DFW Newbie .. im going to cry

Irish_Paddy

Hi everyone, :j

I am hopinh I can get some help and support on here, as I am so sick of oweing places money and never being able to enjoy my wages when I get paid each month.

I have seen on other threads I should provide a breakdown of my income and outgoings so here goes


Income:rolleyes:

• Salary £25,000 per year, which is usually around £1550 after tax per month

Out Goings ( overdrafts & cc listen below also )

• Rent including bills £360
• Mobile Phone £100
• Car Petrol £40 per month
• Car Insurance £50 ( TPFT )
• Mobile Phone insurance £9 per month
• Loan Repayments to Ireland £300 a month
• PLUS Credit card payments for those below

Debts ( most of the below are near their max limit )

• Vanquis Credit Card £200
• Capital One Credit Card £200
• HSBC Credit Card £1250
• MBNA Credit Card £1700
• HSBC Overdraft £500
• Smile Overdraft £500
• Halifax Overdraft £500

Being from Ireland I still have some loans I am paying off back there also, I have converted them into sterling to be included as I have to pay these monthly also.

• Total loans back in Ireland £ 7000

My situation

At the moment I get paid on the 20th of each month into my Halifax bank account, and send money to pay money of my credit cards and overdrafts however I always end up having to reuse the money I pay in to live for the month. I have no idea of my interest rates, but i know vanquis and capital one are over 30 % each with the overdrafts being at the normal bank rates. I get so so fustrated and feel real embarressed to think I have that much money outstanding, especially as it inluced money in Ireland that I am paying 2 years after leaving there.

I have checked my credit file and it is appauling ! So getting more credit is not an option.

I just dont even know where to start

Any advise would be really really appreicated. My dream would be to get rid of my overdrafts here in the UK and to keep just one credit card. Whilst at the same time keeping my payments to Ireland going.

I have sat down on numerous occassions and tried to budget but then I never seem to stick to it, but i really need to ..i HAVE to.. as I am 25 and dont want to end up 30 and still in debt.

Right now I dont get paid till 20th August and all I have is about £150 available on credit cards to surive till then.. im hopeless


Anyway .. hope someone somewhere can offer some help.

Many thanks,

Paddy

Skint_Catt

:hello: Slainte Paddy.

I'm sure we'll all help a little bit, but the one that sticks out at me is your mobile phone bill. Could you cut this down and get people to ring you, or use a landline? If you're calling Ireland a lot could you look to see if there are phonecards you could use? I'm not sure your phone insurance is worth it at the end of the day either.

Could you change any of your elec/gas providers, or phone or internet services?

C xx

nickelodeon

Hi and welcome, you are in the right place to get some help!

You've got a good income and your rent seems pretty good so we just need to work out where the rest of your money is going! For a start you haven't included any food in your outgoings, what about going out, presents, holidays etc!
Try keeping a spending diary, it will show you where all your money is being spent and where you need to cut back.
£100 is a lot for a mobile, this has to be cut back! Also I would cancel the mobile phone insurance, it's a waste of money, you can get contents insurance for less than that which will insure all your contents as well as your mobile.
Next we need details of the APR for each debt and the minimum payments, what you need to do is paying the minimum of the lower APR and then put all your spare money towards the highest APR's to try and get rid of them first. This is known as snowballing, try out the snowball calculator: www.whatsthecost.com/snowball
I think you should be able to cut back your spending and increase the payments to your debts, but if you want to pay back even more then how about increasing your income - 2nd job, car boot sales, ebaying etc - are you into your gadgets? what have you been spending your money on, see what you've got to sell!

Good luck and keep us updated!

jo1972

Hi and welcome :wave:

I was going to say the same at Catt, the mobile phone bill is astronomical :eek:

You mention Rent including bills, what bills are they? Council tax, gas elec, water, tv licence? How about food? You also don't mention MOT for the car or tax, birthday/xmas fund etc. This is probably where you're money is going but you aren't accounting for it.

Write down everything you spend in a book, everything! Then you'll know exactly where your money is going and what was actually needed or not.

ltm07

I.P. is your Halifax account the Ultimate Reward one where you pay a £10 monthly fee? If so you get free mobile insurance with it. Also get free Travel Insurance & travel accident cover(very handy for you if you travel back & forth from Ireland regularly) free RAC Breakdown Cover & free Home emergency cover. I made a mistake the other week & signed up for breakdown cover online only to realise that i was already covered :mad: !

Irish_Paddy

hi everyone and thank you for your replies.

With the mobile phone, some of this is for ringing Ireland yes, I usually use skype or that for ringing home but on average it still works out at that.. as if i am out and about and need to ring home I will.. to be honest i have cut back my mobile phone bill LOADS.. with my most expensive one being about £270 a couple of months ago, and i was detrmined after that not to let it get to even half that again.

I don't really go out pubs / clubs that much but i would eat out maybe twice a month and get take away maybe one a week too, and usually have lunch in the work canteen.

yes the £360 includes all my bills such as electric and council tax, which i know is pretty resonable. For normal daily food.. gosh i have no idea how much i spend .. but am guessing maybe £10 - £15.. thats just a guess though.

My car tax is paid till november i think, and then its£90 for the year or around that.

I think i just need help with trying to budget and moral suppor tin actually sticking to it.

I also had a gym membership at £60 a month which I have cancelled this month.

The mobile phone insurance is £9, but the phone is work £500 so i defo want some kind of insurance on it as if i damaged it etc i would be devastated. I have sold some stuff on ebay but looking around my room i cant see anything that would be worth anything decent.



PS: That Halifax account looks really really good .. hmmm

Shineyhappy

Do you need a phone that expensive? Maybe think about selling it and getting a cheaper one?

My house hold insurance charges 4.50 a year to insure my phone and thats against all the usual things inside and outside the home.

CharliesAngel

Don't cry! you're in the right place :beer:

ltm07

Irish_Paddy wrote: »

PS: That Halifax account looks really really good .. hmmm

Yes,i think so too. I nearly ditched it but after reading into it the benefits you get for a tenner a month are pretty good. I just wish that i'd read it properly before i took out Breakdown Cover! :mad:

misspoppy

Hi

I'm sure that with the support of people here you will sort yourself out, however it will take hard work on your part.

You do need to look at getting that phone bill right down and that means not using your mobile to phone abroad. Unless its an emergency there shouldn't really be a reason why you need to phone home while you are out and about.

You should start a spending diary which means writting down every penny that you spend it usually highlights where you are wasting money that could go towards your debts.

sweepster

Hiya,
Like charliesangel said u really are in the right place here. Loads of support to help you get through it what i am doing at the moment is trying to clear a debt off a month at the moment my barclaycard. Maybe you could try your vanquis card as the interest is really high. Also check out ebay and amazon for selling things everyone has stuff they can sell.
good luck keep posting.
sweepyxx