Hi, newbie here for help

upanddown_3

hi, i'm a newbie to this site and i'm so glad i've found it, i'm nearly 30 now and have been careless with money and budgeting all my life and need to make a change.

i know exactly where i'm going wrong, i know i'm spending money i shouldn't and spending beyond my means has got me into debt many times in the past and it has happened again.

basically i'm here for help, advice and tips about how to get out of debt and back in control of my money and my life.

i need to do one of those soa things and post it up for you all to look at.

but before i do i'll tell you all a bit about my finances...

i guess it all went wrong when i was 18 and an apprentice, i needed a car to travel to work so took out a credit card to pay for it, (i was advised at the time by lloyds bank that this would be better for a loan??? :rotfl: ) anyway as you can guess i bought the car and ended up behind on payments and being charged high interest, and when i was up to date with payments i was spending the money and getting it straight back to the limit...

this was followed by a new job so more income and you would have thought i would pay my debts off? .... wrong, over drafts and loans followed, then more loans from a new bank to pay these off.... more debt etc etc. i got to a stage where my charges and my overdraft with my new bank were more then my wage... i got another loan with my new bank to consolidate once and for all and kept up with this as i now had 2 children and a rented house with my ex partner, things went well for a good few years and i worked my way back towards being debt free.

unfortunately me and my ex parted ways and as a result i was left in debt again (very long story... yes even longer than this ) and this coupled with parking fines (another long story) and previous loans from parents for car repairs etc resulted in my parents taking me in back at home and bailing me out of debt.

anyway this should have been my second chance to sort my life out, living back with the parents and earning a decent wage, i agreed a sensible monthly payment with them, but i still managed to get back in the boat without a paddle. depression from splitting up with my ex, missing the kids etc led to a lot of drinking, wild spending, late for work, skint all the time, more depression, more drinking, more spending, payday loans, capital 1 credit builder card, thought i was in control but i wasn't....

but back to present date, i've met a new partner and moved in together but my previous debts have caught up with me and i'm in a right pickle.... i just need a way out and this time i now i can sort my finances and my life out for good. i'm in a spiral of depression leading up to payday, then all is well untill my money has "disappeared" again... then back to depression again.

i cant get a bank loan to consolidate again, i dont trust yes or other high interest companies, i can't ask my parents again coz i think they will dis-own me. my gf doesnt have the cleanest credit so she can't help.

i just don't know what to do, i'm not looking for sympathy or violins, i just need to vent my feelings and get some advice.

sorry for the essay....

CH27

Hi:)

Post up your Statement of Account & people will happily advise you.
You'll find a link towards the top of the page.

upanddown_3

Monthly Incomings:

My salary - £1,124

Total - £1.124

Monthly Outgoings:

Mortgage/Rent - £300
Council Tax - £45
Gas - n/a
Electric - 35
TV License - £28
Sky n/a
Phone - £30.00
Food - girlfriend pays
Car Insurance - £35.00
Petrol - £160.00
contents insurance £15.00
water - 30
child maintenance - 170
family loan - 100
child trust fund - 10
internet/landline - 28
credit card - interest only - 10
lending stream - 50

Total: £1056.00

debts
quick quid - one payment left - 160
family loan - 5500 0%
lloyds overdraft - 300 %frozen
capital 1 credit card - 200 not sure on % - credit builder
lending stream - 500 % frozen
back rent - 220
back council tax - 200
orange bill now with moorcroft - 250 % frozen

total 7330


i need to get some control over this, i don't get paid til the 25th now and i have 20 left in my wallet and a bit of fuel left in my car......

moremoneythansense

I know I'm not down as an expert...those will be along shortly but I can see you're not going to make it to the end of the month so first things first - have you anything at all you can flog? sort of car booty type things. Old DVDs that you don't watch, books that you don't read, clothes you don't wear. Then, can you get another small part time job - in a bar or a local corner shop maybe?

I have just come back from 12 month break from here - life just pretty hectic but am back and these forums are just SO helpful you will be surprised - you've made the right step.

Good luck - glad your personal life is taking a turn for the better

Tixy

Hi and welcome

Do you and girlfriend keep your finances seperate? are the above figures a half share of costs or all or some items? eg is the rent £300 or is that just your share? Have you sat down with gf and worked out if you are each paying a fair share of the household bills?

It might be useful to do a statement of affairs using the main calculator as that help you put in an estimated cost to budget for things you don't spend each month (eg you haven't put in road tax, car maintenance, clothes, haircusts etc.

It will also show how much your debt repayments should be each month and therefore how far short you are of meeting payments each month. http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

Looking just at this month you say you have £20 left - have all your priority costs been paid for the month? eg your rent, electric, child maintenance etc? What does the £20 need to pay for aside from petrol?
Do you have any things you could sell by ebay/gumtree/carboot etc to raise a bit of cash?

What is gfs situation? does she know about your debts and financial situation? Do you have anyway you could increase your income in the midterm? can you do overtime/more hours at work? could you get a second job to fit around your main job?

upanddown_3

Tixy wrote: »

Hi and welcome

Do you and girlfriend keep your finances seperate? are the above figures a half share of costs or all or some items? eg is the rent £300 or is that just your share? Have you sat down with gf and worked out if you are each paying a fair share of the household bills?

It might be useful to do a statement of affairs using the main calculator as that help you put in an estimated cost to budget for things you don't spend each month (eg you haven't put in road tax, car maintenance, clothes, haircusts etc.

