I have a lot to debt to clear... and no idea how to begin!

pippitypop

I'm not sure if your credit rating.. may be worthwhile getting a free credit report from one of the credit rating agencies such as Credit Expert. I would then use the credit card matcher if your credit rating is fair to get a 0% balance transfer for your credit card debt. Then you can pay off your £65 a month in the knowledge most of it is going towards paying off your balance. Make sure you put on your application you are planning to balance transfer! I found Barclaycard were pretty good when I was in a dubious financial situation after graduating, also Virgin Balance Transfer card I got accepted for too. I would then pay off £65 per month to the CC and £35 per month off the Littlewoods. £250 in December.. December is a tight month anyway, also with it being the longest time between payday your next paycheck in Jan! I would say it would be tough to pay off £250 with your disposable income. £35 per month should cover your December's payment so you don't have to struggle. If you can't get a 0% card though, then it's best you focus your £100 on the CC.

If your credit rating is poor and you have had 2-3 unsuccessful credit applications, then I would suggest 6 months of being an angel paying £100 month of your CC before trying again.
Depending on the relationship with your bank, they may be able to consolidate your credit card debt and overdraft into one low APR loan.. however, I'd probably advise against this as your overdraft is probably interest free? If it isn't then this is a worthwhile option.

Also you could make the most of the Tesco delivery/ ASDA delivery deals, with cashback so you can get moe food for less or reduce your food spending. A fun budget is very important, be realistic and make sure you allow yourself a little treat (doesn't have to be expensive) every week to reward yourself.

If you get opportunities to do overtime or additional work then I'd take them and use this money purely to pay off debt. If you get money for birthdays/Christmas etc I would plough it into debt. Think of it as.. when you finally have more disposal income you can treat yourself more Think of that £100 per month being available to buy what you want, invest in training or go on holiday When paying it off the credit card, don't forget to reduce the credit limit - (make sure you leave plenty of room for the interest payments though)! It takes away temptation but also reduces the amount of available credit showing on your credit report!

Oompa_Loompa_2

I'm curious how you make wine? Hope you don't mind me asking!! Two of you have mentioned it... do you needs lots of equipment or can you point me in the direction of a good thread?

blitzboy

£41 a month is a lot these days for a personal mobile phone contract. Are you tied in to this or can you look into reducing it?

Mine and my partner's deals are about to come to an end and instead of £30 a month each which we took 2 years ago (including free phone) we can now get near enough the same amount of minutes, texts and data for £7 a month! As long as we keep our current phones which is fine as they are iPhones and still work as new and do everything we need them to do and more.

FinanciallyUnsavvy

wants.to.be.debt.free wrote: »

Just don't buy any clothing and as for entertainment, have friends over - where each person brings some wine/food and it will be fun without blowing your budget.

I don't really spend much on going out etc. anyway - I rarely have a "big night out" - maybe only once every few months. Most of the time I do just stay home and have friends over, so this isn't a problem!

As for what you said about reducing costs - I'm tied into my mobile contract for 2 years, and only started it three months ago. I think I can drop the cost after 6 or 12 months, I will have to check with Orange - but even then I think it's only by a fiver or something.

And yes, the TV licence will drop in 4 months so that's something to, er, look forward to- haha!

And well.. the £12.50 a month for sky - I have to admit I am only just upgrading from Freesat. I've got to have something to do in the evenings at home, Freesat is driving me crazy! I've always had Sky TV in the past and find it hard to be without sadly enough. I do get £100 cashback from Quidco with this though so that £100 will help a lot. As I said, I don't really go out much, and I can't totally deprive myself..!

FinanciallyUnsavvy

blitzboy wrote: »

£41 a month is a lot these days for a personal mobile phone contract. Are you tied in to this or can you look into reducing it?

Tied into it unfortunately - only upgraded the contract in February this year and its a 2 year contract. That's the price you pay for an iPhone 4S. It is ridiculously high. I think I can drop it to £35 a month after 6 or 12 months though.

I don't know if it's worth talking to Orange if there's any chnce I could downgrade my contract before then? I have 600 minutes at the moment, and barely even use 200 of them. Does anyone have any experience with "bartering" with Orange customer services?! I can't imagine this being a viable option..

