would really appreciate 2 minutes of your time folks....

antpugh

Hi guys. Thanks for taking the time to read my post - can anyone offer any help or advice? my problem may not seem as severe as some people on here, but it's really getting me down now....

I was rejected for a Northern Rock loan for £18500 yesterday which I truly believe would answer all my prayers and help my pay off all my debts. I have missed payments in the past and am always going over my overdraft limit so understand why it's happened. I have, for the first time ever, a steady job with a decent wage where I can monitor my incoming and outgoing money and this is the reason I would like to take the option of the loan - at the moment I am paying loads of money every month on minimum payments on credit cards and overdraft interest and the debt seesm to be going up not down.

My plan was to clear all credit cards (4), overdrafts (2) and money owed to my friend with this loan - so that I just have one monthly payment that I know that I can afford and that I know will be finished within 3 years (if I keep up payments which I am confident I can do!)

Here is my breakdown of debt and wages:

Monthly wage after tax: £1833
Monthly outgoings rent. bills etc. (not including debt repayments): £833

Egg Credit Card - £2253
Sony MBNA Credit Card - £2458
Virgin MBNA Credit Card (0% until Nov 06) - £2350
Lloyds Platinum Credit Card (0% until Nov 06) - £4481
Cahoot overdraft - £1000
Lloyds TSB Overdraft - £2500
Owe friend £3500 paying off £200 per month (0% interest)
Student Loans = £6000+ but not paying them yet

From my left over wages I had earmarked £700 for paying a monthly installment. At the moment I am spending over £500 in minimum payments, overdraft interest etc etc.

Have just sent away for my credit score from Equifax - any more suggestions?

If you can find time to help, I would be very grateful. I am getting to my wit's end!

Ant

gallygirl

Just a quickie - should be getting ready for work!!!!! You need to add a bit more info - see the stickie re Statement of Affairs at teh top of this board - you need to list the APR's & minimum payments on credit cards also breakdown your outgoings into separate bills.

The 'special ones' will be along later to help out, don't worry, all is not lost!

Welcome by the way

antpugh

found the thread!

will do that now - thanks very much for your help

lynzpower

Well, Ill be here for a lookie over! :wave:

mrs_mug_2

Just wanted to add that getting rejected for the loan is probably a blessing in disguise...it all seems to be doom and gloom at the minute but with a bit of budgeting I bet you can start to pay your debt off with real money rather than another borrowed lump sum. It'll be ok, all is not lost

antpugh

Right then folks - here we go again, apologies I didn't do it right the first time round, I didn't read the sticky thread for newbies:


Monthly Income:

My salary - £1,883.33

Total - £1,883.33


Monthly Outgoings:

Rent - £333.33
Electricity/Water - £36.23
Satellite TV - £7.97
Phone - £30
Food - £145
Transport - £44
Clothes - £29
Cleaning - £29
Medical - £19.50
Contact Lenses - £13
Dentists - £15.65
Internet - £14.50
National Insurance - £10
Gym - £21.50
Music - £15
Socialising - £145

Total: £879.68

Income - outgoings = £1,883.33 - £879.68 = £1003.65

Debt:

Credit Cards:

Egg Card (limit £5000) - £2253.30, interest rate 15.9% variable
MBNA Sony Card (limit £2500) - £2457.33, interest 22.9% APR on £1710.99, 15.9% APR on £769.59
MBNA Virgin Card (limit £2500) - £2350.00, 0% interest until 24th Nov ’06, 15.9% afterwards
Lloyds TSB Platinum Card (limit £5000) - £4481.02, 0% interest until 22nd Dec ’06, 14% APR afterwards

Overdrafts:

Cahoot Overdraft (limit £1000) - £1003.99, 10.8% average interest per year
Lloyds TSB Interest (limit £2500) - £1125.28, 18.44% average per year

Loans:

Owe a friend £3650, no interest but agreed to pay off £200 per month
Student Loans Old Style (paid from salary) £3268.96, 2.4% interest per year
Student Loans New Style (paid direct debit but deferred at the moment) £5729.83, 2.4% interest per year

Total debt = £26,319.71 - (my god I didn’t think it would be that much!)


I would really appreciate some assistance with this - I haven't the foggiest where to start but realise I must tackle this and that it won't go away by itself.

Thanks again guys, your help is really appreciated.

lynzpower

I can get started, but could you edit your post to reflect how much you are paying off your cards each month?

Little_Miss_Winner

ditto - lynz great minds and all that!

jessicamb

antpugh wrote:

Monthly Outgoings:

Rent - £333.33
Electricity/Water - £36.23
Satellite TV - £7.97 Presumably on a half price package for this price? You could cancel it and change it to FreeSat if its out of contract.
Phone - £30 Is this the best package? Might be able to shave a bit off here
Food - £145 How many are you feeding for this?
Transport - £44
Clothes - £29
Cleaning - £29 Cleaner or cleaning items? This seems very high but I may be misunderstanding what you put in here
Medical - £19.50 Again I dont know what this is - if its health insurance do you really need it?
Contact Lenses - £13
Dentists - £15.65 See medical
Internet - £14.50 No deals you could get to combine it with the phone?
National Insurance - £10
Gym - £21.50 You could cancel this and go running instead
Music - £15 A luxury that you dont need right now?
Socialising - £145 see above - if you want to seriously pay off your debts I think you could significantly reduce this.

Student Loans Old Style (paid from salary) £3268.96, 2.4% interest per year
Student Loans New Style (paid direct debit but deferred at the moment) £5729.83, 2.4% interest per year

I wouldnt worry about the student loans until you have sorted out the rest as they are on such a low rate of interest

Just my twopenneth on where I think you could cut back a bit. Its up to you to decide whats possible though.

Good luck

lynzpower

OK from your outgoings I suggest a few things here

Rent - £333.33
Electricity/Water - £36.23
Satellite TV - £7.97 ( you should get rid of this)
Phone - £30 ( is this a mobile tariff, is it the lowest tariff you can get- or go PAYG?)
Food - £145 ( you can shave this down if this is just for you, I spend this on me & OH, so pop over to the OS board for further inspiration!)
Transport - £44 ( is this bus fareS?)
Clothes - £29 ( this need suspending for a while i think)
Cleaning - £29 ( whats this? clening poducts for your house? Seems loads, you can easily imcorporate into your food budget)
Medical - £19.50 ( whats this?)
Contact Lenses - £13 ( are these the cheapest you can get)
Dentists - £15.65 ( is this a plan?)
Internet - £14.50
National Insurance - £10 ( whats this are you self employed??)
Gym - £21.50 ( sorry, youll need to get rid of this)
Music - £15 ( erm, this can go I think what is it, doesnt sound essential)
Socialising - £145 ( this is going to have to be sliced right back im afraid)

Total: £879.68

shayshay

Hi Antpugh

Ok firstly, you are in a good position to start with as you actually have more coming in than going out so the minimums are being paid, compared to some who have more going out than coming in.

As for the rest its cutback city! Socialising may mean your mates coming round for a girly game of monopoly or something but its £145 or £1740 a year that can go to clear a debt and some of the other things like Gyms etc can be cutback until your finances are a bit better.

Yes indeed it may not be severe as other people but we all have limits and for some their lightbulb moment may well come a lot later where as yours has been early enough for you to be able to sit dowen and change it for the better and in a reasonable time, so pat yourself on the back.