I make £40k but still can't keep up with payments - SOA

Sloppy_Saver

KatrinaC wrote:

At the risk of sounding like a complete b*tch, HSBC are not to blame. They did not spend the money for you, nor did they force you to spend it yourself. They only made the money available for you to spend.

Looking through the thread, you do seem to have not quite got rid of the attitude that luxuries are all things that you do not NEED. This includes Sky, mobile phones, trips to the US whether to see your girlfriends family or not... Nearly every suggestion that has been made has been met with a reply of "yes, but...".

You are obviously an intelligent man and I think that you do know these things yourself. Have a good long look at where the money went and think about whether you are ready to actually admit that you spent the money and that you are the one who has to pay it back.

Sorry if that sounded harsh.

Kat

PHEW! That's a dose of "tough love", but you can't deny the truth in it. I like this girl, she shoots from the hip.

ScoobieGirl

krisskross wrote:

Think I read that the SKY set-up will get all the free to air channels without buying any other bits of equipment

Yup. It's what I've got, they call it FreeSat. If you cancel, your card should get you all the main channels that freeview will except E4

If you can make it to a Cineworld they do unlimited films for £10.99 per month (Sadley there are a few London exclusions). Plus you can use Orange Wednesday 2 for 1 offer with it.

Could you walk part of the way to work so that you need a cheaper Travel Card with fewer zones? Or even cycle all the way?

chimaeric

Well I had some good, if short term, news today. My girlfriend's student loan cheque cleared already! Which is £1300 and more than enough to cover this month's outgoings. She'll be getting another of the same amount in a few weeks, and then my bonus at the end of March.

So I'll finally have some cash and some options.

Looking at my debts, do you think paying off the Egg and Barclaycard CCs would be the first thing to do? I actually need ONE credit card for work expenses, which I claim back. I'd like one of those to be exclusively for this purpose (though I must be strong! haha).

I was wondering about clearing my overdraft first - it would be nice to be in the positive each month rather than permanently in the negative.

mrslawrence2003

chimaeric wrote:

Home insurance: Don't have it

Food: £30/week? We've been scrounging around Asda's saver products recently, and shopping at Lidl etc.

Hair cuts: Do my own!


bobbadog: That's actually something I should look into - my company does do a yearly 'loan' for travel.


Utilities breakdown:
Water: £20/month I think
Gas and Electric are card jobbies, but we probably average £20 on each.


As for going bankrupt, I don't see that as an option.

i think i can help you with your moving.......i too work in the city and commute. the best areas for you to consider i think are as follows:

1/ sydenham
2/ forest hill
3/ penge
4/ peckham
5/ nunhead
6/ west dulwich
7/ lewisham
8/ streatham

these all have fantastic links into the city through either london bridge or victoria. we currently pay £910 rent - BUT it's a big 2 bed, 2 reception room flat with large private garden, huge cellar and plenty of off street parking. also, by moving into these areas you will be reducing your travelling bill. if you move to lower sydenham, you can get a direct train straight into Cannon St and then you would only need to buy a railcard, and can pay for one off bus and tube journeys on PAYG oystercard.

agree with others that sky needs to go - freeview is very good now.

all_hours

Debts
Credit cards
Egg: £35 (outstanding £1750) APR 16.9%
HSBC: £135 (outstanding £4200) APR 15.9%
Barclaycard: £30 (outstanding £1450) APR 14.9%

Loans
HSBC: £200 (oustanding £5800) APR 11.9%
IF: £150 (outstanding £5000) APR 7.9%
Cahoot: £200 (outstanding £10000) APR 14.9% (recently increaed from 8%!)
Egg: £275 (outstanding £15000)]APR 7.9%
First Direct: £100 (outstanding £1500) APR 18.9% I think - repayment of outstanding overdraft, agreement made to pay £100 per month

You have £5600 to play with - is this correct?

The red debts are the ones to address first then the orange ones.

If you follow the advice of the snowball calculator -the first to pay off would be the overdraft as that is costing the most interest, then egg, then what you have left pay off HSBC.

Another way would be to pay £1400 off the overdraft and clear HSBC - when the card is empty ask them for a transfer deal and get the egg and barclay balances on there at low apr or 0%. I don't know what HSBC are like for offering transfer deals to existing customers you could look at the credit card forum to see if they're mentioned or some one on DFW might know.

Then see which is best card to keep for work expenses - in terms of interest free purchase period and cash back. Cancel the card you don't need this will improve your credit rating.

Do you know why you were refused your card applications? Did you look at your credit report?

mrslawrence2003

chimaeric wrote:

xela, I looked at that site earlier ... and it showed 2023 I think! Though for the loans, 2013 which is about right.

Kat, that is a harsh post but I guess I deserve it! I know HSBC didn't spend my money, but I don't think they were being a 'responsible lender' in increasing my limits against my wishes. Actually I doubt this would happen nowadays.

And you're right about the luxuries, I guess I am not ready to scrimp and scrape, so it's my own fault if I don't get out of debt as quickly as I could. I'm 30, and believe in enjoying life. I could never leave the flat for a year and pay off some debt, but what would that do to my mental state? And that probably sounds !!!!!y back, but it's not meant to be - just stating how I feel.

Car sharing - will look into that more and could be a good option. I only use my car for big shops and weekends home as you say.

Council tax - you are very right, I live in Wandsworth which is one of the cheapest in London, if not the country. Good point and one I'll consider when looking at places.

i take it you did call HSBC and ask them to reduce your limits back then? In which case you're right - they were irresponsible. seems a bit strange tho as my bank did exactly the same to me by continually increasing my limits. a quick call to them had the limits back down to their original level. i didnt think banks were allowed to disregard your instructions like that???? confused????

chimaeric

mrslawrence, thanks for the advice regarding flat location - I'll be looking into those areas along with others. Wandsworth is attractive in on sense - about the lowest council tax around! £500/year I think.

As for the inreases, after paying off some debt I specifically requested a lower limit and that it should not increase. But they did so anyway, and as I needed the money (and was weak), I gradually crept up again.

all_hours thanks for the advice - I think the overdraft will be the first one to go, but I will also check out the HSBC transfer options - could be a good way to clear both cards, cancel one, and have a much lower or 0% APR. Nice idea.

chimaeric

Just checked out HSBC's balance transfer offer:

Transfer balances from non-HSBC Group credit or store cards to one low rate of just 3.9% per annum for 6 months. After that, your rate will revert to your standard variable rate. A 2% fee applies to each balance transferred (minimum GBP5). So why not act today?

So could be a very good option.

all_hours

that's not a very good offer and you'd have to transfer again 6 months later.

barclaycard have a 6.9% for life of balance - with no transfer fee.

you could pay overdraft, pay off egg, barclaycard and £1000 off HSBC - then ask barclaycard for the transfer deal and ask if they'll increase your limit at the same time. then transfer from HSBC on to barclaycard.

when you clear a card always wait until you get the £0 balance statement before you transfer on to it. pay off balance - next statement has a few £s interest - pay that off and next statement will show £0.

when is your egg anniversary?

angelavdavis

chimaeric wrote:

I actually need ONE credit card for work expenses, which I claim back. I'd like one of those to be exclusively for this purpose (though I must be strong! haha).

I actually have a Morgan Stanley cash back credit card for expenses purposes and pay off the total as soon as I am reimbursed. That way, I have made £60 cashback since December! I specifically don't use it for anything other than work related expenses.