Where do i start!!!

Tuffpup

I desperately need some help deciding what debts are more important to pay off first!

I have 6 debts (3 credit cards, one of which is defaulted, 2 loans and an overdraught) that i need to pay all of which i am paying at the minimum payments. By moving house recently i have managed to save my self a total of £300 and wanting to put this to use to pay my debts off! Below are some more details about the debts.

Credit card 1 (defaulted) - Owe £2469.58 @ 0% interest
Credit card 2 (Barclay Card!!) - Owe £1177.67 @ 29.9%(!!)
Credit card 3 (have had payment probs so they have held the interest till i'm sorted!) - Owe £3413.53 @ currently 0%
Loan 1 - Owe £8959.91 @ 9.9%
Loan 2 - Owe £13833.93 @ (i think!) 6.9%
O/D - Owe £2400 @ 0.794%(monthly) for everything over £1000

Total = £32281.62 (this is about £3000 of what it was at it's peak!)

Not sure whether to try to pay off the defaulted credit card first to improve my credit rating (wanting to in the near future get a mortgage) or to pay off the barclay card as it has such a high interest and could then, if used prpoperly, be used to improve my credit rating.

Thanks for any help, Tuffpup!

mrsmortenharket

we need a statement of means from you.

A list of all your incomings & outgoings to see what money you have to pay these debts. There is a post up above in the stickys showing you how do do your statement of means.

Lisa

ThankYouAndEnjoy!

Hello Tuffpup

I would suggest the following action

1 - Pay off the sum of monies required to remove default from Credit Card 1 - (assume this will be 2 payments - missed payment and new payment)
2 - Pay the remainder off Credit Card 2 as the interest is astronomical!!
3 - Cut the cards up for those you do not need (avoid temptation)

Tuffpup wrote:

O/D - Owe £2400 @ 0.794%(monthly) for everything over £1000

Are you able to confirm what your allowed overdraft is? IF you have some spare overdraft available, it makes sense to use that to also pay off Credit Card 2 as % rate is a lot less than that of the credit card.

If you post a S.O.A , then other MSE'rs maybe able to give you advice on money saving ideas.

Tuffpup

Here you go - hope this helps!

Monthly Incomings:

My salary - £1,310

Total - £1,310

Monthly Outgoings:

Mortgage/Rent - £285 (includes council tax, water, gas, electricity and Tv Liscence)
Broardband - £18.99
Phone - £45 + £11.99 Landline
Food - £150
Magazine Subscription - £4.50
HSBC c/c - £40
Barclaycard c/c -£29
Lloyds TSB c/c - £40
Lloyds Refinance Loan - £100
PS Loan - £220
Going out - £120 (currently!)

Total = £1064.49

HSBC c/c (defaulted) and refered to debt collection agency - Owe £2469.58 @ 0% interest
BarclayCard c/c - Owe £1177.67 @ 29.9%(!!)
Lloyds TSB c/c (have had payment probs so they have held the interest till i'm sorted!) - Owe £3413.53 @ currently 0%
Lloyds Refinance Loan - Owe £8959.91 @ 9.9%
Barclays PS Loan - Owe £13833.93 @ (i think!) 6.9%
Barclays Overdraught (Limit £2450) - Owe £2400 @ 0.794% (monthly) for everything over £1000

Tuffpup

do'nt really get defaults but think because it's been sent to a debt collection agency i will always have it till it's been paid off in full and will then be marked as satisfied. think thats right please correct me if i'm wrong!

mrsmortenharket

Tuffpup wrote: »

Here you go - hope this helps!

Monthly Incomings:

My salary - £1,310

Total - £1,310

Monthly Outgoings:

Mortgage/Rent - £285 (includes council tax, water, gas, electricity and Tv Liscence)
Broardband - £18.99 can you get this cheaper
Phone - £45 + £11.99 Landline £45 is Very Expensive for a mobile. can you downgrade to PAYG?
Food - £150again expensive for 1 person. Go to the Old Style board. Loads of ideas for cheap meals. Some people eat for less that £50 per month.
Magazine Subscription - £4.50 prob your only indulgence & I am a magazine-a-holic so for now shall let you off this
HSBC c/c - £40
Barclaycard c/c -£29
Lloyds TSB c/c - £40
Lloyds Refinance Loan - £100
PS Loan - £220
Going out - £120 (currently!)can you cut down on the nights out?

Total = £1064.49

HSBC c/c (defaulted) and refered to debt collection agency - Owe £2469.58 @ 0% interest
BarclayCard c/c - Owe £1177.67 @ 29.9%(!!)
Lloyds TSB c/c (have had payment probs so they have held the interest till i'm sorted!) - Owe £3413.53 @ currently 0%
Lloyds Refinance Loan - Owe £8959.91 @ 9.9%
Barclays PS Loan - Owe £13833.93 @ (i think!) 6.9%
Barclays Overdraught (Limit £2450) - Owe £2400 @ 0.794% (monthly) for everything over £1000

also you have £245.52 left from your wages unaccounted for! DO a spending diary to see where your money leaks to!

Good luck

Lisa

ifstar

ARRRGGHHH
has just posted and the site had a blip again.
Luckily it was very similar to mrsmortenhackert's though so I don't fell so bad.

Only differences are that I said for the magazine that perhaps you could try and get someone to buy you the subscription for birthday/Christmas.
I also mentioned about your nights out, thats £30 per week you are spending, you should be able to cut this down without stopping enjoying yourself.

I also mentioned the missing money from your wages after all your bills were being paid, you need to work out where this is going as it could really help you get your debt cut down.

You should take a look at the link below and put in your details. It will help you to work out how much to pay and will let you see when you can be debt free and will show you what difference any extra payments will make.
http://www.whatsthecost.co.uk/snowball.aspx

What I did notice though that the Barclaycard is the worst rate but the card you are paying least to! You should try and pay as much as possible to this card to get rid of it as the interest rate is really high.

Tuffpup

Just gone through this months bank statements and realised that i spend around £100 a month that i can't even account for! it's just odd bit's of spending on my debit card and little money withdrawls that add up here and there!

Also looking through this month i actually spend more like £150 on going out and the month isn't over yet!

Also realised i hadn't added on to my SOA that i spend about £30 a month on clothes.

Unfortunately i'm locked in to a contract with orange for the next 18 months as i got the cheap broadband - it didn't work so cancelled the contract. but to get it cheap orange made me go over to a 2 year contract! may have to phone them and ask to go on a cheaper tariff - i never use all my free minutes and texts anyway.

Tuffpup

ifstar

Definitely try and get a cheaper tariff, they might want to extend your contract though but if you aren't using the mins there is no point paying that amount. I hardly use my phone and I pay about £12 but I am still considering just going PAYG at the end of contract.

A spending diary will really help you cut out things you don't need to buy, it certainly makes you think after you buy things, and once you have got in the habit of it then you will start thinking before you buy.