Help needed - SOA provided

ahomemadetouch

i am a little bit confused about your rent - is it a house share or is that you spliting bills with a partner if its with a partner then have you made sure your on the best tarrifs for everything

the same with food is that money your personal food shop or half a food shop with a partner?

will369

ahomemadetouch wrote: »

i am a little bit confused about your rent - is it a house share or is that you spliting bills with a partner if its with a partner then have you made sure your on the best tarrifs for everything

the same with food is that money your personal food shop or half a food shop with a partner?

Not sure what why it matters,
but I dont pay any rent, my parents just want me to put £160 a way a week into a savings account so I can save for a house.
I will not be lowering this....possible by £10 a week, but no lower.


My parents just ask I pay £25 a week towards food.

I can't ask my parents for any help, I have to sort this myself.
Thanks

asparagus1968

Ah, that makes sense now!:)........though I don't expect the interest on your savings will be more than the interest you are paying out on your debts?? It's better to pay off the debts ,then start saving.
Do your parents know you have debts you are paying interest on?
How much have you saved so far? Time for some maths maybe...if you have enough saved up to pay off your debts, you do that, then every month you could pay the £160 x 4 plus the £336 straight into an ISA or savings account and build it up in no time.
Then do a new SOA, get an emergency fund and entertainment budget out of the £131 you have left

ahomemadetouch

I would be inclined to agree with asparagus about the debts costing more than the interest your getting on your savings. it will also allow you to hopefully improve your credit rating even if you for example dropped the savings to £100 per week that 60 could make a decent dent in your debts.

will369

ahomemadetouch wrote: »

I would be inclined to agree with asparagus about the debts costing more than the interest your getting on your savings. it will also allow you to hopefully improve your credit rating even if you for example dropped the savings to £100 per week that 60 could make a decent dent in your debts.

Basically last August I moved back to my parents house and the rule was I was to put £100 a week into a savings account so I can save for a deposit for a house

Me being an actual idiot I didn’t.....I wasted the money and got myself into debt. I have now grown up and need to save.


Now I feel guilty and have had to up my weekly Mortgage money so I can make up for what I have lost.

In 3 years time I aim to have £25,000

enthusiasticsaver

I am not sure you are fully committed to sorting your finances out as all your responses to suggestions are dismissive and negative. I would say that if you are living at home and not paying bills and rent and still have £6000+ in debt then you are not living within your means and this situation will get worse.




Firstly, it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever to be in debt and still saving for a house which you are never going to be able to afford unless you learn to budget and manage your money better. Even if you do not want to ask your parents for help you must explain you have debts and say you need to reduce the savings amount so you can tackle the debt and get on track. You most undoubtedly are spending more on debt interest than you are gaining in savings interest. Where are these savings and how much do you have?


Secondly you seem to be prioritising your gadgets, haircuts, entertainment and socialising above your debt. That mindset will need to change if you are to get to grips with that. There must be a balance in that you allocate yourself a certain amount of spending money for the month for personal spends and do not go over that. How much that is depends on how much you have in this savings account (which does not show on your soa). Tell your parents to stop treating you like a child and manage your own debt and savings for a property.


Thirdly bank account fees are a waste of money in general. You are paying almost £100 a year for insurance on gadgets which most certainly could be obtained cheaper elsewhere by using price comparison sites or may already be covered by your parents home insurance cover. Cancel it.


Sorry to be so blunt but constantly putting off paying debt until after the next round of socialising is never going to sort the problem out.

will369

What if I drop my £160 a week to £100 a week?

Then in 10 months my debt will be paid off?

Then I can UP my weekly mortgage money to make up for the £160 I wasn’t paying?

enthusiasticsaver

My advice would be to stop saving and pay all of the money towards your debt. Even if you pay the full £600 towards your debt it will still take you the best part of a year to pay it off and that is assuming no or low interest.


The bigger problem is what are you wasting money on? As someone else suggested you need to keep a spending diary to find out why you are in debt in the first place. Every time you spend money record it and you will see if there is a pattern of buying gadgets, clothes, socialising etc etc and when you add it up I am guessing it will be a lot more than you think it is.


The best way to deal with this is to work out how much rent or food money to give to your parents, save a small amount as an emergency fund (as you have no house that could be £50 or maybe £100 per month if you have a car). Allow an amount each month for direct debits for phone etc and a personal spends which you withdraw in cash weekly and don't exceed. Put the rest towards your debt and clear asap then start afresh with saving.

will369

surly it will take me less then a year if I can put £800 a month towards the debt?

I just feel guilty I am falling more behind with my savings. But I suppose this has to come 1st.

ShakeItOff

If you're serious about paying your debts down, have a look at some of the snowballing calculators available online.

From my bad maths, I reckon it is going to take you about 12/13 months to pay off your debts, plowing the £160 into debt repayment. After that time, you would have in excess of £400 to put into a monthly house saving fund after that.

Make the most of living at home with your parents - you'll never have it as cheap again, and this is an ideal time to get yourself out of debt and saving. As others before me have said though, you need to have a look at your spending habits - a mortgage is a huge commitment and you'll need to be much more financially aware and responsible.