Clueless about how to manage my debts

Barbeduk

Got to agree with gargrave, your grocery bill is way high! I have cut back from £500 a month :eek: to £260 a month with no noticeable change in our eating habits. That's for 2 adults, 2 kids. It does mean shopping at Aldi and lidl, packed lunches every day and lots of bulk cooking but you can do it, and it makes a hell of a difference to your debt repayment.:D Loads of encouragement on the grocery challenge board.

Good luck to you.:)

apollo11_2

Wow, thanks guys, really appreciate your time and effort.
Not harsh at all Gargrave, that's why I'm here, I need the tough advice!
Groceries are a definite target then. I've included food I buy at work which is certainly not the cheapest option. Packed lunches it is.
The mobile phone is just mine, and I'm guessing that is too high then? Will also investigate prepay landline.
I'm going to investigate what I can do with the credit card debt but realistically I don't think I'll get a lower APR. initial searches through money supermarket are suggesting the only cards I'd qualify for are at 34.9%, even with a good credit score.

Thanks for your help and encouragement

Googlewhacker

apollo11 wrote: »

Wow, thanks guys, really appreciate your time and effort.
Not harsh at all Gargrave, that's why I'm here, I need the tough advice!
Groceries are a definite target then. I've included food I buy at work which is certainly not the cheapest option. Packed lunches it is.
The mobile phone is just mine, and I'm guessing that is too high then? Will also investigate prepay landline.
I'm going to investigate what I can do with the credit card debt but realistically I don't think I'll get a lower APR. initial searches through money supermarket are suggesting the only cards I'd qualify for are at 34.9%, even with a good credit score.

Thanks for your help and encouragement

No mention about the high rent Is it something you can/want to look at?

camuk81

apollo11 wrote: »

Thanks for the comments and advice guys. It feels a bit better already just talking about it.

My current account has a £1500 overdraft which I pretty much hit the bottom of every month and incur charges (approx £50-£100 usually) + about £20 of interest.

Mark

Sorry but first things first get on top of the spending and stop the charges. Take the steps above and cut back. Get a spending diary but stop the bank charges, You are at risk of getting into a circle of charges and then being worse of with your salary being swallowed up by bank charges.

One tip Martin gives is don't bank where you have debt. Can you look at a basic account to stop this. I went against the grain on the above advice however I was very lucky my bank looked at a loan to encompass my overdraft and credit card. I now have a £0 limit and every month since starting on my LBM have not been near it. Infact the left over money each month goes toward another debt.

Please this is an urgent action you need to take to remedy this

camuk81

Ps have you asked the council to see if they will move to 12 months rather then 10!

gargrave50

apollo11 wrote: »

Wow, thanks guys, really appreciate your time and effort.
Not harsh at all Gargrave, that's why I'm here, I need the tough advice!
Groceries are a definite target then. I've included food I buy at work which is certainly not the cheapest option. Packed lunches it is.
The mobile phone is just mine, and I'm guessing that is too high then? Will also investigate prepay landline.
I'm going to investigate what I can do with the credit card debt but realistically I don't think I'll get a lower APR. initial searches through money supermarket are suggesting the only cards I'd qualify for are at 34.9%, even with a good credit score.

Thanks for your help and encouragement

You are more than welcome - takes one to know one:cool:.

The mobile phone is pretty high, however you have to weigh it all up. If you move to a lower tarriff but use over the tarriff and end up paying more then its pointless. However, because companies generally give us zillions of minutes and texts, you might find you could drop a tarriff, save some dosh and still not go over the usage limits! Worth a try and a chat with your supplier - some might not let you change your tarriff during a specified period of the contract. Writing a letter explaining your impending financial difficulties might be worth a shot if that's the case.:)

Similarly with the credit card companies, contact them in writing explain your circumstances and pending likelihood of financial difficulties. Be a nice customer, and let them know you don't want the account to fall into arrears, however minimum payments are becoming difficult to meet in your current circumstances etc. Ask whether they would consider stopping use for future purchases on the card in return for a lower APR. This would reduce the amount you pay in interest and increase the amount your payment reduces your actual balance by. Again, no guarantees but usually worth a try. Their other option is you get to a stage whereby the account is in arrears, and they don't win out of that either.:cool:

Groceries are a no brainer. After a while you might find packed lunches mind numbing, but then after a while buying the same [EMAIL="!!!!"]!!!![/EMAIL] from the shop becomes mind numbing. If you spend £4 a day on lunch, thats £20 over a week - a total of over £1k a year. All of a sudden packed lunches seem ok:p.

Buy a variety of goodies which are on offer (the offers change therefore so do the lunches!) each week. Don't buy pack of 10 yoghurts if the dates are rubbish, because its false economy. The groceries can be quite easy to cut down on, and actually its made me into a fairly decent cook (or so my husband says).:A

gargrave50

Oh and if you have a microwave at work, you can take in frozen lunches from your batch cooking too! Having your main meal at lunchtime is supposed to be the best idea for your waistline too lol!

gargrave50

I've subscribed to your thread to keep up with your progress - no pressure .

Barbeduk

gargrave50 wrote: »

I've subscribed to your thread to keep up with your progress - no pressure .

And I've checked in again, so if you don't take a packed lunch on tues we'll all know :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:.

Listen to Camuk on the charges, sound advice.

gargrave50

Barbeduk wrote: »

And I've checked in again, so if you don't take a packed lunch on tues we'll all know :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:.

Listen to Camuk on the charges, sound advice.

I love it:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:!