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Advice for a 35 year old

frenchplonka
Posts: 277 Forumite
Ok so Im in my 30's always had a bad attitude when it comes to debt saving and money in general ideally i want to change this now or in 2017 going forward new me and all that...
Current situation is im working in a job paying around 18k with my major out going being 215 a month in rent for my half the of the house I share with my Bro.
I have around 5k in debts which are all previous debts from when i was a moron and just got contracts, didn't pay bills and stuff the only BAD one would be a council tax bill of around 1.3k.
I have no saving at all not a single penny I have moved from job to job and have no idea of what my pension looks like but im guessing pretty terrible.
I want to invest have money put away so I can have something to my name in the next 30 years....
So advice please can I invest whilst still having the debt hanging over me even though its all unsecured, Can i start to invest without having a safety fund?
Paying of the debts having a fund seems sensible but I wont have anything saved either and then I wont feel like im going forward and its not like the companies are putting pressure on me to pay either
Current situation is im working in a job paying around 18k with my major out going being 215 a month in rent for my half the of the house I share with my Bro.
I have around 5k in debts which are all previous debts from when i was a moron and just got contracts, didn't pay bills and stuff the only BAD one would be a council tax bill of around 1.3k.
I have no saving at all not a single penny I have moved from job to job and have no idea of what my pension looks like but im guessing pretty terrible.
I want to invest have money put away so I can have something to my name in the next 30 years....
So advice please can I invest whilst still having the debt hanging over me even though its all unsecured, Can i start to invest without having a safety fund?
Paying of the debts having a fund seems sensible but I wont have anything saved either and then I wont feel like im going forward and its not like the companies are putting pressure on me to pay either
Sealed Pot Challenge 10 - #571
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Comments
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Pay off the highest rate debts first
Pay off debts affecting your credit rating next
Don't save or invest in anything that doesn't return st a higher rate than any remaking debts.
Then pay off remaining debts.
You could easily work out the cost of each debt per week/month/year and plan accordingly
If the investment doesn't beat the cost get rid of that cost.
Simple really fj0 -
Fill in an SOA and post it on the Debtfree Wannabe board.
http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php
Think about saving when you have paid off your debts. Exception: pay into your works pension now, as your employer will pay into it too if you do.0 -
the flaw with the above comments is that with investments you dont really know what return you will get - hence it being an investment. so its not so simple and straightforward. one needs to take a view on what particular investments are expected to return and then decide if its better to use the cash to invest or pay off debt.0
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bigfreddiel wrote: »Pay off the highest rate debts first
Pay off debts affecting your credit rating next
I'd reverse that order. Surely paying off anything that drags your credit rating down is a priority even if it's a lower rate?frenchplonka wrote: »So advice please can I invest whilst still having the debt hanging over me even though its all unsecured, Can i start to invest without having a safety fund?Remember the saying: if it looks too good to be true it almost certainly is.0 -
the flaw with the above comments is that with investments you dont really know what return you will get - hence it being an investment. so its not so simple and straightforward. one needs to take a view on what particular investments are expected to return and then decide if its better to use the cash to invest or pay off debt.0
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Sorry I wasnt clear these are debts that are now with collections etc tbh i not heard from 80% of them since april and most of them are over 3-4 years old without a payment being made.Sealed Pot Challenge 10 - #5710
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This is a SOA
[tt]Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1250
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1250
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 215
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 35
Electricity............................. 10
Gas..................................... 10
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 30
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 20
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 12
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 125
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 40
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 5
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 514
Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 0
No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Total unsecured debts..........0.........0.........-
Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,250
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 514
Available for debt repayments........... 736
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 736
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -0
Net Assets.............................. 0
[/tt]Sealed Pot Challenge 10 - #5710 -
Yep, your SOA helped, and I stick by my advice, simple and easy to implement.
I agree with the other advice about company pension, it's free money.
Now just do it.
fj0 -
frenchplonka wrote: »Current situation is im working in a job paying around 18k
So advice please...
I suspect you need to earn more. Seriously. Why accept £18K?
To invest you need to get rid of the debt and then accumulate some seed money.0 -
Why earn more?Sealed Pot Challenge 10 - #5710
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