Advice needed - am I sinking or swimming?

erique7

Hello,

I'm 25, have just got married and am saving for a deposit for a house.

I (as many others have) went a bit mad in my late teens and am still paying for it now. I have one default notice but not make all my payments on time but I dont feel I'm getting anywhere - is there a more effective solution?

Earnings: £1238 take home per month

Outgoings:

Food £80 per month
Council Tax £80
Home Insurance £12
Jewellery Insurance £11
Gas £56
Electric £29
Phone £25
Debenhams £50 (£1200 balance)
Barclaycard £50 (£1150 balance)
Car £280
Catalogue £70 (£700 balance)

I pay TV licenses quarterly £35, and pay my car tax, insurance and recovery annually totalling £685.

I dont think I've missed anything out, I also try to save £350 per month towards the deposit.

Has anyone got any solutions of what I could be doing better? Should I consolidate? Or should I try and swap some of the debt onto a new credit card with a lower interest rate? Any ideas with my less than good credit rating who I should try?


Thanks for any replies!

Emma

Storm

Allowing a monthly amount for the quarterly & annual bills your SoA comes to about £812 a month, plus the savings £1162.

Your utilities are very high - are you paying off arrears? If not then do a comparison to see if you can get a cheaper supplier. Would jewellery not be included in your home insurance? Is the car figure paying towards the actual car or for petrol?

You would probably be better off paying off the debts before you start saving simply because you'll be getting charged interest at a far higher rate than you'll be gaining in the savings. Depending how much you've got saved already I'd say to pay off the highest apr debts with that now, and then you can put more aside each month once they're all gone.

You've got no rent showing on your SoA - or anything for clothes, haircuts, birthdays, socialising etc - see the budget spreadsheet at the top of the DFW board for help making sure you've included everything

CLAPTON

how much are your savings?

pay off the debts starting with the debt with the highest APR first until its paid off then start on the next one with the net highest APR.

erique7

I have to have seperate jewellery insurance for my engagement ring as the home contents insurance wont cover it because of its value.

The gas and electric are regular payments not arrears - and I have switched twice within the past years to stick to the cheapest although I do feel the gas is still alot.

My car is on hp - all the fuel and parking etc is covered by my employer and my OH pays the rent as I pay the utilities and council tax.

I've only just started saving for the mortgage and I understand that being debt free is very important (obviously as otherwise I wouldn't be posting) but I also feel getting on the property ladder is really important so dont really want to stop saving for that.

Am I really the only person who is trying to save for a house as well as trying to pay off debt?

CLAPTON

what are the APRs of the debts?
if they are higher than your savings then pay off these debts first.

when you apply for a mortgage they will take your debts into account so its best to clear the debts first (unless they are all 0% or low APR debts)