* * * Time To Get Rid Of My Debt Once And For All * * *

money-4-nothing

I got my first credit card (Capital One) when I was 17 (I'm now 23), I lied on my application form about my age and income. I only wanted a credit card in the first place, so I could sign up to AOL. I payed the balance off in full each month until I made my first big purchase of £200 when I bought myself a TV for my bedroom. Ever since then, when ever I've bought anything big I paid on my card (even though I had the money in my bank) because of the protection you get when paying via credit card. My intention was always to pay the full amount when I got my statement, but the minimal payment always got the better of me.

I got my second credit card about a year later and for the best part of a year I swapped the balance from one card to the other. Back when there was no fee on CC Cheques. I then decided to transfer the balance onto a 0% card, which I did. When the 0% period over, I just signed up for another card and then another and then another. I now have 6 cards in total.

About 18 months ago I transferred all my CC debt onto a Virgin MasterCard, who offered 12 months 0%. In total there was £1800 and my plan was to pay as much as I could before the interest kicked in. But BLOOMING Virgin only wanted £5 per month as a minimal payment and that didn't help me and I just put it off and said to myself - "I'll pay more next month". That month never came and in the 12months I had to pay off a large chunk of it I only paid £60.

The interest started and was hitting me @ nearly £30 a month. I tried to sign up for another card - but I got one rejection after another. I was paying £40 a month on my Virgin card and £30 of it was interest. I must of signed up to 5 cards and all got turned down on all of them. After a trip to tesco I picked up a leaflet for a tesco credit card with 0% for 12months on BT's and a 2% BT fee. I signed up online and got a instant approval.

I then transferred the bulk of my CC debt online this Tesco card and the rest of it to my Barclay card who sent me some cheques not long after, offering 0% until June 2008.

So I'm going to do my up most to pay as much as it off as I can before next Summer. My first Tesco CC bill had a minimal payment of £58 and I paid £60. The second bill had a minimal payment of £56 and I paid £60.

My Debt Breakdown

Tesco Credit Card - £1818
0% until July 2008

Barclay Card - £300
0% until June 2008

Bike Finance - £1700??? not sure the current balance

Great Universal Catalogue - £100 (buy now pay June 2008)

Freemans Catalogue - £25

Monthly Income
Wages: £453.60 Gross (I'm only currently working part time)

Monthly Outgoings (Before CC Debt)
Board and Food - £100
Sky TV - £19
Broadband - £19.99
TV License - £11.62
BT Phone - £10.50
Bike Insurance - £20
Petrol - £15
Road Tax - £1.25
Bike Finance - £71

I've paying £60 a month off my Tesco Credit Card and £20 a month off my Barclay Card.

postingalwaysposting

money-4-nothing wrote: »

My Debt Breakdown

Tesco Credit Card - £1818
0% until July 2008

Barclay Card - £300
0% until June 2008

Bike Finance - £1700??? not sure the current balance

Great Universal Catalogue - £100 (buy now pay June 2008)

Freemans Catalogue - £25 ~ get this payed of asap then close the account, catolouges are an easy temptation yet the interest rates are sky high!

Monthly Income
Wages: £453.60 Gross (I'm only currently working part time) ~ can you get a full time job? why are you only working part time? Can you do any overtime?

Monthly Outgoings (Before CC Debt)
Board and Food - £100.00 ~ i am guessing you live at home?
Sky TV - £19.00 ~ this is a luxuary, can this be ditched and freeview used? or at least cut your package down?
Broadband - £19.99
TV License - £11.62 ~ if the top statement is correct why are you paying for this, does your parents etc not have tv's too so you can spread the cost?
BT Phone - £10.50 ~ if the top statement is correct why are you paying for this, does your parents etc not use the phone too so you can spread the cost?
Bike Insurance - £20 ~ can you get this cheaper anywhere?
Petrol - £15.00 ~ less journeys = less petrol used = less spent
Road Tax - £1.25
Bike Finance - £71.00
Tesco Credit Card - £60.00
Barclay Card - £20.00

total monthly outgoings = £268.00
incomings - outgoings = +£185.60 ~ where is this money going? have you got a spending diary?

