Toms DFW Diary!

Nuclear_Tom

Right, at long last I have my current state of affairs. I have this in spreadsheet form if its possible to attach that somehow!

Income

Full time job - £920
Part time job - £175
TOTAL INCOME - £1095

Expenditure
Food and toilettries - £70
Fuel - £140
Car Maintenance, tax etc - £50
Gifts, Xmas etc - £30
Car Insurance - £102
Mobile and Broadband - £35

Credit

Barclaycard - £615 - £27 - 24.9%
Lloyds Card - £960 - £20 - 5.5%
Halifax Card - £780 - £16 - 24.9%
Aqua Card - £250 - £25 - 39.9%
Vanquis Card - £450 - £25 - 24.9%
Capital One Card - £340 - £17 - 24.9%
HSBC Card - £510 - £15 - 18.9%
Next Account - £760 - £50 - 26.9%
Lloyds Loan - £3920 - £114
Halifax Loan - £8545 - £155.02
HFC Finance - £845 - £57.30
First National - £604 - £20.91
Tesco Loan - £343.76 - £85.94
Halifax O/D - £150 - £10
Parents - £1100 - £20

Bills & repayments total = £1085.17
Disposable income = £9.83!!! :eek:

TOTAL DEBT - £19557.55 :eek:

This doesn't include a car loan that is a company loan. I owe about £9k over 5 years, but this is taken from my wages before the amount above, and is only 2.9%APR.

I was in quite a bit of arrears for various things, all only by a month, but I have sold my sat nav, some old alloy wheels and various odds and sods and managed to get back on the steady, and hope to never receive a bank charge again.

I have sent initial letters off to claim back just over £1000 of bank charges, and hope to get them back by April time.

As you can see I'm cutting things really close to the line every month. Luckily I dont have to pay rent, although this generosity from my parents won't last forever! Things will start to get better in Jan though as I finish repaying the Tesco loan.

I've put a load of CDs and text books on Amazon and so far have made over £60. I will try the matched betting thing as soon as I have £50 going spare.

Also to help, I have just opened 2 fresh bank accounts with A&L, one for wages and bills, direct debits etc, and the other as a spending account. I will use an old account for matched betting

So any advice appreciated! I've been lurking on this site for some time now, and feel I really have changed my ways already. I'll keep this diary up to date as things change!

Thanks for the warm welcome, and I'm looking forward to becoming an official DFW Nerd! :money:

beanielou

Just wondered why your car insurance was so high?

Nuclear_Tom

beanielou wrote:

Just wondered why your car insurance was so high?

I'm 21 and had 2 crashes, plus I'm high mileage and business use too.

I'm hoping this will halve in June come renewal time, as I will have my first ever years NCB, I recently passed my IAM test and both my crashes will be over 3 years old, so not declarable with Elephant!

southernscouser

You've got some nasty APR's on some of those cards. Could you apply for a low life of balance transfer card? :think:

angchris

there doesnt seem to be much scope to cut down on your monthly expenditure as you seem to be living quite cheaply but as southern scouser said in the previous post those really are hefty apr`s and i bet your minimum payment each month hardly makes a dent because of the interest they are adding on top. you really have to concentrate on getting rid of the high apr`s first either by lob transfer or if you cant get anymore cards try snowballing ie. throw spare money from tescos loan in jan at aqua 39.9% :eek: card till its gone and then spare money from those 2 to pay off next card and so on. you really will have to bite the bullet and just go for it... this is your chance to get yourself sorted out whilst you are still in the fortunate position of living with your parents... if you want your own place etc in the future you have to do it now. cut up your cards, dont use them again or you will never get out of the debt spiral with all the leeches taking your hard earned cash in interest. it took me 4 long hard years of paying back debts but i came out the other side eventually and you can too if you start now and get serious with it. i wish you all the best... angchris

Nuclear_Tom

I am using cards at the moment to avoid bank charges, but I really am living at the bare minimum.

Sold another text book and CD today on Amazon - YAY!

My intention is to snowball, paying the highest %rate off first, and really throw every spare penny. Then keep the paid off card for emergencies, and close the account when the next one is paid - thus always having some credit for real emergencies.

The Aqua really is shocking, but with that one I have been paying it off in full each month, and then spending on it to keep it at 0%.

Nuclear_Tom

southernscouser wrote:

You've got some nasty APR's on some of those cards. Could you apply for a low life of balance transfer card? :think:

I wish. In reality I could do with a £18k loan over 5 years at a decent APR, I'd be quite a bit better off, however at the moment my credit rating is poor (my most recent Equifax score was 480 ).

I think in about a years time when all the searches drop off my file and the debt has come down a bit - also with no missed payments for over 12 months, everything within limit etc, then I will try and consolidate atleast the most expensive stuff!

zag2me

Good luck, you can do it. Try to get rid of the store cards asap, they are so pointless.

Nuclear_Tom

zag2me wrote:

Good luck, you can do it. Try to get rid of the store cards asap, they are so pointless.

CARD singlular I have already halved the "NEXT" limit from £3600 to £1800. Going to get it right down after this months payment. How they can justify a £3600 limit I do not know

I'm really determined to get there!

benbenandme

Is the food bill lunches at work??? I reckon you could possible save 20 quid a month there, you know how us mums are ... am sure she'd do you a packed lunch??! Then I'd put this extra towards the Aqua card ... scary percentage rate!!

Good luck and keep us updated :T

Nuclear_Tom

Mum won't do me a pack up... Our whole family nibbles and nibbles, so even buying cereals isn't an option as a box seldom lasts a day

I haven't been eating breakfast, but will start having toast or similar in the mornings, and at lunch, Tuesdays are on expenses as I am on day release , but for the rest of the week I either go to a local cafe for a full roast (£3.50 and bloody lovely) or go to my village shop for a fresh ham and tomato roll on fresh bread - £1.15! Really yummy and proper meat, how they make money I do not know! I was spending more like £200 a month on food, but I've cut right down, and eating a breakfast and a decent lunch means I normally dont have dinner. I'm trying to lose weight too!