Not Sure What To Do Next

MaccaHallam

I'm not sure what to do next. My debts are totalling near £8500 and I'm paying £195 a month on my debts alone. After all my bills I've not very much left to spend on living.

I need a solution, I can't carry on the way I am doing.

jansueir

Hi, well done for taking the first step. If you are able to, the best thing is to list all your income and outgoings on this thread so we can see where we might be able to help and advise you accordingly.

MaccaHallam

I'll have to later on this evening, in work at the moment and all my figures are at home.

MaccaHallam

Well here goes, this is what I'm earning and spending each month. I'm sure there's more I'm spending but I can't see where.

Income

Wage 1151.41

Expenditure

Rent 237.50
C Tax 46
Gas/Electricity 30
Water 15
TV 14
TV Licence 12.13
Mobile 25.10
Gym 25
Internet 10.04
Car Finance 199
Car Insurance 40
Petrol 100
Contact Lenses 15
Food 100
Debt Repayments 195

kb_soma

MaccaHallam wrote: »

I'm not sure what to do next. My debts are totalling near £8500 and I'm paying £195 a month on my debts alone. After all my bills I've not very much left to spend on living.

I need a solution, I can't carry on the way I am doing.

Hi MaccaHallam, I was in the same boat as you 2 years ago, I posted this earlier as some steps you could take if you were considering a Debt Management Plan. There are free agencies that will help you with this, National Debt Line are a good place to start and will give good advice. Thread here: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4787573

Best wishes

Tixy

Hi Macca

So the income/expenditure you have posted accounts for all but around £87 of your monthly income.

I see you are running a car so you presumably also have road tax, servicing, mot, new tyres etc to factor in to your outgoings.
Then you probably have some expenditure on things like clothes/haircuts/presents etc and perhaps some on entertainment.
Once those are all factored in its likely you have a shortfall each month which is why you feel you are struggling to manage your debt repayments.

Is there any way you can increase your income? can you do any overtime? or is their any chance you could do a second job to help bring in a bit more money?

How long do you have left on your car finance of £199 a month? Is this on HP? have you conisdered VTing the car and buying a cheap runaround instead so you don't have the monthly outgoing?

Aside from the car finance what debts do you have? is there a way you can resturcture your debts so that you are paying less interest and less monthly outgoings (e.g. if you have credit cards are you able to do a transfer to a 0% deal)?

If you are unable to increase your income or reduce any outgoings then a debt managament plan may be an option for you to consider, this would mean defaulting on your debts and paying a reduced amount to your unsecured debts. It would have a significant impact on your credit file but should help to ensure you are not falling further in to debt.
If you do consider a DMP then look here IMPORTANT - Where to seek professional impartial advice about your debts.

dancingfairy

Are you using the gym? If not, then that's an easy saving.
Do you need to run a car? Can you walk/cycle/lift share use public transport at all?
As Tixy has said, if you have no way of increasing income, restructuring debts or reducing outgoings then it looks like a dmp may be the way to go.
Have a chat with National Debtline or StepChange.
Best of Luck
df

MaccaHallam

Thanks for the replies.

kb_soma I've read your thread, it's good to see you're doing well and making progress. I will bare a Debt Management Plan in mind, good to know there is that I can do should it be impossible for me to do it another way.

Tixy yeah there are a few things I haven't included that you've spotted and yes that's likely to put me over what I earn a month.

Overtime is incredibly rare where I work and I'm wary at getting another job as I would be taxed higher?

The car is actually on a PCP scheme for 42 months. I'm 18 months into this at the moment. What is VTing? Not heard of that before but probably obvious when you say.

My current debts are:

Barclaycard £5,526.36 Min payment £124.34
NatWest CC £1066.81 Min payment £25
MBNA CC £ 555.20 Min payment £25
Natwest Debit £700 Interest around £10
Barclays Debit £500 Interest around £7

In total it's £8,348.37 and minimum payments of around £191.34

Most of the Credit Card is are on 0% deals at the moment apart from NatWest CC and a small part of the Barclaycard debt.

dancingfairy I do use the gym but I guess it's a luxury I can't afford right now and the extra £25 a month would be handy elsewhere. The car is vital for work as there's no direct route from where I live to work and family live a few miles away too.

bargainbetty

Based on your income, you will not drop into a higher tax bracket for some time. What you will find is that you have all of your tax free allowance used up on your main job, so your second one would be at full tax - it would work out the same as overtime, in the long run. You can look at bar work, shelf stacking, anything to bring in a bit of money and get the debts down. Bar work is often good because you also get to socialise while behind the bar and therefore don't feel quite so much like you are missing out. Shop work might translate into discounts on your food and household shopping which would also be useful.

Good luck

MaccaHallam

Ah that makes more sense bargainbetty. I will look to see if there's anything I could do locally. I was told it wasn't worth getting a 2nd job as it would all just go on tax.

Tixy

With a second job you will pay tax on all that income, at 20%, but likely wouldn't earn enough to pay national insurance on that job. So you'd be keeping 80% of anything extra you earned (and no impact at all on what you earn in your current job).

Might be worth looking to see if you could find a temporary second job to start with to see if you can fit it in and manage it - e.g. a temporary job in the run up to xmas?

VT - voluntary termination (handing back the vehicle when you have paid off half the amount owed under the finance).