Advice Please

nmh1980

Hi

I am currently caught in the never ending debt spiral.

My main concern is I am due Wonga £515 at the beginning of August, and due to other debts, I cannot afford to pay this.

I have posted my SOA below. I will update it once I get the APR's.

I know that some of the things on there will reduce over the next few months. I have 3 payments which will finish in September, November then January.

Just looking to see what the best way to deal with this is.
I can usually make my payments but am not left with much at the end of the month. Its the Wonga payment thats screwing me this month. Mainly because I have been stupid but also because my loan repayment is so high.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1159
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1159
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 63.68
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 0
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 96
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 0
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 62
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 16
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 20
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 277.68

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 0

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(0)........0
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 363......(63.68)....0
Total secured & HP debts...... 363.......-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Vanquis Credit Card............750.......22........0
Wonga..........................517.5.....517.5.....0
Pounds2Pocket..................488.......81.45.....0
Clydesdale Bank Loan...........14900.....531.4.....0
Lending Stream.................159.......73.48.....0
Total unsecured debts..........16814.5...1225.83...-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,159
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 277.68
Available for debt repayments........... 881.32
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,225.83
Amount short for making debt repayments. -344.51
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -363
Total Unsecured debt.................... -16,814.5
Net Assets.............................. -17,177.5

his_missus

nmh1980 wrote: »

Hi

I am currently caught in the never ending debt spiral.

My main concern is I am due Wonga £515 at the beginning of August, and due to other debts, I cannot afford to pay this.

I have posted my SOA below. I will update it once I get the APR's.

I know that some of the things on there will reduce over the next few months. I have 3 payments which will finish in September, November then January.

Just looking to see what the best way to deal with this is.
I can usually make my payments but am not left with much at the end of the month. Its the Wonga payment thats screwing me this month. Mainly because I have been stupid but also because my loan repayment is so high.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1159
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1159
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 63.68
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 0
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 96
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 0
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 62
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 16
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 20
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 277.68

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 0

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(0)........0
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 363......(63.68)....0
Total secured & HP debts...... 363.......-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Vanquis Credit Card............750.......22........0
Wonga..........................517.5.....517.5.....0
Pounds2Pocket..................488.......81.45.....0
Clydesdale Bank Loan...........14900.....531.4.....0
Lending Stream.................159.......73.48.....0
Total unsecured debts..........16814.5...1225.83...-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,159
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 277.68
Available for debt repayments........... 881.32
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,225.83
Amount short for making debt repayments. -344.51
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -363
Total Unsecured debt.................... -16,814.5
Net Assets.............................. -17,177.5

Firstly, you don't seem to have any living costs. No rent, utilities, food... are you living rent free somewhere?

Secondly, £96 a month for a mobile phone? Seriously? You definitely need to look at cutting back on this, even a tariff of £20 would save you enough each month to almost pay the Lending Stream loan...

Perhaps you shouldn't be buying new clothes for a while, only a small saving but still a saving.


I'm not wise enough to offer advice on loans, I'm sure someone will be along soon to offer advice on how you could manage the debts.

Is there anyway you can increase your income? Carbooting? Ebaying? Second job?

Sorry I can't be of more help. Hopefully bumping this will bring you lots of knowledgable advice.

Good luck!

nmh1980

Thanks for your reply.

I am living with my parents and they know I am in debt so they dont expect me to pay anything.

I have 3 contracts that total the £96 (one for my phone, one for iPad and one for mobile broadband) which will reduce to 2 in November when my mobile broadband finishes. I know this is a lot and I have tried to get my tarriffs reduced. My phone was reduced from £45 down to £36 but thats as low as I can go. The iPad payment is fixed at £42.

The Lending Stream payment has only 2 more to go then its cleared. The Pounds2Pocket one finishes in January.

I have sold as much as I can to get some extra cash which I have used to reduce some of the debt.

Little_Miss_Uni-Debt

Hi,

Welcome and well done for posting. I would say that it's very important to get the APR % for all of your cards & pay day loans.

Then you can put them in order and also look at the snowball calc http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx which will tell you what to pay every month that will cost you the least amount in interest.

