Can Anybody help? My S.O.P

postingalwaysposting

I agree with kaz, bankruptcy isnt really an option for you as you owe so little, it will blow out (unless this is already the case) your credit recoord and could hold back mortgage oppertunitys... I dont think you can get '1 easy payment each month' thats consolidation and if you are at the stage of paying for loans it seems to me that your credit rating isnt good. Sadly the only way you can get out of debt is if you work at it and pay off each debt monthly, it will mean managing your finances closely but once you get into a budget/routine its easy ~ trust me.

As everyone above has posted we need to see you apr's in order to help you snowball, i am guessing they will be high anyway, dont worry about it we 'all' had high apr debt when we were young. Also as bananakinz stated start a spending diary, if you arnt paying (this is an example) the min payments you can see where the cash for these are going with a spending diary

take care

Primrose

I wonder if in the short term you could revise your view of "Must Have" versus "Nice to Have". When you're in debt, you really do have to make sacrifices in the short term and readjust your ideas of what counts as essential. Rent and getting to work seem to be your basic essentials. All the other items you list could be eliminated if bankruptcy was staring you in the face and you had no other option, so please try this until your debts are reduced to a manageable level. If you could cut out the tobacco and the driving lessons, and reduce the use of your mobile phone to emergency calls only, that would give you an extra £100 per month towards reducing your debt. Also if you could reduce your socialising (which possibly involves being in pubs and spending money on drink, and buy no more clothes, that might add a little more to your debt reduction. Bite the bullet and be inspired by what other people on this site have done. You're fortunate to be living with your parents who are probably shielding you from many of the financial realities which others have to cope with, so take advantage of the opportunities this offers and I'm sure you will feel proud of what you've achieved, and learned about yourself once your debts are eliminated.

KayJ066

i can't ask my parents to let me off my rent as they need it, i know i should stop smoking and socailsing, but i feel that at the end of the month i should be able to let my hair down and have a laugh with my friends, i know im not in the same situation as many people on here and i know it may seem like iam making excuses which im not, i just honestly dont see a way out, im fed up with having no cash, i dont want to stop my driving lessons as i wont start them up again, its taken me 4 years to actually get on with it, and do it.

The £70 that i have left, goes on about £30 socialising, £20 on clothes and £20 just goes right away, i know my debts aren't as big as others, and i really all the messages that u have sent.

fistfullofdollars

tbh I dont think you've had your lightbulb moment. Fair play for posting up here as you are obviously thinking about it, but untill you realise that you cant spend anything untill its a necessary 'I cant get by without it'. Think of it as if you make some serious cutbacks for a couple of months, you'll be able to enjoy yourself more once you are debt free.

Really think hard why you are in debt. There must have been a reason why you started spending more than your disposible income whist living at home. If you have draws of stuff you could ebay/sell to reduce the debt if you have frittered it away. I had loads of boys toys I never used.

Dont consolodate. Work with what you have and concentrate on the highest APR first.

I'm sorry if you think I sound harsh, but you remind me of me pre-lbm. I needed a rocket before I had my LBM. I wanted to make a difference but I didnt want to give anything up. You'll see if you change your outlook with money you'll soon make progress.

God sake dont go BR, your life will change so much over the next couple of years and the last thing you want holding you back is a BR for only £3k.

Good luck.

climbgirl

KayJ066 wrote: »

i can't ask my parents to let me off my rent as they need it, i know i should stop smoking and socailsing, but i feel that at the end of the month i should be able to let my hair down and have a laugh with my friends, i know im not in the same situation as many people on here and i know it may seem like iam making excuses which im not, i just honestly dont see a way out, im fed up with having no cash, i dont want to stop my driving lessons as i wont start them up again, its taken me 4 years to actually get on with it, and do it.

The £70 that i have left, goes on about £30 socialising, £20 on clothes and £20 just goes right away, i know my debts aren't as big as others, and i really all the messages that u have sent.

Look, this isn't meant to be a harsh post but I think you need a bit of a wakeup call here! Right now, your incomings exceed your outgoings and that makes you one big step ahead of most people on this board! For a lot of people on this board having £70 a month to do whatever they liked with would be paradise!

