Advice please - too much debt!

chopper_99

To be honest, looking at your SOA, now that you have 2 incomes you should be able to pay of your debts relatively quickly with little problem. It says that you'll have £1177 a month left over after all of your outgoings, so even with some leaked money you could realistically overpay on your debts by £500 a month, and that's being cautious.

If you pay off the Nationwide one first it will take you 4 months, then you'll also have an extra £62 a month to plough into the Tesco one (plus the £500 overspend) which means that will be paid off in 3-4 months. After that you'll have around an extra £600 per month to overpay on the LTSB one, which will then take around 6 months to clear.

So in just over a year you're already half way there. Next is the Post Office one which you can now clear in a month with cash to spare, followed by the Halifax one. By this point you should have £680 a month for overpayments so it will take around 6 months to clear that one. Which just leaves the Barclaycard, and because you can now overspend by £720 a month it will take only 3 months to pay off.

So I make that 2 years, at which point you'll be debt free and will also suddenly have around £750 a month of extra cash that you don't know what to do with. If you can initially start overpaying by £700 a month it will take less time still, probably 4-6 months less at a guess.

Just make sure you close each account when you pay them off, and don't get any more.

Adorian

Gothicfairy wrote: »

I can't offer much help but your water seems high ? Are you on a meter and if not the get one as you are out most of the day it could well work out better. If you are on a meter are you paying arrears ?

Any help is better than none! No, I'm not on a meter but according to our utility company's calculator we wouldn't be much better off and, as we water a significant amount of crops out on our balcony and on our windowsills we'd most likely come out at a loss even though we are frugal with water for other use. I've spoken with other couples in similar flats to ours and if they're metered they're not paying less than us. Awful I know, considering we live somewhere where it seems to rain quite frequently.
On the bright side at least we aren't paying arrears!

Nessie23

Adorian wrote: »

Nessie, thanks for the detailed breakdown and links! Much appreciated. :T
I've appended comments. Hopefully in green.

A few comments (in no particular order I am afraid!)

BT
I'm on BT for about £12 a month, but then again if you are using free minutes for phoning abroad it might be worth it. If you haven't already done so you can sign up for paperless billing and save £1.25.

Broadband
O2 have changed their packages which means broadband only packages are less competitive than they used to be. However shop around and you might still be able to get something better than your current package. Plus remember to go through Topcashback or Quidco to get cashback when you sign uo for broadband. Normally you should be able to take the broadband with you provided there is a BT line at the new place.

International calls

For any calls not covered by your BT package you might want to consider using a call card or something like Skype. If you do get a calling card you can even preprogram entries into your mobile or even your home phone (if it has a memory function).

Adorian wrote: »

All suggestions gratefully received. (Except for the hairdresser ones of course!)

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:Enough said on haircuts me thinks!!


I actually think it's a great idea that you try to pay the post office card off (even though the interest is a bit lower). It will start to give you a sense of achievement and please don't stop there! You might actually find quite useful to do a little spreadsheet with a line graphs showing the debts descending, that way when you are feeling a bit upset about the debt you can remember what you have already achieved!

Credit record
You don't need to be a UK citizen to have a credit record, in fact every mobile phone contract and most bank account will go on, so probably your OH will already start to have a credit record. On course paying for things in time and being on the electoral register will help.

See if you get any luck with balance transfer offers from your existing providers, all the cay say is no. If not, once you have cleared some of the cards away in say about 6 months you could then try to apply again and see whether they might offer you the 0% balance transfer.

When I first read your email late last night I assumed you were only using your income to clear debts. However if your OH is also helping then obviously you will be able to clear it quicker. So that makes the situation a bit better, however as you say the sooner you are over this the better.

Ok you might have to be more careful with money for the next few months, however don't let this upset you. Set up a realistic plan to pay the debt back, stick to it and try to enjoy life!!
I find that once I have a plan for dealing with problems, it makes the climb less harder and it brings the goal much nearer.

