Enough is Enough

hamiltonfan

After approx 7 years of reckless spending I have decided that enough is enough. I am 29 years of age and find myself owing £25,424.56 which I think is far to much. I need to make the commitment to myself to get debt free and start trying to get healthy.

I have been suffering from Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Anxiety and when I think about it I believe it is caused by the stress of owing such a large amount of money. I feel like my life is passing me by and I am not able to plan what I would like to due to owing as much as I do. So time to change it. I have been sitting working it out this morning and I am going to aim to get my debt cleared in 2.5 years. This will be very hard as I am not on a great wage. I do however live at home with the parents so I dont need to worry about things like rent, utility bills etc.

So this is how my breakdown looks

Littlewoods - £1636.00
Money owed to Parents - £2481.95
Santander Car Finance - £14324.46
Natwest Loan - £6982.25

MrCrimeFiction

Well done for the first step. People will give you great advice on here.

The biggest thing that stands out is the car finance. 15k? What car do you have? How long is left on the loan. Can you sell the car, buy and older one and pay off the finance.

Are you abel to post your monthly incoming and outgoings so we can tell you where your going wrong.

Best of luck.

hamiltonfan

The car finance is for a 2013 Ford Focus Diesel. I had a Focus ST previously but do to change of circumstances i was doing more miles which meant i had to get a diesel instead as it was going to cost too much in fuel. So I had to take a fair bit of negative equity into the deal on the car. My car is only worth around £9500-10K but the settlement is significantly higher than that.

My take home money after tax is between £1200 and £1300

My outgoings are as follows

Insurance - £68.00 - Due for renewal in November
Natwest Loan - £270.91
Santander - £261.91
Orange Mobile bill - £35.00
Gap Cover - £29.08
Lottery - £4.00
Littlewoods - £75.00
Service plan for car - £18.05
WWT Trust - £4
National Trust - £7.85
Adobe Photography Software Package - £8.99
Fuel £120.00

All the above are things I commit to on a monthly basis

MrCrimeFiction

Ok, in your circumstances, I would stop paying to the trusts. Wen you are debt free you can maybe start donating again, but I wouldn't be giving anyone else my money when you should be keeping every £. I would also stop the lottery and if you can that gap cover.

Do you really need a 10k car? Can you sell, pay off as much of the finance as you can and then maybe finance a smaller desiel car, say 3-5k. That would lower your debt significantly.

How much money do you have saved? Are you able to pay little woods? And your parents.

Can you list the apr of each debt so we know which one to pay off first.

I'm just trying to give the best advice I can. I'm in a similar position but I'm changing it at the moment. Good luck.

hamiltonfan

I only pay the trusts as for example the National Trust lets me get out and about with my camera for a significantly reduced cost. Same with WWT. I don't really get out and my camera is my hobby so I don't really want to stop paying them.

I have looked into getting a smaller car which would reduce my finance significantly but the problem I have is that I don't have the available funds to pay off the remainder of the balance if I did come to sell it on.

As for Savings I have none what so ever.

As for the APR I know that the Finance APR is 7.87% I don't know about the Natwest one though. They just take so much at the end of the month

hamiltonfan

Had two no spend days since I have started this which I am really pleased with!

DollyDreamer

Welcome to the start of your journey I am also on the what seems to be currently rocky path still I am here facing it head on as are you :j

Im also an avid photographer something I havent made nearly enough time for in recent months

Good Luck I hope to follow the successes of your debt busting !!

GunWharf

Good day from the South Coast, good on you for starting your Journey. I started in Feb of this year. It soon starts to gather pace!


Good luck:T

hamiltonfan

Little update of what I have been up to. I have been off work the past couple of days on a long weekend off. So far I have not spent a single penny since I started this. This is really good for me as it is something that I do not usually do. I am going to get out and about with the camera a bit later on today/tomorrow. Photography is something I would love to be able to make some income off but I am still very much an amateur at it. I created a Facebook page for it but nothing else haha.