My - hopefully short - debt story

damoid

Hi all,

Just signed up for this forum, checked this site a few months ago in November 06 when I had my lightbulb moment heh, and I decided since i haven't been too succesful since then to have a kind of a blog. I'm going to start writing my progress here so I can keep track of what I'm doing until all my debt is gone. All my debts are in my sig.

Any advice or tips anyone thinks of can you please leave a comment, it may make a big difference to me or evenb someone who reads.

Target date Dec 07 to be debt-free.

IGNORE NEXT PARAGRAPH IF YOU DONT WANT TO READ BACKSTORY!

Well, I'm 23 and until December 06 I lived with my father. He had a refusal to let go of our home which had outgoings far exceeding his income but managed to hang onto it through a gambling site (yeah i know - not the smartest thing). When I turned 16 I got a job and worked there whilst at college. To cut a long story short I have worked for the same employer for 7 years going through col the uni (left uni once in 2004 because I couldnt afford it) paying the majority of my wage to my father for keeping the house and other things like a car and bills. I also paid for these things through credit (his credit rating was shot to hell), racking up debts through store card cash advances, personal loans, overdrafts not to mention my student loans until we sold our house in May 06. This was great as I got £10000 out of it and he got £47000. He assured me that he would pay all debts in my name over time as he didnt want to lose his capital. All in all he lost the lot (gambling). I had £7000 left at this point (i decided I would spend a proportion of my money - felt i'd earned it), but had to now pay 2 lots of rent £1200, and ended up giving him the most of the rest over the next few months for various things. I got out with £1680, which immediatly went to paying off the majority of Burtons and Dorothy Perkins storecards.

This is not me crying, I would do it again for my dad if I HAD to. Feeling sorry for myself isn't going to help, and i'd look a bit pathetic if i did. Besides I should have paid them all off when i got the £10000 :rolleyes:

START READING AGAIN

Well in January I quit uni for the second time (i didnt see the point anymore - i have my heart set on another path and it was pointless continuing and i will not be returning). I got a job in a restraunt in mid Feb paying £200 per week after tax which should have seen me on my way to paying off my debt as I sought a better job. Unfortunatly, I didn't get on well with the manager and was sacked after 2 days so I tried to get my old job back where i had left 8 months prior. This took a month and I got in another £600 debt living of cards whilst jobless. So here i am now in my old job (which i like and should never have left) with a heap of debt to clear. I'm also looking for a second job.

Outgoings

Rent - £150 p/m (10 hours cleaning got me a 50 quid discount from 200)
Mobile Phone - £30 p/m
Food - £60 p/m
Travel - c.£24 p/m

Loan - £85 p/m until Dec 2008

Repayments - c.£100 minimums total as of writing

Income

Work 1 - £400 to £700 p/m
Work 2 - Still searching
Final Student loan - £1300 April 23rd (havent informed uni i've left so i can get this)
Father - £85 p/m (currently on hold) :mad:

Through tax reclaim (£400), student loan, a little bit of pay (£100) and sale of a bit unused stuff (£400), I should have £2300 by April 30th.

My initial plan:

30th April - Natwest CredCard, Debenhams and Dorothy Perkins repaid
30th May - Burtons, Topman and £150 off Barclaycard
30th June - Barclaycard repaid
30th August - Lloyds CredCard (0% ends then).

I realise this will leave me with extra money that could pay more off but i dont want to skint myself incase of an emergency.

I'm also raising extra money through alliance and leicester £50 cashback through quidco and then refering friends. hopefully should raise about £200 from that :j

Sorry about all that rant, needed to get it off my chest.

Wish me luck.

OberonSH

Hey there hun, and welcome to the site. Wowee what a story!! I'd certainly be a little less forgiving to the parental unit, but hey, we're all different.

Your outgoings seem to be around £449 per month, but you need to start a spending diary - write down everything yuo spend, magazines, haircuts, coffees etc. That stops the 'leaking' of cash. All in all it looks pretty hopeful, you say you should have a lump sum shortly to put towards it, so in theory pulling in a bit of extra cash should see you through.

I'd find out the APR's of the storecards (probably horrific) and see if you can transfer them into your 0% credit card - that saves you some interest. Then pay off th hgh interest ones, transferring over as soon as you 'free up' space on your 0%, therefore keeping as much as you can on 0%. If that makes sense...

damoid

Thanks for the reply and welcome I tried to get another 0% card but it was declined and i'm not going to keep applying incase it damages my rating for a while.

The store cards are the first to go at the end of this month. The 2 I'm leaving till next month will incur about £4 intrest so its okay, though i hate the idea of paying some bank my money (suppose i did use theirs first hehe). Natwest also has higher intrest than Barclaycard so thats going this month too. Hmm actually, it mght be better to pay off my overdraft at Natwest instead of the c.c; its about £11 intrest now...

rog2

Sorry I can't offer you any particular advice, but I was moved by your story, especially the loyalty to your dad.
Hope everything works out for you.:grouphug:

OberonSH

Try plugging them all into the Snowball calculator, and see what it spits out. It's a site that tells you what order to pay your debts in order to pay the least insurance.

Can;t remember the web address, think it's https://www.whatsthecost.com

garagemc

Why is your dad so irresponsible?

damoid

That link shows a scary picture of how much the uk owes!! The banks are making a fortune!

lalababy

Hi hun, wow what a story!!!! but well done for tackling your debts! I am a student and trying to get my debts down a bit. did you claim charges back from the dorothy perkins and burtons? I ask as i am midway through claiming with them but they are being really stubborn and not sure whether to go the court route with them.