My Debt Diary by newbie DFW –Ellas96

ellas9602

Hello :hello:

I’m new to DFW (but not MSE) and I’ve been reading with fascination some of the diaries on here. Like many others I think it would really help me to have my own. We don’t seem to struggle financially but I know this is because we are continuing to rack up credit.

My head is swimming with what debts we have, where and how much interest they are so putting it all here in one place is the way; hopefully, I’m going to start clearing the debt.

Debts

Virgin CC £2988.17 Interest:19.9% Pay: £100 per month
BarclayCC £4437.09 Interest: 19.9% Pay £ Mimimum £100
Eggcard £1472.93 Interest: 15.9% Pay £ Mimimum £36
YB Loan £5561.75 Interest ? Pay £225 per month
NR Loan £13000 approx Interest 5.8% Pay £95.21 per month

TOTAL: £27460 :eek:

My account -£1050
OH account +100 (£2000 OD which is what we will get by on this month)

From our monthly earnings we have £140 left over each month

Right then where to start I wonder????

lynzpower

Hello there and welcome to DFW!

Your best bet is to start off like all newbiew DFWs with a SOA ( statement of affairs) have a lok at southern scousers sticky on all you need to know about those, and post up your incomings & outgoings and lets pick over it to death :rotfl: / offer helpful suggestions on how to save money!

Welcome again

ellas9602

Thanks Lynz

I've done my SOA, Im really lucky that we don't have a phone bill (telecoms employees) and we live near to Aldi/netto so I think my outgoings are really quite low but here we go
OH £1,573.00
Me £954.00
Child Benefit £148.00

Total Income £2,675.00


Mortgage £790.00
Shopping £300.00
Maintenance £283.88
Gas £38.00
Water £42.00
Electric £19.00
Home Insurance £24.56
Council Tax £93.75
TV £10.99
Egg £30.06
Virgin £100.00
YB loan £225.00
NR Loan £95.21
Barclay £100.00
Gym £115.00
Car Insurance £45.83
DD2 Pocket money 50.00
Petrol £120.00
T Mobile £15.00
childcare £24.00


£2,522.28

Thanks for any help!

Smashing

Yor gym membership cost is shocking! Do you get good use out of this? Could you get a better deal elsewhere? Any council facilities nearby? Got a bike?

How old is your daughter? £50 seems like a lot - what does she have to budget for out of this? Is she old enough to get a part-time job?

HazelEyes_3

Hi - I'm a newbie as well and busy absorbing all the great advice on this board.

Your interest rates are very high. Can you get a 0% credit card by applying for a new account - transfer the balance off the highest interest card and cancel the original CC so that you are not tempted to rack up more debt (been there, done that, got the T shirt as they say).

Other cards offer lower life of balance (LOB) rates which could be more suitable if you don't think you will be able to repay the BT when the 0% period ends.

I found the snowball calculator https://www.whatsthecost.com to be invaluable as it shows clearly which debts should be paid off first.

I'm sure others will have lots of great suggestions for you.

Good luck!

lynzpower

Ok let me pick over this


Mortgage £790.00
Shopping £300.00 ( how many for??)
Maintenance £283.88 ( for a child is that?)
Gas £38.00 ( have you checked you are on the cheapest etc, https://www.saveenergy.co.uk have you got boiler lagged etc)
Water £42.00
Electric £19.00
Home Insurance £24.56 ( this might be a bit high have you checked this is the cheapest?)
Council Tax £93.75
TV £10.99
Egg £30.06
Virgin £100.00
YB loan £225.00
NR Loan £95.21
Barclay £100.00
Gym £115.00 ( HOW MUCH :eek: Do you honestly NEED this!)
Car Insurance £45.83 ( nothing cheaper?)
DD2 Pocket money 50.00 ( HOW MUCH! I think you are being a bit generous there, I certainly dont have 50pcm to spend on me!)
Petrol £120.00 ( can any journeys be cut out)
T Mobile £15.00
childcare £24.00

The other thing to note is that your CC is at an eye-watering 19.9% - swap to a 0% cc or low life of balance for both, at least your payments will start actually reducing the total, and not just chipping at the interest!

