Hi I'm new here :wave:

shaundiamonds

Your debt to income ratio for the house is very low - I would not see this as a large burden in general.

The problem seems to be the high interest credit cards and loan which must either be consolidated into lower rates or if this is not possoble tackled highest rate first.

thriftyandfabulous

poppasmurf_bewdley wrote: »

Five kids in the household and not a penny coming in from Child Benefits or any other type of benefits? Or am I missing something?

The benefit income is listed in 'Other' and we don't qualify for anything else due to a tax credit overpayment

thriftyandfabulous

I'm in the process of trying to compile a list of my debts showing exact amounts and APRs. I can't seem to find the APR for vanquis,must 'purchase interest' (which is applies to my balance of 4.5% every month. Can anyone help? Thanks

thriftyandfabulous

shaundiamonds wrote: »

Your debt to income ratio for the house is very low - I would not see this as a large burden in general.

The problem seems to be the high interest credit cards and loan which must either be consolidated into lower rates or if this is not possoble tackled highest rate first.

Unfortunately I'm unable to get lower rates as my credit rating is terrible. Think it's going to be a case of taking one out at a time. I'm thinking of starting with the lower credit card amounts first to get rid of them and keep myself motivated. My highest APR is also unfortunately my highest debt - mobile money @ 97% :eek:.

Thanks for your input

thriftyandfabulous

thegreenone wrote: »

Hi
I agree that your car insurance is high. I am guessing you and hubs are late twenties/maybe thirty? So £600 a year each is very high. My 22 year old son in his 1.6l golf paid £480 last year when he had just turned 21. So please look at exit costs and finding cheaper asap.

Hi, yes I'm 28 and oh is 32. I did shop around and unfortunately this was the cheapest I could find it. My oh will have 5'years NCD when we renew and this time I'll use cashback sites so hopefully I can reduce this.

thriftyandfabulous

triple_choc_chip wrote: »

Good luck on your journey, T&F, you will soon tweak this and get it under control. Ringfence this first £20 saved and pay it off the card with the highest interest, you'll have one gone in months.

You pay to Park while you are paying astronomical interest each month. While I understand the logic of Park, if you used this money to kill the cards you could spend your money on prezzies next Xmas because it won't be going down the interest drain and the debt would be gone - at the moment it's not going down, you're just feeding the card company.

Well done for negotiating the TV package but it's still too high, aim to get rid when the contract is over. I think Sky is one of the greatest cons of our time but don't get me started.... Your children would find other things to do, I bet they have loads of toys that have been tidied away.

Good luck
TCC

Hi Triple Choc Chip (I'm hungry now:rotfl:). Yes I see what you're saying about park - I'll have a think about this, thanks

thriftyandfabulous

Okay so I've just gone through all of my accounts with a fine tooth comb and found exact amounts owed, APRs and minimum payments and it's really gotten me down. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by it all and wondering if I can do it . The APRs are really getting me down, I feel like I've been so stupid. It was easier with my head firmly in the sand.

My plan is to tackle the cards first, starting with Vanquis. As these are smaller I think it will be good to keep me on track and the loans just seem unmanageable at the moment. Once I have these paid off, I'm going to use those payments to overpay on my 2 loans. I want to be ambitious but realistic and aim to be debt free in 18 months, so my DFD target is June 2017. Any comments appreciated . Please help me keep motivated!

Debts

Name....................Amount....................APR....................Min Payment

1. Vanquis....................293.73....................69.9%....................17.50
2. Capital One....................177.95....................29.9%....................25
3. Aqua....................90.94....................69.9%....................15
4. Studio....................77.50....................48.9%....................10
5. Grattan....................600....................35.9%....................40
6. JD Williams....................701.50....................36.9%....................60
7. Mobile Money....................2853.20....................97%....................237.80
8. Avant Credit....................2200....................69.59%....................148.45

Total amount owed = £6934.82
Total minimum payments = £553.75

crazy_cat_lady

You can do it Thrifty - we've all been there, honestly. All made daft decisions in the past - but you're with lots of like minded and supportive people here.

thriftyandfabulous

Thank you Crazy, I hope so. Urgh today has been a spendy day and tomorrow isn't looking like it will be any better. I went to the butchers/Tesco/morrisons this morning for top up shops and also had to collect a reservation from Argos for my sons birthday next week. Tomorrow we're going bowling and for a burger for his birthday. These top up shops are a real part of my overspending problem and I think a thorough plan is needed to combat this. I'm definitely going to keep a note of my spending and also how well I stick to the food/petrol budget even though I don't plan on really tackling my debt until February as I think this will give me a clearer picture of where my money goes.

Today's spending:
Butchers - £11.32
Tesco - £12.21
Morrisons - £20.67
Argos - £30.98
Total = £75.18

I also read about wombling on here so picked up a handful of receipts left at the self checkout at Tesco and also found a £1! Only got 2 club card points though.

I'm also wondering if anyone knows if there's any help available for medical related costs in terms of travel? My 4 month old has health problems and has quite regular appointments at a hospital 30 miles away so we spend a lot on fuel and parking when he goes. He's had one operation so far but we know there are 2 more planned for next year as well as other appointments. He has an appointment next month actually. If anyone has any ideas that'd be great.

I'm quite enjoying doing this diary - even if no one reads it, it feels good to write it all down and have a plan. I'm hoping I can look back at this next year and be really happy with how far I've come.

Megano

Stop putting yourself down of course you can do it! Your doing great.
The first way to finding a solution is to make a plan and just go for it. It will be tough but it will get easier.
Im in your corner every step of the way