New & a bit shocked!

cookson

Well done for finally deciding to sort things out. This site has helped me quite a bit, and I consider myself pretty good at managing my personal finances now.

Personally I would use the £350 to attack the high interest credit cards. Especially high ones like a Vanquis card. I have a Vanquis card myself but have never spent on it (Thank you quidco for the £25 cashback :j). I know you don't want to rely on the bank of mam and dad if an emergency arrises, but I'm sure they'd rather you weren't paying unneccesary interest. I know I'd feel that if I had a child in debt.

The spending diary is a good idea, and try to minimise the treats until you get out of debt. The McDonalds wasn't much, but regular spending on such non essentials soon adds up.

What about eBay? Or Amazon marketplace? Do you have anything you can flog that you no longer use that can go towards a debt?

And finally, all the best for conquering your debt

MFWannabe

betsy89 wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 900
Total monthly income.................... 900

Monthly Expense Details
Rent.................................... 100
Mobile phone............................ 35
Groceries etc. ......................... 30
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 100
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 43
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 20
Life assurance ......................... 5
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 12
Entertainment........................... 20
Gym..................................... 50
Total monthly expenses.................. 475


Assets
Cash.................................... 350
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 1350

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
lloyds o/d.....................1496......0.........0
halifax o/d....................220.......0.........0
Vanquis cc.....................215.......10........47.8
mum & dad......................2500......0.........0
topshop........................83........4.........29.9
miss selfridge.................63........4.........29.9
barclaycard....................618.......9.........27.9
Total unsecured debts..........5195......27........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 900
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 475
Available for debt repayments........... 425
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 27
Amount left after debt repayments....... 398

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 1,350
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -5,195
Net Assets.............................. -3,845

Created using the SOA calculator at makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

I started a spending diary yesterday to find out where all this spare cash goes! I also got a "new home fund" pot of dreams for my birthday which all my £1 and £2 coins now go in!

Hi
welcome to the board. there's not much you can cut back on in your soa; although i would look at changing to a lower tariff on your mobile phone.
With the £350 you have in cash pay of the vanquis card with that horrendouse apr!! Also pay off topshop and with a little extra added pay off miss selfridge; then cut up the cards!! There's no point having this money sitting in the bank and paying silly amounts of interest of cards; you'll never clear them if you just pay small amounts against them and still have this much interest piling on each month.
This way you will have cleared and got rid of 3 cards!!
You say you need some savings for emergencies; but you will still have a credit card you can fall back if there is an emergency.
are there really no fees on your overdrafts every month?
Once you've cleared these 3 cards then focus on the Barclaycard; if you throw every spare penny at this card next you should clear it in 3 months. then you will only have your overdrafts and debt to parents to focus on

dancingfairy

Hi Betsy - while 10 a day doesn't seem very much - it adds up to over 200 a month if you spend that much every work day :eek::eek:.
Just something to ponder on.
Good Luck with it all - sounds like you're on your way.
df

betsy89

Hi all, thanks for the comments.
I've worked out I should have around £400 spare each month to pay things off so as I've just been paid I'm going to hopefully use it to clear vanquis, topshop and hopefully miss selfridge cards this month without going into those savings, just to work out what expenditure i have between now and next pay day on birthdays etc.

Freez - there's no interest on my lloyds overdraft as its at 0% in my student account, halifax overdraft is also at 0% but I'm paying £12.50 a month for the account, which I shall be cancelling as soon as that overdraft is clear!

betsy89

Not done so well today! Ended up going out for lunch with mum (£12.69) and then dinner with work (already planned for someones birthday! ££12.30) Also had to get another inhaler so thats another £7.20! Shall hopefully do better tomorrow, and earn some money with things going up on ebay!

Hax

Hi Betsy - it's great that you're dealing with your money worries this early on - well done!

I can highly recommend the approach of receiving your wages and throwing it at your debts straight away - it removes the temptation to take the odd tenner out of the cash point - which only ends up getting "frittered" away! I'm rubbish with cash - if it's in my pocket/wallet then it just ends up getting spent! Especially once a note gets broken - then it finds its way into the nearest vending machine for an overpriced can of drink or chocolate bar! Best thing to do is leave your wallet/purse at home and just bring with you what you need for the day (packed lunch and money for fuel if necessary)

If you do clear those cards you mention with this month's wages, I'd recommend taking out the money from your ISA and using it to clear your Halifax account overdraft - you can then close that account and save the £12.50/month on fees- There's no way in the current climate that the £350 in your your ISA will make anywhere near £12.50 in interest over the course of a year - so cancelling that account ASAP will soon more than cover any lost interest. And, if you wanted, you could stick the £12.50 saved back into an ISA and after 12 months, you'll have £150 back in there - just from the savings you make on the account fee.

tealady

Hi
If you have a lot of medicines have you looked into the "season ticket" rather than individual prescriptions?

necoo

:)Hiya Betsy, excuse me if i have this wrong but you appear to be in the same boat as I was (my boat got a whole in it at the moment but using all i can find to plug it). Its not that you do not have the cash to pay your debts, but choose to use it on none debt things. This was so me, in a big way. But this site is teaching me better.

Snowy_Owl

Hi there,

reading through this, my initial thought was that your gym membership was too high but then read your post about joining the one you did. Being a gym-goer (but one who does have to give themselves a kick to go!) can totally appreciate that finding the right one to get you going is vital. My last one was @£45 a month. That was the "corporate" discounted rate due to me working for one of the o#countied biggest employers. I moved and that one was no longer practical. I now go to the council one for half hte price. The classes are just as good but really miss the pool and the better facilites all round.

Good Luck,

Snowy x

caeler

Hello - Good luck and well done for having your LBM.

I was once in your boat and I spent the next 10 years getting into more and more serious debt, consolidation loan after loan, 0% credit card which I kidded myself about, all compounded by getting into a relationship with somebody even worse with money as I was!

I had my LBM only about 3 years ago but thank god I did. I can't describe how liberating it was especially as I had absolutely nothing to show for all my debt, no assets, nothing but at least now I can afford the basics, to go out occassionally, afford my rent and finally not owe money to family.

If I could have gone back 10 years ago I can't say I'd have done things differently but I don't think it would have all been so painful.

Good luck.