Relatively "Small" Debt,but need help

gaz06

Hi,
I have been a member for years, but usually only viewer rather than poster.

Without degrading anyone or insulting anybody i feel pretty embarrassed posting this so bare with me.
Basically i have in comparison, a small amount of debt. Im only 21 years old and i have 4 credit cards, car finance and a additions account.

Im struggling with a couple of things however i know i probably sound stupid but i need to stop this while my debts are of manageable proportions!

I have,
Capital one Card - £925 outstanding on £1000 Limit
Vanquis Card- £720 outstanding on £750 Limit
Aqua Card - £290 outstanding on £300 Limit
Barclaycard -£385 outstanding on £400 Limit
Additions Catalogue Account - £429 on Buy Now Pay Later expires this month, so loads of interest being added on at the end of the month
Car Finance - £6500 pay £158 a month

Right im looking to clear all cards and the additions account, ideally before July as i am getting married in June 2012 and could do with some extra money to sort it all.

Each month after i have paid minimum payments and my rent to my Nan i have £300 spare for myself and diesel. Luckily in my rent payments i get food etc covered (she's a good ol' gal) i would love to get this cleared asap. Unfortunately i have had a rather unexpected downfall this month and as a result have £20 of my £300 monthly budget left for diesel. Can anyone advise if there is anyway of getting the interest stopped i doubt it given i have extra money spare but i just need pointing in the write direction of how to get myself out of this mess, its causing alot of stress and i really don’t want this hanging over me much longer, the £750 on the Vanquis card has been there since January 2009, i am making no progress and no dent in the interest, similarly im worried about the interest on the additions account. I just want one amount of money each month coming out but lenders/providers wont touch me with a 0% card or even a loan with relatively high APR!

Please help me guys.

Tixy

Hi

The only chance you might have of getting interest frozen would be if you could not afford your minimum payments and if you had to default on your accounts (which would mess up your credit rating for the next 6years).

When you say you have £300 left for yourself and diesel is that after accounting for everything? ie road tax, car maintenance & MOT, car insurance etc etc does it include a budget for clothes, haircuts, entertaining, mobile phone etc? If not then I would start by writing out a really detailed budget to make sure that you do account for all these type of things. That will then show you how much you really have surplus after minimum payments and whether getting your debts paid off by July is realistic.

I would start by doing a statement of affairs http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html (just leave out the costs you don't have such as gas & elec) and budget 1/12 of the annual cost of things like road tax, car maintenance etc, you'll need to know all your APRs for a true picture.

Once you have that and see what surplus you should have you can then plug the figures into the snowball calculator (same website as SoA calc) to see when it thinks you will be debt free by at the current rate.

gaz06

Thanks for your reply, i have filled in the SOA, My Fiancee is a hairdresser so free haircuts thankfully, i also have a car which only costs £30 a year to tax and also the first MOT is not due until december 2011.
Here's the SOA

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1091
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1091
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 158
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............................ 75
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 25
Groceries etc. ......................... 0
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 120
Road tax................................ 5
Car Insurance........................... 90
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
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)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 20
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 723

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

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(0)........0
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 6500.....(158)......16
Total secured & HP debts...... 6500......-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Capital One Card...............925.......30........29
Vanquis........................720.......36........49
BarclayCard....................385.......15........32
Additions......................429.......20........37
Aqua...........................290.......15........35
Total unsecured debts..........2749......116.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,091
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 723
Available for debt repayments........... 368
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 116
Amount left after debt repayments....... 252
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -6,500
Total Unsecured debt.................... -2,749
Net Assets.............................. -9,249
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

Tixy

Hi

Well I'd say your finances don't look in too bad shape - assuming you do have the £250 left to make extra debt repayments to.
Have you had a look at the snowball calculator? It will advise you to pay all of this extra to vanquis to start as it such as high APR.

Your mobile looks pretty costly. Are you still in a contract? if so then see if they will drop you to a lower tariff. If not in contract then look around for a better deal (contract or PAYG). I'd have thought you could get almost unlimited usage these days for around £40pm.

When you car insurance is due for renewal do shop around for the best deal and also consider if you can earn some cashback going through one of the cashback websites (such as quidco or topcashback). I guess its high due to your age? does your nan drive or girlfriend? if so it might work out cheaper if you put one of them as a named driver on your policy. Quite a few tips here -
Cheap Car Insurance
Compare 200+ quotes & grab hidden cashback

gaz06

Tixy,your a star.
I have used the snowball calculator and in all honnesty i ahve a sense of relieve, its says i can be debt free in september 2011! It means ill probably struggle with friends going out and me staying in etc but i really need to sort myself out and chop all the card etc up! HEY! i may even do some hard overtime this month see if i can get a extra weeks wage in my pay packet,will really make a dent straight away! Cant wait thanks for your help,i am a member of quidco and have also looked at insurance too,got myself a good amount for quotes and can get £35 in cashback too.

Made it worth while making my issue public. i hope you all find this site as useful as i do.

Tixy

Hopefully your friends will understand if your are slightly quieter on the going out front (even if they don't know about paying off your debts then you can say you are saving for the wedding).

I'd personally say don't cutback so much that you end up splurging like crazy, but just try be sensible with the amounts you spend. You don't want to end up with no friends from having no contact with them at all, but the good ones will understand and won't mind if you only go out occasionally (or you could offer to be the designated driver sometimes - so you still get to go out but are not under pressure to spend loads buying in rounds with the others - and they should offer to buy yoru soft drinks!).

Good news that you may get some overtime as well.

Good luck with clearing your debts and with your wedding

If your fiancee (and you) are looking for tips on not spending too much on the wedding then there is an MSE board all about weddings and bargains - Weddings & Anniversaries You might pick up a few tips there.