Drowning in a vicious circle of debt

blue_meanie2007

Hi fell debt free wannabees.

Can I ask for some advice on my predicament. My income and expenditure is such that I have no money left over and have to keep resorting to putting everyday expenses on the credit card. Things are particularly bad at the moment as I have to regularly travel up north to see a loved one who is receiving treatment for cancer and that is a 400 mile round trip. If I could get a loan for all the various amount outstanding then it would free me up but no one will give me one to consolidate my debt my income and expenditure is as follows:

TOTAL in pm: 1638

RENT: 350
COUNCIL TAX 125
N ROCK LOAN 230 (o/s 8400)
T EGG LOAN 180 (o/s 8000)
M & S C CARD 160 (o/s 4900)
SAIN C CARD 60 (o/s 2500)
LLOYDS C CARD 80 (o/s 2000)
gas 22
electric 25
water 30
tv license 12
insurance 15
Food shopping 150
virgin media 20
O2 MOBILES 40
CAR INSURANCE 50
DVD Rental 5.99
ACCOUNT CHg 15
PETROL 50


TOTAL OUT 1665.98

BALANCE -27.98

Can anyone please offer advice on getting out of the vicious circle I'm at my wits end. Thanks so much in advance.

mrsspendalot

hi and welcome

firstly, how many people are in your household? try to cut back on the food shopping, reduce your mobiles and stop the dvd rental and that should help without too much hassle.

secondly, post the APRs and limits of your credit cards/ loans as it may be possibly to do some shuffling around

blue_meanie2007

Hi thanks for that. There are 2 in the household my living expenses are what i've detailed. With the dvd rental I figure it stopped me buying dvds. as I have no pleasure at all otherwise as no money for clothes or anything :-(

EvilScotsman

Hi,

At the moment you're getting deeper in debt each month and that's the first thing you need to address. I've added a few comments below:

blue_meanie2007 wrote: »

TOTAL in pm: 1638 (Can you do overtime, get a second job, get a lodger, anything to boost this?)

RENT: 350
COUNCIL TAX 125
N ROCK LOAN 230 (o/s 8400) (Interest rate on your loans and cards?)
T EGG LOAN 180 (o/s 8000) (Can you get 0% credit cards instead?)
M & S C CARD 160 (o/s 4900)
SAIN C CARD 60 (o/s 2500)
LLOYDS C CARD 80 (o/s 2000)
gas 22
electric 25
water 30
tv license 12
insurance 15 (What's this for and can you get a better deal or cancel?)
Food shopping 150 (Can you cut back here? See the money saving old style board)
virgin media 20
O2 MOBILES 40 (Can you get a better deal or cancel these?)
CAR INSURANCE 50 (Have you used Martin's article to get the best deal?)
DVD Rental 5.99 (Not strictly a necessity but if it stops you spending more on DVD etc it's worth keeping, you need some entertainment)
ACCOUNT CHg 15 (Is this for your current account? Switch to a free account and you can also get a bonus of £100 too. This charge is half of your monthly defecit.)
PETROL 50


TOTAL OUT 1665.98

BALANCE -27.98

Can anyone please offer advice on getting out of the vicious circle I'm at my wits end. Thanks so much in advance.

Hope this helps,
Derek

Karmacat

Hello blue meanie
Sorry to hear of your predicament, between finances and a loved one with cancer...

I don't have much to add to what's been written, but I'll summarise the points I particularly agree with:
- post the APRs and limits of your cards and loans, as it may be possible to do some shuffling around.
- anything to boost your income? 2nd job, overtime, lodger etc?
- your bills don't look bad to me, but they might still come down, depending on how big your place is. You're paying what I'm paying, and I live alone in a 3 bed house.
- food shopping cutting back - is that for you or you and the other person? Other things have been your contribution only, so I'm assuming this is too. This *can* be cut back a bit - if you're travelling like that, its very easy to spend on snacks, even if you take the main stuff, you need to buy the snacks at supermarket prices, not service station prices, etc.
- no idea what an account charge is. Unless you're paying off a debit card, you really don't need it, I wouldn't think.

Good luck.

blue_meanie2007

Yeah I can see it happening have worked out that if i could consolidate in to a loan it would change things and stop me getting deeper but loan applications are being declined so best not apply anymore.

TOTAL in pm: 1638 (Can you do overtime, get a second job, get a lodger, anything to boost this?) No opportunity for overtime or space for lodger but but could look in to 2nd job.

RENT: 350
COUNCIL TAX 125
N ROCK LOAN 230 (o/s 8400) (Interest rate on your loans and cards?) this is about 10% worst thing is payment protection on top - but as I say I can't get a loan to move it anywhere
T EGG LOAN 180 (o/s 8000) (Can you get 0% credit cards instead?)
M & S C CARD 160 (o/s 4900) - this is very low interest about £20 per month
SAIN C CARD 60 (o/s 2500) - v low interest about £10 a month
LLOYDS C CARD 80 (o/s 2000) - this could do with being shifted if i can
gas 22
electric 25
water 30
tv license 12
insurance 15 (What's this for and can you get a better deal or cancel?) - home contents insurance was the best i could do on moneysupermarket.
Food shopping 150 (Can you cut back here? See the money saving old style board) - I try to keep costs down but is difficult
virgin media 20
O2 MOBILES 40 (Can you get a better deal or cancel these?) - locked in to 9 months before I cna decrease.
CAR INSURANCE 50 (Have you used Martin's article to get the best deal?) - was the best I could get.
DVD Rental 5.99 (Not strictly a necessity but if it stops you spending more on DVD etc it's worth keeping, you need some entertainment). Its a small pleasure
ACCOUNT CHg 15 (Is this for your current account? Switch to a free account and you can also get a bonus of £100 too. This charge is half of your monthly defecit.) - this is current a/c but includes breakdown cover and mobile insurance
PETROL 50 - this is actually more like £100 a month lately


TOTAL OUT 1665.98

BALANCE -27.98

Can anyone please offer advice on getting out of the vicious circle I'm at my wits end. Thanks so much in advance.

