Finally facing it - Any advice appreciated.

andanotherone_2

Hi all, well here goes then…

Monthly Incomings:

My salary - £700
Partners salary - £2,000 (although all our finances are completely separate)

Total - £700

Monthly Outgoings:

Mortgage/Rent - £300
Council Tax - £40
Gas - £15
Electric - £20
Water Rates - £15
TV License - £5
Internet - £20
Phone - £10
Food - £80
Leisure - £60
HSBC CC - £120 (interest £75)
Mint CC - £35 (interest £10)
Egg - £20 (interest £8)
Interest on overdraft - £20

Total: £760

Egg CC – Balance £1,010 (limit £1,050)
Mint CC – Balance £1,700 (limit £1,900)
HSBC CC – Balance £3,950 (limit £4,000)
(will add the APR when I find out)

Overdraft - £1,500 (limit £1,500)

Student loan - £25,000! (deferred at present until my official wage it above £10,000)


I’ve always been rubbish with managing money and myself but always muddled through. I'm not here for any sympathy, this is all my own fault, just some adivce on where to turn or possible courses of action.

In and out of uni from 1999 ‘til 2005, leaving with nothing but debt. Since then, I’ve continued the same crappy evening job that I had for the last year, which almost covered my expenses. I’ve also been attempting some freelance work in a completely new field and while it is beginning to pay off at present it’s not reliable enough to base anything on. I get to odd lump payment every month or two of a few hundred pounds but that just ends up going on money I’ve borrowed the previous months. I think it's been more a case of me trying to continue my 'uni' lifestyle.

I live with me partner of 10 years who couldn’t be any more opposite it terms of organising life. They have been working since uni at the same well paid job, taking pride in being debt free and in complete control. I very much admire all of this and it kind of makes me feel even worse…

As you can see, I can’t cover my outgoings at all and every month I have to end up covering something with my credit cards (even the other cards…) or get a hand out from my partner. I’m regularly getting charged for being over my overdraft limit, missing CC payments which is obviously making matters much worse. Most of the day to day things are paid for by my partner as well, putting extra strain on their finances. Each month over the last couple of years I have just got deeper in to debt. Just a little bit each month, and I can see it happening, but I still do it. But now it’s getting silly and I need to do something quickly.

At 29 I’m extremely embarrassed about this and I have been hiding this from my partner since university. They no nothing about the extent of the problem (credit cards) and I can’t bring myself to talk to them about it. I’m constantly coming up with excuses when talk of children or house buying comes up, putting strain on the relationship. We previously discussed how my situation (what they do know) is holding us back. I’m concerned that the truth about my problems may push thing a bit too far.

The obviously thing seems to be to get a loan to cover the credit cards but I’m not sure I could afford the repayments even if I could get a loan (my credit rating/score must be shot to pieces by now, I cant even afford to pay the £2 to find out until payday…).

Sorry for the lengthy post, and if you can separate the finacial stuff from my feeling-sorry-for-myself, any help or advice, both long and short term, would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

southwester_2

Welcome to the forum, its a good start

I was also afraid to tell my wife about my £27000 debt but after a while it wears you down, I plucked up the courage about a month ago and although it was a hard few weeks, things will look rosier if he supports you, which I hope he does. Plus it is a huge weight off your shoulders and you will sleep at night and not worry about getting the post first etc.

Good luck but it is the hardest thing you will ever do, but it will be for best IMO

angelavdavis

Hi,

A couple of things from reviewing your SOA.

The first is querying whether your SOA figures are "your half" of the joint outgoings? The reason I ask is that your OH earns almost three times more than you, are you splitting the costs according to that ratio or halving everything? Perhaps your OH needs to be contributing a little more into the pot as even without debts it seems unfair that you are paying so much.

Other comments:

Phone/Broadband - I think you should see if you can find a better deal for this.

Food - if £80 is your half, you can definitely get this down - check out the Old style board for moneysaving shopping/cooking ideas.

Do you have anything you can eBay to raise funds and reduce your Overdraft or credit cards?

You need to consider trying to earn more money somehow - a bar job could bring in some much needed cash and cut down on the Leisure costs.

karolina1

I'm in pretty much the same boat mate. Faffed around a lot since leaving uni, and havent got a penny to my name, just a student loan, a loan, and 4 credit cards (the fifth I've managed to pay off, hurrah!!!)

I joined this site and the consumer action group and I've had loads of advice since then on how I can start getting my act together.

One of the first things you can do is try to reclaim any bank or credit card charges, it takes a while for them to come through so get cracking with that straight away.

Write to the CCCs saying you're struggling. Writing letters always wins you a bit of extra time.

I'm sure other members will have much more advice for you soon, you've taken the first positive steps and admitted the problem to yourself, so it can only get better.

Good luck!

Storm

If your OH has a good credit rating, if you tell them about your debt could they get a 0% CC or low LOB CC for you to transfer your current cards onto?

I also agree with Angela that you shouldn't be paying exactly half of all the living costs when your salary is so much smaller.

I'm going to try some mathematical jiggery-pokery to try and figure out your aprs as you've kindly listed the interest...

Storm

andanotherone wrote: »

Hi all, well here goes then…


HSBC CC - £120 (interest £75)
Mint CC - £35 (interest £10)
Egg - £20 (interest £8)
Interest on overdraft - £20


Egg CC – Balance £1,010 (limit £1,050) @ 23.9%
Mint CC – Balance £1,700 (limit £1,900) @ 7.2%
HSBC CC – Balance £3,950 (limit £4,000) @ 22.8%
(will add the APR when I find out)

Overdraft - £1,500 (limit £1,500) - harder to work out as depends how the interest is added & at what point in the month you reach it.

Obviously double-check these aprs, but if they're about right, then it might be worth phoning Mint & asking first for an increased limit, and then how much a BT fee would be.

beanielou

Hi & welcome.
Dont be as we all are here for the same reason!