Yes, you are going to have to sacrifice nights out and some socialising. But if you want to clear your debts, you're just going to have to suck it up and do it. You have a fairly low income but you're young and that will change as you get older. But until then, you can't live life having whatever you want - you just can't afford it.

It's more than possible to have a laugh and let your hair down with your mates without spending a fortune. If they can't understand your reluctance to spend up large, then I'd question their friendship.

This isn't going to be easy, nobody here has a magic cure for you (and neither do Payplan or CCCS). The only way to pay this back is to cut back on your socialising and throw all your spare money at the debt. No, it isn't fun to say no to things you want to do. But believe me, if you go down that route and spend like there's no tomorrow, it'll cause you a hell of a lot more pain in the long run.

climbgirl

Just wanted to add, don't you dare go bankrupt! With this amount of debt and your ability to pay it back in a reasonably short time frame, that's a crazy decision! It will totally stuff your credit rating for years to come and will affect things like mortgages in the future. I know you don't want to think about stuff like that now, but it's sheer insanity to wreck it all unnecessarily.

You can pay this back, it's just going to take a bit of willpower and no going out for a while. Not fun, but you just have to knuckle down and do this.

I don't know what your job is, but is there any chance of getting a part=time job to bring in extra cash? If you work in a bar on friday/sat nights, it'll give you an excuse to say no to going out and it'll bring in money at the same time. Work your butt off doing that for a year or so and you can clear this debt and start from scratch.

You have to want to do this, nobody can offer you a quick fix here. It's going to take some sacrifice though, you have to accept that.

magentadreamer

Have you thought about a second job? Bar work/Resturants etc?

stokegal

You sound exactly like me when I was 21 (not so long ago might I add!!) I had racked up debts with capital one, grattan, choice and welcome and then had no where to turn when the money dried up...

First of all you dont want to go bankrupt... you are only £3921 in debt and athough that seems like a lot it's manageable to get rid of. If you do go bankrupt you can wave goodbye to getting a decent rate on a mortgage and I'm pretty sure that you don't want to live at home forever

As for getting one loan to pay off all of your debts... forget it - you have credit with capital one, vanquis and welcome.... these places target people who can not get loan anywhere else. You wont get a loan and you'll just do more damage to your credit score. Without seeing what you APR's are I can't advise of which debts to pay off first to save you the most interest. For me personally I like the feeling of having accounts at £0 so I pay may debts off starting at the smallest.. it's not the best way but it works for me.

As harsh as this sounds you haven't had your LBM yet as you just want a quick solution so that you can have more disposable income to spend on going out and socialising, that is not what being a DFW is about.


I would follow the following budget for the next few months but again that's just my idea and you need to tailor it for your own priorities... if your priorities are getting out of debt then you need to cut back on smoking or driving... if not then accept the fact that you are going to feel like you have no money for longer.

July Payday

Income - £910

Outgoings
Rent - £200
Home phone/bb/tv - £25
Mobile Telephone - £30
Bus Pass - £42
Tobacco - £10
Xmas Vouchers - £20
Driving Lessons - £0
Welcome finance - £163 Balance £1837
Provident - £50 Balance £200
Littlewoods Online - £85 Balance £360
Argos - £30 Balance £255
Studio - £30 Balance £226
Capital one - £104 Balance £96
Vanquis - £25 Balance £260
Aqua - £16 Balance £184

Remaining - £80 or £20/week

August Payday

Income - £910

Outgoings
Rent - £200
Home phone/bb/tv - £25
Mobile Telephone - £30
Bus Pass - £42
Tobacco - £10
Xmas Vouchers - £20
Driving Lessons - £0
Welcome finance - £163 Balance £1674
Provident - £50 Balance £150
Littlewoods Online - £85 Balance £275
Argos - £30 Balance £225
Studio - £30 Balance £196
Capital one - £96 Balance [strike]£0[/strike] Paid off
Vanquis - £25 Balance £235
Aqua - £24 Balance £160

Remaining - £80 or £20/week

September Payday

Income - £910

Outgoings
Rent - £200
Home phone/bb/tv - £25
Mobile Telephone - £30
Bus Pass - £42
Tobacco - £10
Xmas Vouchers - £20
Driving Lessons - £0
Welcome finance - £163 Balance £1511
Provident - £50 Balance £100
Littlewoods Online - £85 Balance £190
Argos - £30 Balance £195
Studio - £30 Balance £166
Capital one - £0 Balance [strike]£0[/strike] Paid off
Vanquis - £25 Balance £215
Aqua - £120 Balance £40

