how much time to be debt free

wanttobethrifty

Hello all, after just separating from my partner last month, i want to be debt free as soon as possible.
Income around £2000 per month.
debts, £8500 credit card, £5400 0% for 30 month on a Barclacard paltinum
£7500 loan 1, of which 7200 is outstanding on 16.9%
£2500 loan 2, of which 2100 is outstanding on 16.9%
monthly outgoings, rent, £550pm
loan 1 £185, loan 2 £100, £33 car insurance, £19 car tax, £70 sky tv broadband and phone, £90 council tax, £20 tv licence, £35 mobile. TOTAL £1102. Food and fuel is approx £150pm.
What should i be paying off first? i was thinking an extra £100 each per month to loans, and £400 to credit card. if i use credit card for food and fuel purchases, and only spend minimal amounts per month, how long do you think it will take for me to be debt free? asking this as you lot know all the calculations.

Sanctioned_Parts_List

Start here: http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php

That's your "Statement of Affairs" - it's a good way to make sure that you haven't missed anything, as well as allows you to work out how much to live on and how much is left to pay down debt.

Once you have that figure, go here: http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/snowball-calculator.php

This will tell you very quickly in which order to pay your debts, and tell you your debt free day.

"Simples" said the meerkat

enthusiasticsaver

Personally with that level of debt I would not be using the credit card for monthly expenditure but doing a budget and living within that and allocating extra to the interest bearing element of the credit card and then the loans. In the very rough figures you have given here it looks like you spend £1252 on living expenses but there may be things you have missed. If the normal loan repayments are £285 you should have £400-£450 approx spare so you then could pay as much of that as possible to the credit card but I think you will struggle to pay a further £100 each month to the loans without either increasing your income or using your credit card which defeats the object. Stop using it.

Playing_with_Fire_2

What are the APRs on the loans? With the small balances I'm thinking they could be expensive payday style loans which you should pay off as soon as possible (before the credit cards).

Could you apply for another balance transfer card (check the MSE soft search)? This won't make the problem go away, but will make it faster to pay off the debt.

Can you reduce the Sky package, or call and haggle if you've been with them for a while.

getmore4less

wanttobethrifty wrote: »

Hello all, after just separating from my partner last month, i want to be debt free as soon as possible.
Income around £2000 per month.
debts, £8500 credit card, £5400 0% for 30 month on a Barclacard paltinum
£7500 loan 1, of which 7200 is outstanding on 16.9%
£2500 loan 2, of which 2100 is outstanding on 16.9%
monthly outgoings, rent, £550pm
loan 1 £185, loan 2 £100, £33 car insurance, £19 car tax, £70 sky tv broadband and phone, £90 council tax, £20 tv licence, £35 mobile. TOTAL £1102. Food and fuel is approx £150pm.
What should i be paying off first? i was thinking an extra £100 each per month to loans, and £400 to credit card. if i use credit card for food and fuel purchases, and only spend minimal amounts per month, how long do you think it will take for me to be debt free? asking this as you lot know all the calculations.

As above do a proper SOA

monthly expenses
£550pm rent
£33 car insurance,
£19 car tax,
£70 sky tv broadband and phone, (that needs a rethink)
£90 council tax,
£20 tv licence,
£35 mobile.
£150 Food and fuel is approx

TOTAL £967

but stuff missing like clothes, car maintenance

Debt total around £24k

at £1k per month 17% that would be 30 months
chances are your expences are higher and you have less to throw at the debt
say around £800pm and 40 months

northerner999

Don't waste time now worrying about how long it will take to be debt free, other than know it will be years rather than weeks.

Instead focus on drawing up a SOA, shifting/paying off any debt that is bearing interest and making sure you have a plan for when any other 0% debt starts charging.

Decide how desperate you are to clear the debt quickly. If you want it absolutely asap then review all expenditure and find a way to make it cheaper. First job is to cancel sky (if it is desperately needed and you *absolutely* can't live without it, at least haggle. I left when it went up to £70 but was tempted back at £24.40, I've now left again).

See how you can eat for less, review all utilities, empty out all piggy banks and check behind the sofa. Meal plan. Don't get a coffee when out shopping when you can have a perfectly good one at home or in a flask, take packups to work rather than buying out.

Then try to raise income. Flog owt you don't need on eBay, old DVDs or CDs you don't use? Sell them. Even old ragged clothes have some value and every extra penny you can get in is a penny and a bit less off your debt if you include compound interest. Sign up for online surveys, sell Avon, whatever it takes.

But this all relies on how desperate you are to shift it.

pennystretcher

After making SOA, you can then seriously look at how much money you can throw at loans. Keep a separate emergency cash fund though!