It will also show how much your debt repayments should be each month and therefore how far short you are of meeting payments each month.

Looking just at this month you say you have £20 left - have all your priority costs been paid for the month? eg your rent, electric, child maintenance etc? What does the £20 need to pay for aside from petrol?
Do you have any things you could sell by ebay/gumtree/carboot etc to raise a bit of cash?

What is gfs situation? does she know about your debts and financial situation? Do you have anyway you could increase your income in the midterm? can you do overtime/more hours at work? could you get a second job to fit around your main job?

my gf works and have agreed with her that if she gets food and half the rent, consumables etc and pays for her petrol then i will pay monthly bills.

the above is what i pay as an individual.

my girlfriend has a debt for an old phone bill that she is paying off. she knows i have financial trouble.

this month everything is paid, but, all i need is fuel to get to work and some cash for spends etc.

i have also missed off i usually spend about 15 - 20 on dinners at work and things like car maintenance,tax etc i just foot the bill out of wages ans miss out on other things or get a payday loan.

iget my haircut once a month and its a fiver

i guess i could sell my pool and snooker cues and a few car bits, but they are my hobbies and i'm reluctant to do so? it looks like this is my only option. also do funds not take ages to clear from ebay to your bank?

Little_Miss_Uni-Debt

Hello Upanddown,

It's good to see you've recognised the root of your troubles. It's often quite easy to think you're within your means unless you do a detailed list like you have. I can see you want to make a fresh start.

The largest chunk of debt is your family loan at 0% interest. Your other debts are a few hundred pounds each which means if you can make a few cut backs you could clear a debt every 2 months, which is amazing!

I've added up your totals and see that you should be left with around £78 for debt repayments? Can you see this £78 at the end of the month or is it hard to see where it gets spent?

Just a few other things, you haven't allocated any money towards going out, presents, christmas, haircuts, clothes, car MOT and service and car tax (although there is car insurance) ***EDIT...I see now you have mentioned this, will you post up a new SOA including these things?****

After you have cleared some of your smaller debts you should ideally put aside a few pounds per month to annual things (TV license, insurance and above) so that when they come due again you are ready and do not have any nasty surprise large bills that you need to use credit cards for!

I think you will make great progress in a short time. Pick one debt to be your main focus until it's clear.

Keep us up to date!

dresdendave

upanddown wrote: »

iget my haircut once a month and its a fiver

Buy a set of hair clippers from Argos or suchlike for about £10 and get your girlfriend to cut your hair. After two months you'll be getting free haircuts.

elaine12022

make your own lunches for work

Tixy

I know you say that if you have a big bill your don't pay other things or take out a payday loan but you really need to start budgeting for these costs as otherwise you will never have a liveable budget that means you can start clearing debts and not building up new ones.
I would advise doing the detailed budget and calculator so you can see your monthly debt repayments.

Regarding the family loan - is it possible to reduce payments on that for a few months so that you can focus on other debts?
Your outstanding council tax and rent should be your first priority to pay. Have you come to any agreement with your landlord or council over these debts to repay back at a set level? if not you really need to do this immediately. Really whilst you have these debts you should not be paying your unsecured creditors anything other than token payments of a few quid a month each.

I see you have interest frozen on a few debts- are these informal agreements you have set up yourself?

Obviously this month you will have to cut back to the bare minimum. Regarding your work food it will be much cheaper to take sandwiches or similar from home than buying at work (maybe not fun but probably essential for this month at least). And for fuel in addition to the fuel in the tank and the £20 you can put in how much more is likely to be needed for essential journeys? Is there anyone at work who lives near you who you could share lifts with for the month? (if you don't want to a say to a colleague that its for financialreasons could you say your car has a small problem you are trying to fix or something?).
Or could girlfriend help out this once and lend you £50 for fuel or whatever? If not then you either need to find something to sell or possibly ask your work if they would give you a small advance on your wages. Make sure you fill up at the cheapest station and drive 'fuel efficently' - okay it might be boring but can save as much as 25% in the amount of fuel you use.

upanddown_3

just a little update,
i have managed to get by so far this month, i have sold one of my 2 pool cues and also listed my car for sale, along with some other bit and bobs that i dont need.

the money from my cue kept me in petrol and i have had to ask work for an advance to keep me going until payday.

I have spoken to moorcroft about the mobile phone bill and arranged £10.00 per month from this payday (total £280) she was a very nice local lady actually and didnt pressure me into anything i couldn't afford.

I have an arrangement with quickquid for them to take £160.00 from my card every month and i am down to my last month now but i would also like to talk to them to pay as little as possible until i am back in control.

I have reduced my phone contract from 35 p/m to 25 p/m

my car is for sale, its a golf gti so i will be replacing it with a more economical diesel with the money from that (although i will fall a bit short i may ask the parents for some help. I have a small bit of inherritance (500) tied up in a property which is for sale. (although they will probably be sick of helping me out)

i am also going to ask my parents if i can reduce down to £50.00 per month, again til i am back in control.

i have started taking pack ups to work, whether it be sandwiches or i sometimes make a pasta bake that will keep me going for a few days.

i have quit smoking although i didnt smoke a great deal anyway, more when i was at the pub which has not really been a problem so far as pool season has ended. hope i can keep this up as its the awards night this week, yes in the pub :-( big test for me!

i'm slowly getting there now but even with my small amount of debt it is very hard, but this forum has really helped and hopefully there is light at the end of the tunnel.