Out with the old...

kezzygirl

Hi gang!
I had a clear out last night of all of the credit card statements I have kept for the past 3 years.Hubbys barclaycard statement in Nov 2008 read £2796 owed....as of today that debt stands at a little over £1900.So in essence,we have paid of approx £800 in 2 and a half years.

It is quite disheartening to think that in all of that time so little has been paid,and the same can be said for the other debts.
I am sick of being in debt and loads of my hard earned money going to pay them off,but it is not happening as quickly as I would like.

Santander this month have decided to start charging 50p a day for being in overdraft,we got £10 of charges as that is their cap.We are closing that account(which is a joint acct...and we also owe them for a loan and credit card!)and hubby has opened a cashminder acct with coop,like I have.Thing is,we are now going from having a £150 overdraft to use as and when to having no credit available to us.

The thought of this scares me,but i know it is for the best.i feel as though we are only now being forced to live by our means despite owing for years.So this month is gonna be scary for us.

So,in conclusion, i have destroyed all of the old statements and only have those from the start of this year.I am hoping that our new financial situation without any credit to fall back on will be helped by having a new start with the statements.Its sort of symbolic for tackling the debts...out with the old,in with the new!
Dont know what i was wanting from this post,but its good to have it down on paper!thanks for listening

CH27

Hi:)

Why don't you paost your SOA & see if people can advise you?

bottleofred

Hi Kezzygirl,

I know that progress is slow, but it is progress all the same and you should be able to see light at the end of the tunnel. My bank cancelled my overdraft and used my wages to clear it, which left me with no money for a fortnight or 2 and although at times for around 6-8 months after that, I'd have loved to use the facility for extra bits and bobs, I'd never go back to having one, as it's spending money you don't have.

Good luck and try to stay positive

Red

kezzygirl

Thanks bottleofred.It is just an adjustment period...we have always had the overdraft to use as and when and we have always used it every month without fail for years.Its not surprising they are now gonna charge us!lol.
I will post soa now.

rdchick

It does feel like a long journey but I think they way to get out quick is throw everything you can at what you owe, defo pop your soa on here as the guys are awesome.

I also have an overdraft question, does it effect your rating if you freeze interest etc on an overdraft, as I am desperate to pay it off but I'm getting charged £60-£100 a month... I would assume it does but just want to know for sure! Xxx

kezzygirl

Household Information[/b]
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1400
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 470
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1870
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 340
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 100
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 80
Water rates............................. 29
Telephone (land line)................... 16
Mobile phone............................ 10
TV Licence.............................. 13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 13
Groceries etc. ......................... 350
Clothing................................ 30
Petrol/diesel........................... 175
Road tax................................ 12
Car Insurance........................... 58
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 30
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 22
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 14
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 42
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 50
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
tobacco................................. 35
nacsa................................... 30
Total monthly expenses.................. 1447

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 900
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 900

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
santander crditcard............491.58....16.09.....29.9-paying 70 a month to clear it
santander loan.................1432.71...30........0
barclaycard....................982.26....28.74.....12.9
very...........................639.......61........0
barclaycard....................1939.17...42........12.9

toatl monthyly income-1870
expenses-1497
available for debt repayments-373
unsecured debt repayments-231
surplus-141.26
net assets--4584

bottleofred

kezzygirl wrote: »

Thanks bottleofred.It is just an adjustment period...we have always had the overdraft to use as and when and we have always used it every month without fail for years.Its not surprising they are now gonna charge us!lol.
I will post soa now.

I totally understand as I used mine every single month for years and often relied on it heavily (far too heavily:o), but as I said, after the first couple of months without it I was grand and it's now a relief not to have one as the charges simply pay more of your cash to the bank:mad:. It will be difficult, but hopefully once things have settled down you will understand what I mean and survive without it. I didn't think life would go on without credit, but it did and it's actully pretty good:D.

