Newbie - making a start & SOA

[Deleted User]

Should I do a bit off each or just concentrate on one for now? To be honest I think I could afford to put £1000 per month off these - as my outgoings (which include cc payments and loan payment) come to £515 so that still leaves £300ish for the other bits, hair, nails etc or is that just daft? I could put the £250 away, i know you shouldn't save when you have debts but I will need to have some money saved

Thanks again everyone - must check ebay see how my bits are getting on :-)[/QUOTE]

First thing you need to do is find out what the APR's are on each of your debts (the interest rate you are being charged), continue paying the minimum payments on all debts, and then overpay with the rest of your spare cash towards the debt that is costing you the most. And, unless you are on a special deal I suspect it will be the credit card.

Then when this is fully paid continue on to the next debt that's costing you the most (probably over draft - but do check)

Also, check if you are going to be charged an early repayment fee if you make over payments towards your loan, or iff you were to pay it off early

And good luck, in a few months you will be completly debt free if you put your mind to it.

Verbatim

The quickest way to pay off debt is to concentrate on the debt with the highest interest rate, paying only minimums to the rest. Once the highest interest debt is paid off concentrate on the next highest until all are paid off.

Good luck.
V

dreamdreamer

Great suggestions that I can't really add to but...

I think having debts and having worked hard to pay them off shows a much stronger character than someone that's always had lots of disposable income so never needed to borrow. At least you'll have learnt from your experience, and that will be invaluable if you and your fiance ever hit hard financial times. My OH has never had a debt problem in his life (he has had car finance and about £200 on his mint card when he's abroad and that's all he's ever had!), whereas I have been struggling to pay stuff back for a few years. I'm SO much more financially savvy than he is now! The only bills he pays in our house on his own are the Sky/Broadband package because I think it's a ridiculous indulgence! Lol.

Trust me one day, he'll be glad he's got a wife who knows her financial stuff!

MFWannabe

Another thought Op; consider applying for a new 0% credit card; if you have a good credit history then you should have a good chance of getting one of these as your debt to income ratio is fairly low.
Apply for one that allows super balance transfers; such as MBNA that way you could transfer all the debt to it so then you would only be paying one card and with no interest being added (although initially you will have to pay transfer fees)

DansMum_2

Another thing, you say you have loads of stuff that you dont use/wear/need again.... maybe you could sell on ebay/carboots to make a bit extra?

afoolandhermoney77

Thanks so much everyoone for taking the time to post a reply. There is so much good advice. I am still FUMING with myself though. I actually can't wait to get paid on Friday and pay a big chunk of that card.
The snowball calculator was a brilliant help!!!
I found out that the CC APR is 27.3%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I had never even looked at this before - RIP OFF!!!!!!!!!!!
Lucikly I can over pay on my Personal loan without any penalty also.
thank you to Moobag - I had no idea about the 3 months statements and that I should really be out of my overdraft - doh! I haven't thought anything through have i?- I have had an idea with regards to helping me get the 3 months of statements showing me in the black instead of way way down in the red.

I was thinking of asking my fiance (when I tell him at the weekend he is marrying a woman who has no concept of finances!!!) can I transfer the amount I owe on my overdraft (which was a little bit less than I thought it is £1760) from the joint account (that I have paid into & paid in more than what I owe on credit card and overdraft!!) and leave it in there just to get the 3 months of statements showing me in the black. Other wise it would maybe be end of march before it is paid off and then 3 months of statements from then takes us to June!!!! And that means we defintely will not have a house before we are married ( we don't live together yet both still at home!)

And then once all accepted and mortgage goes through just transfer it back across - and by then I should be debt free anyway.
I am a bit worried about suggesting this as I don't want him to think that I have been plotting and thinking oooo I will just use that money.
I have no intention of doing so - I would just literally borrow it from the joint account to ensure that on the statements it shows I am in the black a lot sooner in order for us to get a mortgage. Urrrggghh its a bloody mess.

On a plus note - I have a total of £56 worth of bids on some of the things I placed on Ebay yesterday :-) that is going off the credit card and hopefully there will be more stuff getting sold.
I have hung onto so much rubbish that is just bursting out of my wardrobes - not just clothes just nonsense I have bought when I am bored or a bit low!!
Also since my LBM I have spent £0 yes £0 I actually cannot believe it! I have not bought a paper, drink, been in a shop, been in an online shop - I am SO pleased with myself its untrue .