I personally think you can overpay much more on your credit cards. Also you have no repayment scheme for great universal. Decide on a monthly amount of money for yourself and after bills using the amount left input all your details in here http://www.whatsthecost.com/ it will tell you how to pay your debts off sucessfully before all your 0% deals end and you start incurring interest.

welcome and good luck

Jacks_xxx

Hiya sweetie,

I'd be tempted to get rid of the catalogues - they're such a temptation. Pay 'em off, and get rid.

After that we need to look at your bike finance...What kind of interest rate are you paying on that? If it's high then it probably ought to be the priority. How long are you going to be paying £71 a month for???

Can you work any more hours? By my reckoning you need to be paying off your 0% debts at the rate of about £220 a month in order to clear them before the interest goes up, that's going to be pretty hard on your current income.

And as well as increasing your income, you need to try hard to reduce your spending. Keeping track will help you realise how much money you waste on nothing much. (we all do it!)

That's all I've got honey, if you can get a handle on your debts and get a plan in place you'll feel much better, I promise. :j

Love Jacks xxx

money-4-nothing

I live with my mum and we spread the bills. She pays the rent, electric and gas. I pay the council tax, towards the food, the tv license, sky tv.

I pay the phone because she wanted to get rid of it but i'm in contract with my broadband provider and I needed the phoneline for that. Calls only come to about £1.50 per quarter.

I've got about 2 & half years left on my bike finance (4 years), theres no option to pay early other wise I would transfer it to a 0% CC. The interest is 19.9% APR..... I was stupid, I rushed and I have my self to blame.

I'm on the look out for a full time job and the sooner the better.

I can't cut down my spending anymore, because I spend nothing hardly as it is. I don't smoke, I hardly go out drinking. I go to the cinema once a week but i've got a unlimited card and that costs me £10.99 a month (I forgot to add that to my outgoings above). I never buy food and drink at the cinema.

The catalogues will be going, they keep tempting me with special Buy Now Pay Later deals and boosting my credit limit every few months because I dont use them. Take the latest offer that hit my doormat this morning. 10% off anything and nothing to pay until August 2008 - I really would like a HD LCD TV and I had to slap myself and rip the letter up because the devil inside me was tempted.

I needed some new shoes for work and thats why i've got a balance on the freemans.

Jacks_xxx

Hi again cherub,

I'm no loan expert, but if you could get another loan at a better APR surely you could just pay the bike finance off? Or even just pay more each month? £71 a month for another 4 years is another 3 and a half grand hon. If you weren't paying interest, or if you had a lower interest rate it would be a lot less.

Many people on here save in order to pay a lump sum off their loans and finish them earlier so presumably it's possible to do something with your loan rather than just meekly pay their unreasonable interest rate for the next four years of your life??? :rolleyes:

Now...According to postingalways posting's figures your "nothing hardly" spend is £185.60 a month.

It's worth keeping track of that expenditure so at least you know what you spend almost £200 quid a month on even if you ultimately decide that none of it can be reduced.

And failing that honeybun, get out there today and get yourself a second job.

I'm sorry to nag cherub, but it is the way it is.

If you keep paying just about the minimums on those cards you'll still owe £1200 on the Tesco, and £180 on the Barclaycard when the interest rate hits next June/ July.

Wouldn't you like to have it down to a more manageable figure - or even gone by then?

If you can get your miscellaneous spending down to about £100 p/m (£25 a week) then you could afford to pay £100 a month to Tesco, and £60 a month to Barclaycard until January when the Barclaycard would be GONE.

Then you could pay £160 a month to Tesco fron January until July - which would mean that you'd only owe £518 on the Tesco card when the interest kicks in and you'd a be a good candidate for another 0% deal because you would've cancelled the Barclaycard months ago (right? )

But the Bike loan is the killer honey. Find away to sort that out.

Love Jacks xxx