Please help: Debt keeping me up at night and dont see an end in sight

Tixy

How much you want to cutback will depend on how much you want to clear your debts/and how quickly.
However here are some suggestions from what you have put.

britchic wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 4
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2000
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2000
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 125
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 0
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 50 are you in contract? if so ask to drop a tariff, if not find a better deal (some very good deals for around £30 now)
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 400 For one person this should be doable for £100 - even if you allow £150 there is a huge potential saving.
Clothing................................ 100 cut this down for now (maybe halve it for 12months). wear what you have, sell what you don't wear.
Petrol/diesel........................... 50 you don't do a lot of miles yet have an expensive car in terms of tax, insurance and servicing, is a car essential? could you trade it in and get a car that is cheaper to run?
Road tax................................ 35
Car Insurance........................... 42
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 50
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 80 what is this? is it the cheapest way for you to travel? (do you have a season ticket if applicable)
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......................... 37 have you checked your health ins is competative, look if there are any better deals around with the same cover
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 60 could cut this if you need
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 100 is this £80 for yoga and £20 'other'? How often do you go to yoga? it seems quite a lot to be spending.
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1129

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 3000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 3000

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Credit card....................5000......125.......16.9
Credit card....................5000......125.......16.9
Loan...........................11000.....309.......0
You need to include your overdraft and o/d charges etc here.
Total unsecured debts..........21000.....559.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,000
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,129
Available for debt repayments........... 871
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 559
Amount left after debt repayments....... 312
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 3,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -21,000
Net Assets.............................. -18,000

Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

If you made some cutbacks I would think you could easily put another £300-400 towards your debts each month which would mean you could really start to see them reducing. A year or so of cutting back would leave you in a much better position for when you want to start thinking about moving out from home etc and save you hundreds in interest.

britchic

Wow, so many people are so helpful!

I've just managed to change my talk plan on my mobile to £15 a month for the same functions so that is a £35 a month saving already!

I will be looking for a cheaper car insurer but am not keen on cancelling my health insurance.

I will defintely be cutting down on my grocery spending as I had no idea how high this was compared to what I should be spending.

I can also cut down on friend's birthdays, weddings, hen nights presents, gifts etc.

My travel is for my Oystercard and this is not negotiable as i have to get to work everyday!

I will also look into changing my bank account and then paying off the overdraft in my barclays account separately.

Finally, does anyone know of a good credit card to change to for people with bad credit ratings, for example a 0% or low interest one? I've tried a few and been rejected from them all.

Thanks againa everyone for all your help and advice.

dancingfairy

I think the worst things with food etc is 1) just popping to the shops either on the way home (as you don't know what you want to eat) or popping in for 1 or 2 things and getting sidetracked and getting loads of things
Ready meals tend to be more epensive so maybe cut these down - try homemade pizza or get a base and chuck some tomato sauce stufff on to and throw some cheese/veg/ham etc on it. or stock up when on offer
Also packed lunches will save you soooo much if you tend to buy food out at lunchtime - even if you get a sandwich and a drink and a packet of crips you could easily spend 3-4 pounds a day which is 20 a week which is over 80 a month and often it's not even worth it for what you get.
Also coffees at work on the way to work can be a killer for some people - again 1.50 -2 a day soon adds up to quite shocking amounts - save it for a friday special or once a month or something.
There are loads more tips on the moneysavingoldstyle board re food shopping/menu planning etc.
df

Nottoobadyet

if you commute by public transport, do you really need the car?

dancingfairy

Try making presents ( homemade cakes/cookies/wedding favour type things are popular I believe, clever hampers that look posh are easy to make, or buy when things are on offer). Also good if you are crafty and can knit/sew make homemade cards etc. Don't worry if you can't do all this - any savings you make will soon add up.
df

Verbatim

Meal plan for at least a week but longer is better. Shop for what you need to make the meals you've decided on and go with a list. Try to buy as little as poss.

If you've been turned down for several new ccs already leave it for 6 months or so before re-applying as each application will go on your file and you'll look desperate. Concentrate on spending as little as possible, have as many days as possible when you spend nothing, keep a spending diary and target one cc to pay off asap. NOT just minimum payment on the target card. Keep paying minimum on the other until the first is paid off. Don't spend on the cards anymore. Look at Martin's article on cards and work out how much the interest on the interest on the interest.....etc is costing you. You have a good chance to knock this on the head while you're living at home and have such low overheads.

Make sure you save the money for car expenses so that when they're due you have the money and don't resort to putting them on a cc! Or you'll end up paying interest on interest on...you get the idea....for those expenses too.

GeorgeUK

If you've applied for a few cards, don't apply for any more. You can have about 3 credit checks in a 6 month period before your credit score is affected. If you have alot of credit checks in a short space of time though, this makes it look like you're desperate for credit and a high risk.

Check your credit file free at experian (but cancel within 30 days) and see if everything on there is correct. Are you on the electoral roll? This can have a big impact in your credit rating.

I agree you should keep a spending diary. Just write down how much you take out the cash machine or spend and total it all up at the end of each day. This should hopefully let you see a pattern of spending and if there is anything else you can cut back on or find a cheaper alternative for. I pointed out to the girls in accounts that they were spending over £1k a year on lates and could spend a fraction of that if they just brought in a thermos or a jar of instant.