Advice Needed!!!!! Too much going out each month!

tyllwyd

I think you need to be really honest with yourself, and face up to the fact that even though you are on a good salary, your budget for everyday living is very, very tight, and you need to know exactly what you are spending to make sure that you don't increase your debt. Have you ever sat down and worked out exactly how much of your income goes straight out again on credit/store card interest - I'm sure it would be a pretty scary figure! As you said yourself, only paying the minimum amounts on your cards means that you will be paying them forever, so you need to come up with a real plan on how you are going to find the money to start bringing them down. You keep saying that things are OK, but you know yourself that it wouldn't take much for things to go too far - for example, what if the roof started leaking and you needed to find several thousand pounds to get it fixed? I'm sure you can sort this out, but you do need to begin asap.

lynzpower

if you are splitting the bills 50/50 then you need to go back to your figures as I do not know of any properties ( and im in expensive london) that attract a C taxc figure of 332 a month.

Therefore do you see that if your parents are paying half of this then in fact you only pay 83 a month, leaving you a further 83 there to over pay one of your cards.

I would sit down and ask your mum how muhc money she gave you last monthfor the hospital runs. Unless it outweighs what you are spending on tax, insurance, petrol, parking and MOT adn repair costs, its not sustainable. the NHS does provide trnsport if youre mums not able to get public transport or cant afford cabs, so dont worry about the neglect issue.


On the contacts front, you may want to think about buying a pair of glasses, no ongoing montlhy charges with these, you dont need to buy solution ETC.

I do agree with twyllyd, unless you think seriously about what cutbacks you are going to make, things are likely to get quite a lot worse

All the best and stick with us
Lynz
x

going2die_rich

If you bankrupt yourself your parents would be forced to sell the house if they can't buy you out, which sounds like they can't.

Therefore meaning they'd have to find a cheap house with only half of the money as you wouldn't get a mortgage being bankrupt for (I believe) 3 years.

Why not get a second job to increase your income? Even a weekend or a few nights a week job will help.

david_hellier

According to my calcs you have £32.07 per week to spend on yourself, including food, blockbuster etc. You must not exceed this amount otherwise you are overspending. Write this amount in a notebook on a Mon and keep a note of what you spend. If you can get a part time job to add to this weekly figure, great. I suggest you stop making minimum payments, but keep them at the same level until payed off. Do not borrow any more money. As the others say, tackle your highest APRs first.

Good Luck, the figures are as follows:

income weekly monthly
self 2140.00
partner
other 200.00






total 0.00 2340.00
540.00 divided by 4.33

540.00 total weekly income

spend weekly monthly
rent/mortgage 644.00
council tax 166.00
elec 39.00
gas 46.00
water 43.00
secured loans
TV licence 11.37
fines
transport 157.50
mobile 30.00
house ins 28.00
phone 24.00
student loan 131.21
hsbc life 22.19
hsbc repay pro 32.00
interest 17.00
car ins 36.00
contacts 22.00
mobile 30.00
debs 18.43
morgan 95.00
bc 47.00
next 60.11
amex 112.00
mbna lfc 161.35
egg 33.73
mbna yacht 9.75
hsbc mc 119.00
cap one 41.93
cap one (2) 23.49
total 0.00 2201.06
507.94 divided by 4.33

£507.94 total weekly spend

Start= income - spend = £32.07 per week

mrslawrence2003

antcav wrote:

Thanks all for this!!!

I am starting to look around on water rates and the utilities..... my parents and I basically split the bills 50:50 most of the time as my dad spends 75% of the year in greece and mum lives with me so in the winter when he's back, he gives me additional cash payments..... i may have a chat with them for this winter though as with mum's illness he's back a lot more.....

i will dig out the APRs - am sure though that the Debenhams / Next cards are the first to get paid off.......

short term pain for long term gain!!! I somehow seem to live in a bubble whenever I have cash and i go completely mental!!!

i'd rather keep the car, especially as i do need to take my mum to and from the hospital.... she gives me petrol money whenevery it happens and i rely heavily on the car to do weekly shopping etc... but again, it's something that I know may well be the only option is to get rid of it........

when i say available to spend - that's food, going out etc. I don't really need any more clothes as I have more than enough to work with for work. as for haircuts, well my hair's not that good at the moment but looking for cheap options at the moment....

on the contacts - i use daily disposables which suit me down to the ground at the moment..... what are the monthlies like and what happens if they split / get lost etc..... i'll do the internet research thing for cheaper alternatives.....

i haven't had any left over recently as due to weddings, christenings etc, things have been very tight, but this is moving forwards. I am hoping that I may have a token amount of say £20 to over pay, but if I can save on the utilities then that will increase.......

i can't believe i'm in this mess again.... I agree that credit should be limited and I especially think that credit cards for students shouldn't be allowed... I konw that they have a much rougher deal financially than when i was at uni, but they're still coming out with sooo much debt!

i got my OH to switch from getting contacts through D&A (30 / month) to another company/website and he gets exactly the same contacts for £20 every 3 months!!! the website/compnay was included on one of MSE's weekly emails - not sure if anyone can remember who it was..???

lynzpower

Can I ask where this "additional income" comes from??

tyllwyd

antcav wrote:

i'd rather keep the car, especially as i do need to take my mum to and from the hospital.... she gives me petrol money whenevery it happens and i rely heavily on the car to do weekly shopping etc... but again, it's something that I know may well be the only option is to get rid of it........

If you are using the car to take your mum to hospital now and again, would it actually be cheaper in the long run for you to get a taxi and for her to pay you back? When it comes to the weekly shopping, you are paying £36 per month for insurance (plus bills for car tax, MOT etc), so in fact you would save money by getting it delivered for £5 (or less) per week. I'm sure there are other things you use the car for, but is it worth thinking about for a year or two while you get things under control?

cupid_s

moozie wrote:

Home Insurance 28.00 This is very high. Have you insured exceptionally valuable items such as art?

I know this is not very relevant but £28 is not expensive for home insurance surely!?!?!
Similarly £36 i think is very cheap for car insurance depending on the person