I do have a couple of things I need to get at the end of the week, a sympathy card and a bottle of vimto (a big one to dilute!) to drink and that is my shopping list and I am STICKING to it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-) No more £300 a month spending on the supermarket for me!
God I will soon be getting a reputation as a tight cow!! :-)

What do we think about "borrowing" from the joint account? Should I mention it to my fiance?

- I must Stress I DO NOT want to use this money to pay off my overdraft debt - I just want to borrow it and put it in my account to clear the over draft to show I am not in the red for 3 months for the purpose of mortgage , then it can go straight back in and I should still be in the black as I will be putting the money aside/ or just paying it into the joint account.
Thanks again

MFWannabe

Please consider this option: applying for a new 0% credit card; if you have a good credit history then you should have a good chance of getting one of these as your debt to income ratio is fairly low.
Apply for one that allows super balance transfers; such as MBNA that way you could transfer all the debt to it (this way you could also pay off your overdraft) so then you would only be paying one card and with no interest being added (although initially you will have to pay transfer fees)
Yes you will have balance transfer fees to pay but that's a lot less than the whopping interest rate you currently have on your credit card. The worst that can happen is that you will be rejected!
Also if you can transfer the overdraft to a 0% card you don't have to ask your fiance that question; do it this way and you are showing him that you are dealing with debts yourself. I'm thinking you are going to feel extremely awkward having to tell him about debts that he doesn't know about anyway; never mind asking him if you could borrow money; albeit money you have put into the savings (if he offers then that might be different)

That's just my opnion though; based on how i would feel if i was in your situation x

missworks2jobs

Didn't want to post and run......but wanted to say well done and good luck. It shows you have your head screwed on sorting all of this out before you guys move in together and get married. The hardest part is realising and understanding where all your money goes and what is actually YOUR money (like you said the overdraft isn't your money available its DEBT that belongs to the bank). You're doing the right thing, just be honest with him. Just tell him what you told us.....you didn't really consider you were in debt, were a bit scatterbrained at not checking the fine details or keeping track of the totals and were managing to pay everything on time etc so never really looked into it in detail. Its so easy to do. Plus if you explain that you're now a Debt free wannabe and have looked into the best way to pay it all off and done your budgeting and statements he'll probably be really impressed. I would be happy if my other half had done that before talking to me....it shows you realise where you've gone wrong, you want to sort it out, you have a plan, and above all you're comitted to getting rid of your debts so you can live happily ever after with him, also you do not want to burden him with your debts.....all very good for relationships, all you need now is the honesty bit. Own up, he'll probably feel better he knows exactly where you guys can start with (financially) so you can make plans for your future. You never know he may even come up with some ideas to help solve it quicker.

DansMum_2

If you're looking at a temporary thing I would take the money out of the joint account (after talking to OH of course!!!) and clear the debts... If you are then in a position afterwards to put it back and then some???

If credit is lent based on salary/debt expenditure any debts you have wouldnt look good on the reports. Even half of the totals debts gone would look better than what you have now. Especially with rates as they are. I doubt your savings are 28%!!

afoolandhermoney77

So.......................................... I TOLD HIM!! I did think I was going to vomit though!!!

I said it how missworks2jobs suggested.(thankyou!) like not to make too big of an issue.

Which is the truth - I have been a total dope. And although I could tell he was annoyed, he was more taking the P*** out of me in a funny way!! Like before he said he was going to the takeaway for tea and I went to get some money from my purse and he said with a smirk on his face" no no , put that back, you need to keep hold of that money"

So it could have been a lot worse I think.

I have not mentioned about getting an interest free loan from our own money in the joint bank account haha!
As Freez said I felt bad enough telling him that we were going to have to wait a couple of months while I sort myself out without then saying I wanted to lend some money. Feel like I have disappointed him, in fact I can see I have :-( and that feeling is just as bad as when I realised how rubbish I had been with my money. I actually might as well have set fire to over £1500 per month for the last few years :-(

I have spent since my LBM on Monday 18th January a grand total of £2.71p!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-O Yes £2.71!!

I have never ever spent that little in a day never mind 5 days!!!! I hope I am cured of this bad habit and its not just cos its the first few days!!!!

I think he doubts my determination to have it all gone in such a short space of time ( he doesn't know an exact figure - just that its over £4000) but I will just to prove that I have really learnt my lesson!

I have decided against getting another credit card - its not a route I want to go down, especially since in a couple of months I will be applying for a mortgage. I am just going to deprive myself and do the hard time!!!!!

Thanks everyone :-)