Clearing Debts

DefinitelyMaybe_2

Hey,

My debt problem is really starting to get me down - i just can't see a way out and thre seems to be so many sharks out there that i don't know whose advice to trust!

Basically i owe around £7500 for a Personal Loan, £1500 Overdrat and around £10,000 in credit cards! It's all my fault, i realise that ut i need to take a hold now before things go too far!

I basically take home £1500.00 a monthand my outgoings are about £1375.00 not including food.

Any advice on how best i clear this debt would be greatly appreciated - i really don't see much of a way out!

DM

bottleofred

Hi Definately maybe and welcome to the forum,

The first thing for you to do is post your statement of affairs and then you can get help/advice on how to save cash that can go to your debts. The link is http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

DefinitelyMaybe_2

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 0
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1475
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1475
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 335
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 119
Electricity............................. 35
Gas..................................... 65
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 28
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 30
TV Licence.............................. 14
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 42
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 100
Clothing................................ 30
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 100
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 32
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 16
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 25
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 971

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 130000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 130000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 130000...(335)......4
Total secured & HP debts...... 130000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Loan...........................7500......249.......14
Credit card....................5700......142.......16
credit card...................3900......70........16
Total unsecured debts..........17100.....461.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,475
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 971
Available for debt repayments........... 504
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 461
Amount left after debt repayments....... 43
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 130,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -130,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -17,100
Net Assets.............................. -17,100

slummymummyof3

DefinitelyMaybe wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 0
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1475
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1475
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 335
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 119 Do you have the 25% single occupancy discount?
Electricity............................. 35 Can you trim your gas and electric down, use comparison sites, ditch and switch using cashback sites.
Gas..................................... 65
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 28
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 30 Can you get a cheaper tariff?
TV Licence.............................. 14
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 42 Reduce package size - presumably combined phone/tv/broadband
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 100 Is this realistically what you spend?
Clothing................................ 30 You don't need this every month
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 100
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 32 Is this combined buildings and contents? Use comparison sites, and use cashback sites.at renewal
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 16
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 25 Can you reduce this? Ask family if you can all cut back as things are tight
Haircuts................................ 0 Really?
Entertainment........................... 0 Really?
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 971

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 130000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 130000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 130000...(335)......4
Total secured & HP debts...... 130000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Loan...........................7500......249.......14
Credit card....................5700......142.......16
credit card...................3900......70........16
Total unsecured debts..........17100.....461.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,475
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 971
Available for debt repayments........... 504
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 461
Amount left after debt repayments....... 43
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 130,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -130,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -17,100
Net Assets.............................. -17,100

Can you get a lodger to up your income? Have made other suggestions in red. Can you get a balance transfer for the credit cards?

LillythePink

You also say you have an overdraft but haven't included it in your SOA

MFWannabe

DefinitelyMaybe wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 0
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1475
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1475
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 335
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 119 - Do you get single persons discount? also if you pay over 10 months see if you can pay over 12
Electricity............................. 35 - This is high for one person; check on comparison sites for best deal
Gas..................................... 65 - This is high for one person; check on comparison sites for best deal
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 28 - would you be better off with a water meter?
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 30 - reduce package
TV Licence.............................. 14
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 42 - I'm guessing this is minimum package; phone and internet?
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 100
Clothing................................ 30 - Wear what you have for now
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 100
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 32 - check comparison sites for best deal
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 16
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 25 - can you cut this right back for now? Just small £5 presents and card maybe?
Haircuts................................ 0 - do you never have your hair cut?
Entertainment........................... 0 - Do you never go out?
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 971

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 130000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 130000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 130000...(335)......4
Total secured & HP debts...... 130000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Loan...........................7500......249.......14
Credit card....................5700......142.......16
credit card...................3900......70........16
Total unsecured debts..........17100.....461.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,475
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 971
Available for debt repayments........... 504
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 461
Amount left after debt repayments....... 43
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 130,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -130,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -17,100
Net Assets.............................. -17,100

Hi
I've added some comments above; there is small scope for savings on some things.
Any possibility of changing at least one card to 0% deal? also how long do you have left on the loan?
Both cards are the same apr so i would try to through any savings you make at the one with the least amount owing first to try and clear this one out of the way.
Any chance for overtime or 2nd job?

jickis31

Hello there,

I hope and pray that you can manage to solve your problem with debt.God bless you my friend. Glad we have this forum for support!

DefinitelyMaybe_2

The birthdays i have sorted so no more presents for anyone.........i do have my hair cut but i don't pay for it.....i could cut the Sky package but i don't go out now so that is part of my entertainment so all i need to do is see if i can transfer any of my credit cards and also go on the comparison sites to transfer insurance and uttility bills.

My OD has recently been cancelled so i have to pay that off monthly.

I reckon that i have got another 30 months to pay my loan off so a fair way to go yet.

Thanks for all your replies - i am determined to get debt free without borrowing more money so a 2nd job maybe an option.

romylou_2

Thanks DM

Well Done on taking the first step of many.

I noticed that you don't have a car, but see that you spend £100 per month on travel. I assume this is for work. Is there any way to get this down??

Return tickets/lift sharing with work colleagues etc.

I agree that your electricity payments pf £35 per month are a litlle bit high. There are measures you can take to reduce this (turning off lights when not in rooms, tuning things off standby etc).

You can get your building and contents insurance a lot cheaper than what you have, shop around.

Ditch the clothing budget of £30. Use what you have at the moment and then become a fan of charity shops/ sales etc.

Cut the present budget to £5.

Hope this helps to get you started.:)

econnin

be careful not to be too hard on yourself - if you don't go out and you get a second job, make sure that you still have time to see friends and family, and enjoy yourself. Sell some stuff on amazon/ebay if you can,switch to no frills products, and throw the spare cash at your debts and a bottle of wine now and then. As long as you stop adding to the debt and start chipping away at it, you'll feel better. I have a lot of debt too, now at 15k, and I have taken on the challenge to be debt free in a year's time, so set yourself a target and go for it!

Spreadsheets help!

Good luck:)