Just a few thoughts from me

ellas9602

Thanks Smashing

Gym membership is high I admit but we took this when we stopped smoking and drinking we go nearly every evening and really enjoy it. It seems to keep us on the straight and narrow so I don't really want to lose it. It is for a joint membership too..


DD is actually my OH's 15YO daughter, she lives away from her mum and TBH he spoils her. From this she socialises and buys other 'wants' so she does end up with clothes and stuff and we dont have to buy her that much, just neccessities ??sp when they arise like winter coat, school uniform. She tells us she can't get a job till she has a national insurance number. is this true??

lynzpower

She can request her NI no early, I did, although in saying that im sure I had a paper round at 14. Your local education welfare depaprtment would know they deal with youngsters working.

Who does the 15YO daughter live with, who gets the maintainence payments, only I would have thought that that should cover the basics like school uniform if you are paying nigh on 300 per month.

Smashing

lynzpower wrote:

She can request her NI no early, I did, although in saying that im sure I had a paper round at 14. Your local education welfare depaprtment would know they deal with youngsters working.

Agreed.

What does she do to earn this £50 a month? Is she helpful around the house etc?

ellas9602

lynzpower wrote:

Ok let me pick over this

Thanks Lynz!


Mortgage £790.00
Shopping £300.00 ( how many for??) THIS IS FOR 4, 5 AT WEEKENDS
Maintenance £283.88 ( for a child is that?) YES TO OH'S EX AND DD, IM TRYING TO WORK ON THIS AT THE MOMENT, I THINK IT IS DISGUSTING
Gas £38.00 ( have you checked you are on the cheapest etc, https://www.saveenergy.co.uk have you got boiler lagged etc) YES I SWITCHED RECENTLY TO THE CHEAPEST
Water £42.00
Electric £19.00
Home Insurance £24.56 ( this might be a bit high have you checked this is the cheapest?) I RENEWED RECENTLY BUT I'LL CHECK AGAIN, CAN I SWITCH EVEN WHEN RENEWL ISN'T DUE?
Council Tax £93.75
TV £10.99
Egg £30.06
Virgin £100.00
YB loan £225.00
NR Loan £95.21
Barclay £100.00
Gym £115.00 ( HOW MUCH :eek: Do you honestly NEED this!) SEE EARLIER!
Car Insurance £45.83 ( nothing cheaper?)
DD2 Pocket money 50.00 ( HOW MUCH! I think you are being a bit generous there, I certainly dont have 50pcm to spend on me!)
Petrol £120.00 ( can any journeys be cut out) THIS IS PICKING UP OH'S OTHER DD MAINLY AS EX HAS LOST HER LICENCE AND SHOULD REDUCE SOON
T Mobile £15.00
childcare £24.00

The other thing to note is that your CC is at an eye-watering 19.9% - swap to a 0% cc or low life of balance for both, at least your payments will start actually reducing the total, and not just chipping at the interest! I KNOW I KNOW THIS IS WHAT I REALLY WANT TO TARGET BUT NOT SURE OUR CREDIT CARD RATING IS THAT GOOD.


Just a few thoughts from me

3 THINGS I REALLY WANT TO WORK ON ARE

1. REDUCING CSA TO EX
2. SWITCHING CC'S
3 RECLAIMING BACK CHARGES FROM ABBEY (I'M CSRAED OF DOING THIS BECAUSE OF MY OVERDRAFT)

Thanks so far...Im feeling motivated and really want to get these down

Toomuchdebt

I agree-surely the maintenance should be paying for uniforms/coat etc? My ex pays me £50 a MONTH for 4 children so that pays for all their clothes and shoes.I wish I could get £300 a month off him-lol