best way to tackle cc debt 29 January 2016 at 5:16PM in Debt-free wannabe 7 replies 1.1K views

fishfinger1

Ive finally plucked up the courage to post on here after lurking in the background for a few weeks, basically I have £22308 of credit card debt over 6 creditors, ive fallen into arrears with 3 of those over the last 3 months and really struggling to catch up, my partner also has £7000 of cc debt but her credit file is still unscathed, could somebody be kind enough to point me in the right direction. thanks

enthusiasticsaver

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


Start by posting up a soa so people can suggest ways to save money. Stepchange is a really good organisation who can help if you are in debt crisis.

fishfinger1

Household Information[/b]
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 2
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1362.83
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1135
Benefits................................ 147.33
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2645.16
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 167.6
Rent.................................... 600
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 136
Electricity............................. 35
Gas..................................... 37
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 35
Telephone (land line)................... 17.99
Mobile phone............................ 80
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 10
Groceries etc. ......................... 200
Clothing................................ 30
Petrol/diesel........................... 200
Road tax................................ 30.68
Car Insurance........................... 60
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 25
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 8
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 70
Haircuts................................ 35
Entertainment........................... 50
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1839.27

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 9000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 9000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(0)........0
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 11000....(167.6)....5
Total secured & HP debts...... 11000.....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
barclaycard....................5674......117.5.....0
barclaycard....................6809......150.......0
natwest........................2337......48........0
virgin.........................3776......85........0
yourkshire bank ...............1700......30........0
Total unsecured debts..........20296.....430.5.....-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,645.16
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,839.27
Available for debt repayments........... 805.89
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 430.5
Amount left after debt repayments....... 375.39
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 9,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -11,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -20,296
Net Assets.............................. -22,296

MERFE

Is this accurate to what you are actually spending as it says there is £375 left each month you should be able to catch up. I would suggest keeping a spending diary and finding out where that missing money is going.

fishfinger1

MERFE wrote: »

Is this accurate to what you are actually spending as it says there is £375 left each month you should be able to catch up. I would suggest keeping a spending diary and finding out where that missing money is going.

no sorry I missed off my partners credit cards I will do a new one

fishfinger1

Household Information[/b]
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 2
Monthly Income Details[/b]
Monthly income after tax................ 1362.83
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1135
Benefits................................ 147.33
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2645.16
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 167.6
Rent.................................... 600
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 136
Electricity............................. 35
Gas..................................... 37
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 35
Telephone (land line)................... 17.99
Mobile phone............................ 80
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 10
Groceries etc. ......................... 200
Clothing................................ 30
Petrol/diesel........................... 200
Road tax................................ 30.68
Car Insurance........................... 60
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 25
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 8
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 70
Haircuts................................ 35
Entertainment........................... 50
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1839.27

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 9000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 9000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(0)........0
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 11000....(167.6)....5
Total secured & HP debts...... 11000.....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
barclaycard....................5674......117.5.....0
barclaycard....................6809......150.......0
natwest........................2337......48........0
barclaycard....................3434......83.8......0
tesco..........................2706......67........0
lloyds.........................3073......30.73.....0
argos..........................950.......50........0
Total unsecured debts..........24983.....547.03....-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,645.16
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,839.27
Available for debt repayments........... 805.89
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 547.03
Amount left after debt repayments....... 258.8
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 9,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -11,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -24,983
Net Assets.............................. -26,983

datlex

I would look at two things.

1) mobile phone bill - £80 is excessive. Is this for two phones? What is the break down between you and your partner? What type of phones do you have? Which network(s) are you with?

2) look at your landline and internet services. You can certainly pay less than £27.99 for the two.

You need to see what else is out there for both of these. I would consider these: Can you "bundle" all these and pay less- many companies now offer all three services? Can you change to a sim only tariff and save money on your mobile bills- cost of buying a phone within a tariff is expensive? If you are not with same provider can either of you join the other and get a dual line tariff?

Further to this is might be worth looking at your car insurance, though I have noticed you have not put anything down for your MOT....Is this because the HP is for a car which is under 3 years old?

With regards to your presents budget is this just for the 4 of you or does it include presents to your respective parents? You might want to make a small tweak here. Tip I have is to use take advantage of every opportunity to earn "points" whether be Boots, Nectar, Clubcard or ones tranferrable to Amazon or other vouchers- very handy at Christmas to reduce expenditure.

MFWannabe

fishfinger1 wrote: »

Household Information[/b]
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 2
Monthly Income Details[/b]
Monthly income after tax................ 1362.83
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1135
Benefits................................ 147.33
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2645.16
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 167.6
Rent.................................... 600
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 136 -Is this over 10 months or 12?
Electricity............................. 35
Gas..................................... 37
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 35
Telephone (land line)................... 17.99 - See if you can get this cheaper as a bundle with internet
Mobile phone............................ 80 - This is huge; are you in contracts? If not change to Sim only deals
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 10
Groceries etc. ......................... 200
Clothing................................ 30
Petrol/diesel........................... 200
Road tax................................ 30.68
Car Insurance........................... 60 - Make sure you shop around at renewal time to get the cheapest costs
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0 - You need to budget something here, MOT's, Tyres, Services etc
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 25 - What is this for?
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 8
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0 - Do you not have any contents insurance? You should think about getting some;mine only costs about £50 per year
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 70 - This is high and could definitely be cut back
Haircuts................................ 35
Entertainment........................... 50
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1839.27

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 9000 - Could one of the cars be sold to pay off some of the debts?
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 9000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(0)........0
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 11000....(167.6)....5
Total secured & HP debts...... 11000.....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
barclaycard....................5674......117.5.....0
barclaycard....................6809......150.......0
natwest........................2337......48........0
barclaycard....................3434......83.8......0
tesco..........................2706......67........0
lloyds.........................3073......30.73.....0
argos..........................950.......50........0
Total unsecured debts..........24983.....547.03....-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,645.16
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,839.27
Available for debt repayments........... 805.89
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 547.03
Amount left after debt repayments....... 258.8
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 9,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -11,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -24,983
Net Assets.............................. -26,983

I've made come comments above where you could possibly make some cutbacks. At the moment your soa says you have a surplus every month; d you or do you find that its not there?
If you don't have this left over every month then you need to keep a spending diary to see where money is being spent.
If you do have this surplus then you need to be paying it off the debts. Are they all on 0%? If so start with the one that ends the first