Helping getting debt free, where do i start?

laura243

Hi all, I have read a few of your threads and every1 on here is so lovely I really hope you can possibly help me too?Me and my partner are in debt, not by a huge amount but it's enough to keep me worried, Here goes what we owe:

£400 Overdraft
£260 Barclaycard
£360 Argos card
£222 Garage bill
£200 Very Account
£80 Electric bill (outstanding from before we switched supplier)
£179.00 Electric bill (outstanding from old property, now gone 2 debt recovery )

£1701 in total (not as bad as i thought )

This accumulated through my partner being made redundant then not being able to work for a time thorough depression...

Our total monthly after tax income is £1580

So question being where the h*ll do i start, do we prioritise and pay most important one of first or do we pay a little off each at a time?

Any money saving tips people can give me?

We have already decided to move to a smaller flat to cut our costs which should, with a bit of luck, save us around £80 a month

Thank you for reading and sorry if i have made any silly mistakes in using this forum.

rising_from_the_ashes

Hi Laura, welcome to the boards & you've taken the 1st (and hardest) step already by posting so that's a great start!:D

I'd suggest completing a Statement of Affairs http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html - this lets everyone see exactly where your money's going / what you've got coming in etc.

It's often easy for others to see where there may be obvious overspends that just don't jump out at us when we look at it ourselves.

cleggie

Hi Laura,
like RFTA says, post your SOA up, and others can advise you.x.

laura243

Sorry, new to this, what is an SOA? (when i re read this after a few weeks on the forum i'm bound to feel like an idiot!!) Thanks for both of your replies

CH27

There is a link to the SOA in post 2:)

laura243

So theer is!!doh!!!see, what did i say in my earlier post?haha.bear with me i have a few things to do, will hopefully get it done within an hour or so

rising_from_the_ashes

Don't worry, you've no idea of the things I asked ..... as has been said before (and will be many more times) there's no such things as a silly question.

Posting the SOA will get loads of advice from the helpful bunch on here - it's Sat night and getting on a bit so you may not get many replies tonight but loads of people will be around tomorrow so def worth doing.

laura243

Great, thanks a lot I will make sure it's posted for tomorrow

laura243

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household.........
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1098
Partners monthly income after tax....... 463
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1561
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 390
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 123
Electricity............................. 30
Gas..................................... 40
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 25
Mobile phone............................ 60
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 50
Internet Services....................... 15
Groceries etc. ......................... 450
Clothing................................ 30
Petrol/diesel........................... 60
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 39
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................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 150
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1534

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 1000

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Very...........................200.......0.........39
Barclaycard....................260.......0.........19
Argos Card.....................360.......0.........29
Electric bill (x2).............259.......0.........0
Garage bill....................222.......0.........0
Overdraft......................400.......0.........17
Total unsecured debts..........1701......0.........-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,561
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,534
Available for debt repayments........... 27
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 27
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 1,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -1,701
Net Assets.............................. -701
Created using the SOA calculator
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

Phew, here it is, was quite difficult to work out some things.....I have done it thinking about the bills for the flat we move into (next sunday, eeeek!!). Obviously I know there are places I could save money, like I said in an earlier post any tips would be fab

Bestthingsinlifearefree

You are definitely doing the right thing tackling the debts before they grow / become more unmanageable.

Pay the highest interest rate of interest debt first. Could you transfert then to a zero interest card?

If you could half your mobile costs That would save £360 a year and
if you could save £100 on your groceries per month (£450 seem really high for 2 people).

That would make £1560 per year in saving that could go to your £1701 debts.

Good Luck !!

laura243

Thank you, got a statement today and just thought righhhhht thats it!!Probably doesnt look like much to some people but it is to me.Yup £450 is a lot but i have added OH's 20 a day smoking habit into that!!wish he would quit........Will ring vodafone tomorrow and try and get mobile phone bill down although i dont think i will have much luck, contract only taken out 4 months ago.Thought about a 0% card but we have had 4 different addresses over 2.5 years and creditors dont take to kindly to that So i will try and tackle argos first, then Very as i have buy now pay later on that and the interest wont be whacked on until July 2012....But that said i kinda need 2 pay the garage bill off as if anything else goes t*ts up with car i wont feel like i can take it there....and what can i do about £179 electricity bill that has now gone to collectors?will they accept monthly payments?confused!!!!