill look at the old style board for hints and tips. Meal plan, batch cook, take lunch to work etc

If you are not sure where all of you money goes each month keep a spending diary for a month or two.

You also need to work out the interest on the loans and cards - this will help you prioritise debt repayment.

Also, see if you can find ways to "up your income" overtime, second job, look at the "up your income board" for more advice.

Also, some of your debts are very small, and with a little extra caash could be paid off in no time. Can you sell anything on e-bay, amazon, gumtree, car boot. Once some of your smaller debts are gone, you'll free up some more cash to get the others paid off quicker.

Hope the comments are of some help, good luck

Tixy

Hi

Well unfortunatley it looks like you are paying out £52 more than you get in each month, is that right? do your debts increase each month? have you so far managed to make all minimum payments on time?
So you really need to find somewhere you can reduce a few costs.

lilherbz wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1114
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1114
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 100 looks low - is this a contribution to OH?
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 50
Electricity............................. 35 these look quite high - are you actually paying £70 for elec split between the 2 of you? does this include arrears? have you shopped around to see if you can find a cheaper supplier for this & gas?
Gas..................................... 35
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 30 is this just half of the household bill or all of it? if half then consider getting a water meter installed.
Telephone (land line)................... 15
Mobile phone............................ 25
TV Licence.............................. 25 this looks high? its usually £13 (except if you are in the first 6months of paying it)
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 11.99
Groceries etc. ......................... 125 if this is just for 1 person you may be able to reduce slightly
Clothing................................ 25 can you cut these out for 6m or so?
Petrol/diesel........................... 150 are all your journeys essential? do you always find the cheapest place to fill up? and do you drive efficently?
Road tax................................ 15
Car Insurance........................... 40 did you shop around for this? would it be cheaper if OH was a named driver?
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 30
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50 can you reduce your spending on this?
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 25 are you actually saving this or is it just a nominal figure?
Total monthly expenses.................. 806.99

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 1500

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
cataloge.......................430.......40........NaN
cataloge.......................50........20........NaN
Credit Card....................900.......65........28
Overdrafts.....................600.......20........0
loan...........................3600......214.......NaN
Total unsecured debts..........5580......359.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,114
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 806.99
Available for debt repayments........... 307.01
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 359
Amount short for making debt repayments. -51.99 do you think you can make up all of this shortfall from ebaying?
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 1,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -5,580
Net Assets.............................. -4,080
Created using the SOA calculator at .
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.


This is my expenses my OH does not get involved with my money and dont dont with his. Maybe someone could tell me what this is and how it works lol xx

I've put in a few comments in the hope some may help. Is there any chance you could work more hours or do overtime at work to help you balance your figures?

lilherbz

Domino9 wrote: »

Do you not get any tax credits for your child?

Electricity and gas - check comparison sites to see if you are getting the best deal for your usage.

Water rates - are you on a meter?, this could work out cheaper depending on your usage.

Your TV licence fee is high - it should be half of this.

Mobile phone - this could be cheaper if you took a sim only contract (£10-£15). Are you still within the contract period? can you reduce your tariff until the end of the contract if you're locked in.

Clothing - cut this out, only buy the bare essentials until you have paid off your debts.

petrol/desil is high - do you use the car for work? can you use it less? Drive more efficiently?

£50/month on presents is unaffordable at the moment - cut this right back until you are debt free - only buy for close family at christmas/birthdays. Christmas presents for child only.

You also might be able to make cut backs on your food bill look at the old style board for hints and tips. Meal plan, batch cook, take lunch to work etc

If you are not sure where all of you money goes each month keep a spending diary for a month or two.

You also need to work out the interest on the loans and cards - this will help you prioritise debt repayment.

Also, see if you can find ways to "up your income" overtime, second job, look at the "up your income board" for more advice.

Also, some of your debts are very small, and with a little extra caash could be paid off in no time. Can you sell anything on e-bay, amazon, gumtree, car boot. Once some of your smaller debts are gone, you'll free up some more cash to get the others paid off quicker.

Hope the comments are of some help, good luck

Thank you for your reply, I dont have any children. I do have 1 car could see the confusion.

As we live in a rented house and we are not allowed to change the untility bills etc we tried at our last property, it was a nightmare went on for months and payments got muddled so best to leave it.

The water is including sewage one bill is about £18 and the other is £12 I dont think we are on a water meter.

The TV license is a shady area OH sorted it out but we moved a few months ago so am guessing we must have missed payments or something in the move.

My phone bill has recent been reduced from £35 Orange do a best plan review after 6/8 months think i have a year or so left on the contract.

Clothing is my down side and this will be cut out

I need to drive for work its about 30 min drive and the buses are very few and far between in this area.

£50 for presents is a very rough figure i have for birthdays and the rest goes towards xmas maybe this could be trimmed down.

