wot-a-mess debt crisis

wot-a-mess

Thanks Iga & Been. As much as I wanted to spend exactly £0 on xmas, that's probably a wee bit impractical but spreading it over many weeks should prove to be much more frugal & not as costly as previous years.

Finding it very hard to make extra £s so just concentrating on spending as little as possible.

Loan payment made today. 5 more painful payments to go & can't wait to see the back of this particular debt as it's the largest monthly outlay of all the debts.

wot-a-mess

Got a phone call from assistant bank manager today inviting me for my overdue "review" to help "save me money":rotfl:I tied the girl in knots. I asked many things including how they were actually gonna save me money & she could not answer.

I explained that over the years anytime I have had a review it has actually cost me money or the bank has tried to rip me off subsequently. Typical e.g. couple of years ago they did give me a good deal on home/contents insurance then tried to increase it by over 60% the very next year very sneakily without letting me know.

She was probably trying for a consolodation loan to get the branch sales figures up before year end. Girl's only doing her job but when I'm on the warpath with banks & credit card robbing b*****ds.... not really the best time for them to phone to "save me money"

I think the girl was really glad to get off the phone

scotdebs

Hi WAM - well done on the getting organised for xmas - I have been giving my aunt some money to put away for me every month so am really hoping that minimum damage is done in terms of debt busting....... love your conversation with bank :rotfl:

ani*fan

I'm loving your conversation with the bank too. Tell them off. They deserve it.

wot-a-mess

Xmas is expensive (huge understatement) but feel better that I have a budget this year & spending is under control plus working very hard on internet to find cheapest prices for the required pressies.

Also been looking at further cost-cutting but outgoings are now pretty tight & under control. However should really look at mortgage, home insurance & Sky in the coming week to see if any savings can be made. I can't see much savings if any, but even if I could shave a few £s here & there it would be a positive move. So defo need to phone building society & Sky as well as do cost comparison for home insurance. I thought about cancelling Sky but the family really do love their TV so I'm not gonna deprive them.

Really need to find ways of making extra £s :o

But I have made £48 this month with vouchers & surveys plus saved a few £s on genuine sales for xmas pressies. I think the main reason I'm managing to stay within a very tight budget has been the extra £s from vouchers & surveys,etc. but money is very tight so really need to try to make more extra £s.

wot-a-mess

Rang building society & asked if any better deals were available. Was told I could have 3.99% fixed for 2 years with no set up fees, etc. This is 0.25% lower than current rate. Every little helps I thought until.... wait for this.... the lady advised me the monthly repayment figure which was actually £4.75 per month higher than current payments. So I said " I can have a discount of 0.25% but my payments shall be higher ?". the lady replied "yes that's correct" then just read a prepared script. I repeated my statement another twice & twice the lady just read out the exact same script.

wot-a-mess

£10 voucher ordered from valued opinions... I find this survey site the best by a mile. Have not had anything from mysurvey for about a month.

wot-a-mess

Been quiet on the debt-busting front. Can't find many ways of earning extra £s, except surverys for approx 3p per hour:rotfl: Weather has been horrible & everyone seems to be a bit depressed - except me . I guess it's a combination of horrid weather, the thought of expense of xmas & the continual economic negativity on the news all the time. Looks like uncertain times ahead - but bad news always makes the news.

wot-a-mess

Found this debt info.

November 2011

£55,795 average household debt (including mortgages)

£174m personal interest paid in UK daily

£1,278,000,000 total value of all purchases made using plastic cards today

Total UK personal debt at the end of September 2011 stood at £1,451bn.

Total consumer credit lending to individuals at the end of September 2011 was £209bn.

Net lending in September 2011 rose by £1.0bn

Average household debt in the UK is ~ £8,025 (excluding mortgages). This figure increases to £15,432 if the average is based on the number of households who actually have some form of unsecured loan.

Average household debt in the UK is ~ £55,795 (including mortgages).

Average owed by every UK adult is ~ £29,532 (including mortgages). This is 122% of average earnings.

Average outstanding mortgage for the 11.3m households who currently have mortgages now stands at ~ £109,643.

Britain's interest repayments on personal debt were £63.4bn in the last 12 months. The average interest paid by each household on their total debt is approximately £2,440 each year.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) predicts that household debt will be £2,126bn by the end of 2015. This would take the average household debt to £81,769 per household (if the figure is based on the current estimate for the number of UK households).


Looks like debt continuing to increase in general

I would guess that the "real average" family has much higher debts than stated & many of us on here worrying ourselves to death about debt are actually surrounded by people in the street & at work who are probably in a similar boat.

Our big advantage is we are trying to do something about it

wot-a-mess

Payday can't come quick enough. Gonna be a very long weekend