Can Anybody help? My S.O.P

KayJ066

Hi Everyone,

Im 21, living with my parents, and have stupidly got myself into debt, all my own fault and now i can't see a way out.

My S.O.P as follows.

Basic Wage :£910 a month,
This is the only income i recieve.

My Outgoings.

£200- Rent
£25- Home phone/broadband/tv
£30 - Mobile Telephone
£42- Bus Pass for work (nobody lives near me so i cant car share)
£20- tobacco (i should give up i know)
£20- saving for xmas vouchers
£60 - driving lessons

total- £397

My Debts.

Welcome finance- £2000 over 2 years - £163 a month
Provident £50 a month- think i have about 250 to clear
littlewoods online- £85 a month- £445 rem balance
Argos - £285 - £30 a month
studio- £256- £30 a month
Capital one - £200- £30 a month
Vanquis- £285 - £25 a month
Aqua - £200 - £16 a month

Total - 429

So added together makes - £766 which leaves me £70 a month left to go out socialising, buy clothes, etc etc.

I don't know all the apr but i know the one for welcome is way over 60%.

Sorry if none of this makes sense.

kay

RAS

Ok

There a lot of folk who would think £130 was an awful lot.

However, what is needed is to sort out your existing debts so you have more to play with long term.

in the short term, you may have to cut back that £130 to acheive it.

You really do need to know the APRs on all those loans and CCs and store cards.

Also you need to know if you can pay back early on the loans? They know that you are going to have to pay them a fortune over the period of the loan and they are not about to give that up easily.

One place you might like to look is www.whatsthecost.com. That site has a snowball. You take your current debts and the APRS and see how much you will have to apy back in total and how long it will take to pay them off.

Also get your credit checks from experian, equifax and callcredit so you knwo what sort of credit rating you have. You may be able to get something with a lower APR to sort one or two of the horrors out.

KayJ066

I have tried getting a loan to cover everything, i applied with advantage loans, sent £49.95 heard nothing, applied with another company sent £39.95 im a mug i know and heard zilch.
Rang both to get my money back, they said i couldnt. I really am stuffed.

Penny2myName

Let me get this right, you paid to get a loan??

KayJ066

Yes, stupidly, then i read reviews on various websites and realised what a fool i'd been.

McSaver

Try applying for 0% credit cards and transfer the balance of the higher interest borrowings to them, therefore you would be elimating debt more quickly and effectively. BUT DONT spend on a 0% credit card. Also concentrating on overpaying if you can on the debts that have a few hundred left and pay them off in one go if you can.

Ask your parents if you can owe a couple of months rent while you pay your debt, your lucky your not paying rent to a council or something, and that money would be borrowed at 0% as well.

RAS

Ok, so you lost £90 that could have gone to paying off one of the high APR debts on your list.

Please learn from that.

We really do need to know your APRs, as this will help you prioritise your payments.

Also, if you have been trying to apply for lots of credit in a short period, you may find that you have accidently wrecked your credit rating short term. So please read Martin's article and get you free credit checks so you know the score. If you have, it will ease up again in the next couple of months.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/credit-rating-credit-score

Then people will be able to help you find another card to which you can shift some of this debt, so you have a bit of cash to sort out the others.

postingalwaysposting

kay we all make mistakes, unless you know things (like the loan) sadly some companys form a trap... now looking at your soa...

mobile phone ~ is this contract/payg... if its contract can you drop onto a cheaper contract or if its payg can you limit the calls you make (get people to call you )

bus pass ~ i know what buses are like is your work place far away?. could you look at getting a cheaper pass (ie journeys/weekly) and then either walk/bike ride to work... obviously if this isnt possible forgive me

tobacco ~ if you cant or arnt ready to give up no one is forcing you but can you try and cut down, even if you shave £5 off that total its a start also it will help if/when you want to give up

As ras says use the snowball website to work out the cost of debt repayment. It may be easier to look at each debt seperatly 9ie pay off the little/big ones first and work through them) however if this will cost you more in interest its better to pay a little off each one... the snowball will work that out for you

i also wanted to add that i am the same age as you and in total had simmaler amounts of debt and becaome debt free twice due to this site. Its not easy and it will be hard but once you are debt free the relief it gives you is great. Also set a goal of what you can do with the extra cash you would be using to pay off debt each month (ie the £400+)... maybe saving for a car? a nice holiday? Look into the bigger picture its easier to strive for your goal

Good Luck :T

KayJ066

Thanks to everyone for their replies, is there any good debt management companies, i have tried payplan and cccs but they were unable to help, due to my 70 left over each month, i just want to get it all into 1 easy payment each month, therefore allowing me to save for a car, and also i was looking into bankruptcy.

Kaz2904

You only owe £3291. Bankruptcy would be foolish at your age as it would affect you for a long time and you have no need of it.
You need to do what people have asked you to do and sit down and list all apr's, minimum payments, term of loans etc.
If you are in a position where you're paying for loans then I would think that your credit rating is not great right now.

You need to look at why you are overspending, maybe by keeping a spending diary?
You don't need a debt management company, you need to have your lightbulb moment and realise that you are in debt but you can pay it off.
Consolidation is not a good idea at the moment. Try working out your snowball or post all details and someone else can run your snowball for you.
Good luck with your debt busting!

bananakinz

Hi!

Have you got anything you can ebay or do a car boot sale? Is there any chance of getting an evening job?

Please find out the APRs of the debt.

Have you tried a spending diary to see exactly where your money is going - it can be a real eye opener!

Do your parents know about your debt? If they are willing to let you live rent free for a couple of months and cancel your driving lessons that could be £260 to throw at debt - one debt clear a month and then use this money towards another debt.

With a little hard work you could be debt free in no time!

One last thing - cut up the cards so you don't spend on them!

Good luck