Pay off debts and start saving for travelling

Jmua

Hi all, been lurking for a while and now time to post!

After living with my head in the sand for several years and paying off minimum amounts I'm now determined to be debt free by the end of May 2011 and to be able to start saving for a travelling adventure and then for a deposit for a house

I actually made a start in October 2010 and started snowballing my debts, then I had £7155 of debts and now down to £4122.97. I had one credit card at £3100 and Natwest let me do a balance transfer to a new card of £902 for 15 months. Virgin have also accepted me for their credit card with a £3K limit so when that arrives I intend to cut it up and super balance transfer to pay off my overdraft at 0% rather than Natwest's rather high limit.

On 28th Feb when I am next paid I intend to fully pay off the first credit card and try to make an over payment on the loan with whatever I have left over. have never made an overpayment before but guess I will just pop into the branch to do this.

On 28th March I get my annual bonus which after tax should be around £1500/1600 plus the usual pay of £1354 so I plan to pay off my loan with that (what a great feeling that will be!) and then anything left over will go towards the BT debts. I've calculated that if I keep to my planned budget I should be debt free 28th May.

I'd like to change my current account from Natwest as fed up with them trying to sell me their products everytime I am in the branch, when I took out the loan with them in 2005 I'd gone in to ask for help in consolidating a couple of debts worth about £1K and they sold me a £5k loan, was quite naive back then and thought it was the only way. I'd also asked them to reduce my OD limit a couple of times which they failed to do, so will be looking for a current account with good customer service once I've cleared my debts with them. Will also look into what good savings deals are about at the time to start my saving frenzy!

Going to post back every month to update and get inspiration from everyone else's threads :j

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.................... 0

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1354
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1354

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 300 (I'm lodging with a friend and this includes all bills)
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 0
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 20 (reduced plan when my contract was up in Oct, was paying between £40-50 per month)
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 125 (actually ranges from £100-125), until my debts are paid off I give myself £25 per week for groceries plus whatever treats I want in that week, I calculate how much I need for the month on payday, give it to my bf and he then gives me £25 every Friday, working a treat and teaching me how to budget)
Clothing................................ 0 (got loads of clothes and really don't need to buy anymore at the moment, once the debt is paid off I'll allow myself a clothing budget)
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
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)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 17.95
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 462.95


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

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Natwest Loan...................1592.62...143.4.....11.9
Natwest Credit Card............517.07....20........14.88
Natwest BT Card................863.28....20........0
Natwest OD.....................1150......0.........19.49
Total unsecured debts..........4122.97...183.4.....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,354
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 462.95
Available for debt repayments........... 891.05
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 183.4
Amount left after debt repayments....... 707.65

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -4,122.97
Net Assets.............................. -4,122.97

Created using the SOA calculator at .
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

(had to remove link as newbie!)

Jmua

Just a question...is it worth me switching my current account now or should I wait until I've paid off my NatWest debts? I have an Advantage Gold account, £12.95 per month and apparently saves me 1% on the APR of the loan I have with them. As I intend to pay off this off in full next month, so clearing it a year or so early, will I lose it out? If I cancelled the Advantage Gold now would they add another 1% to the final payment (I know I will have to pay some kind of charge to pay off early) or as I'm still in the term of my loan would they add the 1% back on the whole value of the loan?
Would they also close my credit cards with them? My Advantage Gold card will be paid off at the end of this month anyway but are they likely to change the terms or cancel my BT Platinum card?

Thanks in advance!

Jmua

Super balance transferred my virgin to my overdraft so overdraft paid off today, no more pesky interest to pay to NatWest for that now!

Also just reduced OD limit online from £1150 to £50 -- time to take control!