Seen the light....but where to start?

Seen-The-Light_3

Hi Guys,

Been reading through the forums for a while now and finally made the move to post after seeing the light!
Hit a stage in my life where i really want to sort myself out and getting debt free is the first part of that for me.
I'm one of those people that I sure most of you will regard as a fool as I've been enjoying myself far too much without keeping within my means.
Now is time for a change.
Below is my SoA. Hopefully enough info is provided, if you feel anything else needs to be shown please say! My major problem I'm facing atm is paying off my debts, for far too long I've been happy paying off the minimum without reducing the debt, which is what i now want to do.
Where i really need the advice is on which debts to tackle first at reducing and the best way to go about it.
Obviously getting rid of the payday loans asap is crucial, which i intend to do over the coming 2/3 months!
Any help is gratefully received.

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................ 1116.12
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1116.12

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 150
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 0
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 80 - One is a company phone which gets reimbursed at the end of the financial year. (£35pcm)
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 30
Clothing................................ 30
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 22
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 12.95
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 15
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 240
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 589.95


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

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Overdraft......................2000......20........19.49
Credit Card....................500.......11........18.9
Loan...........................1454.07...100.7.....47
Store Card.....................456.24....23........39.7
Payday Loan....................300.......60........0
Payday Loan....................195.4.....195.4.....0
Payday Loan....................350.......70........0
Total unsecured debts..........5255.71...480.1.....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,116.12
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 589.95
Available for debt repayments........... 526.17
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 480.1
Amount left after debt repayments....... 46.07

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -5,255.71
Net Assets.............................. -5,255.71


Cheers STL

persian_star

Hi!

For specifically paying off debt, try putting all your accounts into this: http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx - I found it helped me tremendously

persian_star

Ooh, I meant to say too - congratulations on the decision to deal with your debts. It's not easy but hugely satisfying. These boards are full of good ideas and encouragement, and it's all about paying back what you can and taking little steps to reducing your outgoings. Best of luck

KingElvis

I assume you live in a shared house?

Anyway, I would use all my available cash to get rid of the payday shark loans first, keep your minimum payments on the rest and tackle them after you've got rid of the parasites.

Your entertainment budget seems high mate, I would use that to get shot of the payday schizzle.

Elvis

happytails

Seen-The-Light wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 4 -are you responsible for these?
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1116.12
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1116.12

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 150
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 0
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 80 - One is a company phone which gets reimbursed at the end of the financial year. (£35pcm)
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 30 - very low, presuming this is just for yourself, though thats only £7.50 per week - not sure that is right?
Clothing................................ 30 - needs to go down, try £5 a week and sell what you dont wear
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0 - no car yet no other travel costs? Do you walk everywhere?
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 22 - is this on a DD plan? Could be cheaper if not
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0 - nothing here?
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 12.95 - explain please
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 15 - try £10
Haircuts................................ 10 - this needs to be reduced, £120 a year on haircuts - space cuts out, try local college for cheaper cuts
Entertainment........................... 240 - a month? On what? This should be more realisitcally £50 a month or lower
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 589.95


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

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Overdraft......................2000......20........19.49
Credit Card....................500.......11........18.9 - can you switch to 0% CC?
Loan...........................1454.07...100.7.....47 - can you find a better rate loan for this?
Store Card.....................456.24....23........39.7 - this screams to be dealt with first to me but no idea on how PDLs work so maybe pay them off first then this.
Payday Loan....................300.......60........0
Payday Loan....................195.4.....195.4.....0
Payday Loan....................350.......70........0
Total unsecured debts..........5255.71...480.1.....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,116.12
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 589.95
Available for debt repayments........... 526.17
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 480.1
Amount left after debt repayments....... 46.07

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -5,255.71
Net Assets.............................. -5,255.71


Cheers STL

Added a few notes on - if you really tightened your belt, and i mean really (keep a spending diary etc, no eating out, little or no entertainment, Ebay things) i reckon in 1 month you would have paid off your store card :beer:

Presuming from the SOA above you are a student living in shared accom or with parents?

Goodluck, you have come to the right place x

Seen-The-Light_3

Thanks for your responses guys!

Main aim is to get rid of the payday loans first and then the store card followed by the high interest loan!

Thanks for your notes happytails Made my own responses back below.

