Debt Free? then what?!?!?!

do_it_today!

Hi Onespike,

Thanks we would consider a lodger brother is with us at the moment for alittle while so that helps. Downsizing I have thought about it in a 2 bed hse at the mo... renting even a 1 bed wouldnt make much difference in cost and as planning kids would need a two bed anyway - have been researching areas within and 60-90 mins of London but moving the places I checked out properties started from160k+

can anyone suggest nice areas where you can pick up a 2bed property £100k or less?

now a caravan.... I have never thought about that!!! not sure DH will go for it but who knows!

any here is SOA
Income
Moi - £1710
DH - £1613 - can be more or less
temp £200 - ends in Dec
other £300 - regular
£3823 this is a lot of money I cant believe we manage to spend it ALL


Mortgage £661 -
Over limit fees £140
House stuff £35
Building ins £36
Ctax £80
Water £32
Gas £80 - Key meter need to change
Ele £40 - key meter need to change
BT £20
Internet £0 - will go up when brother leaves
Mobiles £65
Pet ins £21.67
Food shop £238
Work food £90
Socialising £70
food out £30
Bus + £30
Car maint £68
Car Ins £136 3 veheicles (yes yes one has to go!)
Car tax £38
Parking £16
Petrol £120
Isa £10 - was £50
pension £91.43
critical ill cov £20
Credit cards £330
Loan £132
Slimming wor £20 - will dump
pet costs £25
Gym £107 - tied in for 3 months so last payment 2nd Feb 07
Books & Fun £130 - not this high everymonth
TV license £10.99
Birthday £20
Clothes £80
Accupuncture £8
Tax £100
Mags £30 - must subscribe
Hair £15
Dentist £16
£3192.09

Have thought of freezing my workplace pension cont which is deducted automatically that about £150 extra

We need a spend diary cause this isnt stacking -we should be ok... but before the end of the month we are not!?

What cuts can I make
cxl gym £107
subscribe to mags £15
lunch to work £30
Change utilities £10-20
Rid of S. world £20
Rid of a car £60 at least

open seperate accounts for bills and fun money so not to get charged

Im tired now debts are roughly
1 6000
2 1600
3 1600
4 2000
5 9000
plus £140 on 12apr storecard & £130 % catalogue

hunting round the house and have tracked cash in various saving accounts to go towards debt
Isa £300
one acc £50
Commission£39
Woolwich £41
Dollars $110 (£55)

phew that was tiring

thanks for taking the time

do_it_today!

opps 5 should 900

beanielou

Think you know this anyway but books & fun are really high at £130.
Welcome on board by the way!

magyar

Taking a quick look at the SOA
I've discounted the income ending in Dec - you'll lose that soon so pay that straight off a credit card - highest interest rate first, so income is £3623

Quickly running down your expenses
what are "over limit fees"?
Building insurance at £36 seems slightly high -check this - I pay £21
Gas/elec - yes you need to change and quick! Get onto a dual fuel, direct debit paid deal
Be ruthless - do you really both need mobiles?
Pet insurance - I have no pets so no idea if this is usually a good idea but (a) check on this board to see if it is and (b) get the best deal
Work food £90 is this just one person or two? If so, take sandwiches - you could get this down to £1 or less a day
Is car maintenance really £68 a month???? Even on 3 cars that's high.
So yes, clearly you need to ditch a car.
You also spend £30 a month on buses - does this mean you could actually drop to one car?
ISA - ditch savings completely until you've paid off debts
pension I would tend to keep, although ask on the pensions board about this
critical illness cover - ditch
leave off the credit card repayments - we'll deal with them separately
Loan - can you give some more details on this? is it included in the list of debts above?
slimming - dump
gym - agreed - dump when you can
books and fun - what would be normal?
clothes £80 - seems very high! Do you really need that many clothes?
Accupuncture - only you know how important this is, but if you can ditch it, do. Keep it if you feel it has genuine medical benefit.
Tax - £100 - I'm a little confused here - are you quoting net salary or gross salary above? Or self-employed?
Mags £30 - don't subscribe, just ditch

So a ballpark figure, taking some cuts into account - you have about £1421 a month to pay off debts

can you let us know the APRs of the various debts, and where they are etc.?

magyar

As a very quick back of fag packet calculation - if you can get all those debts into an average of about 5% APR (which should be do-able by playing around a little and using the right cards etc) then you should be all paid off in 12 months.

I certainly wouldn't start remortgaging!

roxy7699

i agree dont remorgage, ditch the majority until it is all paid off and live well within your means - then in the 12 months ( as per above) you can re asses.

Good luck
xx

do_it_today!

Thanks all for your comments we wont remortgagae to consolidate for now
everything presented is for the two of us
Over limit fees are those nassty £35 letters you get for not have 1.33 in your account to meet your direct debit in time
I spent £40 on books last month - I usually buy books every 2-3 months
The car maintenence based on annual spend so far £200 of it was on replaced car mirrors on DH's Van!
Bus travel - can claim some of it back - the rest travel cards to town
Mobile tied in for another year the other PAYG
DH self employed

Debts are..
6.9% for life - Card1 £1623 /£51 (20)
9.9% Apr 07 - Card2 £6086 /£121
18% variable - Card3 £1663/£44 (£300)
12% for life -Card4 £1682 /£50
0% May 07 - Card5 £959 /£28 (48)
12% for life - Store £147 /£6 (20)
0% for life - Catage £164 /£30
(what I actually pay pm)
I am in the process of reclaiming bank charges and have opened new bank accounts so just in the process of transferring everything over.-should have done it ages ago!
New bank have offered new CC 0% for six months £1800 was thinking of moving £1700 of card 2 on to it while I focus entirely on clearing the highest rate card 3, or I could transfer card 4 and close the account whilst working away at card 3.

your thoughts are appreciated.

thanks

lynzpower

re your books.

Simply stop it.

You cant afford it with debts like these.

Ask for them for Xmas or use the library, or do internet site click throughs for Amazon vouchers

Sell the old books you have you wont use again. Ive made a few hundred from selling off those books you buy read once, and leave gathering dust.

do_it_today!

Ta Lynzpower!
am starting to list some of my books on greenmetropolis - whats amazon clicks?

The libraries never have the books I am looking for... I have tried

do_it_today!

oh yes and I have asked people to buy me books for christmas too