Ok, here I go...

andrar

Well hello and thanks for letting me post my first proper 'I want to be debt free!' post!

(Hopefully this is in the right place, if not please move it to where it should be?!)

I've spent the past few days really trying to get to grips with my debts and I thought I knew how much I owed but it's definetely surprised me! I've gone through all the advice on this website and spent hours reading posts from your fine selves which have made me realise I'm not the only one who's in this position and I have to thank you all for being so honest as it's made me feel so much better about being in debt. I certainly don't feel as ashamed as I did and that's because I can see that it doesn't have to continue like this, there is light at the end of the tunnel and you lot have proved that eventually I will be out of debt!

My main problem is credit cards, loans to pay off credit cards and then spending on said credit cards again - basically spending more than I earn and getting myself into a 'debt spiral'

It started at uni, (which I graduated from in Sept 2007) which I couldn't really afford and for 3 years lived off my overdraft and a credit card with a £1000 limit. I had a plan to pay it off after uni finished but unfortuantely this all took a back seat to my Dad's illness and eventual passing away. Then I was on my own and after finding a new place to live and setting up all my various deposits I was in even more debt. From then i've lived beyond my means, partly because I have a 'life's too short' mentality because of my experiences and partly because I am just plain stupid and thought if I didn't really know about the debt, the debt didn't really exist. Like I said, stupid!

Now i've totted it all up and realised i've got to sort myself out. And that's what brought me to this wonderful website. I've been a regular browser for years and now i'm ready to commit and would appreciate all your advice and thoughts and help.

Thanks for reading, hope I haven't bored you too much.



PS stage 1 - I want to be honest about my debts, so how do I make a signature?!

LuckyBiscuit

Welcome to the Family.................
People will ask to see ur SOA first..............then they can advise u on cutting further etc...

Good luck with ur journey!!:D

3Dogs

Hi Andrar and welcome to the world of posting

To do a signature, click on User CP in the green band near the top of the page - then down the left hand side click on Edit Signature and voila there you are - just enter what you want to show and click Submit

I'll be back later with some more advice Pet

((Hugs))

Nargleblast

Hello Andrar and welcome. Lots of us are in the brown stuff financially speaking, due to a combination of life events, the banks' willingness to chuck money at people in the eighties and nineties, then the credit crunch and recession. Not to mention of course our own human failings and stupid spending habits. But we have seen the light and are working to get rid of our debts and live a more sensible way, within our means, whilst still having a life. As TMVen said, you need to do a statement of affairs to see where you are at - look at the stickies at the top of the threads list and go to the one for First time posters/SOA calculator. Put your numbers in, post it on here and you will get lots of advice and suggestions for reducing your outgoings and tackling the debts. Good luck.

3Dogs

Yep post your Statement of Affairs using http://makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html and remember to put your APR's in and how long any loans have to run as this will help people to advise you correctly

NellyM029

Hello an welcome to the posting world, I second all the above

andrar

Thanks for all the positive feedback, i'll do the statement today and post so you can let me all know what you think...scary! _pale_

bluesindy_2

Welcome Andrar

You've come to the best place. I always used to laugh at my mother when she said 'cut your cloth according to your width' , a good old Lancashire saying meaning if you aint got it don't spend it!! But as you said the good old eighties and nineties meant that we spent, spent, spent!!!! now I think most of us are paying the price and in a way, although it was hard ( i've been checking these boards out now for a few years) I've picked up some brilliant tip and ideas and no way would I go back to the CC's, OD's etc. Stick with it and you'll come out a better person. Trust me, I've done it!!:j

andrar

Sorry it's taken me nearly a month to do this! Any feedback welcomed please, the Tesco apr is a guestimate as I can't find my info for that and can't get through to call centre so will try again tomorrow. Also all my rent, bills, council text etc is included in the rent box as myself and my housemate both pay one sum into a joint account which all bills come out of. Also the car info is a guestimate as I don't need an MOT until september and it's never had one before so i'm not sure what cost will be.

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................ 1400
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1400
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 370
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 0
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 30
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 160
Clothing................................ 25
Petrol/diesel........................... 100
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 54.72
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 25
Haircuts................................ 60
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Rugby Club fees......................... 10
Gym..................................... 33.5
Total monthly expenses.................. 898.22

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 4000
Other assets............................ 1000
Total Assets............................ 5000

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Graduate Loan..................4498.28...263.9.....9
MBNA credit card...............578.96....25........27.9
Warehouse store card...........152.74....7.........29.9
Natwest credit card............3625.07...80........0
Tesco credit card..............922.29....25........16.9
Total unsecured debts..........9777.34...400.9.....-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,400
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 898.22
Available for debt repayments........... 501.78
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 400.9
Amount left after debt repayments....... 100.88
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 5,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -9,777.34
Net Assets.............................. -4,777.34

<had to remove link as it wouldn't let me post as i'm new!>
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

firesidemaid

hi there and welcome back!

a couple of things stand out.

£160 a month for food for one is actually quite generous - you could cut back on that quite easily and save another £50 a month to throw at one of those cards.

also, what is your mobile deal? that could probably be shaved too.

are your shared bills on the best rates/deals too?

£60 amonth for haircuts - is that correct?

ifyou could shave £75 a month off these then that is another £900 a year to pay those debts down x

andrar

Thanks for the speedy reply!

Our household bills are pretty much as low as I can get them eg £14 a month for contents insurance thanks to this website! The only one i'm going to try and reduce further is our gas and electric as my housemate got cold called and signed us up without telling me to another supplier who have since charged us double what we were being charged before! Needless to say I was not a happy camper!

I think i'm stuck in my mobile deal for anoth 18 months, i'm not sure if I can get out of a contract without having to pay for it all can I?

My haircut price has come down from £120 to £60 and will take about another 2 months until its down to around £30-£40 every 2-3 months as i've stopped dying my hair brown and am going back to blonde but unless I want it to fall out i've got to do this gradually so i'm working on that one and def have a plan!

I'm going to take your food bill saving idea on board as I discovered a local grocer for my fresh fruit and veg who is dirt cheap and if I can supplement with asda/aldi/lidl shopping trips for the rest I should be able to cut right back and put savings onto my cards.

Thanks for your advice it's much appreciated!