Newbie - In Debt Please help

dunnc64_2

Hi I need help! I am in debt and its now time to face the music. Me and my girlfriend bought a house last year and consolidated all of our loans together in one, but I think we have taken on a little too much, I am not poor, I can live, but I have no life at the moment. I get paid monthly, which deals with the debts, and she gets paid weekly. Here is my Breakdown

My Monthly Earnings - £1610 per month
Girlfriends - £900 per month
Total - £2510

Mortgage - £123,000 left - £745 oer month
- I am on natwest VTR and it goes up all the time this runs til Jan 2008, I then plan to move to a Standard rate as the early redemtion charge is over £2400.

Loan - 17,000 left - £214.23 per month @ 7.9% over 10 years (9 years left)

Loan - £2000 @ 0% 185 per month 10 months left (the girlfriend doesnt know about this one though, it was for her engagement ring) I know i am stupid!

Car Loan - £5000 @ 0 % for 5 years - £80 per month

Council Tax - £107

Gas & Elec - £65

Sky - £41

Water - £35

Mobile Bill = £40

Overdrafts = £2000 - not paying anything at present back on these, the interest is pence per month

Total = £1547 or ther abouts.

Any advice would be really appreciated. Thanks in advanced.

mrsmortenharket

what about food/telephone/internet/birthdays/christmas/car tax/car insurance etc etc

Also do a spending diary for a few weeks to see where all your money is going.

Buying the paper & a bar of choc etc or whatever in work all adds up!

Good luck

Lisa

beanielou

Hi dunnc64 and welcome to MSE!
as the previous poster said you have nothing in your SOA for food, phone ect.
can you pop them into your SOA as well?

dunnc64_2

Hi guys, thaks for replying. Oh, sorry, never thought of that. No homephone or internet bill, that is covered in my sky bill, got free car insurance and tax, not due for 1 year. Food would = £90 per month, but we need to get on top of this, as we regulary buy food when we need it. I have stared taking packed lunches to work also.I havnt been the cinema for a while, nor have we been out. We have cancelled our summer holiday also!

art_student

Hello!
Do you have PPI on any of your loans? If so, see if you can cancel it. Are your loans flexible?
Otherwise I suppose what you are looking to do is cut down on bills and have a bit more money to have a life with!
Have you thought about cheaper ways to socialise? eg. BBQ - get people to bring beer + something to BBQ. Having people round for dinner is cheaper than eating out and make sure they return the favour! Have a playstation / DVD and pizza night, get people to bring beer. have a bring and share wine and cheese party - people bring their fave wine and cheese.
You don't necessarily need lots of money to have a life - just some nice friends!

dunnc64_2

I dont have PPI on the loans, they have been cancelled. We do have BBQ's and have friends round, maybe we should do it more! I have tried getting a loan with other companies to replace the big loan we have with a better rate, but declined. Would it be worth speaking to Natwest as both my loan and mortgage is with them? Thanks for your help

Quincifer

Are your mobile phone and sky bills as cheap as they can be? I'm not necessarily get rid but if you can reduce them then do so!
Food can be a HUGE factor in where disposable income goes, start trying to buy and cook in bulk and maybe make weekly 'menus' so you can keep a track of what you use and save a bit of money. Eating healthier does work out cheaper too, so fresh fruit and veg all the way!!!
A spending diary is a great idea to see where your 'spare change' goes, its amazing how buying a drink and a bar of chocolate every day can add up. Every day you take a packed lunch to work put £2 in a pot (or whatever you would normally spend) and save it up!
If you have the free time now and again there are a few survey sites which can help a bit. Register with a site called TNS and you will be paid in Nectar points, which if you save up for a bit you can put towards food shopping or christmas or whatever. Same goes for Mystery Shopping, if you or your girlfriend have the spare time then there a few companies to register with which can bring you some more money!
I hope this has been a bit helpful to you and good luck xxx

lynzpower

I would be very surprised if you are really spending 90pcm on food, we spent 100 between us and that was planned to the death and now we have relaxed a bit and given ourselves 125.

are both mobiles included in that 40 quid figure- is insurance included on that, or anything like "3 quid for having a statement" as was on mine the other day which I sorted out.