Hi newbie here and really need some help

ccdiva

Hello everyone, I'm new to the site and really in need of some help and support.
I am currently about £20000 in debt and pay about £1100 per month in repayments and then have an overdraft so have about £200 permonth to live on which I am finding really difficult.
How do you go about setting a budget up I have looked at martins budget page but got really confused as I have no idea how much I spend and no idea where to start has anyone got any tips on where to start? thanks xx

Hobbin_Rood

Welcome!

First things first - prepare a SOA (statement of affairs). See Sticky thread "First Time Posters" by Southernscouser. Then post it here. That way you'll see how much you're spending and on what. People here will give any advice they can. So get cracking and get that SOA posted!

Good Luck.
-Hobbin.

liz105

have a look at southern scousers sticky at the top of the forum page and post your SOA. then we can have a look and see if we can help

Lazy_Runner

Hi

Welcome to MSE and I wish you the best for you.

You do seem to be paying in excess of 5% a month of your debts. This either means you are clearing your debts really quickly, or some/all the debts have high rates of interest.
I am sure you would have done this, but in your SOA, please can you include the following:
Debtor, size of debt, %APR you are paying, minimum monthly payment, amount you are actually paying monthly.

tealady

If you get your bank statements then you can start an SOA. Keep a spending diary (scrap paper and a pen if necessary) and write down EVERYTHING you spend money on (even if its just a bar of chocolate). From reading Alvin Halls books I think that is a great help to some and it stopped me from a lot of impulse spending.

david_hellier

SOA please

hypno06

hi there :hello:

If you are finding it difficult to keep track of that £200 "surplus", try keeping a spending diary - write every single thing down - every trip to the cash machine for the odd tenner, every shopping trip, etc

You will soon notice where the money is leaking to. Perhaps you go to the shop because you need milk, but end up spending £20 on........nothing in particular!!

Or if you notice that you are spending a certain amount on coffee, or biscuits etc, then you can easily cut these out once you have identified them.

It will certainly be a good start so you can then fill in the budget sheets and the SOA a bit easier.

Good luck.

silkglade

Hello, congratulations (on making the 1st and most difficult step) and welcome :T.

1st we need a SOA, and you need to be keeping a spending diary so you can see EXACTLY were your money is going.:D

Once you have posted a SOA then the wonderful people on here can work their magic in cutting your costs too. PLEASE REMEMBER TO ADD THE INTEREST RATES TOO :eek: