Rock Bottom, but looking at the stars !

maresca

Right then, I've finally pulled my finger out and decided to deal with my debt. I've been an absolute pillock over years gone past and have racked up a sizeable amount of debt for no reason whatsoever. I've been told about this site on a number of occasions, but have avoided looking at it beacuse for some reason i thought i was in control of my finances.

I'm going to be as honest as possible and start by stating my debts and get them down on this forum so i always have a reference point.

MY SOA.

Capital One MasterCard - (Limit £200 - Owing £217 APR to follow)
Natwest Visa - (Limit £450 - Owing £482 APR 16.9%)
Barclaycard Visa - (Limit £910 - Owing £907 APR to follow)
Marbles Mastercard - (Limit £950 - Owing £850 APR 22 %) No longer have card
Sainsburys Visa - (Limit £1300 - Owing £1300 APR to follow)
Egg Visa - (Limit £1500 - Owing £1537 APR to follow)

Nationwide personal Loan £6000 - £4540 owing - Repayments £142.30 Each month

Natwest Overdraft £4400 - Owing £4500
HSBC Overdraft £1250 - Owing £1250

---

Total Value of Debt £ 15,554.00

---

Current Salary £1150

Monthly outgoings:

---

NTL Bill - £35.00
Mobile - £10.00
Food £50.00
Petrol - £70.00
DD to Egg - £35.00
DD to Nationwide - £142.30

---

Approx Total : £350.00 p/m

---

Good God, just had a moment or two to look at that. I have no idea where that money has gone. I have more to post, but i need sometime to reflect on that first.

maresca

I posted this a few moments ago on the loans sections, but i suppose its relevant to my current financial situation.

How i wish i had visited this place earlier. I'm currently trying to get an unsecured loan in the amount of £4000 to consolidate all my credit cards over the period of 12 months. As my credit rating is a little spurious, i tried to get a loan through my workplace (High street bank) to begin with, but was declined. I opted to use Yes loans, paying the fee and sending the paperwork through in the space of a few days. They were quick to deduct the fee, but now i cannot get hold of them. Only after reading this forum have i been made aware that they are a broker

I currently have maxed out all of my credit cards trying to juggle my finances and am right up to the limit on my overdraft. I currently have a personal loan with Nationwide of £6000, with about £4400 left to pay.

As i've applied and been declined a few times in the space of the last few months, i'm at a loss as to where to turn next. I went a bit out of control on my credit cards and incurred a few overlimit fees in the last couple of months, so i;m sure this has had an adverse affect on my credit rating.

I was considering the option of reclaiming my bank charges which must total near enough to £1000, but i happen to work for the bank i have held my account with for the last 6 years ! Besides, it will probably take at least month before the claim is settled.

I've just this minute finished applying for another loan with Moneyback
Bank and got a response staing that they are reviewing the application.

I am in serious need of this loan as payday is at least 2 weeks away and i need to settle these debts ASAP. I have £30 to my name and am right up sh**s creek at the moment. I would love some advise on how to move forward > Also, what is the likliehood of Yes loans doing anything other than avoiding my calls and emails ?

consumerpower

Hello,

There will be some financial wizard along shortly to provide lots of great advice. But I just wanted to say congratulations on taking the first step, a really big massive important one. It really doesnt get any worse than it is right now, about a month ago a was the same as you, and realised (when I actually sat down and added it up) I was in £32K worth of debt.

I have nothing to show for it, and now I have to pay it all off, and it will take three and half years. So you are not alone, you are no more stupid or silly than any of us here, we just made a mistake thats all.

Keep in touch, and start writing a money diary and do a budget!

Big Hug xxx

chunky79

Take a look at southern scousers sticky: First time posters. It will give you an idea how to post a full SOA. Then we can see where you can try and cut back.

Cazzdevil

Do you have no rent payments to make? And what about car insurance/maintenance figures?

CLAPTON

before we can look at loans etc both you and we need your full financial details

firstly tell us something about your circumstances.. are you living at home, paying rent or what?

secondly : your actual spending.. don't include debt repayment yet.

although you have written down a few things clearly you spend much more than this .. probably more than you earn and certainly more than 350 per month

a. start a spending diary and write down absolutely everything you spend
e.g. socialising, haircuts, newspapers, hobbies,
and also work out all the yearly and oneoff spend that you will spend over the next 12 months.. with these divide the totals by 12 and add a line to your monthly budget .. so add for car tax, insurance, MOT, repairs, servicing, holidays, xmas, presents, clothes etc etc. and of course you are now going to save up these monthly amounts so when you need to pay a bill you actually have the money already saved and so dont need to spend on CC or loans.

c. give us a spending total (without debts yet)

d. now the debts

for CC give us the amount owed, apr and the minimum monthly payment
for loans give us the amount owed, apr, monthly payment and number of payment left to go.

e. give us a total monthly debt payments

until we have those numbers its not possible to see the best way forward.

f. have you actually got copies of your credit records.

g. its unlikely that another loan will solve your problems.. the interest rate will probably be very high in any case and getting to loan wont clear your debts it simply transfers them

Storm

OK, in the short term with £30 and 2 weeks to go then I suggest you list some stuff on Ebay with short time periods, maybe see if you can do a car boot or something this weekend. Have you got any 2nd hand shops around that you could flog some stuff to? Near me there's loads of furniture places, somewhere that takes games, DVDs, CDs etc plus book shops. I realise you won't neccesarily get what the stuff is worth that way, but it will hopefully give you a bit more cash in your pocket.

Next, I suggest popping over to the old style board & putting up a storecupboard challenge - list everything you have food wise and the wonderful peeps over there will be able to come up with meal ideas for you that will mean you should be able to keep food shopping to the absolute minimum (i.e. bread & milk!)

You're £86 over limit on 3 credit cards, but you've got £100 to the limit on another - so I would suggest seeing if you can BT those bits to avoid more charges.

Assuming your minimum payments on the CCs are 3% then your minimum payments each month will come to about £159, but there's loads not listed on your SoA - especially rent/mortgage, household bills, car running costs (MOT, tax, insurance etc)

You're in the right place though, if you can give us a few more details we'll be able to help more.

Helonearth

Maybe I am missing something here, but your outgoings would suggest that you are living at home. Assuming that you have paid your minimum payments for this month, I have to admit that £30 for the next two weeks really doesn't sound that awful. I would love to have £30 spare each month!

Until your full situation is clear, no-one can really give you much in the way of specific advice.