Debts gone up :(

Numpty_2

POO,

I had a bad month last month and had a holiday that was already booked and largely paid for, and I'm owed £500ish in expenses, but my debt now stands at a whopping £15065.28 (not including student loan which I'll think about at the end)

I think I was being a little unrealistic in what I could afford to pay back, which meant me diving back onto the cards for petrol.

I believe (and I will) pay back £6,000 of these debts by the end of may when my contract here expires (this includes the £500 I'm getting from expenses). I have to do this, in case I cant get another well paid job come June, so I only have two credit cards and one overdraft to pay back and can afford at least the minimum. I have also just started a claim for my husbands and our joint account bank account charges, which at a guesstimate (waiting for statements back) will be about 3,000.

Here's my SOA because I know you will ask for it

Income 1563.72 (student loan and pension comes out before paid)

Outgoings
Joint account £500 (this covers mortgage, food, all bills and insurances - we have got the cheapest gas and electric bills, and as soon as my mobile contract ends I will go PAYG)
Petrol £150
Going out 50-100

Debts
OVERDRAFT HSBC 1500 - interest free on 500 (just been accepted for an A&L account so will all be 0% for a year)
OVERDRAFT ABBEY 327.74 - interest free until september
CREDIT CARD LLOYDS 7001 - 0% until December I think - hoping to change to another 0%
CREDIT CARD BoS 1861.94 15.9%
LOAN HSBC 1874.6 (interest paid in advance and overpayment fee, fixed monthly payment of £267.80)
CREDIT CARD EGG 2500 interest 15.9% I think. This is my husbands, that I'm paying off for him, so it's a guess at the balance

My plan is to clear my HSBC loan, abbey overdraft and lloyds credit card by June. I have a payment plan in excel which tells me precisely what to pay to each a month.

Wish me luck

Storm

Good luck Numpty.

Just a quick look at your figures though... with the £500 expenses you're owed your total is £86.17 less than it was at your LBM. I know it's not much, but it's something.

I hope you enjoyed your holiday, and there's no point beating yourself up about what you spent on it.

After my initial surge of enthusiasm I found my budget hard to stick to - so what I'm doing now paying slightly less each month off the debt and increased my weekly budget, but I'm aiming to reduce that budget by £5 a week each month until I get to my original target.

Can you get any more of the debt onto 0% or low LOB cards?

Keep smiling

Storm

duncans-mum_2

Good luck with your new plan numpty. It is sometimes at first hard when you are filled with enthusiasm, to strike a correct balance. As you have quite rightly done is reassess your plan to one that will hopefully be easier to manage. If at first you don't succeed , try again as they say...

Numpty_2

I applied for the M&S card but got turned down. Not sure why - need to check my credit rating is still good, think it maybe because I have too much credit available elsewhere (have about 5k of credit on the cards I dont use).

With my A&L account I applied for a credit card, but havent heard about this part of it - that's 0% for 9months.

My week on week budget is fine, it's the extras - I dont often go out so some months it's nothing others its 100s, I've tried factoring in a guesstimate, but by having it in my account it'll be spent by the end of the months so doesnt roll over as it should! Perhaps I should use two accounts, and transfer weekly spends over?

Storm

I find the only way a weekly budget works for me is if I take out the money on a Monday morning for the whole week and leave the cards at home. So say you've budgetted £20 a week towards going out, then don't actually withdraw this, but keep a note separately of how many £20's you've got available - then when you've got a big night out planned you'll know what you can withdraw for it

Numpty_2

Storm, all good in theory, but in practice, it disappears, somewhere. I think when I open this new account I'll keep my current account, and pay £50 over a week for fuel and going out (I have to pay the loan out of it anyway), and then when the £50s gone it's gone

dancingfairy

If you think you have been turned down for credit because you already have too much can you cancel the other accounts. By cancel I mean phone/write to the company and ask the accounts to be closed and then cut up the card. This may help.

Numpty_2

dancingfairy wrote:

If you think you have been turned down for credit because you already have too much can you cancel the other accounts. By cancel I mean phone/write to the company and ask the accounts to be closed and then cut up the card. This may help.

Sorry, I meant left over on the cards - none of my credit cards are near the limits. I only have one cc (with a 2k limit) that is clear and needs cancelling! I suppose I could phone them and ask them to reduce the limits!:T

LookingAhead

Hey Numpty.

Listen mate, my debts go up & down like a yo-yo so don't think you are alone. I have good times & bad times financially (currently quite bad!) cos you just don't know what the hell is around the corner from one day to the next.

If I can offer some advice, just try to live your life DFW stylee every day and don't let old habits creep back in (I have...learn from my mistakes!) without out a fight and you *will* make in roads.

And remember, your health is far more important so don't beat yourself & stress too much. We will get there eventually!

LookingAhead

Oh and every penny really does count! Even if people laugh cos you paid in £2 worth of coppers to pay off of a debt balance, take no notice. It's better than adding it.

Numpty_2

Cheers lookingahead,
I was a little peed off when I saw it today although I was expecting it.

Looks like we're near the same point at your debts owed - have you got a predicted DFD yet?