The food bill is for 2 of us and my bit is a contribution towards OHs budget, I do agree food must be cut back on but he says he does think its necessary (he has a squeaky clean record ) Maybe i should negociate my bit.

I have read alot about people using a spending diary maybe this is the way to go.

My goodness im sorry alot of my answers sound like excuses, but i will do my best to impliment some changes.

Thank you so much

bexster1975

Hi lilherbz and welcome

I agree with all txy's comments on SOA. What is NaN? Is that no interest?
Also, 28% on £900 credit card!! Can you swap this to a 0% for 12 months?
Agree that individual amounts are small and some could be mopped up quickly if pressies/clothing etc were put on hold for 6 months.

Old style moneysaving board will help with cheap pressies. Anyway, if you explain the situation to real friends, they won't mind not doing pressies for a while/making each other pressies.

Good luck

bexster1975:)

[Deleted User]

QUOTE:"Thank you for your reply, I dont have any children. I do have 1 car could see the confusion."
-Sorry yes, I completly read that wrong!! (sorry)

Good luck with any changes you make - every little will help and £50 extra needed really isn't too bad to find, and in a couple of months the smaller debts will be gone, so you'll be able to pay more on to the bigger ones.

lilherbz

bexster1975 wrote: »

Hi lilherbz and welcome

I agree with all txy's comments on SOA. What is NaN? Is that no interest?
Also, 28% on £900 credit card!! Can you swap this to a 0% for 12 months?
Agree that individual amounts are small and some could be mopped up quickly if pressies/clothing etc were put on hold for 6 months.

Old style moneysaving board will help with cheap pressies. Anyway, if you explain the situation to real friends, they won't mind not doing pressies for a while/making each other pressies.

Good luck

bexster1975:)

Hi Bexster,

Thank you for your reply and warm welcome.

Im not sure what that means but i was not sure on the interest so i left it blank. Yes my credit card has a stupid interest rate but unfortunately I am unable to get a better one at the moment due to rubbish credit rating! Its times like these you wish you'd listened to your parents about saving and not getting credit cards etc lol.

Most of my friends would understand about the presents, but 1 or 2 of them think debt is shameful and dont understand how people do it. (snobby and have always been bailed out by mummy and daddy) Thats another story tho xx

lilherbz

Hi Tixy,

heres the poor excuses lol

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1114
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1114
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 100 looks low - is this a contribution to OH? Yes he pays most of it.
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 50
Electricity............................. 35 these look quite high - are you actually paying £70 for elec split between the 2 of you? does this include arrears? have you shopped around to see if you can find a cheaper supplier for this & gas? It is £35 for gas and electric each month so combined £70. We live in a rented house and it is such a hassle to try and change the supplier.
Gas..................................... 35
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 30 is this just half of the household bill or all of it? if half then consider getting a water meter installed. This is for the water and sewage
Telephone (land line)................... 15
Mobile phone............................ 25
TV Licence.............................. 25 this looks high? its usually £13 (except if you are in the first 6months of paying it)This is what we were paying and I checked the bank account this has now dropped to £12 something. When we moved we forgot about this and were playing catch up.
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 11.99
Groceries etc. ......................... 125 if this is just for 1 person you may be able to reduce slightly This is just my contribution its works out £100 for groceries and £25 for cat food litter etc.
Clothing................................ 25 can you cut these out for 6m or so? This is just a rough figure sometimes I don’t spend this much at all if any. But yes this could be halted for a few months.
Petrol/diesel........................... 150 are all your journeys essential? do you always find the cheapest place to fill up? and do you drive efficently? This again is average its nearly a 40 mile round trip for work. My car is only a fiesta but is not very economical in fuel, tax etc.
Road tax................................ 15
Car Insurance........................... 40 did you shop around for this? would it be cheaper if OH was a named driver? OH does not drive at the mo and the insurance is still in my mum’s name. As I am only 23 my insurance is still quite high. I will be changing this to my name when the renewal comes this will prob be going up not down. L
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 30
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50 can you reduce your spending on this? Yes I think this will have to be sorted, again this is only a rough figure some months I have more birthdays than others. What I don’t spend will go into the tin for xmas.
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 25 are you actually saving this or is it just a nominal figure? This goes into the joint account for things like emergency things, vet bills etc
Total monthly expenses.................. 806.99

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 1500

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
cataloge.......................430.......40....... .NaN
cataloge.......................50........20....... .NaN
Credit Card....................900.......65........28
Overdrafts.....................600.......20....... .0
loan...........................3600......214...... .NaN
Total unsecured debts..........5580......359.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,114
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 806.99
Available for debt repayments........... 307.01
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 359
Amount short for making debt repayments. -51.99 do you think you can make up all of this shortfall from ebaying? No but am thinking I could maybe sell somethings I don’t use, wear or need and put towards paying off something.
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 1,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -5,580
Net Assets.............................. -4,080
Created using the SOA calculator at .
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.