Newbie alert! A bit of advice needed...

pencakes26

Thanks to all for the replies.

Budget - definitely cutting back on spending, and stopping all the clothes/treat shopping.

The food cost is for 2 people and its a bit hit and miss, we spend from our own accounts, and the joint account. I do most of the household though. We need to sit down and work this out. A big cost is lunches which I know I need to make my own and not go out everyday. What do you think is a reasonable monthly food budget for two people?

The rent inc bills is spilt with my OH 60:40 at the moment. The TV licence was paid in full when we first moved in.

I pay around £750/800 a month servicing my debts - with the Vanquis card I pay around £120 on that (the minimum payment is approx. £73). I am normally left with around £400 for living costs after paying all my debts and bills, but that never seems to last..

Me and the OH need to have a big chat. Again.

I have lots of bar work experience so hopefully that will help with the second job search, and then its back to budgeting properly so I can pump as much money as possible into these debts.

PHEW!
Phew.

Theatregal83

Good luck with the 2nd job hunt, just be careful of paying tax on your 2nd income. I had a part time job for two years, but wasn't pay the right tax, and ended up with a £1,200 bill. Which I've just paid off!!!!

pencakes26

Right, a little update.

Me and the boy had a chat last night and he's completely stressed as I am - he is doing really well financially and wants to help me.

He doesn't want to apply for a new credit card, but his bank is offering him a loan (that would cover all my debts, excluding the work one which is interest free) for 6.9% over 18 months. This would a) reduce my monthly repayments slightly and b) reduce the total amount of interest I pay by around £800 which is amazing. There is no early repayment charge in the last 3 months of the loan so hopefully I can accumulate any extra income/savings and pay off the last bit in a lump sum.

It also means I have just two repayments going out of my account each month making it a whole lot easier to keep track of and once they have gone out of my account, I can start looking at my left over cash and budget properly.

We sat down a talked about all of this at length and talked about all the implications if I lost my job, we split up etc etc and whether it would effect our relationship badly. Im glad we did, as I know how serious he is about helping me, regardless of what happens in the future.

I feel a bit ashamed I can't just do this for myself, but we all need a little help sometimes. I'm just grateful I've got someone who cares enough to step in and help me through the tough times. I think he may be a keeper!

Being able to close the Vanquis account and trash that credit card will be a great feeling. I'm going to close the capital one card too, the interest on that wasn't much better either!

October 2013 is my official DFD. Here's to that and hopefully making it a lot closer!

Tixy

Sounds like a keeper!

Definitely close down the 2 subprime cards. Are you going to keep the others open?
Its good in a way if you keep at least one open and use and pay off in full each statement - it helps you keep a positive credit history going - but only do it if you are sure you won't run up more debt on it.
Its also good to keep one open for the added purchase protection you get as well of course.
If you think you might be tempted to spend on it too much you could always ask OH to look after it for you?

pencakes26

And he gave me a foot massage last night too!

I was thinking of closing all but the Lloyds TSB one - that one has the lowest APR on it (11.9% I think) and has a credit limit of £1,200, so nothing too drastic and completely manageable. I would like to buy my own house in the future so definitely want to do things right credit wise.

I think the pain of this has taught me (the hard way) a lesson, so I'd like to think I wouldn't get in this position again, but getting him to keep an eye on me can never be a bad thing.

:)

pencakes26

Theatregal83 wrote: »

Good luck with the 2nd job hunt, just be careful of paying tax on your 2nd income. I had a part time job for two years, but wasn't pay the right tax, and ended up with a £1,200 bill. Which I've just paid off!!!!

Wow, that sucks. Stupid taxman :mad: It would be good to get a few shifts a week but I definitely don't want to be paying over the odds for it!

Tixy

Regarding the second job - you just need to make sure you are on the right tax code.
If you start a second job then when you sign the P46 make sure you tick the correct box, and you should find the put you on a 'BR' tax code. This will mean that all of your income is taxed at the basic rate - 20% (because your main job will already have your tax free element used up but you shouldn't be earning enough to be pushed into the 40% bracket).

pencakes26

That's good to know.

Great timing as well, I've just got a voicemail from a pub saying they want to discuss a role with me!

Theatregal83

Good Luck

pencakes26

Thanks!

I called back but I think they are only looking for full time workers. She's going to call me back. It would be awesome though as its a mon-fri only pub, so I'd still get to keep my weekends!