Am I ok with money?

lynzpower

I also have £3500 tied up in shares and around £700 of that I can use next April to cash in tax free. I suppose I need some reassurance that Im doing the right thing with my debts and they are not in a horrific state.

Can you tell us a bit more about this

Effectively you have taken out a debt to invest, this is never a good idea, as the interest rates on the debt are likely to cost more than the gains on the shares, month on month.

Could you explain how this works?

mrs_mug_2

Welcome to the board. I've got loads of great advice from here, I hope you do too.

I would say that £50 on lunches is extreme - take food from home and enjoy paying extra money off your credit cards. Once you start, it becomes addictive!

Also, £260 a month to do whatever you like with sounds like bliss to me! But if you cut that out completely you could be debt free sooner. Have a play with the snowball calculators on https://www.whatsthecost.com these have helped to motivate me to pay my debt off sooner. Every spare penny goes off the debt, we simply do not have a social life or buy ourselves new things at the minute. We've had years of doing that (hence the debt).

And as far as the question 'Am I ok with money'? Well, I'd tell yourself that you aren't. If you can convince yourself that you are you will continue to do little about your debt and it could get worse. Tell yourself that you are in control and things can only get better.

Best of luck

Iona_Penny

My aims are to pass more exams to make my CV more attractive and hopefully get a better paid job. Half of any future rises will go towards paying off debts. 75% of all future bonuses will go that way too.


I am seriously worried you still haven't taken on board your situation.
Great that you want to improve your CV and get a better paid job BUT You have nearly £18000 debt, relatively small living expenses, don't run a car and yet you plan to throw only 50% of future pay rises at the debt and 75% of future bonuses:eek: You really have to start throwing ANY EXTRA available money (including some from your £260) at your debts to begin to make inroads. You have consolidated before and are now in more debt.
Keep a spending diary and see where your money goes, and only spend it as cash, makes it much more real. I wish you well with this, but I think you have to ask 'where did the money go?' and 'how much debt do my mates who think you can't manage on £260 a month have?'

Verbatim

A word of caution on reducing your cc limits.

I read a thread on the cc board yesterday on this. The card companies seem to look at what proportion of your credit limit you have already used up to assess your indebtedness / creditworthiness. So if you have say 50% unused credit still available to you, you don't look desperate/ up to the hilt in debt/ drowning/ unable to cope and therefore seem like a better bet for a new, better rate card. Have a look at the thread, by The Boss I think.

climbgirl

In answer to your question about being good with money, I'd say no way!

You're in a pretty precarious position I'd say - while you're living at home, you're going to have plenty of disposable money to throw at your debts. But the problem is, on a small income like this and with your debts totalling 116% of your income, this is going to take time some. And while it's easy enough to pay off with your current non-existent expenses, it does mean you're stuck at home for the next while. You simply can't afford not to be.

Before you worry about finding extra cash to throw at the debts, you need to check the details of your loan - can you even overpay it? Is the interest frontloaded or accrued daily? If you can't overpay the loan, once your clear your credit cards, there's not much you can do other than pay it monthly....

Your income is very low and you'd do well to pass exams etc to get it higher. But there's no banking on that I'm afraid, you can only count on what you've got coming in now.

I don't think you've fully grasped the seriousness of your situation....having more than 100% of your income in debt is pretty serious.

tyllwyd

shooter987 wrote:

IPeople around me say £260.00 free to do what I like with isnt enough yet Im sure it is surely?

Well, if that is what you have left out of what you earn, then it has to be enough, doesn't it! Obviously your salary is low, but then your living expenses are low as well, so you are better off than a lot of people would be on your salary.

bargainbetty

I'd atart by approaching both card companies and asking about 'life of balance transfer rates' and lowering the overall interest rates. Once you have got something from that, transfer the higher APR balance onto the lower one, and close the first card completely.

Start taking packed lunches to save a bit of cash, and keep a spending diary to see where your other money goes. When you see how silly amounts add up, you will be able to save more pennies and throw them at your debts.

Have you thought about taking a second job to earn some more? I needed to raise money for a holiday, and got a bar job - I loved it! Stopped me spending money too, 'cos I was working, not socialising.

Good luck x

shooter987

Thanks for all your advice.

I am living at home until I pay at least half off my debts, on your advice, I did reduce those credit limits, Ive now removed a potential £13000.00 worth of credit I could have accrued.

My Lloyds TSB Mastercard credit limit was £12500.00, Ive now got that reduced to £4000.00. My capital one credit limit was £7500.00, Ive now got that reduced to £2500.00.

To be honest whats been said has scared the hell out of me and Im considering a part time job that will go ALL on repaying debts. Trust me, Im taking this situation VERY VERY seriously indeed.

My current debt is £13500.00 (loan) which has been running for a year, so thats effectively (£11600.00).

My Lloyds TSB card is £3300.00, my Capital One is around £1000.00. I aim to completely pay off my Capital One card by Spring 2007.

I ideally want to pay off £100.00 extra off my cards, so thats £200.00 per month paying off my cards.

My shares are not investments, they are free given to me by my company. I have also been told that I can request a repayment holiday on my loan, is this a good idea?

Thank you for all your help so far. To be honest, Im really scared.

Iona_Penny

Don't be scared now that you realise your predicament! It would be worse if you carried on the same way now wouldn't it?;) If you can get another job and start to eat into your debt you really will feel so good about it; yes there will be ups and downs but as long as you are determined you will succeed, good luck and keep posting!

Shadowplay_2

Shooter, you have made a positive move and can push on and learn valuable lessons whilst still young.

Most companies will fund qualifications that are directly linked to your job. There is a vast array of specific and non-specific qualifications you can pursue:

ELCs
GCSE's
GCEs
GNVQs
VCEs
NVQs
HNCs
HNDs
Under Graduate
Post Graduate

If your company has a training department maybe you should arrange a meeting. They would be able to discuss the most appropriate Qualification for your role and it could lead to an increase in pay or a promotion (although not guaranteed).

I work in Education and my company is part-funding my Masters Degree. I’m also considering an NVQ in Management after I have completed the latter. It’s a competitive jobs market and you need to give yourself an edge over other candidates. But make sure any qualification you take are linked to your role/experience else it can look fragmented on a CV. Unless of course you’re looking to pursue a completely different career.

I can’t be to specific as I’m unsure what industry you currently work in.