Advice on clearing this debt most effectively

buttonsandzips

Hi,

I am 25 and I have managed to rack up a few quid in debt over the last 7 years. I am making headway into the debt and its not really causing me a huge amount of stress but I would like some advice on the best way to pay it all back to save on interest charges etc.

Situation as follows...

Monthly Incomings:

My salary - £1,410



Monthly Outgoings:

Mortgage and all house related bills - £500
Car Insurance - £30
Petrol - £60
Egg Loan - £300
Egg Card - £100
Virgin Credit Card - £5
Football Season Ticket - £60
Mobile Phone - £35

Food and leisure takes up the rest.

Debts:

Egg Loan - £10,336 APR 6.7% End Date 1/1/2010
Egg Card - £2,400 (limit 4,500) APR 9.9%
Virgin Credit Card - £4,500 (limit £5000) APR 0% until 1/2/2007

I can afford to pay the £300 on the loan each month and then £105 on the card repayments but then often by the end of the month I find myself short and so end up using the Egg card to pay for a few things so that credit card debt isn't really decreasing.

I am wondering if I should get a new card with a decent limit and move all my CC debt on to that at 0% for as long as possible. As I am now a homeowner I think they might give me that much credit. I would then destroy the Virgin card but keep the egg one for emergencies. I am confident that I am now disiplined enough not to use it.

Any advice gratefully received!

Thanks

all_hours

Hi and welcome,

Can you breakdown the mortgage and household bills into mortgage, electric, phone etc. Other posters will be able to offer suggestions where you can cut back on those.

household outgoings 685
debt 305
total 1090
balance 320

So you're spending more than £320 a month on food and leisure. Is this just for yourself? Start a spending diary to keep track of where your money is going -write down everything you spend even if it's just 50p on a newspaper. Set yourself a food and leisure budget and try to stick to it.

Your SOA is missing a few things such as car tax and xmas/birthday presents, clothes. Work out how much you've spent over the last 12 months and divide by 12 to get monthly amount.

M&S have a 3.9% life of balance card with no BT transfer.

crawley_girl

Hiya - welcome to the DFW board! Am gonna pick at your SOA, please don't be offended



Monthly Outgoings:

Mortgage and all house related bills - £500 - what does this mean? can you be more specific? how much do you pay and to whom?
Car Insurance - £30
Petrol - £60
Egg Loan - £300
Egg Card - £100
Virgin Credit Card - £5
Football Season Ticket - £60
Mobile Phone - £35 - always £35 or sometimes more? is it worth thinking about pay as you go or reducing your tariff down to the cheapest?

Food and leisure takes up the rest. - be more specific! Have you checked out the OS board? Some great tips there for reducing food shopping. It helped me no end!

Do you keep a spending diary? Maybe that would help to see where your money is going. Most people on here would advocate on their usefulness!

:heartpuls CG :heartpuls

crawley_girl

Crossed posts all_hours... sorry!

buttonsandzips

Here goes with the mortgage etc...this is split 50/50 with missus so what I am paying is below

Mortgage £300 (on a 2 year fix up for renewal 1/8/2008)
Council Tax £65
Gas/Electric (scottish power DD) £25
Water £15
BT £5.50
TV License £6
Sofa Repayment £10
House/Contents Cover £11
Hire Wash Machine £5
Life/CIC £20

This comes in at £462 but we pay £500 each into the account to allow for any one offs which come along.

The Mobile bill is always £35 apart from when I go abroad then its a bit more. I have to be a £30+ tarriff to get free broadband and I tend to use 90% of the minutes each month.

I spend £100 a month on food and drink.

I go out around once a month and probably spend £60.

I play squash twice a week so thats about £20

I have started a spending diary this month so I can get the actual figures.

Thanks