FinanciallyUnsavvy

pippitypop wrote: »

if your credit rating is fair to get a 0% balance transfer for your credit card debt.

My credit rating won't allow for this, I don't think. I've had a few failed applications in the past. Nobody told me that starting to apply for things would affect your credit rating... stupid me!

pippitypop wrote: »

Depending on the relationship with your bank, they may be able to consolidate your credit card debt and overdraft into one low APR loan.. however, I'd probably advise against this as your overdraft is probably interest free? If it isn't then this is a worthwhile option.

My overdraft isn't interest free - I pay about £16 a month interest on it at the moment. I have considered getting a loan to consolidate before, but I don't know if this is just going to make things worse? Depends how low the APR can be I suppose.

Loubell83

I know this is about saving money, but have you thought of selling stuff on eBay/gumtree etc? I made £350 last month from selling clothes and nick nacks I no longer needed.

I agree with everyone else on here in regards to shopping around and batch cooking.

As you have an iphone 4S you can get a budgeting app called EEBA that can act as a spending diary for free. I use it and have different virtual envelopes for different things (groceries, travel, entertainment etc) and a budget each month for each. It really shows you where your money is leaking out!

FinanciallyUnsavvy

Loubell83 wrote: »

I know this is about saving money, but have you thought of selling stuff on eBay/gumtree etc? I made £350 last month from selling clothes and nick nacks I no longer needed.

I agree with everyone else on here in regards to shopping around and batch cooking.

As you have an iphone 4S you can get a budgeting app called EEBA that can act as a spending diary for free. I use it and have different virtual envelopes for different things (groceries, travel, entertainment etc) and a budget each month for each. It really shows you where your money is leaking out!

Thank you, I have been looking for a decent budgeting app for a while, so I will give that one a go!

I sold a bunch of things on Amazon a while ago, and used to sell a lot of DVDs on ebay. I don't think I have much that's worth the hassle of selling/probably won't make enough to cover postage! I will definitely have a look around, but I'm fairly certain I don't have a lot. The only thing I have a lot of to sell are DVDs, and well, for the sake of 20/30 pence a disc I'd rather just hang onto them.

moonjooce

I have an app on my mobile called 'expense manager' it's on android so not sure if they do it for other phones. I also pay by card for a lot of things and it helps me keep track of my money a bit better. I can do monthly charts that show me my spending etc.

You would be surprised how much money you can make by decluttering your house and flogging stuff on ebay - even clothes you no longer wear. Any CDs/Games/DVDs you no longer want put on music magpie - go through quidco as they pay cashback too! Use cashback sites for all your shopping - if you need new clothes, try them on in the shop and buy them online to get cashback - check delivery charges first as sometimes they can outweigh any savings to be made.

Ask yourself if you need things before you buy them!!! Check things like any car insurance costs against other suppliers, same with gas / electricity etc.

Plan your meals for the week and do a shopping list of ingredients from the plan, then just buy those things. I go to aldi to get most things (especially fruit and veg) and then to tesco or asda for other things I want that I cannot get there. I buy loo rolls in bulk from costco/makro (48 rolls (2x24 packs bogof) for a tenner is a regular offer and does save me a lot of money!!!)

All these things have helped me on my way to getting out of debt - I'm almost there now

glasgowsaver2011

FinanciallyUnsavvy wrote: »

Tied into it unfortunately - only upgraded the contract in February this year and its a 2 year contract. That's the price you pay for an iPhone 4S. It is ridiculously high. I think I can drop it to £35 a month after 6 or 12 months though.

I don't know if it's worth talking to Orange if there's any chnce I could downgrade my contract before then? I have 600 minutes at the moment, and barely even use 200 of them. Does anyone have any experience with "bartering" with Orange customer services?! I can't imagine this being a viable option..

You can take you Iphone 4 s

Sell it for 2-300 quid on one of the phone recyclers.

Buy a unlocked simple phone (tesco have these for 10 quid)

Sorted.

you have 250 quid in you pocket