First post- SOA and a plea for advice!

k_star

Hi everyone, nice to meet you all.

I've been reading the forums on MSE for ages now, but never really had the courage to post. However, today I had what I think is a lightbulb moment- it's August 3rd, a week before my pay day and yet *again* I had to transfer money from my credit card to my bank account so I don't go over my overdraft and bounce my last DD of the month.

This doesn't happen every month, but it is a struggle every month to pay everything and still have money left. What I would love more than anything is not to be cared of my bank balance anymore. I watch my friends check their balances before taking out £20 at the cash machine and they just look indifferent. I'm afraid to look at my bank balance in public in case I cry or something equally horrific!

I work and live in central London, and I love it, but it is expensive. I'm not massively well paid but it's more than enough to live on. I just feel completely overwhelmed by my debt. I also have depression which does not help at all- for example last weekend I was really down and feeling like my life/career was going nowhere... so I cheered myself up by spending £50 in a posh deli. For about 30 minutes I felt so much better, but as soon as I got home I just felt sick.

Last week I had my first session with a psychotherapist... that was another £30, and that's the cheapest non-profit I can find locally. I really want to get my mental health sorted out but I feel that it's ridiculous to spend £120 a month on sitting in a room and talking when I have so much debt. Any advice/opinions would be much appreciated. Of course, the therapist says I need to value myself more and I am *worth* £120 pcm, but she would say that

So, no point putting it off any longer, here is my SOA. All figures are pcm.

Rent= £520

Electric = £30
Water = £12.50

Home insurance = £14 [just renewed, this was the cheapest I could find for our area]

Council tax = £60

Mobile = £40 [one more month and I can switch contracts, although I do need to use the phone a lot for work]
Union fees = £5.99 [I work in quite a rocky industry, so I think this is worth it]

Landline = £15
Travel card = £90
Virgin broadband and TV = £20 [unfortunately half way through a contract]

Groceries = £70

Debt repayments

HSBC loan [fixed] = £153

HSBC credit card = £15
Virgin credit card = £20
Egg credit card = £80

TOTAL = £1145.49

I earn about £1450 pcm so where does the rest go? That's £300-odd. Well, I smoke and I KNOW I need to stop, I have tried dozens of times before but I am really going to try and beat it. There's also all those little treats to "cheer myself up". Well, they never really work do they?

I never buy new clothes because I "don't have the money". I know this is ridiculous, but by the time I get to buying new clothes it's all been spent.

A little bit more about my debts:

[edited to add some APR% as per the_cat's suggestion!]

HSBC 5 year loan = £6700 outstanding, 39 more payments left [7.9%, early repayment fine though]
HSBC credit card = £650- 16.9%
Egg credit card = £2250- 17.9%
Virgin credit card = £1000- 15% [ish...?]
Npower = £189 [they took my payment and then sent it back- I didn't realise so I thought I had £200 more than I actually had...]
HSBC overdraft = £1250- don't know the APR, but it's a graduate account, so costs me about £5 a month in interest]


I did pay off an Egg loan that still had £400 on it, which will save me £90 a month.

At the moment I don't see a light at the end of the tunnel. I feel that my debt is holding me back so much and really not helping my health, but I feel trapped.

Well, I suppose I've gone on long enough, if you've read this far thank you for listening, I appreciate it!

the_cat

hi and welcome to DFW!

Well done for taking the first step and getting it down on paper - it's quite a scary/daunting move isn't it!

The first piece of advice I would give is that you need to find out where the £300 is going. Start a spending diary and note down every item, no mater how tiny.

The experts here will ask you for the interest rates you are paying. Try to dig them out and add the info. When you have it, use the snowball calculator on www.whatsthecost.com to help establish a payment plan.

As far as the therapist is concerned, only you can know if it is doing you more good than you would get from getting on top of your finances and not needing to stress over them. Reading your post though money certainly seems to be getting you down

Take care

mae

What is your credit rating like? Would it be possible to transfer the higher interest rates to 0% balance transfers or very low life of balance cards? This way you would see your full payment bringing your debt down instead of half of it back on in interest. Also do you have any payment protection on the loans or cards? If so could these be cancelled?

You've taken the first step and that is taking control and I think once you start feeling like you are in control and running your life and your finances and they are not running you, you will feel so much better all round.

I say if you felt low enough to seek help mentally then I would continue, but I would say that, I am a counsellor . You have taken steps to sort out your finances and sort yourself out emotionally, in my book thats great strides already, well done.

There are so many helpful and wise people on here keep posting and getting their help.

Good luck

yog1960

Hi K_star,

For what it is worth, and I don't know how much you smoke, but I am trying to stop smoking at the moment (I'm 10 weeks without a ciggie). Try contacting your Doctor - I used a drug called Zyban which, allegedly, works on neuro-transmitters in the brain that deal with addiction - I am sure it does not work for everybody but it worked for me - and I am/was (makes me sound like an alcoholic, but I suppose it is all addiction...) a pack a day man for 30 years !

Hope you sort everything out.

Yog

hypno06

Hello there! I would certainly recommend the snowball calculator at www.whatsthecost.com - it will give you your debt free date, and show that there IS light at the end of the tunnel. I find it a great motivator as it shows how much quicker I can bring my debt free date forward by bunging an extra £10 a month at it etc.

Good luck, keep posting here - there are many who suffer from depression, or who have done in the past, so know what you are going through. The support you will get here is invaluable.