My SOA / My quest starts here to be Debt Free

Mindspace

Hi All,

Have been lurking here for the past month when i had LBM on my birthday July 23rd, now brave enough to post my SOA and take advice&support from all you wonderful people. Have been addicted to this site really!:D Known MSE for an year or so, but never knew there was this wonderful forum until i accidentally discovered and then the tought of being debt free followed.

I live and work in london and share a flat with my childhood friend:beer: I've lost track for the last few years and raked up all these debts. Probably overconfidence i should say! So, here it goes! All advice/suggestion would be gratefully recieved.

Monthly Incomings:

My salary – 1550.00

Total - £1550.00

Monthly Outgoings:

Rent - £390.00
Council Tax - £39.50
Electricity - £25.00 (No Gas)
TV License - £5.50
TV/Phone/Broadband – 13.00
BT – 5.50
Mobile - £30.00
Food - £75.00
Travel Card - £57.50
Fags - £75
Gym - £92.00(I know...but just love it!)
Water – 8.36
others – 50.00 (Haircut, movies, dry cleaning, birthdays etc)

Sub Total: £ 866.36

The Scary Stuff!!!

HSBC Loan – 5381.28 @7.9% - 145.22 (36 payments left) 7000 Original
Amex CC - 6433.87 @6.9% - 161.00 Min payment 10300 limit
M&S CC - 3832.00 @17.9%- 117.00 Min payment 4000 limit
HSBC CC - 232.03@18.9% - 7.00 Min payment 250 limit
HSBC OD - 1500.00@15.9% Max limit

Sub Total: £430.22 (Debt Repayments)

Total Outgoings: 1296.58

Remaining: 253.42

Debt: 17379.18

I would try my best and can't wait to be debt free, aiming for 18 months.

Please let me know what u think, i don't mind even if they are criticisms!:D

SarahNeedle1872

Mindspace wrote: »

Hi All,

Have been lurking here for the past month when i had LBM on my birthday July 23rd, now brave enough to post my SOA and take advice&support from all you wonderful people. Have been addicted to this site really!:D Known MSE for an year or so, but never knew there was this wonderful forum until i accidentally discovered and then the tought of being debt free followed.

I live and work in london and share a flat with my childhood friend:beer: I've lost track for the last few years and raked up all these debts. Probably overconfidence i should say! So, here it goes! All advice/suggestion would be gratefully recieved.

Monthly Incomings:

My salary – 1550.00

Total - £1550.00

Monthly Outgoings:

Rent - £390.00
Council Tax - £39.50
Electricity - £25.00 (No Gas)
TV License - £5.50
TV/Phone/Broadband – 13.00
BT – 5.50
Mobile - £30.00
Food - £75.00
Travel Card - £57.50
Fags - £75
Gym - £92.00(I know...but just love it!)
Water – 8.36
others – 50.00 (Haircut, movies, dry cleaning, birthdays etc)

Sub Total: £ 866.36

The Scary Stuff!!!

HSBC Loan – 5381.28 @7.9% - 145.22 (36 payments left) 7000 Original
Amex CC - 6433.87 @6.9% - 161.00 Min payment 10300 limit
M&S CC - 3832.00 @17.9%- 117.00 Min payment 4000 limit
HSBC CC - 232.03@18.9% - 7.00 Min payment 250 limit
HSBC OD - 1500.00@15.9% Max limit

Sub Total: £430.22 (Debt Repayments)

Total Outgoings: 1296.58

Remaining: 253.42

Debt: 17379.18

I would try my best and can't wait to be debt free, aiming for 18 months.

Please let me know what u think, i don't mind even if they are criticisms!:D We don't do criticism, think of it as constructive feedback!

Hi Mindspace, welcome to MSE. Congrats :T on ur lbm and posting ur SOA - thats the :eek: part!
I'm not an expert on SOA's, but have no fear, someone will be along soon to help - if u don't get too many replies tonight, don't worry, as there's not always many people around at this time! But tomorrow ur bound to get loads of interest...

As I said, not an expert, but the two biggies that stick out for me are the fags and the gym.... one has to go, and the other could be a lot cheaper - u get to decide which is which

Have u tried applying for any 0%/ low LOB credit cards to shift some of the debt? http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cards/balance-transfer-credit-cards
If this isn't an option, u could try the credit card shuffle http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cards/cut-credit-card-interest and get as much as u can onto ur cheapest APR (Amex looks good for that, just under £4k left on the limit and only 6.9%)
Also, u could try phoning the card companies and asking for a lower APR - this has worked for quite a few people!

Lastly (for now anyways!), have a look on www.whatsthecost.com and play with the snowball calculator.... this tells you where to focus ur debt repayment whether u are able to get some lower APRS or not. It will also work out ur debt free debt at ur current repayment rate, and will show u how much sooner u could get it even if u only put an extra £5pcm towards paying the debt (try putting in ur £75 fag money, that'd make a HUGE difference )

Lastly lastly - if, like I used to, u get near the end of the month and wonder where all ur money has gone, start a spending diary, and put in every last penny that u spend - for me it was a real eye opener!

Sorry for the long reply, I am rubbish at explaining things

Welcome to the MSE family :beer:

Sarah x

Mindspace

Hi Sarah, Thanks your quick reply. sorry! I would think of it as a constructive feed back.

