I do wanna be debt free!

dhassen

thanks again for the replies.... I'm going to have to reply in full later on.. but in short we do need both cars... we live in the centre of manchester and I work 32 miles north and the gf works 9 miles south as a teacher (boxes of work and public transport dont mix). We need the cars! Ill look at the other stuff and reply later

cheers!

KittyKate

dhassen wrote: »

I really dont like the idea of old furniture, maybe im a snob I'm thinking we may need to go for another furnished flat, just to get the rent down, but that still would need a deposit and we'd still be stuck with a hideous cahoot.

Cheers for all the input so far tho people!!

I don't think you're a snob at all, I just think that you don't realise how cheaply you can get things for when you're on a budget - using my friends as examples, this is how some of my mates have moved on a budget:

Bed: one mate got a double divan donated from a relative, I bought a bed frame in IKEA sale for £37 (inc headboard) and a mattress for £99.

Fridge/Freezer: my friend bought a freezer for £150 and had a fridge donated, my local elecrical retailer does them for £120 each, discount for buying both, as does my local market (all new). Another mate got a fridge with a freezer compartment for £20 from his local freeads paper, then bought a freezer a few months later when he could afford.

Wardrobes: Cope with a £3.99 IKEA hanging rail, advertise on freecycle or look in your freeads for one under £30. Or get one of those modern canvassy affairs from Argos etc, around £30.

Sofa: again freeads, relatives or freecycle. If you *have* to have a new one, ours was £120 from IKEA and fits the apartment nicely.

I can't see what else you need in month 1!

david_hellier

Will look at tomorrow.

climbgirl

Well, no bank is going to give you a consolidation loan when you already have debt that amounts to over half your annual income. In fact, it's nice to see a bank acting with some amount of responsibility instead of giving someone debt that they couldn't handle on that income! You're right, they won't take into account your girlfriend's income.

I'd be careful about rushing into a joint loan with your girlfriend as well. I think you need to start looking at how you can reduce your (already) high debts instead of looking to get more. Apologies if I've missed this, but why do you have to move and why is it going to cost you £2000?! Can you not wait to move until you've cleared some debt first? There seems to be plenty of scope in your budget to cut back and clear these debts.

As for the furniture, snob or no-snob, you simply can't afford to buy a house full of new stuff right now. Sorry, but that's the reality of it. There's absolutely nothing wrong with second-hand stuff - try freecycle and challenge yourself to get the whole lot for free! My friend got a 6 month old piano on freecycle the other day, someone was moving in a hurry and wanted it gone. It's amazing what's on that site. Or check out sales for bargains, places like argos/ikea/tescos have decent enough furniture at lowish prices.

What's the urgency to move? If it's only a want rather than a need (ie. wanting a nicer place as opposed to being kicked out very soon), I'd reassess the whole idea. Frankly, when you have debts that amount to half your income, clearing those has to be a pretty high priority.

RAS

Hi,

You really need to address your expenditure

dhassen wrote: »

My First SOA

Joint monthly income: 2596

Rent: 725
Council Tax: 100
BT: 30 Internet: 15
Mobiles x 2: 70 - go pay as you go or reduce the contract to the minimum
Car insurance x 2: 83.50
Petrol x 2: 200 - can you reduce this? Cut driving other than the commute?
Food & household stuff: 150
Fags  : 180 - switch to roll up in the short -term and give thanks for the new law
Contact lenses: 20
TV license: 11

Total: 1584.50

I really can’t think of much else for up there ^

Cahoot Loan: Limit 8000, outstanding 7569 APR 19.9%, minimum payment: 192
Virgin CC: Limit 1500, outstanding 1450 APR 15.9%, minimum payment: 22
Abbey CC: Limit 1500, outstanding 1470 APR 15.9%, minimum payment: 8 (will rise next month)
RBS CC Limit 1000, outstanding 960 APR 18.9%, minimum payment: 21
Lloyds TSB CC APR 17.9%, minimum payment 21
GF overdraft 2000 APR dunno, interest each month 25
My overdraft 2000 APR dunno, interest each month 6, going up end of June 07

Student loans x 2 don't count

Total: 295 (only minimums remember!)

Grand total minimum outgoing: 1879.50

2596-1879.50 =

716.50 spare……… eh? It must be going somewhere we’re always broke!!!

You both need to start spending diaries. List everything that you pay out for at least two weeks, preferably a month.

You also need to know the APRS on the overdrafts urgently. Whats the overdraft limit?

Also

car tax, MOT, repairs, holidays, presents for birthdays?

When you have worked out what you are actually spening, you need to push every penny you can get hold of into the most expensive debts.

Can you overpay on the Cahoot loan? if not either hit the RBS CC or the overdraft, depending on the APR.

angelavdavis

I would never recommend consolidating debts - I have the scars to prove it . No matter how much you promise yourself that you won't spend again on the credit cards - there is always an excuse "I need a holiday - as I'm earning more now...", "the car needs a new widget", etc to justify it in the end.

