Advice needed - very confused!!

confused.Dan

hi everyone, i'll start by introduing myself:

My name is Daniel and i'm 24 years old, to some my debt problem may seem small but to me its enough to really start getting me down...

i owe around £2500 over 2 credit cards, £1800 on an overdraft and i have £200 remaining on a personal loan which is due to be paid off in full in the next 2 months (august).

i have recently finished paying off a personal loan of £5000 @ £225 per month which is what i believe got me into this cycle (irresponsible lending coupled with biting off more than i could chew money wise)

but my situation at the moment is that my income is fairly small, after tax i have £891 into my account each month. my rent is £500pcm, my council tax is £142pcm, minimum payments on my credit cards should be around £70per month but due to defaults they are bigger, and then i have living costs such as car insurance, phone bill, internet, food etc - most of which i am locked into contracts for

i am struggling to eat sometimes at the end of the month so needless to say its effecting me emotionaly now

i am so confused by all the different ways of dealing with debts, although i feel like they are gradually shrinking i am getting more and more drained by it all, the balance isn't good.

i have tried before to shuffle my outgoings and plan better but i just cant get it to work, i think i need help - even if its just tips on how to stick to it?? i'm really encouraged by the comments i've seen on here so far (hence registering)

advice please!!!

McKneff

Hello Daniel, (Welcome to the boards) wow, brave of you to get the first post over with. Well done.

Your debt may seem massive but its chicken feed to some peoples debt on here, and you will get loads of help to tackle it.

Can you post an SOA, (statement of affairs) which is all incomings and outgoings (someone will post a link soon to
the SOA so you can fill it in) then things will look a lot better.
(How come your council tax is so much, i live in a 3 bed semi and its only a third of what your paying)
Just hang on for a bit and we'll see you soon.

And you must eat, you will make yourself poorly, even if its just beans/scrambled egg/ mackerl on toast.
Sorry, I;m in my mothering mode. :rotfl: cant help it sometimes.

Annie

Happytogetdebtfree

Hi and welcome post an soa and we can see where we can help

WASHER

Welcome to MSE.

The first thing that jumps out is the rent and the council tax, you simply cannot afford these amounts.

Can you take in a lodger? Can you move somewhere cheaper?

WASHER.x.

confused.Dan

wow quick replies!

i'll get one of these SOA's done..

forgot to mention (even though its important!) that i live with my girlfriend, she is aware of the situation but has her own troubles that she is trying to deal with, she does give me some money each month (between £2-300 depending on what she gets paid) she earns less than i do usually as a care worker.

the rent is about average for this area, even though its only ipswich! the council tax is rediculous, i live in a 2 bed flat but its valued at band c. again, its just average for the area

as for a lodger, i'm trying to find one, if i can get one it should bring in around £300 pcm which could be all the difference

NorthernLas

Hi Daniel - Here is the link to the website to the SOA.

http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

The idea is that you fill in all of your income and expenditure and then you format it for MSE. Then you copy and paste into a reply on this thread.

If you are not sure of an amount you can check your bank statements or put a guess in and then keep a spends diary (where you write down everything to see if your guess was right). If you plan for car tax and christmas, then you will have some money saved up when it is time to spend.

The helpful people on here will give their opinions as to how you can either up your income or reduce your outgoings to make things balance. Then it is up to you to decide what to do.

Mikeone

Hi Dan

if you're living with your girlfriend, how far are your finances linked? Not just in the sense of joint accounts etc, but in the sense of outgoings? i.e. are you responsible for the £500 rent yourself, or is it £250 from you and your g/f or £1k between you?

I only ask because it'll be relevant to your SOA and you should bear it in mind.

Other more experienced heads will be along to advise soon.

...and welcome to DFW!

WASHER

Dan,
http://www.freeads.co.uk/uk/property/

Your first priority is to advertise the room, tonight if possible on freeads. Look at other websites too, Gumtree etc.

WASHER.x.

NorthernLas

Another site is http://www.spareroom.co.uk/

I guess you need to check your agreement to make sure that a lodger is allowed.

confused.Dan

ok this is my SOA:

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 891
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 300
Total monthly income.................... 1191
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 500
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 142
Electricity............................. 70
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 5.5
Mobile phone............................ 40
TV Licence.............................. 29
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 12
Groceries etc. ......................... 50
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 40
Road tax................................ 15
Car Insurance........................... 51
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 15
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 8
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 10
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 50
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1067.5

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
egg credit card................1500......40........26.9
mbna credit card...............1000......30........22.9
personal loan..................200.......65........0
Total unsecured debts..........2700......135.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,191
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,067.5
Available for debt repayments........... 123.5
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 135
Amount short for making debt repayments. -11.5
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 1,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -2,700
Net Assets.............................. -1,200

Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

not all of the figures are exact but they are as close as makes little difference, i have included my proportion of the monthly bills and the money that i get from my girlfriend, is this good enough? i think it gives a fairly acurate picture of my month by month finances, except that i get the occasional sting from missed payments etc

WASHER

Rent - far too high
Council Tax - too high for your salary/incomings
Mobile phone - reduce the tariff
The car - you cannot afford to run a car, it is costing you approx £121 per month
TV Licence shouldn't be £29 per month

If you didn't have any entertainment for 2 months, you would be able to pay off in full the personal loan - 2 months and you will be £65 per month better off.

Do you have an overdraft?


WASHER.x.