Remaining - £80 or £20/week

October Payday

Income - £910

Outgoings
Rent - £200
Home phone/bb/tv - £25
Mobile Telephone - £30
Bus Pass - £42
Tobacco - £10
Xmas Vouchers - £20
Driving Lessons - £0
Welcome finance - £163 Balance £1348
Provident - £100 Balance [strike]£0[/strike] Paid off
Littlewoods Online - £115 Balance £75
Argos - £30 Balance £165
Studio - £30 Balance £136
Capital one - £0 Balance [strike]£0[/strike] Paid off
Vanquis - £25 Balance £190
Aqua - £40 Balance [strike]£0[/strike] Paid off

Remaining - £80 or £20/week

November Payday

Income - £910

Outgoings
Rent - £200
Home phone/bb/tv - £25
Mobile Telephone - £30
Bus Pass - £42
Tobacco - £10
Xmas Vouchers - £20
Driving Lessons - £0
Welcome finance - £163 Balance £1348
Provident - £0 Balance [strike]£0[/strike] Paid off
Littlewoods Online - £75 Balance [strike]£0[/strike] Paid off
Argos - £165 Balance [strike]£0[/strike] Paid off
Studio - £75 Balance £41
Capital one - £0 Balance [strike]£0[/strike] Paid off
Vanquis - £25 Balance £190
Aqua - £0 Balance [strike]£0[/strike] Paid off

Remaining - £80 or £20/week

December Payday

Income - £910

Outgoings
Rent - £200
Home phone/bb/tv - £25
Mobile Telephone - £30
Bus Pass - £42
Tobacco - £20
Xmas Vouchers - £20
Driving Lessons - £60
Welcome finance - £163 Balance £1185
Provident - £0 Balance [strike]£0[/strike] Paid off
Littlewoods Online - £0 Balance [strike]£0[/strike] Paid off
Argos - £0 Balance [strike]£0[/strike] Paid off
Studio - £41 Balance [strike]£0[/strike] Paid off
Capital one - £0 Balance [strike]£0[/strike] Paid off
Vanquis - £190 Balance [strike]£0[/strike] Paid off
Aqua - £0 Balance [strike]£0[/strike] Paid off

Remaining - £109 or £27.25/week

January Payday - A New Year and a New Beginning

Income - £910

Outgoings
Rent - £200
Home phone/bb/tv - £25
Mobile Telephone - £30
Bus Pass - £42
Tobacco - £20
Xmas Vouchers - £20
Driving Lessons - £60
Welcome finance - £163 Balance £1022
Provident - £0 Balance [strike]£0[/strike] Paid off
Littlewoods Online - £0 Balance [strike]£0[/strike] Paid off
Argos - £0 Balance [strike]£0[/strike] Paid off
Studio - £0 Balance [strike]£0[/strike] Paid off
Capital one - £0 Balance [strike]£0[/strike] Paid off
Vanquis - £0 Balance [strike]£0[/strike] Paid off
Aqua - £0 Balance [strike]£0[/strike] Paid off

Remaining - £350 or £75/week - That's £75 per week!!!

Then any extra income that you do make from ebaying, 2nd job should be put towards your treats (driving lessons, tobacco, going out etc) it'll make you so much more greatful for it cause you've really had to work for it - Hope this helps

Stokegal

KayJ066

thanks stokegirl,

that makes it sound so easy!! i think i can do that, by cutting down on tobacco actually works seeing as we arent aloud to smoke at work now, i think i will be able to do this, i have copied and pasted this into word so i can stick by it, hopefully by january i shall be only paying my loan from welcome, which would be such a result.

thanks to all of you for your advice, i think thanks to stokegirl i finally have had my lightbulb moment.


thanks to you all and hopefully in january i shall be able to say im nearly debt free!!!

Kaz2904

Don't forget that stokegirl doesn't know your apr's. Once we all know your aprs then we can look at your snowball. I can't remember seeing the link so here it is www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx this will tell you what to pay and where. It will also give you your DFD which you can then work on bringing forward.