Newbie in debt here..

josheh

Hi all, I just this minute registered after seeing the advice and experice being shared in these forums. Good Work Everyone!
Ok , so here is my situation;
I am 21 years old (in 2 weeks)
I am in the navy and earning about 16k at the moment, although this is due to change in my november pay packet to just over 20k.
Basically i was fine until i joined the navy, first it was an overdraft for £100. then this lead to a store card, then a cd player for my car on finance, then a laptop, then a loan, then some other rubbish i dont need, including an air rifle!!
One of my main problems is keeping track of whats coming out of my account and when, this leads to things being bounced and im worried about my poor credit report as i need to get a mortgage next year.
recently i have paid off alot of my debt, but i am just stuck with this last bit i cant budge, which lead to me getting a CC and just gettin into more debt.
I take home from the navy about £900 a month after food, accom, tax etc is taken out.
as far as i can see i have the following debts:

RBS Overdraft: £250
RBS Loan : £1500
Store credit1: £600
Store credit2: £500
CC: £400

I just wanted to know peoples opinions on my situation, any advice etc.
Thanks alot, Josh

lynsayjane

hi Josh and welcome to mse! You've done the right thing by posting, it's your first step on the road to being debt free. I won't say it's easy but as someone who recently cleared her last credit card I can say that it's very very worth it.

First thing you need to do darling is work out exactly whats going in and out of your account. It's scary but get your bank accounts and work out what the story is. There is a 'sticky' post at the top of this thread by southernscouser and if you follow his advice you'll be able to work out your soa in order for us to be able to help you. It's also handy if you can tell us such things as the apr's on your debts, if they are loans how long is left on them and the normal monthly payments you make.

With all this information we can try and help you as much as we can.

Don't let it all get you down, we're a great community here and help each other through the tough times and celebrate the good.

LJ xx

iwanttobreakfree

yeah well done on posting - what helped me the most was the snowball tool that is fab really helps i find (does anyone know how to post a link sorry i dont!). I start off budgeting for what i really need like fuel, etc and then put in the snowball what i want to pay off when before you know it you'll be on the road to becoming debt free!

lynsayjane

iwanttobreakfree wrote: »

yeah well done on posting - what helped me the most was the snowball tool that is fab really helps i find (does anyone know how to post a link sorry i dont!). I start off budgeting for what i really need like fuel, etc and then put in the snowball what i want to pay off when before you know it you'll be on the road to becoming debt free!

iirc it's www.whatsthecost.com or something like that

iwanttobreakfree

thats the one - its brill defo use it!

liz105

In four months you could use all of your left over income to clear your debts. Is there any reason that all of the £900 wouldnt be available to do this? You say you have a car, so even after the costs that brings each month thats still a lot of cash left over.

ps £100 a month on food and accomodation?? Maybe I should join up!!

josheh

well thanks for the replies, and yeah food and accom is about 100 but dont join up! they give people in the forces as much credit as they ask for which isnt good!! well im not sure on exact aprs etc but i can tell you my other out goings;
i pay about £90 off my loan each month
50 off both of the store credits.
40 mobile phone
15 land line
15 internet
100 car insurance
about 60 on diesel (we share costs)
the rest seems to be spent in about 10 days, on useless rubbish like eating out, cds, dvds, clothes etc i think the credit card is a priority and the two store credits....
So would it be best to budget myself for like £50 spending money in october (i can get a lift to work and back each week) and the missus could pay if we wanted to eat out, and survival isnt a major issue because the navy sorts me out for that...
thanks again josh

Jacks_xxx

Honey it doesn't look too bad at all, but if you don't grab it by the scruff of the neck and take charge it could drag on and on and on.

I think you need a plan of action that will pay off the debts systematically and efficiently.

You'll need to spend a little time with your Credit and Store Card bills, loan agreements and bank statements and find out all the different interest rates you're paying. (Or ring them all up and ask what interest rate you're paying.)

This info is crucial to getting yourself sorted.

Once you've got it all together you punch the info about each debt into the snowball calculator at http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx and it will tell you how much you need to pay off each one each month to clear the debt as quickly and cheaply as possible.

If you get stuck doing this we can help -we've all done it - but those interest rates are the all important details that we need.

Plus...Could you maybe get a 0% interest credit card that you could balance transfer all these interest charging debts onto?

Give us the interst rates honey and we'll come up with a plan - I bet it's not going to take very long to clear these debts at all - if you handle it right!

Love Jacks xxx

liz105

your car insurance is high, £1200 pa?! is this the cheapest you can get it? do you have points?

Crown

Hi Josh, welcome Aboard

Have you read the first time posters thread at the top of the forum? If not if could please read it and set out your statement of affairs as shown.

As already mentioned you need to know exactly what your income is and then take control of your spending. Earning 16k a year doesnt mean that is what you have to spend as you pay tax ect ( I assume Navy personnel still pay this??).

If for instance you have £1000 a month paid into your account you need to then work out what needs to be deducted from this and what should be left over. On your expense list you havent included anything for

Car MOT
Newspapers/Magazines
Eating Out
Socialising/Drinking
Entertainment/DVD
Christmas /Birthday Presents

For the things you pay for yearly you need to work out how mych you spend at divide by 12 so you know how much you need to put away. Well done on taking the first step to sorting your finances out and you will find it quite an eye opener.

I would suggest that you start keeping a spending diary immediatley to help you see where the money really goes. This doesnt have to be anything fancy I just use a small notepad and everyday I write down EVERYTHING I spend be it a Mars Bar, Chewing Gum, Newspaper, Pint downthe pub ect.

Then at the end of the week/month add it up and you will see that those odd £10 pub sessions add up!

Wish you all the best with your DFW Journey

Lucy1982_2

My Ex was in the Army and his car insurance was about that. I guess being a young, male in the forces doesn't help sometimes.

I'd pop up your Statement of Affairs and find out what your APR's are and we can go from there.

Although I do have one quick question. Why do you have to get a mortgage next year?