First timer in need of moral support as well as help!

Leopardlady

This is my first time on Debt free wannabe, although i have been trying to tackle my debt for a while.

I earn £1400 a month

Going out
Mortgage: £370 a month
Council Tax: £50 a month
Bills: £60

Graduate Loan: £290 a month with £4903.12 left to pay off
Career development Loan: £89.99 a month with £1698.77 left to pay off
First Direct Loan: £171.43 a month with £10,011.71 left to pay:eek:
Two overdrafts
Barclays £3127.93 with a £3000 limit:eek: :mad:
First Direct: £1698 with a £1700 limit

Credit cards

NatWest: £2500 with a £5500 limit interest free until March 2007
Virgin: £1060 with a £5500 limit interest free for purchase for 9 months and 1.9% on balance transfers

I spend about £80 a month on transport costs to and from work.
Mobile phone: £60 a month

So my monthly incomings : £1400
and outgoingings: £1580 :eek: :eek: :eek:

Any help would be very welcome, i am in the process of collecting details of all bank charges and will be claiming those back next week but i need more help than that!

Thanks

lynzpower

hiya there

I suggest you do a full SOA as per southern scousers "sticky at the top of the page. Id also recommend using martins budget planner ( laso in the resource bar) to help you to see whats going where. Eg break the bills down from 60 to each one per month. then we can see if you can get anything cheaper.

Include everything, food, gifts, and everything you spend money on throughout the year

Lynz
x

dizzy_lizzie

One things for sure, you'll get all the help and advice you need here.
There are excellent threads on how to cut back on your grocery bills, which can save you a small fortune, which you can throw at your debts.
The main thing is the support you'll get. Even when things seem so tough you'll get the motivation from the wonderful people on this site to keep on going.
Best of luck on your journey and well done for posting. x

Maz

Hi leopardlady and a big welcome to the site. You'll get truckloads of support and advice on here, it's a fabulous site! Lots of lovely, kind people.

bobbie78

Welcome and well done on posting it is the first step to debt freedom. I'd highly recommend doing a spending diary for the month, write down every penny you spend for the next month, if it is coke out the vending machine to lunches at work to big shops at tesco, this will help track where the money is going every month and will make your SOA a lot more realistic and usable when you are trying to figure out what is going on.

I notice you have a mortgage do you have enough room to rent a room out and get some extra cash in that way? Have you finished all the training now or do you still spend time doing it, basically do you have enough time to do extra work in the evenings or weekends?

Good luck to you and once you've added a full SOA there will be lots of people with great advice on how you can change your situation.

Leopardlady

Thanks to all of you so far.

Notsonewbie, i don't have any room to rent out at the moment and the mortgage is safe at the moment. I am not doing any training at the moment but i spend 5 hours a day commuting so evening work is not a possibility at the moment. I am getting a whole lot ready to sell on e-bay, waiting for a free posting day!
Also sending off for all my bank charges this week, so hopefully will have some of it sorted quickly.

We got a refund from the council today, having moved house so i have just had £100 paid into my Barclays account! Not perfect but at least something.

Thanks

Leopardlady

I have get my bank charges back today, well the letter saying they will pay them in and sold a few things yesterday on e-bay, so i am off the mark and running.
I have paid some money into my barlcays account so it is below the limit again, now have to collate all statements and get claiming from them!

I am feeling more confident and coping with spending no money at work, taking cereal to work for lunch, this will help the weight as well, hopefully!

I am now looking for a job as i have been bullied out of my current one. I am hoping to find something closer to home this should save money and hopefully leave enough time for a second job when needed!

Life is full of surprises!!

Keep smiling the wind has gone and the sun is out!:j

mjdh1957

If you're being bullied at work, have you got anyone you can talk to about that? A Union rep, or a counsellor, a sympathetic manager?

This is a serious matter and it affects a lot of people.

chevalier

all firms have should have a code of conduct about bullying/harassment at work. If you have been forced out by this, ie your firm did nothing to stop it, then this could be grounds to go to a tribunal for constuctive dismissal. As mjdh says is there a rep you can talk to about this?
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