I did this a couple of times - starting with a debt of £5,000 to fund my first two years of my MBA programme and my debts grew and grew - no matter how clever I got at tarting the credit cards, switching loans to get cheaper deals, making regular payments, etc. Luckily I realised the damage I was doing to my bank balance before I really hit problems and instead have cut back and paid off the maximum I have been able to in order to clear the debts at the earliest opportunity. I will have cleared £18,000 :eek: since my lbm in October 2006 by the end of this month, and will have finished my MBA by October this year.

Unfortunately, so many of us are too keen to get everything immediately on credit, instead of saving up for things. We end up paying back things long after they have ceased to be of use.

Instead concentrate on trying to switch credit cards to a lower life of balance card and work on getting them down.

Just my opinion - take or leave it.

As far as money saving is concerned on the SOA:
-Fags - switch to rollups or cut down
-Food - look on Old style - start making lunches, meal planning, etc should help you reduce the food total.
-Look at trying to get a joint Landline/broadband deal.
-in addition to that mentioned, you have no socialising money.
-start a spending diary - both updating daily - its a real eye opener and will reveal other areas where savings could be made.

I suggest you pay the £700+ off on your loans (check t's and c's that you can pay off early), credit cards or overdrafts instead of paying off the minimum as it looks like for every 2% minimum payment, two-thirds of your payment are going on interest :eek::eek: :eek: Please think carefully before consolidating.

david_hellier

Hi,

I'm sure you'll take the good advice of the others'.

According to my figures you have £224.43 per week to spend on food, fags, booze, going out etc. ie £112 each.

I suggest you each write this amount in a little book (a spending diary) on a Monday and keep a note of what you spend by deducting and keeping a balance. It's clearly a case of overspend. If you do have any over at the end of the week, put it to the Cahoot loan if you can. Set up standing orders and cancel DDS for the CCs. Maintain the same level of repayments, never the minimum and stop using credit cards for any more purchases.

I note no gas, elec, water. Also I've assumed £300 pa for 2road taxes.

Good luck, the figures are as follows:

income weekly monthly
self 2596.00
partner 0.00







total 0.00 2596.00 divide by 4.33
£599.08

£599.08 total weekly income

spend weekly monthly
rent/mortgage 725.00
council tax 100.00
elec 0.00
gas 0.00
water 0.00
secured loans 0.00
TV licence 11.00
fines 0.00
bt 30.00
internet 15.00
mob 70.00
car ins 83.50
petrol 200.00
car tax 25.00
cahoot loan 192.00
virgin cc 22.00
abbey cc 8.00
rbs cc 21.00
lloyds cc 21.00
od1 50.00
od2 50.00











total 0.00 1623.50 divide by 4.33
£374.65

£374.65 total weekly spend

Start= income - spend = £224.43 per week

pinkshoes

You have to define between what's a luxury, and what you really need.

Moving to an unfurnished house will save you money. All you need is a bed 2 chairs to sit on, a coffee table to put food on, some pots and pans, and some cheapo cutlery. All this will cost you under £200, possibly less if you use freecycle.

You pay alot for mobile phones, BT and internet! do you NEED internet at home? (luxury or necessity? - do you have access at work?). Change mobiles to PAYG? get rid of house phone?

Cigarettes... Sorry to say it, but these are a luxury. Some companies give free patches/gum to help you quit, so you really should consider quitting, as it's a luxury you can't afford. You'd save £2160 a year which would pay off 1/4 of your debt!!! (I used the Allan Carr book to quit).

dhassen

Hi people.

God it's been ages since I posted, and things are looking better

We did move, but to a fully furnished flat at 550pcm. Mum and Dad lent me the deposit money and I paid them back as soon as I got the large deposit money back from the previous landlord.

Gf has had pay rise, and I'm now glad that the bank didn't give me that loan. Figured we can pay off all that debt much much quicker and have more money spare with normal money saving, earning more and snowballing.

Car insurances have gone up though - moved to a dodgy area. oops!
Still well worth it as council tax and rent have gone down.

I'm cutting down on fags - the original quote there was wrong - i spent 100 a month not 180 lol. I'm cutting down now and try to change to about 75 quid a month - not a lot i know but really good for me that. Mobiles are tied down for months yet, but I think I'll look at payg when I'm done. I've got a load of stuff that I want to sell on eBay too, when I get round to it I should make a couple of hundred quid, which I'll shove straight on dearest CC.

Thanks to all those that posted all those months ago

oh yea and virgin just upped my cc limit by 300 pounds - I can't be that hopeless afterall! Not gonna touch it though mr branson

angelavdavis

Sounds like you had done really well. Keep it up!