Debt plan of my own.. Is it manageable? Oppinions please :)

*Vikki*

Hi I am really regretting taking out a bank loan last August 2011 and using my savings in upgrading my car. So I want to cut back and pay off the £5060 I have left by April 2013. It's with HSBC apr 7.5 with my bank.

My wages are broken down like this:

£1058.33 monthly
-£180 rent (to my parents)
-£100 car maintenance etc/birthday/Xmas
-£15 phone
-£6 milk for month at work
-£20 ww fee
-£237.33 for food, toiletries and petrol for the month)
-£220 current car payment
=£300 left spare.

I am planning to take £200 out of the spare leaving £80 for me. Is this obtainable do you think? Or am I setting myself up to fail ?

HappyMJ

*Vikki* wrote: »

Hi I am really regretting taking out a bank loan last August 2011 and using my savings in upgrading my car. So I want to cut back and pay off the £5060 I have left by April 2013. It's with HSBC apr 7.5 with my bank.

My wages are broken down like this:

£1058.33 monthly
-£180 rent (to my parents)
-£100 car maintenance etc/birthday/Xmas
-£15 phone
-£6 milk for month at work
-£20 ww fee
-£237.33 for food, toiletries and petrol for the month)
-£220 current car payment
=£300 left spare.

I am planning to take £200 out of the spare leaving £80 for me. Is this obtainable do you think? Or am I setting myself up to fail ?

Is selling the car and paying off the loan an option?

*Vikki*

It is but I don't want to loose any more money as I will with selling it. I've got myself in to this so I'm going to pay it off and keep the car along time.

paulmapp8306

Thats not a propper SOA - how can you get your food/petrol expenditure down to the penny - and such an odd figure.

Set a budget for everything seperately (food is seperate from petrol etc, as are car main and birthdays/xmas). Do you pay food to your parents of buy your own?

What does ww stand for?

£100 for car main and B/days is high. I have kids and a wife to pay for (xmas/bdays), and an older car and budget around £900/year - so around £75/month.

If you have £300 spare, and put £200 to your debts it leaves £100 not £80 for you.

Ultimately, if your not committing to a propper "plan" but paying what you an afford - then if you cant manage you just change things slightly. Persoanlly I have £25/week spending money, again for a family not just me - BUT Im older now so dont tend to go out much. As you are obviously younger and have a life - £25/week may not go too far. Its probably fine for a short term fix though.

*Vikki*

Hi yes I am 26, its down to an odd figure as my wages aren’t to the nearest pound. And I used to allow myself £300 a month for holidays, going out clothes etc so this is why the food/petrol money is an odd figure.

I never know how much food is though to the pound. I put it in the same pot as toiletries too. And it varies as to what offers are on the food and toiletries and if I have run out etc. Yes I buy my own food.

Sorry WW is Weight Watchers as I anticipate rejoining to try and loose the two stone I have piled on to not being in control of my eating.

My bills savings etc is broken down as the following, please let me know if you think I am over spending as I cant see anyway of getting out of birthdays xmas etc or even lowering it as its low enough I thought as it is?…

Birthdays:
Mum £20
Dad £20
Sister £20
Sister £20
£10 mother in law
£10 bother/sister in law
£10 niece
£100 boyfriend
£5 mothers day
£5 fathers day
Valentines day £0.00
=£220


Christmas:
Mum £20
Dad £20
Sister £20
Sister £20
£20 Sister/her baby/partner (Don’t bother with birthdays but couldn’t stop with the other two)
£10 mother in law
£15 niece
£50 boyfriend
£20 sister/brother in law plus baby.
£10 wrapping paper/cards
=£205

Car bills (without saving for repair bills)
£130 for a years tax
£60 mot (will shop around for cheaper but have to budget for worse)
£330 car insurance (tried everything to get it cheaper)
£255 towards tyres/oil changes on car – service is under a pack which will need to be paid for in future.
=£775


All of that equals £1200, so £100 to be saved a month. If you can think of any hints/tips ideas to shave this it would be great!

carrielovesfanta

*Vikki* wrote: »

Birthdays:
Mum £20
Dad £20
Sister £20
Sister £20
£10 mother in law
£10 bother/sister in law
£10 niece
£100 boyfriend
£5 mothers day
£5 fathers day
Valentines day £0.00
=£220


Christmas:
Mum £20
Dad £20
Sister £20
Sister £20
£20 Sister/her baby/partner (Don’t bother with birthdays but couldn’t stop with the other two)
£10 mother in law
£15 niece
£50 boyfriend
£20 sister/brother in law plus baby.
£10 wrapping paper/cards
=£205

All of that equals £1200, so £100 to be saved a month. If you can think of any hints/tips ideas to shave this it would be great!

Can you do any crafts/cooking at all? My mother-in-law loves homemade cakes, so she gets them for her birthday.

Also £100 for you bf's birthday is quite a lot if you don't have much money spare. Could you cut it to £50? I usually try to treat my hubby in other ways. Maybe cooking a nice meal, run him a hot bath (he's a sucker for baths) and other things husbands like *ahem*

[Deleted User]

You can do anything that you want to do

People here will bang on about the SOA, however I must say I did mine on here and in reality I can't always afford "the haircut" or the "xmas gifts". So sometimes they don't always help, however the main parts will clearly count.

I have made some progress doing it alone, I have taken some off my signature I did that well they are now gone.

Remember think positive and you can do anything that you want to do!, I seem to be getting on okay (for now anyway!)

*Vikki*

Thanks Carrie, my mum wouldn't accept that though, ill try out the tips with the bf though

assj yeah thats a good point you make an obvious one but you do think sometimes I can't I can't when as you say anything is possible! I can do it!

I sometimes set my goals too high though and I am unsure if I have given myself chance, i guess time will tell how I get along with it!

beadgirl87

Maybe you don't need an exact amount per person for presents. I would like to spend more on people, but just can't afford it, so I give a little something. Just because it costs lots of money doesn't mean it is better.
Start doing surveys online and save up the money you earn for gifts, you could cash out a £10 Topshop or DP voucher and give to one of the ladies and that hasn't cost you anything. Anything you buy online use cashback website, body shop always had voucher codes and good cashback, also debehams and m&s usually.
Have a look around for gifts that you don't want or use. Its my friend birthday soon, and I have some fancy mini toiletres so might wrap them up nicely and give them to her. A box of chocolates which I was given as a gift, got passed on to someone else (I had no need to eat a whole load of chocolate) By all means set an upper limit on gifts, but try and get it cheaper if you can.

freshstart11

for pressies, you can make your own truffles, organza bags or small boxes from ebay would cost £10 for everything to make pressies for all ladies for eg.

there are ways to reduce if I am honest I would love to spend £100 of bday pressies for fiance, for my bday from him I got a few £1 cooking books, 2nd hand dvds from amazon he got through surveys and some cookie cutters I liked from £ shop. I loved it best birthday I ever had. You don't need to spend loads of money to make it good x

*Vikki*

Thanks for the tips. You mentioned surveys and being paid for them, are they online?