I applied for a mint 0% card, which is being processed. They required address proof, so possibly will know if i get can it by end of this week.

Amex won't give me 6.9% for transfering the balance. They want 14.9% which is rate for their purchases. So, just hoping mint would accept my application.

Would start a spending dairy from today!!

I think between fags & gym, getting mentally prepared to give up smoking and getting few patches tomorrow. should see how i get on!

Dumb_Blonde_3

Morning - yes I would say ditch the fags - keep the gym - its good for mind/body. As you are based in London I imagine you have a fair few gyms near you all trying to get your custom and doing great offers ...... well the other day my friend and her husband joined the same gym and me and my husband and their membership was only £75 for the month (LA Fitness) and we have been members for about 6 years paying £99 per month - Grrrr so I got on the phone and asked for a price - was then transfered to a 'membership advisor' so I told her that I was very annoyed (about the above) and that the new gym that has just opened was offering us a fab discount. She told me that she would switch us over straight away and that the paperwork would be in reception ....... so we are £25 a month better off and £300 a year better off - just for the price of one phone call. Give it a try - I would not have left the gym as they have a great creche their that my 2 year old adores - I get to work out - he gets to play - we all win.

Wow don't I waffle .........

FrugalJo

Hi Mindspace
Welcome :hello:

Come over to the Giving Up Smoking Thread, they'll motivate you.

hypno06

Love the name!!

Anyway, I would say - work towards giving up smoking. what is the point of being fit and healthy at the gym, and then smoking as well! Perhaps keep the gym for the time being while you are giving up smoking, as some sort of motivation?

Also, def go to the snowball calculator at www.whatsthecost.com - another fab site which will give you your debt free date to work with, and will really help you knock those debts down.

Finally, a spending diary will allow you to see where you are spending every last penny.

All of these things will help focus your mind on this a bit and with a definite goal of a debt free date in sight, you will make that extra effort!

Oh, finally finally (!) get ebaying, quidco, pigsback, cooking old style etc etc. the possibilities are endless!!

tealady

Hi Speaking as an ex smoker (started and stopped many times) I would emphasise that is the biggest money saving thing you can do. Try Boots for a stop smoking class, I got 8 weeks woth of nicotine replacement thereapy for 1 prescription and 18 months later have saved loads of money (but spent some on alcohol - well a girl has to have a hobby)

Karmacat

Hi mindspace

Your income is still bigger than your outgoings, so you *will* be able to do it. But that means not frittering that away in "oh well, its only a fiver" - thats partly why the spending diary is so important.

The other thing that strikes me is over £8 a month for water. There's a whole big thing about it, I know, but you have several options, e.g. tap water, filter the tap water, or buy those humongous tubs and siphon water into a daily bottle.

liz105

Karmacat wrote: »

Hi mindspace

Your income is still bigger than your outgoings, so you *will* be able to do it. But that means not frittering that away in "oh well, its only a fiver" - thats partly why the spending diary is so important.

The other thing that strikes me is over £8 a month for water. There's a whole big thing about it, I know, but you have several options, e.g. tap water, filter the tap water, or buy those humongous tubs and siphon water into a daily bottle.

I think thats the water bill.

Mindspace, definately give up gym or fags, you say you love the gym but how much do you really love it if you're willing to undo all that hard work with smoking. Its like spending £90 odd on fancy food then throwing it all away.

ifstar

Mindspace wrote: »

The Scary Stuff!!!

HSBC Loan – 5381.28 @7.9% - 145.22 (36 payments left) 7000 Original
Amex CC - 6433.87 @6.9% - 161.00 Min payment 10300 limit
M&S CC - 3832.00 @17.9%- 117.00 Min payment 4000 limit
HSBC CC - 232.03@18.9% - 7.00 Min payment 250 limit
HSBC OD - 1500.00@15.9% Max limit

Sub Total: £430.22 (Debt Repayments)

Total Outgoings: 1296.58

Remaining: 253.42

Hi Mindspace,
At the end of the month do you have about £250 remaining or is this just the figure you should have left?
If you do then you should chuck it at the HSBC CC and get that away in one month then start chucking it at the M&S CC.

As the others have said, you need to seriously consider stopping smoking. If you are going to the gym then you aren't going to get the full benefits.

Everything else looks pretty much ok in your SOA, maybe you could get a slightly cheaper deal on your mobile if you can haggle on the price plan.

Jacks_xxx

Hiya Mindspace!

It doesn't look so bad sweetie!

Snowballing is definitely the way to go - that HSBC CC should go straight away honeybun. This pay day. It's really good for your motivation to clear a debt and that one is the highest interest and also the smallest and easiest to get rid of. Fill your boots chick!

I don't have much to add to the rest of the fab advice, as I'm still very much a learner myself , but...

The amount you're paying for the gym scared the bejesus out of me :eek: so I wanted to suggest that you sign up with Retail Eyes (Mystery shopping) They're always chucking free months at the gym at me in return for filling out a report on whether or not the receptionist smiles at me every time I go etc.

The other thing is, if the gym is a priority for you then keep it, (My hairdressing appointments with someone I trust are staying!) but use the snowballer to see how much faster you'd be debt free if you put that amount of money towards the debt each month. (It will motivate you to economise elsewhere I promise!)

Like fags for example...

All the best sweetie pie - a few little lifestyle adjustments and you'll be fine!

Love Jacks xxx