My situation - July 2010

deanbwfc

Hi there, i'm Dean aged 26 1/2 from Manchester, i've been browsing through this forum for the last couple of days and it was good to read other people's situation so decided to post up mine. I've been living beyond my means for a good few years now and decided enough is enough, i still live at home with my parents and really by now i should be in a position to move out but i'm far from from that, i recently split up from my girlfriend which in a way was a good thing as it means i can concentrate on clearing debts without the pressure of moving out, holidays etc

I work full time and i'm currently half way though my exams training to be an accountant

Monthly Incomings:

My salary after tax - £1,250

Monthly Outgoings:

Rent - £100
Car on finance (5 years taken out in Sep 09) - £187
Mobile/Internet - £65
Gym - £33
Loan 1 - £241.25 (due to end Sep 2012)
Loan 2 - £60.49 (due to end Mar 2011)
Loan 3 - £66 (due to end Nov 2012)
Overdraft interest - £10-15
Lovefilm - £3.99
Petrol - £60
Toiletries - £15
Savings - £40
Credit card payments - £150

Total: £1,031.73

Luckily i live at home so food is generally provided but i do buy some as well from time to time

Halifax – Balance £1,960 (limit £2,100) mimmum payment £40
MBNA - Balance £1,590 (limit £1,700) minimum payment £55
LLoyds - Blance £1,160 (limit £1,250) minimum payment £35

Overdraft - £1,980 (limit £2,500) APR 19%

When i bought the car in Sep 09 part of the deal was one years free insurance so thats due to be re-newed at the end of September, looking at around £700 for the year. Car tax and full service is due in August and September, looking at around £250 in all, my ex owes me £500 which she is due to pay me at the end of the month (July) so this will cover half of what will be due to be paid out on my car

Looking at the above my phone is £35 a month and internet is £30 and the internet contract is due to expire in November this year and i wont re-new as i'm looking at getting an iphone when my mobile contract is up in September at no extra cost, still £35 a month and with good internet connection i wont need the internet on my laptop, so the total monthly cost will be reduced to £35 a month

I think most of you will say get rid of the gym cost of £33 a month but i do go 3-4 times a week and i enjoy going so reluctant to stop, i've got myself in good shape over the last 9 months since i joined

The savings of £40 a month i've been using to pay extra off the credit cards, been paying more than minimum for the last few months and i don't use to cards at all but not cut them up just incase of an emergency

Thanks for reading, any help or advice would be gratefully recieved:)

Dean

josephine82

deanbwfc wrote: »

Hi there, i'm Dean aged 26 1/2 from Manchester, i've been browsing through this forum for the last couple of days and it was good to read other people's situation so decided to post up mine. I've been living beyond my means for a good few years now and decided enough is enough, i still live at home with my parents and really by now i should be in a position to move out but i'm far from from that, i recently split up from my girlfriend which in a way was a good thing as it means i can concentrate on clearing debts without the pressure of moving out, holidays etc

I work full time and i'm currently half way though my exams training to be an accountant

Monthly Incomings:

My salary after tax - £1,250

Monthly Outgoings:

Rent - £100
Car on finance (5 years taken out in Sep 09) - £187
Mobile/Internet - £65
Gym - £33
Loan 1 - £241.25 (due to end Sep 2012)
Loan 2 - £60.49 (due to end Mar 2011)
Loan 3 - £66 (due to end Nov 2012)
Overdraft interest - £10-15
Lovefilm - £3.99
Petrol - £60
Toiletries - £15
Savings - £40
Credit card payments - £150

Total: £1,031.73

Luckily i live at home so food is generally provided but i do buy some as well from time to time

Halifax – Balance £1,960 (limit £2,100) mimmum payment £40
MBNA - Balance £1,590 (limit £1,700) minimum payment £55
LLoyds - Blance £1,160 (limit £1,250) minimum payment £35

Overdraft - £1,980 (limit £2,500) APR 19%

When i bought the car in Sep 09 part of the deal was one years free insurance so thats due to be re-newed at the end of September, looking at around £700 for the year. Car tax and full service is due in August and September, looking at around £250 in all, my ex owes me £500 which she is due to pay me at the end of the month (July) so this will cover half of what will be due to be paid out on my car

Looking at the above my phone is £35 a month and internet is £30 and the internet contract is due to expire in November this year and i wont re-new as i'm looking at getting an iphone when my mobile contract is up in September at no extra cost, still £35 a month and with good internet connection i wont need the internet on my laptop, so the total monthly cost will be reduced to £35 a month

I think most of you will say get rid of the gym cost of £33 a month but i do go 3-4 times a week and i enjoy going so reluctant to stop, i've got myself in good shape over the last 9 months since i joined

The savings of £40 a month i've been using to pay extra off the credit cards, been paying more than minimum for the last few months and i don't use to cards at all but not cut them up just incase of an emergency

Thanks for reading, any help or advice would be gratefully recieved:)

Dean

Hi Dean!

First thoughts on the above:

From the numbers below you have £218 left after everything gets paid- is this correct? If so, where does this go? You should be using this to pay extra off the highest credit card.

£70 for internet and mobile is crazy. Do you really need an iphone? £35 a month for a mobile is a lot. You should be able to get a phone with good enough internet access for a lot cheaper than that (Mine is £20, 300 mins, unlimited texts and internet)

You need to start budgeting for your car, a monthly amount to cover a years worth of service/tax/MOT/insurance. Are you definitely being given that £500 at the end of the month?

Do you necessarily need such an expensive car? Is there any option of selling/handing it back etc and getting a cheaper one?

Fair enough if you use the gym- are there any cheaper gyms in your area?

