Need a bit of help

metalhead41

Hi,

Long time reader here who though they would take the plunge and ask for help

After reading some of the topics here, I'm glad to see that my finances aren't in as much as a state as some other posters here, but I guess we all need some help and advice...

I have calculated I have almost £11K of debt. This amount can be broken down into the following amounts:
£5K Loan to Santander (£185pm)
£2K Loan to Beneficial Finance (£177pm)
£1700 to Capital One credit card (£80pm)
£1600 Santander Overdraft
£738 to Apple (£34pm)
£334 to a Comet Store Card (£31pm)
£196 to HFC Finance (£17pm)

I am keeping up payments to all of these, but my main concern is clearing the overdraft.
I am right at the limit of the overdraft, I get paid weekly (IT contractor) so money goes into my account (about £380) each week, then in the following week I'm back at the limit again due to these payments coming out plus my usual bills which I'll detail below (all these are calculated as 1 months worth):
£200 Rent
£176 Train Travel
£100 Food
£80 Petrol
£35 Mobile Phone
£40 Car Insurance
£18 Broadband Connection

With my calculations, I should be left with around £300 per month after all of these outgoings, so in theory 5 months of this and my overdraft should be clear (I wish ). But I always end up having to pay out extra for something (car repair costs of £1000 a few months ago, £200 phone bill after coming home from Turkey last month).
If I could clear the overdraft and credit card I'd be a lot happier, would it be worth changing to another bank (I'm fed up of Santander and have had a lot of problems with customer services).

In the meantime, I am looking for another job which pays more money and am considering taking a proper plunge into contracting (according to a few colleagues I am wasted at my current job and could easily dictate more money from another agency).

Me and my OH have a short break planned for New York at the end of November so I need to save some of this money for that (somehow), good job that is all paid off

I seem to gone off on a bit of a tangent, so I'll end my post now, and just say if anyone can offer me a few pearls of wisdom I'd be grateful

Cheers,

Dan

LuckyBiscuit

If you need to make some quick cash, have you got anything you can sell????

Tixy

Hi

I would do a budget that takes into account things like car maintenance, MOT, tyres, road tax etc that you haven't included above. Then when you have a full budget you should be able to see how much you have left surplus to start clearing your overdraft (or your most expensive debt).
Also you probably need to budget for holidays, haircuts, presents, entertainment, clothes etc. If you budget a small amount for these each month you don't then need to reach for credit when they are needed. I would have a go with completing it in this format to help your remember all those extra costs - http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

Do you need a car and train tickets? If you commute by train could you sell the car which would clear some debt and reduce your outgoings? Have you tried reducing other costs? eg is your broadband the cheapest available (i think there was some offer for £9/month recently), can you find a better deal for the mobile, if you are in contract will they let you drop to a lower tariff?

What did you run the debts up on (no judging you, just wondering if you have anything tangible you can sell), have you stopped spending on the cards now (as if you haven't then you are acutally spending more than the £300 you think you should be left with.

Can you earn any money doing IT repair jobs for people in the evenings. Put an add in the local paper or shop perhaps? Some people make a reasonable second wage from this sort of thin (though if it becomes regular you would need to declare it for tax etc).

metalhead41

LuckyBiscuit wrote: »

If you need to make some quick cash, have you got anything you can sell????

Hi,
I have a few things I could sell (mainly my guitars/amp etc...), but I don't really want to sell them unless it is a last resort (sentimental reasons).

metalhead41

Hi,

I need the train tickets to commute to and from work during the week, the car is handy to have so I can visit my grandparents who live in Broadstairs. I am thinking about selling the car for something that is a bit more economical to run though...

One of my issues is that I'm too kind (contrary to popular belief), so the store card was taken out in order to help my mum out with xmas shopping one year (however I refuse to use this card now). Same sort of thing goes to the credit card, I had it almost paid off, then I used it to help my step-dad get his van fixed which he needs for work). I'm paid back by all those I lend to, however money comes in from them in drips and drabs (£10 quid here £50 there) so I end up using it before paying off bills.

The overdraft was run up a few years ago when I had far to many things bought on HPI (oh and met the OH and lavished her with gifts:p), I have paid these all off now bar 2 things, so I've done well there

I do run a couple of websites for some local companies, but I only get a bit of money from them every 3 months or so to cover running costs. They have recommended me to a few other businesses, but nothing really comes from it.

Here is my SOA (sorry, I'm not too sure on the APR at the moment without digging out my paperwork)

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1650.84
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 320
Total monthly income.................... 1970.84

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 413
Rent.................................... 200
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 0
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 35
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 17.88
Groceries etc. ......................... 100
Clothing................................ 50
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 22.33
Car Insurance........................... 40
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 25
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 176
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 41
Haircuts................................ 7
Entertainment........................... 50
Holiday................................. 500
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1757.21


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 4500
Other assets............................ 700
Total Assets............................ 5200


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(0)........0<
HFC Finance....................196......(17).......0<
Apple..........................740......(34).......0<
Beneficial Finance.............2000.....(177)......0<
Santander Loan.................5000.....(185)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 7936......-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Capital One....................1700......100.......0
Comet Card.....................334.......31........0
Total unsecured debts..........2034......131.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,970.84
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,757.21
Available for debt repayments........... 213.63
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 131
Amount left after debt repayments....... 82.63

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 5,200
Total HP & Secured debt................. -7,936
Total Unsecured debt.................... -2,034
Net Assets.............................. -4,770



Cheers,

Daniel

metalhead41

P.S. from my SOA the:
Other income............................ 320
Is only received every 3 months and covers the cost of running a website (hosting etc...)