I would also keep a spending diary to check just how much cash you have spare at the end of the month. Sometimes it's hard but you might need to look through your old statements to see where your debt has come from. It really is eye opening and hopefully will stop you from spending similarly again.

You're really lucky to have such supportive parents. I wouldn't dare tell mine.

hampsterpoo

Hi can you get another job , part time , avon, babysitting , grass cutting or similar.
"Sold as much as you can" have you been on music magpie, there is always something else you can sell .
Look around at whats in the cupboards how often do you use it , when was the last time you used it, if you havent used it in a while its not worth keeping.


I sold an old ripped newspaper I found in a box in the loft to a radio station in LA for $20 as it had the death of a rock star on it. You'd be suprised at what you can sell.

£20 on clothing and £20 on entertainment but nothing for emergencies , Id change that.

I might seem a little brutish / harsh but we managed to clear £58k+ in six years by cutting down , decluttering & selling, and changing our mindset about what was in the cupboards etc.
Stick with it .
Have you looked at the snowballing website for your debts ?

RenovationMan

Hi, you have £16k of debt - what did you spend it all on? I'm not prying, I just wonder if there is anything you bought that you could now sell to raise money to pay some of the debt off?

Also, if you are living with your folks, what is the secured debt, secured to?

RichCH

Can you just clarify the Wonga situation? SO you have to pay £515 at the beginning of August? After that payment do you owe them any more?

Diplomat365

The loan payment seems high compared to your income, it looks like you have a 30 month loan. Can you consolidate all your odds and ends into a longer term loan at lower monthly repayments?

This does cost more long term but right now you need to fix your cash flow. You can always move the loan again when you can afford to shorten the term. Just FYI 15k over 5 years is less than 300 a month with most lenders.

If your credit rating is an issue would your parents underwrite you to help you get a better credit deal or do you have a good relationship with your bank you could leverage. Bear in mind as well without that you could pimp yourself to any bank to get a new account and loan as a deal, some even give you £100 to move.

Last question is your salary, could you increase it? How do you compare to the market rate for your job or are you qualified to do another higher paid job. I always see being mroe than 10% under market rate as my cue to write a CV. Try your luck out there, there is never a decision to make until you have a job offer. Just don't misrepresent yourself or get into a role you can't do.

Like other posters ahve said be realistic about what you spend a month, you must go out etc get it on your budget.

Lastly good work coming here, acknowledging the issue is the first step to solving it. Best of luck and look forward to hearing how you succeeded.

nmh1980

my parents know im in debt but dont know by how much.

the debt is mostly historical. my loan repayment is quite high due to my credit rating. i was fine until i split up with my fiance 2 years ago as she helped me out. since then, my situation has got worse.

the wonga payment should just be aone off payment. i have had a few payday loans from them but this one is the highest and I just cannot find a way to pay it next month. once its cleared, i will never use them again.

The HP debt I have is for my season ticket for my local football club and will be finished in the new year.

I cannot get a pay increase as I work in the public sector and my pay is frozen for the time being.

I am moving my bank account to another bank so they can't get access to my funds.

RichCH

First of all, don't move your bank account!!!

Even if they will give you another bank account (most of them credit check you because of overdrafts) they don't just hand out £100 to anyone. Someone like First Direct won't even give you a current account if you have even a fair credit history. You need to try and rebuild your credit rating, having an old account is really good for you right now.

First thing to do is ask your parents if you can borrow the £300 odd pounds you need to get past this month breaking even. Tell them basically the situation that you need this as a one off to pay off a single debt, which means next month if you stick to the same plan you should have £200 excess. You give them the £200 at the beginning of the month and pay them fully off the month after.

Then you look into a consolidation loan, because all of that looks very high. I think you can probably shave off £100-£200 a month from what you're paying. I know that Vanquish is a terrible card that only get people with terrible credit ratings, you're probably paying 30% APR on that card.

Diplomat365

Fair enough I thought the bank might be an option, I did it and it paid off in spades for me but it was some time ago (15 years).

As for the public sector you have a fair idea your pay will be frozen for some time, might be worth looking into the private sector. It's all down to pro's and cons but worth considering if you feel you are under paid for what you do.

Like the previous guy I think consolidation has to be the way to go, shop around and parental support could help you. You'd be suprised how understanding they can be but you know you relationship better than us.