Red:beer:

bottleofred

Hi Kezzygirl I've put some of my thoughts on your SOA

Household Information[/b]
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1400
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 470
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1870
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 340
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 100
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 80
Water rates............................. 29
Telephone (land line)................... 16
Mobile phone............................ 10
TV Licence.............................. 13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 13
Groceries etc. ......................... 350 - very expensive. You should try to take advantage of bogofs, cooking from scratch, batch cooking and freezing additional food for future meal times. Sa*insbugs advertise £50 to feed a family of 4 at the moment, but I'm sure the other supermarkets would be similar if not better in price.
Clothing................................ 30 is this every month? You could try ebay etc or skip a month here and there
Petrol/diesel........................... 175
Road tax................................ 12
Car Insurance........................... 58very expensive. Can you shop around?
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 30
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 22this is quite a lot out your budget each month!
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 14
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0you have to put something in here as I'm sure you buy presents.
Haircuts................................ 0do you get free haircuts?
Entertainment........................... 50you may need to look at reducing this by 25-50%
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
tobacco................................. 35you should try to quit. I used to smoke and know what its like
nacsa................................... 30not sure what this is
Total monthly expenses.................. 1447

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 900
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 900

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
santander crditcard............491.58....16.09.....29.9
santander loan.................1432.71...30........0
barclaycard....................982.26....28.74.... .12.9
very...........................639.......61....... .0
barclaycard....................1939.17...42....... .12.9

kezzygirl

it hasnt pasted properly...and no,we dont have that amount left over lol.In this house it is a case of 'yay..been paid..right,we need to buy this,that,kids need shoes,i fancy a new top,lets go to mcdonalds' and by the week after pay day we literally only have the money for direct debits in the account.

kezzygirl

I dont smoke-i quit in December.thankfully hubby is now possibly being forced to quit-although he doesnt want to-because of health problems

kezzygirl

bottleofred wrote: »

Hi Kezzygirl I've put some of my thoughts on your SOA

Household Information[/b]
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1400
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 470
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1870
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 340
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 100
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 80
Water rates............................. 29
Telephone (land line)................... 16
Mobile phone............................ 10
TV Licence.............................. 13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 13
Groceries etc. ......................... 350 - very expensive. You should try to take advantage of bogofs, cooking from scratch, batch cooking and freezing additional food for future meal times. Sa*insbugs advertise £50 to feed a family of 4 at the moment, but I'm sure the other supermarkets would be similar if not better in price.-we buy so many offers it is unreal.we eat the same stuff,spag bol/lasagne,pasta salad,sausages.a £3.50 pack of mince i half and we use for 2 meals.we also buy nappies and puppy food weekly
Clothing................................ 30 is this every month? You could try ebay etc or skip a month here and there-no not every month but figured i needed to put something here lol
Petrol/diesel........................... 175
Road tax................................ 12
Car Insurance........................... 58very expensive. Can you shop around?-hubby writ the car off and i was main policy holder,thats why its so expensive.its a p-reg fiesta 1.2cc aswell lol unbeleivable.
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 30
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 22this is quite a lot out your budget each month!-puppy insurance is 15 a month,with £50 cashbakc.cat insurance is £7
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 14
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0you have to put something in here as I'm sure you buy presents.-added £42
Haircuts................................ 0do you get free haircuts?-i do hubbies and mine gets cut once in a blue moon.kids are 2+4 so dont need cutting often
Entertainment........................... 50you may need to look at reducing this by 25-50%-i agree
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
tobacco................................. 35you should try to quit. I used to smoke and know what its like-this is hubbies,i quit in december
nacsa................................... 30not sure what this is-battling csa on our behalf
Total monthly expenses.................. 1447

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 900
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 900

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
santander crditcard............491.58....16.09.....29.9
santander loan.................1432.71...30........0
barclaycard....................982.26....28.74.... .12.9
very...........................639.......61....... .0
barclaycard....................1939.17...42....... .12.9

hope u dont think i am making excuses!lol