Short term help needed!

Nuclear_Tom

Right, I'm new here so go easy! I'm a long term lurker, so have already done quite a bit to try and get my finances ship shape.

I recently applied for a loan and was declined, so I got a copy of my credit file and score (344 btw ) and realised it was actually pretty shocking. I've been getting lots of charges (over £200 some months) and have really been struggling. I had no idea just what I owed and what was going in/coming out every month.

So I sat down and made a very swish spreadsheet with all my credit cards, interest, projected repayments and balances, likewise for loans, and also a thorough budget and planner. It has projected wages with automatic PAYE calculations, all that sort of stuff. Spent a good 10 hours doing it, and it really is the business.

However, its bought a few things to light.

Firstly, I owe circa £18k.

From February onwards my finances seem to get better quickly, as an old loan is paid off and as is my car finance (no intention to change car either). However, next month, without taking into account inevitable Christmas presents, I'm circa £50 short of meeting all my committments. It also looks grim for the £800 arrears I have for various accounts.

The thing is, I dont really want an IVA, or even a DMP as like I say, things will start to shape up in the new year with careful budgetting. How can I solve things in the short term?

I can post up the spreadsheet if that helps anyone too.

Cheers in advance, and what an excellent forum! :beer:

James&Shell

Cant you just pay a token payment to your creditors for the next coupke of months and then pay the normal /higher amounts

Why dont you make a start on claiming those charges back?

It would reduce your debt.

poppy_f1

if you post your SOA im sure someone here will be able to help make short term gains as well as long term ones

lynzpower

have you been selling up any spare stuff you own? Now is busy on ebay BTW - so you might have some easy & quick money to come from that? Or of course try other things, amazon, greenmetropolis.com, or loot or local free ads.

f you wanted to post an SOA of course we will be able to find some savings there, but they wont be short term savings, but they could be too- wed need to see

kevin_M

hey tom and welcome to the board.

I relised i was starting to have problems around nov last year when i hit £22,500ish debt. cannot rember what happened if i was just a little short or a extra bill came in that i needed to find money for but it happened..

i know i did a little extra work also browed a little cash off family.. to sort me out then december hit and it was debt busting time.

Taking out a loan atm will seem the best solution BUT trust me it aint untill you get your spending sorted out. Or whats to stop you overspending on that loan etc. Plus if your score is low IF you do manage to get a loan. what APR would you be paying.

Post you SOA so we can help you cut back

also have a look at https://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx

Good luck

Storm

In terms of short-term cash flow try selling whatever you can via Ebay/Amazon etc, do a store cupboard challenge to cut drastically down on the food bill (try the Old Style Board for suggestions & help with figuring out what to do with those weird things!). Stop using your mobile except for any free calls & texts you get, walk instead of driving/getting the bus etc wherever possible. If you can get your head around it try matched betting (I haven't managed to yet!)

Could you explain to your family about the cash flow issue and give presents in February instead of December? Otherwise, think of gifts of time you can give instead like babysitting, cleaning their car, setting up their PC - whatever they need and you can do.

As others have said, if you post your SoA we'll be able to see if there's any areas that can easily be cut down to save you a bit each month.

Nuclear_Tom

Ok thanks everyone. I will post up the SOA spread sheet tonight...

I have already sucessfully claimed bank charges back, but I have had another £800 or so worth since, I will try to claim these back when I'm back on my feet as they will just keep mounting up for the time being.

What I have done is opened up 2 bank accounts with A&L who I have never banked with before, both accounts are currently unused Electron accounts. What I plan is that one will have my wages going in, this will be my general spending account. I will set all my direct debits into the other one, and pay in what is needed to pay the bills as well as the monthly contribution towards my budgetted expenditure such as car tax etc, as well as a small extra each month.

Hopefully this will allow me to know exactly what is going in and out, have the comfort of knowing there is the right money there for presents, car tax and the like, and have complete control over my general spending.

Its just getting over this short term hurdle! EBay beckons, although tbh I have little left of much worth to sell, just text books, a few old cds etc... still need to get it on. Whens the next cheap listing day?

Nuclear_Tom

Would it be silly to cancel all my direct debits? This would give me a little bit more control and stop me getting charged any extra? Then when I'm back on my feet set them up from the new account?

As for cutting back, I'm really not sure I can any more, but I'll let the SOA show that!