It is difficult as I can see whats going to happen but no one will help me so feel like i'm stuck in the mud

EvilScotsman wrote: »

Hi,

At the moment you're getting deeper in debt each month and that's the first thing you need to address. I've added a few comments below:



Hope this helps,
Derek

blue_meanie2007

Thanks I'm usually quite thrifty about getting the best deals for things its just I think i'm doing as much as I can but still sinking and the travelling only adds to the problems but I have to do it. Seems all I can do is look for a 2nd job and cut food shopping.

Karmacat wrote: »

Hello blue meanie
Sorry to hear of your predicament, between finances and a loved one with cancer...

I don't have much to add to what's been written, but I'll summarise the points I particularly agree with:
- post the APRs and limits of your cards and loans, as it may be possible to do some shuffling around.
- anything to boost your income? 2nd job, overtime, lodger etc?
- your bills don't look bad to me, but they might still come down, depending on how big your place is. You're paying what I'm paying, and I live alone in a 3 bed house.
- food shopping cutting back - is that for you or you and the other person? Other things have been your contribution only, so I'm assuming this is too. This *can* be cut back a bit - if you're travelling like that, its very easy to spend on snacks, even if you take the main stuff, you need to buy the snacks at supermarket prices, not service station prices, etc.
- no idea what an account charge is. Unless you're paying off a debit card, you really don't need it, I wouldn't think.

Good luck.

wannabedebtfreebeth

How about something like Betterware? I have been doing this for a few years now and it's great. And before anyone shouts at me I have nothing at all to gain by suggesting this. As a distributor you deliver catalogues to houses in your area, collect a few days later and pass any orders collected to your supervisor. You get 20% commission on the orders. Usually if you deliver/collect 120 catalogues (takes about an hour to drop out and up to one and a half to collect in) you should get about £100 orders so make £20. Doesn't sound much but it is possible to do around 400 to 500 catalogues a week working round a part time job - this would mean about £80 a week or £320 a month - when you look at it like that that hour or two a day in the evening or at weekends suddenly doesn't seem too bad! If you are interested google Betterware and look on their website. Good luck anyway.

Adrasteia01

Hi,
I would suggest getting rid of the monthly dvd rental. What I do is lend dvds to my friends and they do the same with me. It saves money and is a good way of watching lots of dvds.
If you like tv shows, I also found a great site where you can watch lots of episodes of tv shows from the web (streaming). www.tv-links.co.uk

As for mobile phones - I switched to payg (more than halved my phone bill). If you're calling one number more than any others, you could check into the cost of switching to their network. Now I get 5c a minute calls to my husband, so it has saved me loads. I also get my credit free through pigsback.com by earning points. You could check out sites like it or quidco to save money. It takes time to accumulate, but it can be worth it.

You could also try selling stuff on ebay or amazon, taking stuff to second hand bookshops etc. And to save money on food, buy the basic staple foods and make your own meals. You can save a bit sometimes by living off what you have in the cupboards etc, and trying to avoid buying more stuff for a while. Check out the cheapo supermarkets to stock up on junk food, if that's for you.

Tamara

Karmacat

blue_meanie2007 wrote: »

Yeah I can see it happening have worked out that if i could consolidate in to a loan it would change things and stop me getting deeper but loan applications are being declined so best not apply anymore.

N ROCK LOAN 230 (o/s 8400) (Interest rate on your loans and cards?) this is about 10% worst thing is payment protection on top - but as I say I can't get a loan to move it anywhere
T EGG LOAN 180 (o/s 8000) (Can you get 0% credit cards instead?)
M & S C CARD 160 (o/s 4900) - this is very low interest about £20 per month
SAIN C CARD 60 (o/s 2500) - v low interest about £10 a month
LLOYDS C CARD 80 (o/s 2000) - this could do with being shifted if i can
to 9 months before I cna decrease.

ACCOUNT CHg 15 (Is this for your current account? Switch to a free account and you can also get a bonus of £100 too. This charge is half of your monthly defecit.) - this is current a/c but includes breakdown cover and mobile insurance
PETROL 50 - this is actually more like £100 a month lately


TOTAL OUT 1665.98

BALANCE -27.98

Can anyone please offer advice on getting out of the vicious circle I'm at my wits end. Thanks so much in advance.

It is difficult as I can see whats going to happen but no one will help me so feel like i'm stuck in the mud

1. You seem very focussed on wanting a consolidation loan, and feel stuck cos you can't get one. Its not *usually* the way to go. I'm not sure, but generally thats what the advice is - not to do it. You may not be lookng at things realistically because you're so focussed on the consol.

2. If the N Rock loan has payment protection, CANCEL IT!!!

3. The two interest amounts for the credit cards you mention add up to almost all your deficit: it might not seem much, but it *is* if you look at it that way. You haven't quoted the interest rate on the cards, so we can't tell, but even if you shift these amounts to a low Life of Balance rate, that could make a lot of difference to your finances. You have to work at this, you know

4. The account charge. Do you *need* mobile insurance? How much would breakdown cover (or mobile insurance, come to that) be if you paid for it separately? Seems like you should check that out.

Good luck.

WesternExpress

Not sure I can add much here, but just a quick message of support. Things will get easier and you seem to be a sensible person. It may be worth keeping a diary of all your outgoings as to me you seem to have quite a short list of expenses.