My Debt Diary

tikkwill

Hi All!

After reading these forums for some time I thought I would finally register and put up my SOA as it may will me on to get out of my debt problems quicker without slipping into the same old problems. I got into debt as an 18 year old offered a credit card from my bank, it spiralled out of control an I slipped into gambling to try and get my money (or the banks money) back. 5 years later I have managed to consolidate most things into one loan and I am constantly working at improving my situation.

My SOA:

Debt
Barclayloan: £22,158 @ 8.9%, 8.5 years remaining
Barclaycard: £3,026 @ 6.9%
MBNA Card: £316 @ 16.9%
HSBC Overdraft: £116

Total: £25,616

Savings

A paltry £150

Income
Salary: £1100 (can vary from month to month with overtime/bonus)

Outgoings
House (inc Mort, Bills, Shopping etc): £450
Barclayloan: £300.05
Credit Cards: £100 (£90 to Barclaycard, £10 to MBNA)
Mobile Phone: £40
Savings: £40
Other: £20 (online subs)

Disposable Income: APPROX £150 p/m which does not go very far.

I would love to pay more off my debt p/m but at the moment it does not look possible . At the moment my DFD will be December 2015 but I am getting married this year and want to start a family ASAP but there is no way I can with my current levels of debt. I thought it best to start here to enable me to keep everything recorded so I can work at it even harder than I have been doing.

Would be more than happy to receive a few suggestion

lynzpower

Hello there

Have you stopped gambling now? Even if so, you may want to download gamblock ( google for it) which bloacks all gambling sites from your PC. Additioanlly, gambers anonymous is a great place to get help and support.

In terms of your SOA, I have a few comments

Debt
Barclayloan: £22,158 @ 8.9%, 8.5 years remaining ( any PPI on here, can you overpay? )
Barclaycard: £3,026 @ 6.9% ( ahave you cut this up)
MBNA Card: £316 @ 16.9% ( have you vcut this up)
HSBC Overdraft: £116 ( why not pay off your OD with your savings and close this down now? )

Total: £25,616

Savings

A paltry £150 ( rate? what are you saving for?)

Income
Salary: £1100 (can vary from month to month with overtime/bonus) ( do as much overtime as you can!)

Outgoings
House (inc Mort, Bills, Shopping etc): £450 ( you NEED to break this down, what do you pay for internet, rent, landline, eletric etc)
Barclayloan: £300.05
Credit Cards: £100 (£90 to Barclaycard, £10 to MBNA- these are the min payments are they)
Mobile Phone: £40 ( is this the lowest tarriff you can get? call them &^ ask to downgrade)
Savings: £40 ( what are you saving for?)
Other: £20 (online subs) ( whats this for?)

Disposable Income: APPROX £150 p/m which does not go very far. ( yes, but where DOES it go?)

You need to do a FULL soa, with all the details of what you spend where

You must chop those cards up, carrying them around or having them as a temptation is not a good idea!

what have you got to sell to bring in more money?

tikkwill

I no longer gamble apart from the National last week for which I won £110 on a £5 bet.

I am saving towards paying off my wedding ring which is £390.

Regarding my loan I do not have PPI and I can not make additional payments. Both my credit cards are destroyed.

My House bills are split half/half with my partner an I am paying the minimum each month that I possibly could. Currently we pay:

£350 p/m Mortgage with 23 years to go.
£136 on HSBC house starter loan
£90 Council Tax
£37 Sky Digital
£40 Electric
£40 Life Insurance
£20 Home Insurance
£15 Water
£15 Phone Bill
£15 Internet sub
£11 TV Licence

The other £130 is spent on shopping.

I am paying £20 over on my Barclaycard min payment, I am paying the min payment for my MBNA.

The "other" catergory is for my online football subscription which is £5.00 and the other £15 pays for my NASN subscription on Sky.

tikkwill

paid off £20 on my MBNA card this weekend, not much but it helps make me feel a little better.

Set up my snowball target so at least that gives me something down in writing to see when i can get out of this mess. Payday on Friday and may well be getting a bonus this month, coming straight off my debt :T

tikkwill

Sold some gig tickets for £150, coming straight off my CC.

Also restructuring my payment for the house fund which gives me an extra £50 to pay off each month.

Feeling much better after the past few days of going through everything and realising what I have to do.

I want to be debt free by 2011 at the latest if possible, I will be doing my damed hardest to acheive that :beer:

art_student

Hi! Well done for getting in control of your money!
What is the interest rate on your overdraft? do you need Sky or could you get freeview? If you do have to keep it can you downgrade to a cheaper package? If you are keeping Sky, you can get broadband free with them (it will have a download limit though) have a look at the Sky website.
What is a NASN subscription? Do you need it?
Hope this helps!

Tashja

Hi hun

How many of you does that £130 shopping buy for - you might be able to cut back on that by £30 if it is just 1 or 2 of you !!!

Also have you shgopped around for Life Insurance ?? I think you might be able to save a bit there too.

Last one from me - would you or your opartner consider getting rid of Sky and getting a digibox thing !! Would save £40.00 per month there too.

Apart from that you are doing really well and I am sure with your determination you will get it all paid off by 2011 !!!

Big ((hugs))

T xx

tikkwill

We have recently gone through our finance and chopped bits and pieces off different things (electric, phone etc). Broadband is something I will look into as that is another £17 which could be saved.

I know this sounds bad with the situation I am in but Sky is fairly important to us as we dont go out much due to money so we sort of say what we are not spending out we are spending less staying in. Will be cancelling the sports once the football season finishes however so that is an extra £7 off the bill.

Overall my money situation is not as bad as some I read on here, it was at one point for which my salary was not covering my overdraft but I restructured and moved on from that but I still have this millstone around my neck which i aim to loosen over the next couple of years. The problem I must face and battle is not slipping back into it but I think I am overcoming my demons now.

tikkwill

now £201 in the green, also getting a decent wage this month with overtime and bonus so will have an extra £170 to pay off my debt.

Things are feeling far better now and I feel in control compared to a few months back.

Shineyhappy

I am glad you are feeling more positive!

It is always good to see the debts going down and even better when you get to write to a bank or who ever gave you credit and say thanks but no thanks I have enough of making you rich.

I now look forward to getting home, checking my banking online and seeing how my ebay items are doing and whether I have sold anything on Amazon.