£15 on toiletries a month? Is all this necessary? I don't spend this and I'm a girl :rotfl:

Anyway, few things for you to think about
Jo

deanbwfc

Hi Jo, thanks for your reply

Well first of all the internet £30 a month included a laptop, which i did need at the time, it was a 2 year contract that comes to end this November. I personally dont think £35 a month is steep for a good phone, suppose the iphone is a bit of a luxury so i'll have a look around to see what other mobiles i can get with unlimited internet

Yes £220 is round about what i have spare, this is used for living and going out a couple of times a month, maybe the odd take-away, i've cut down on this alot since last year and will carry on continuing to but all work and no play at 26 is difficult but in the situation i'm in i have to be carefull.

The car is probably one of the biggest mistakes i made last year, i could of kept my old car for another year or 2, i can only give it back after getting half way through the 5 years, which will be May 2012, if i was to sell the car privately i'd probably end up owing so not worth it at this stage. On the up side the car is brand new and with me only doing 5-6k miles a year, not alot should go wrong and it doesn't need M.O.T'ing until September 2012

I spoke to the ex yesterday, we're on good terms and i'm assured that i will get the £500 on the 20th of this month

With the gym i did look around when i joined and there wasn't much price difference in the 3 local gyms, i'm am trying to presuade my boss into getting a corporate memebership for us, with nearly 10 employees all at the same gym, if it comes off then the £33 will be reduced to £21 a month but that will only be in 2011

The £10-15 on toiletries is about right - deodrant, face wash, hair gel, shampoo, shower gel, toothpaste and mouth wash

I'm working towards a bonus in my salary in December which will be able to pay off loan 2 (60.49 a month) i could then use that to pay off the highest interest credit card in 2011

I would say my job is pretty safe and i'm scheduled down for work well into next year and beyond, if the worst was to happen and i was to be made redundant, i've been here 10 years this month so would be looking at a good pay out

All being well i should be in a better financial position next year, i will get a pay increase in April 2011 providing i pass a couple of exams which i'm on course to do and in 2012 i'll be almost debt free apart from the car. The future is bright hopefully!!

Tixy

Hi Dean and welcome

I would suggest that it might be useful to complete the income & expenditure form here - http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html - whilst you have included pretty much the same info in your list it will remind you to budget for other items such as
Car insurance, Car tax, car servicing & new tyres etc, presents, and clothes. For the costs you don't incur each month the work out your annual spend and budget 1/12 each month, if you don't budget for these items then you end up needing to put them on cards etc.

It will also show the full details of all your debts, balances etc
The other good thing about the makesenseofcards form is that you can then use the same data to convert to the snowball calculator which should give you an estimated date free date to see if this matches up with your expectations.

I see you have 3 loans in addition to your car loans - what was the money from these spent on? is there anything you could sell to raise some money?

deanbwfc wrote: »

I work full time and i'm currently half way though my exams training to be an accountant

Monthly Incomings:

My salary after tax - £1,250 is there any scope for overtime at work? what about part time second job such as bar work at the weekends (gets you out meeting people as well as earning you money).

Monthly Outgoings:

Rent - £100
Car on finance (5 years taken out in Sep 09) - £187
Mobile/Internet - £65 -as you say cancel the internet when you can then look for the best deal you can get on a mobile. On a £35 iphone contract will you still have to pay to get the iphone or will it be free? you cannot afford a phone you have to pay for when you could get some other similar phone (just not an iphone) for free.
Gym - £33
Loan 1 - £241.25 (due to end Sep 2012)
Loan 2 - £60.49 (due to end Mar 2011)
Loan 3 - £66 (due to end Nov 2012)
Overdraft interest - £10-15
Lovefilm - £3.99
Petrol - £60
Toiletries - £15 this seems a lot every month - can you try to cut down? try buying at £1shops and places like wilkos and savers (or nick your parents showergel and toothpaste!)
Savings - £40 do you have anything saved up here? no point having savings when you are in so much debt and paying high aprs (it is ok to budget for annual items monthly though)
Credit card payments - £150

Total: £1,031.73

Luckily i live at home so food is generally provided but i do buy some as well from time to time do you take a packed lunch to work? if you are buying lunch at work each day then you need to stop (or at least budget for it)

Halifax – Balance £1,960 (limit £2,100) mimmum payment £40 find out the aprs for all these cards so you know which one to overpay with your £40 savings money
MBNA - Balance £1,590 (limit £1,700) minimum payment £55
LLoyds - Blance £1,160 (limit £1,250) minimum payment £35

Overdraft - £1,980 (limit £2,500) APR 19%

When i bought the car in Sep 09 part of the deal was one years free insurance so thats due to be re-newed at the end of September, looking at around £700 for the year. how are you going to pay for this? you don't have room on any of your cards to pay it? Car tax and full service is due in August and September, looking at around £250 in all, my ex owes me £500 which she is due to pay me at the end of the month (July) so this will cover half of what will be due to be paid out on my car but what about the other half? can you sell things? ebay / car boot sale? any old mobile phones or anything lying around?

I think most of you will say get rid of the gym cost of £33 a month but i do go 3-4 times a week and i enjoy going so reluctant to stop, i've got myself in good shape over the last 9 months since i joined is it the cheapest gym in your area?

The savings of £40 a month i've been using to pay extra off the credit cards, been paying more than minimum for the last few months and i don't use to cards at all but not cut them up just incase of an emergency I would suggest that you cut up 2 of them just leaving yourself one for an emergency (or ask parents to look after them for you).

Thanks for reading, any help or advice would be gratefully recieved:)

Dean