Groceries etc. ......................... 30 - very low, presuming this is just for yourself, though thats only £7.50 per week - not sure that is right? I currently live with my parents so the £7.50 a week is right for what I need
Clothing................................ 30 - needs to go down, try £5 a week and sell what you dont wearNever thought about selling my clothes,great idea! Thanks
Other travel............................ 0 - no car yet no other travel costs? Do you walk everywhere? I do walk everywhere, shops, work etc are all within walking distance
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 22 - is this on a DD plan? Could be cheaper if not this is for my contacts / glasses and is the cheapest i can get it
Contents insurance...................... 0 - nothing here?
Other insurance......................... 12.95 - explain please I pay £12.95 on my Natwest account to make it advantage gold. This includes insurance for holidays, phone, and contents. Plus im covered on my parents policy.
Haircuts................................ 10 - this needs to be reduced, £120 a year on haircuts - space cuts out, try local college for cheaper cuts Just been to get my hair cut and it cost me £7, wont need it done again for 6 weeks so i can knock that down to £5.
Entertainment........................... 240 - a month? On what? This should be more realisitcally £50 a month or lower This has always been my biggest issue, worked out what i do in an average month and i can knock this down to £110
Credit Card....................500.......11........18.9 - can you switch to 0% CC? Tried but to no avail at this time
Loan...........................1454.07...100.7.... .47 - can you find a better rate loan for this? Nope unfortunately not! Tried a few diff places for loans but havent been accepted, and paying for the stupidity of taking out a high interest loan when younger.
Store Card.....................456.24....23........39.7 - this screams to be dealt with first to me but no idea on how PDLs work so maybe pay them off first then this.This will be the first thing once the PDLs are cleared

Once again thanks!
STL

happytails

Seen-The-Light wrote: »

Other insurance......................... 12.95 - explain please I pay £12.95 on my Natwest account to make it advantage gold. This includes insurance for holidays, phone, and contents. Plus im covered on my parents policy.
Could you not down grade now for a few months (whilst you are clearing debts rather than holidaying) and either take out a short phone insurance policy (most require 3 months min payments then you can cancel out at any time in a roll on monthly contract


Entertainment........................... 240 - a month? On what? This should be more realisitcally £50 a month or lower This has always been my biggest issue, worked out what i do in an average month and i can knock this down to £110

[COLOR="rgb(255, 0, 255)"]Personally i think 110 is still too high, please can you give us a rough idea where this money goes? Perhaps set a weekly budget of £20 or something for any takeaways/cinema/other entertainment[/COLOR]

HTH,
Sarah

Seen-The-Light_3

With the £12.95 that i pay it also means the first £500 of my overdraft is interest free, so it lowers the interest i pay each month and this added to my phone insurance makes it cheaper to do it this way.

Within the £110 a month on 'entertainment' this includes my gym membership, football fees etc which is something I've been committed to for years and giving them up is like banning booze from an alcoholic I'm afraid! I know some things have to go but lowering my entertainment by more than half already is a massive task.

STL

MFWannabe

Seen-The-Light wrote: »

Hi Guys,

Been reading through the forums for a while now and finally made the move to post after seeing the light!
Hit a stage in my life where i really want to sort myself out and getting debt free is the first part of that for me.
I'm one of those people that I sure most of you will regard as a fool as I've been enjoying myself far too much without keeping within my means.
Now is time for a change.
Below is my SoA. Hopefully enough info is provided, if you feel anything else needs to be shown please say! My major problem I'm facing atm is paying off my debts, for far too long I've been happy paying off the minimum without reducing the debt, which is what i now want to do.
Where i really need the advice is on which debts to tackle first at reducing and the best way to go about it.
Obviously getting rid of the payday loans asap is crucial, which i intend to do over the coming 2/3 months!
Any help is gratefully received.

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................ 1116.12
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1116.12

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 150
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 0
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 80 - One is a company phone which gets reimbursed at the end of the financial year. (£35pcm) - Does this mean your own phone is £45? This is far too much; try reducing package
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 30
Clothing................................ 30
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 22
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 12.95 - You say in another post that this also covers you for £500 overdraft? I have an agreed overdraft and certainly don't pay anything for my account
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 15 -Haircuts................................ 10 - You say on another post that you can cut this to £5 so that's good
Entertainment........................... 240 -You say on another post that you can cut this to £110 so that's good
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 589.95


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

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Overdraft......................2000......20........19.49
Credit Card....................500.......11........18.9 - What is the available limit on this? Could you pay store card with this to at least lower APR?
Loan...........................1454.07...100.7.....47
Store Card.....................456.24....23........39.7
Payday Loan....................300.......60........0
Payday Loan....................195.4.....195.4.....0
Payday Loan....................350.......70........0
Total unsecured debts..........5255.71...480.1.....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,116.12
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 589.95
Available for debt repayments........... 526.17
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 480.1
Amount left after debt repayments....... 46.07

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -5,255.71
Net Assets.............................. -5,255.71


Cheers STL

Hi
Welcome to the board. I've made some comments in your soa.
If needs be drastically cut back for one month and pay off those payday loans. Once you've paid those according to your soa you will then have another £325 available. Then i would put at least £200 of this towards paying off the other debts; starting with highest APR first and then so on