Quickest Way to Pay off a Loan

david_hellier

There are some things missing from the SOA, car tax, insurance, mot, servicing. Also more detail on your utility bills is required. How much, how often. also do you have an OD? What is the APR for this.

Thanks.

CD_Man

Basic take home pay £1748 - some months more due to overtime etc

Mortgage £732
Council Tax £79
Mobile £35
Gym £38
Loan £337
Homechoice £13.99
0% Virgin Card - £100 a month, £3k owed have paid off £1k since Aug 06
0% (til July) Natwest card - £100 a month £3k owed - Have paid off £1k since Aug 06
Petrol £60 per month
Shopping £70 per month

Water £196 PA
Electric £70 per quarter roughly
Car MOT £40
Insurance £400 PA
Servicing £100 PA

I have £100 OD which I never go over - I think thats everything

oliveoyl

well in order to pay more off your loan, you need to either make more, or cut back, so i suppose it depends on just how much you want to pay off your loan v's spending on the other things.

how about a lodger?
take up jogging instead of the gym, or get a pushbike?

oliveoyl

you have a car and a motorbike?

have you had any bank or credit card charges (late payment or bounced dd's), if so you can claim them back.

highguyuk

Of course the gym and your mobile are going to mentioned on that list. Exercise is v.important, and if you want to use a gym then so be it, but there are cheaper gyms available. Not that this matters, as your tied into your gym for a while yet.

£70 a month on your shopping seems v.little. Great if thats correct, but does that include everything else? You have also missed items such as TV Licence, car, house, life insurance, bills such as electric, gas, water which could be too expensive.

However, the single biggest on there by miles is the mortgage. That is alot to be going out every month. I don't know if you have family or live alone etc, but if it is crippling you then maybe it is time to move house and cut down on the mortgage payments? Would be hard decision though ...

EDIT: Took too long posting!

CLAPTON

you need to include in your budget ALL your spending: not just for this month but the average for the next year. You need to do this partly so you can see what you really have 'spare' each month and also so you get used to saving up each month for those yearly costs.

So you need to include : water, council tax, elect , gas, motorbike insurance, tax, servicing, MOT, AA/RAC, clothes, holiday, xmas costs and presents etc etc... work out a yearly figure for each one, divide by 12 and add it to your SOA.
AND you need to save up these amounts each month into a saving account so you actually have the money available when the bills come it.
Also do you really only spend 70 on food/groceries each month? and what about socialising, any hobbies, magazine/newspapers optical/dental/medical.

Once you have done this its likely that you will find you are spending more than you earn. However, now you will be better placed to decide whether to spend on gym/mobile or whatever or getting a part time job is the answer.

david_hellier

DCA0270307

Thanks for the extra info.

According to my figures you are currently overspending. You only have £25.31 per week to spend on food, clothes, going out or anything else. So you are not in a position to pay any more off the loan until you increase your income or make serious cutbacks. If you can get rid of the car, that will be the biggest saving.

You need about £100 more per week, so if you can earn this as a part time job or overtime then this is what's required.

Do not make any more purchases by CC and maintain the repayment levels as they are, never the minimum.

Good luck, the figures are as follows:

income weekly monthly
self 1748.00
partner 0.00







total 0.00 1748.00 divide by 4.33
£403.39

£403.39 total weekly income

spend weekly monthly
rent/mortgage 732.00
council tax 79.00
elec 23.33
gas 0.00
water 16.33
secured loans 337.00
TV licence 12.00
fines 0.00
mobile 35.00
gym 38.00
homechoice 13.99
virgin 100.00
natwest cc 100.00
petrol 60.00
mot 45.00
car ins 33.33
car service 8.33
od payoff 5.00














total 0.00 1638.32 divide by 4.33
£378.07

£378.07 total weekly spend

Start= income - spend = £25.31 per week

oliveoyl

i would say that as the cards are on 0%, as long as you keep the debt on 0% by shifting it around, you'd be best just paying the minimum payment on the cards and paying the rest off something else that you are paying interest on.

have you checked the t&c's of your loan to see if you can make extra payments/what the penalty will be?

i see your thread made it into the weekly tips email - well done, hope you keep it updated.

rich36

I hate the way they sell mobile phone contracts, saying £35 a month. This is £420 a year! Thats equal to your annual Electric bill+ Car MOT + car servicing.

If you can get your Phone Contract down too £25 amonth you'd save £120 a year.

Gym, homechoice are costing you £624 a year, are they essential? Are there cheaper options?

Have you checked to see if you can get cheaper electric?

Anyway just my thoguths, it would save you over £1000 a year.

leensarahc

Hi
dont know if it helps, but I have recently looked into making a lump sum payment on a loan (with Abbey) was advised by their staff to put it in a high interest account instead, as any overpayment just sits there earning them money until there is enough money to pay off the loan at the back end of it. May not be the same in your case, check the T&C of your loan. And dont forget to keep checking on here, some of these guys have some really good advice!