Keep up the good work

Nessie :cool:

Mikazaru

Adorian wrote: »

My partner's only become a UK citizen recently and has no credit rating to speak of - she had to pay a big deposit just to get a mobile phone contract in her own name recently - so getting cards in her name isn't really an option at present (although hopefully in the future - although I'd hope we wouldn't need them).
As far as cooking facilities is concerned, she shouldn't really be staying where she is anyway and the last thing she needs is anything that could be flagged up as a fire hazard or make it noticeable that somebody is living there (her employer's OK with it but it has to be discreet). I think a toaster might be a problem. I am going to speak with her about the cost of food/drink but to be fair, she's living in rubbish circumstances away from home; there's only so much suffering I can expect her to endure. Maybe we can agree a budget for it so she's more aware of what the cost is. I suppose that would be one positive step!

Ah fair enough then, if you explain the situation on the Old Style Board they may be able to help suggest things that you could make and take with you that may last for when you go and stay just to help a little bit? They'll have ideas for cheap but tasty treats aswell.
Once your OH has been paying the mobile for a few months get a copy of her credit report (works out free through Quidco I think) with being on the electoral roll, a bank account and a phone she should be building a rating already.
Good Luck

Adorian

I checked out some of your suggestions, Nessie, and thanks again, your help is massively appreciated, and I think I can get O2 broadband plus O2 homephone, evening and weekend calls included £21.50 compared to the £17.99 we're currently just paying for broadband!! I still have to look into the calling card and Skype but that might well be worth it too.
Plus if I sign up with O2 before the end of November there's 3 months free broadband for a 12 month contract or they have a rolling monthly one but no free months AND Quidco gives about £50 cashback.
If I can take the contract with me when I move then I think I may well sign up for the 12 month contract. I actually feel a lot more positive about things, even though it's not a huge step.

I've made a spreadsheet to show the paying off of the Post Office card (I like the challenge of finding money to pay it off above & beyond what we're paying off everything else), although yes, paying it off in a lump sum might also feel like a sense of achievement but with Nationwide at 19.9% I'd rather knock that one down first.

I'm actually starting to feel like I have a bit of a plan. Although last night the washing machine decided to drain into the kitchen sink then back into the machine so I have to buy a plunger today and hope it fixes itself. Either that or get a plumber out. I don't want to use drain cleaner in case that too decides to get into the washing machine and ruin my clothes. Even with that little situation hanging over me, I feel a lot better about things than I did before all you lovely people gave me some hope!

Thanks all! :T

Billy_two_speakers

HAYLEY8005 wrote: »

hi adorian

Well firstly you do need to include all commuting costs in the SOA as otherwise it is a pointless one, on the groceries is that including your partners grocerys she has to buy also if not that is huge i feed my family of 4 on £200. Also you have nothing down for building or contents insurance yet have a mortgage so i assume you are missing something in there, also life insurance the same. check comparision sites for car insurance as that seems high for 1 car when you next renew. the rest seems ok and you have plenty of surplus so i suggest you try the snowball calculator on the sticky at top put in all the debts and it will show you what to pay 1st and the fastest way out of debt with that surplus the debt is very manageable to overpay.

hayley

Is that £200 a week on food or a month ?

Adorian

Fixed the sink/washing machine issue with a £2 plunger and a LOT of hot water!! At least I don't have to worry about having to get somebody out to fix it.

Nessie23

Adorian wrote: »

Fixed the sink/washing machine issue with a £2 plunger and a LOT of hot water!! At least I don't have to worry about having to get somebody out to fix it.

Well done! :beer:

Adorian

Thanks! The thing fell apart immediately afterwards (corner shop job; probably perished after sitting on a shelf for 6 years) but totally worth it to have a sink that drains. And, on a more exciting note, a tax refund finally came through today for my OH that I'd been chasing for a year. Just over £600 for 2 tax years!!!! I had to go away, make a cup of tea, go back, read it again, take it to work, ask a colleague what she thought it said before I believed it. It's going straight onto the Tesco card. I know it's not the highest rate but I've made a dent in it so I want to keep up the momentum. I'm also whittling away at the Post Office card with bits of money from selling stuff. As long as I don't get any more unexpected bills for anything....
So no invites to posh Christmas parties please, chaps. I only have two dresses and I'm not sure they fit me anymore. :embarasse

gemini12

Just one thought and I dont know if anyone has suggested it as I havent read right through but could your partner get a microwave and buy ready meals from the supermarket sometimes. I know they are not always fantastic but you can get them for about £1.00 from tesco and most other supermarkets. Even if this was only once or twic a week you would save.