McKneff

You save £500 a month for holidays:eek::eek:
and youre thousands of pounds in debt.

Thats £6k a year. That must be some holiday.

Throw the money at your debits instead.

You really dont need to spend £50 a month on clothes

What is 'other travel'

You really have to prioritise your debts.

Tixy

Is the £320 what you get in total every 3months (if so then put in £106 per month to your budget).
Assume that the £500 for holidays is just for this month? for your trip away? So after that you'll presumably have that money freed up (or most of it at least).

Overall it does look like you should be able to manage and start to pay back the debts providing you don't spend more on the family etc or on expensive holidays.

Keeping a spending diary might be useful for a few months, it should show you where else money is going and help you set a target to start reducing down your debts. Once you know the APRs tackle the most expensive one first, that might well be the comet card so it would be great if you could get that paid off first in the next few months. Then you can move on to tackling the next debt.

Once you have it all written down it can be a good motivator to work to start paying things down. Good luck.

metalhead41

McKneff wrote: »

You save £500 a month for holidays:eek::eek:
and youre thousands of pounds in debt.

Thats £6k a year. That must be some holiday.

Throw the money at your debits instead.

You really dont need to spend £50 a month on clothes

What is 'other travel'

You really have to prioritise your debts.

Sorry, I'm not saving £6K for a holiday, only £500, maybe I should have divided 500 by 12 instead of putting 500 in there, with clothing, I probably spend £200 a year at the most on clothes so I guess that should have been about £16?
I classed other travel as my train ticket for commuting to and from work (is that not where it should go?)

metalhead41

Tixy wrote: »

Is the £320 what you get in total every 3months (if so then put in £106 per month to your budget).
Assume that the £500 for holidays is just for this month? for your trip away? So after that you'll presumably have that money freed up (or most of it at least).

Overall it does look like you should be able to manage and start to pay back the debts providing you don't spend more on the family etc or on expensive holidays.

Keeping a spending diary might be useful for a few months, it should show you where else money is going and help you set a target to start reducing down your debts. Once you know the APRs tackle the most expensive one first, that might well be the comet card so it would be great if you could get that paid off first in the next few months. Then you can move on to tackling the next debt.

Once you have it all written down it can be a good motivator to work to start paying things down. Good luck.

The £320 is what I get every 3 months, and the £500 is for the holiday (I'm trying to put £50 a week away for it).

It looks like (if I cut down on frivolous spending) I should be able to clear these debts with relative ease (I have someone wanting a website but I'm just finishing off my CCNA). I just need to learn to say "No" to a sob story and get a job not so near a town center

Cheers for your support,

Dan

MFWannabe

metalhead41 wrote: »

Hi,

I need the train tickets to commute to and from work during the week, the car is handy to have so I can visit my grandparents who live in Broadstairs. I am thinking about selling the car for something that is a bit more economical to run though...

One of my issues is that I'm too kind (contrary to popular belief), so the store card was taken out in order to help my mum out with xmas shopping one year (however I refuse to use this card now). Same sort of thing goes to the credit card, I had it almost paid off, then I used it to help my step-dad get his van fixed which he needs for work). I'm paid back by all those I lend to, however money comes in from them in drips and drabs (£10 quid here £50 there) so I end up using it before paying off bills.

The overdraft was run up a few years ago when I had far to many things bought on HPI (oh and met the OH and lavished her with gifts:p), I have paid these all off now bar 2 things, so I've done well there

I do run a couple of websites for some local companies, but I only get a bit of money from them every 3 months or so to cover running costs. They have recommended me to a few other businesses, but nothing really comes from it.

Here is my SOA (sorry, I'm not too sure on the APR at the moment without digging out my paperwork)

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1650.84
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 320 - If this is every 3 months then you should put £100 in here
Total monthly income.................... 1970.84

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 413
Rent.................................... 200
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 0
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 35 - Can you drop to a lower tarriff?
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 17.88
Groceries etc. ......................... 100
Clothing................................ 50 - You should cut this to £20
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 22.33
Car Insurance........................... 40
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 25
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 176
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 41 - You should cut this right down to £20 at the most
Haircuts................................ 7
Entertainment........................... 50
Holiday................................. 500
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1757.21


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 4500
Other assets............................ 700 - What is this?
Total Assets............................ 5200


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(0)........0<
HFC Finance....................196......(17).......0<
Apple..........................740......(34).......0<
Beneficial Finance.............2000.....(177)......0<
Santander Loan.................5000.....(185)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 7936......You need to put the total in here.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Capital One....................1700......100.......0
Comet Card.....................334.......31........0
Total unsecured debts..........2034......131.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,970.84
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,757.21
Available for debt repayments........... 213.63
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 131
Amount left after debt repayments....... 82.63

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 5,200
Total HP & Secured debt................. -7,936
Total Unsecured debt.................... -2,034
Net Assets.............................. -4,770



Cheers,

Daniel

Hi
I've added some comments above; but you need to edit your soa with the correct amounts.
Also you haven't got the total added up in your secured debts so it hasn't added those to your total outgoings!!! So the amount you're paying out and the amount it says you have left are wrong at the moment.