New to the forum - up debt creek - all advice welcome

jonjamie1970

_Persephone wrote: »

Loan £89.74 - how much longer have you got left on this?
I am not sure, I took it out in Dec 2007, and it was originally for £3600. My internet banking says I have -£1721.67 left on it, and the original loan amount was £4798.28, which I am guessing is with interest?

This looks like you have 18 months left, perhaps you can target that date as a milestone in your approach to being DF.

What do you use the Macbook for and could you consider selling it and clearing the rest of the loan, perhaps you can borrow a PC or Laptop until your straight again, one less thing to pay and worry about.

Ive recently sold everything I own, PS3, furniture I had left from a divorce, all my CD's to Magpie etc etc, its quite a liberating experience.

ghostmadlittlemiss

_Persephone wrote: »

My flat is all electric, and on an economy 7 tariff. I don't think I can change this, as I have storage heaters, and all the properties in the areas are like this. It's also on a prepayment meter.

I was planning to pay the insurance monthly. I am still building no-claims bonus so was hoping it would reduce (although unsure now with the new court ruling). Putting money aside for maintenance is a really good idea, but how much?

Can you see if you can get it swapped to a monthly meter? Those are quite often charged at a cheaper rate. As for how much for maintenance, how much did car repairs in general plus the MOT cost you last year? Try to have £100 more than that saved by this time next year and you should hopefully be ok. If anyone else has a better idea for calculating the amount, please chip in. That's what I would do but I'm hardly perfect so other suggestions would be great.
Kayleigh

DebtfreeBY40_2

Really interesting thread, well done for getting to grips with your debts! Keep up the good work. Being in control of your finances is great. I have massive debt but now that I have started budgeting I get through the month paying everything and having enough money to live on rather than dreading looking at my account! I don't miss the dread. Look forward to following your journey x

katsu

Like Kayleigh (great posts Kayleigh and lovely to "see" you) I work on the theory of last year/12. I haven't added the extra £100 but it is a good thing to aim for.

You may need to have another year of paying monthly for the insurance. An alterntative might be to use your new barclaycard to pay the insurance but you need to look at how long you could pay it off over. You want to pay for it in less than 1yr and need to compare the cost of the insurance finance too. You need to be sure this is not a slippery slope tho.

_Persephone

HI Kayleigh,

I called up to change my electric meter, as I understood pay as you go electricity was always more expensive than a billed meter, but they told me that new legislation had come and meant that they had to charge the same price. As it was going to cost me £50 to change to a billed meter, I didn't bother.

Similar story re: mobile phone; I currently pay £50 a month, but as O2 will only let you drop one tarriff at a time, I would only save £5, not worth it for the loss in minutes, data and text. However, my contract is up in May, and I am going to switch to a SIM only contract, where I am not paying silly amounts for a handset.

I have also signed up to do some mystery shopping (first assignment on Sat) and I am working overtime at the moment, so I am doing 12 hour days, and weekends too. It's double time. I feel like a zombie, but the thought of being able to pay £800 off of the CC at the end of the month is keeping me going

_Persephone

katsu wrote: »

You may need to have another year of paying monthly for the insurance. An alterntative might be to use your new barclaycard to pay the insurance but you need to look at how long you could pay it off over. You want to pay for it in less than 1yr and need to compare the cost of the insurance finance too. You need to be sure this is not a slippery slope tho.

I have always perceived insurance to be another bill and not a debt, but looking at the finance aspect is interesting. I will have to compare the APR on my card with next year's quote (up in June)...:D

And thank you for the maintenance tips, luckily Percy the Peugeot has been fairly reliable and only needed a new battery!

brokeinlondon

DebtfreeBY40 wrote: »

Really interesting thread, well done for getting to grips with your debts! Keep up the good work. Being in control of your finances is great. I have massive debt but now that I have started budgeting I get through the month paying everything and having enough money to live on rather than dreading looking at my account! I don't miss the dread. Look forward to following your journey x

I second this! only started taking control of my finances at the start of this month, but it's such a liberating feeling, knowing exactly how much money I've got left and what it needs to be used for next!

patman99

_Persephone wrote: »

I have always perceived insurance to be another bill and not a debt

All bills are debts. They involve money going-out, not coming-in. The best advice on here is to use the SoA generator mentioned earlier. It takes-care of a lot of stuff.

When calculating your monthly wages when weekly-paid for instance, most people simply 'x4' when the correct method is 'x52/12'.

Have you spoken to your local Council about Housing Benefit?. I believe that when renting, a single person should have £120 p/w left after rent, council tax, water, electric and gas (but not phone, b/band etc). If you do a proper SoA, then they will tell you if you are entitled to help with your rent.

_Persephone

Ok, I've used the SOA generator, but was confused about which habits to put in. I.e. I am currently not spending on clothes, but have done in the past, which is how I got in this mess!

Here goes:

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1598
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1598

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 200
Rent.................................... 450
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 66
Electricity............................. 80
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 16
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 45
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 21
Groceries etc. ......................... 100
Clothing................................ 80
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 53
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 10
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)...... 30
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 50
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1293


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1200
Other assets............................ 2000
Total Assets............................ 3200


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(0)........0
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 2750.....(200)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 2750......-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Credit Card....................5700......150.......30
Loan...........................1797......97........0
Total unsecured debts..........7497......247.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,598
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,293
Available for debt repayments........... 305
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 247
Amount left after debt repayments....... 58

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 3,200
Total HP & Secured debt................. -2,750
Total Unsecured debt.................... -7,497
Net Assets.............................. -7,047

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

_Persephone

patman99 wrote: »

Have you spoken to your local Council about Housing Benefit?. I believe that when renting, a single person should have £120 p/w left after rent, council tax, water, electric and gas (but not phone, b/band etc). If you do a proper SoA, then they will tell you if you are entitled to help with your rent.

I don't think I am eligible for Housing Benefit, I have just had a pay rise and should be on 28K - although I feel skint all the time.