Another new wannabe...

Phil_H_3

Hi,
Been directed here by my sis...

I've been married for 7 yrs and have 2 young children (7 & 2), we have recently decided to go our seperate ways as our relationship was not working (on going for a couple of yrs)...anyway theres no bad vibes between us and we're dealing with it.

As for my debt well....

My wifes has always had temp/part time jobs and low income so her credit rating has always been on the poor side, so all our debt(well most) is in my name. She is going to be renting privately, and will be working part time, with the kids in full time school/childcare so she won't have much to help me pay off the debt.


Its a bit like this:

Child Maint £350 (Not CSA, agreed between us)

HSBC Loan £314 p/m £12580 6.9%

Northern rock £70.70 £2800 6.4%

Barclay Card £80 £3618 5.9% life of balance.(No purchases etc.. on this)

Virgin Card £40 £1905 0% til July 08.

Tesco Card £5 £70

Egg Card £10 £620

Next £14 £145

Car insure £30

Mobile £30

Bike £17 5 payments left

So I owe around 20 to £21,000, I know its not the end of the world but I have nearly fell into the IVA trap and have got as far as them wanting paper work, I'm usually really switched on with this sort of stuff hence why alot of my debt is good apr etc... but I just want to make sure my Kids get what they need and my wife gets of to a good start finacially as she has never had to cope on her own before.

I'm in the Armed Forces so will not have a problem my end with a roof over my head and food.


My out goings are:

£960 with out Fuel, Treats(me and kids), hair cuts(no choice),clothes and everyday essentials.

I take home after Tax,Rent,Food £1400.

How can i reduce my out goings with out doing this IVA thing? They seemed very keen to up my expenditure and told me i could end up with only paying back about 14k of my debt and £280 ish a month...is there a catch? Is there better ways to do it? I have no savings and no house.


sorry for the length of this post, just lots to explain.

Thanks

Phil

chloebelle

Welcome and good for you on joining the community :hello:

firstly, your outgoings are a bit vague - exactly how much are you spending on clothes. socialising, travel fares, magazines/newspapers, lunches, mobile phone etc...? When you see these smaller figures it is much easier to see where savings can be made.

Take a hour or 2 to really sit down with bank statements, cheque book etc... and see how much you have been spending on each area of your life. Some of the figures will surprise you!

Of course there are some areas of your life where you can't cut back, but you can nearly always make some sort of reduction!

Make a detailed breakdown of your outgoings and post here for everyone to consider - this is a bit hypocritical as I have yet to do mine! :rotfl:

For me the hardest step was admitting that I had been a prat with money and needed help. You've acknowledged there is a problem, you can certainly do plently about it.

madmoney_2

totally agree with chloe, we need more info!! as for the iva i personally wouldnt go down that route, there are free impartial debt charities that can help you for free, and help you set up a debt management plan, give cccs a ring or payplan, they are the best ones. It does seem like u got the best aprs on your loans etc, have a look at the snowball calculator on https://www.whatsthecost.com to see which one you should pay off first and your estimated debt free date. Hope this helps and welcome to the board!!

mm

tealady

Haircuts. Buy (borrow) some clippers and ask a good friend to cut your hair. Or try a local college, the trainee students will do it cheaply.
Use the snowball to see which accounts to clear ist (sorry I don't know the link).
Thats all I can think of for now - no sorry just remembered do the daily clicks thingy, use cash back sites and go on pigsback Mon to Fri, as Mr T says "Every little helps"
(Right must get to work - will be late enough as it is)

Phil_H_3

Thanks guys....


Yeah it was a bit late when I posted so hadn't put much thought into it. I've got the day off today so I'm gonna sit down and have a good look at it all.

I'm also going to upset the IVA lady and tell her its probably not best for me, as I'm guessing this with have a big effect on my credit score which I don't want as I'm planing on renting or buying in about 3 to 4 yrs.

thanks again

I'll be back.................

Karmacat

Hi Phil H

Glad you're going to do the whole "detail" thing that people need. Hairclippers was my instant thought too, by the way! Its the very things that you've lumped together that we seem to be able to give you most help on. Have a :coffee: and get it listed, then get it up here.

By the way, I often see people saying they've prepared a long post, and then lost it when they tried to upload it to the site. Just a tip: if you do your full listing, copy it before you post it. You don't need to paste it anywhere, its just in case you lose it.

Good luck.

immoral_angeluk

Hi and welcome. Don't go jumping into anything like an IVA til the DFW's have had a crack at you
Seriously though sorry things didn't work out with your wife but I'm glad everything is amicable. That's great not just for your finances but for your family as well.

Adrasteia01

Hi,

I noticed you're only paying small amounts off cards which don't have that much left on them.

Tesco Card £5 £70
Next £14 £145

I'd suggest paying these off in full if you can, and get rid of them. That should save you interest, and having to make those repayments. Also, do you have to pay stamp duty on all cards in the UK on a yrly basis? (we do here - 40 euro each april on every credit card we own. If it's the same there too, it might save you money to reduce down your number of cards).

Also, have a look at quidco to see if you could get money back/save money by changing your insurance, and you could probably cut down on your mobile phone bill by changing to payg or changing to the same phone service as whoever you phone most frequently. Another option is just to use it less. I currently spend about 10 pounds a month on my mobile, but I chat to ppl on msn too.

I also just read you're in the armed forces. If you got an IVA, it could affect your career - I'm not sure what the situation is, but you'd be wise to look into it first if you took that route.

Tamara

Phil_H_3

Hi,
Still not done my list yet, been at the bank canceling DD's and transfering them etc so i can ditch the Joint Account.

Anyway a few answers to the above.

My orange Phone is £30 a month including my Broadband, so if I didn't have that I'd pay £17.99 for the broadband, i do need the internet so can't think of any cheaper ways, £17.99 BB makes my Phone bil £12 a month for 275 Anytime x network and 100 texts, I only ever go over it by £2/£3.

Hair clippers are ok if you have a skin head, I like to keep my hair neat and tidy rather than military, its £8 a cut but could probably go a little shorter and have it done once a month insted of twice.

I'm paying Next and Tesco off today, I'm leaving my bike ones for now as its interest free and only 5 to 6 more payments.

I've cancelled Sky so thats £25, also handing the contents insurance over to my wife as I have my personnel belongings one at only £5 p/mnth so thats another £14 gone.

Wow....less than 24hrs and I'm saving over £60 a month already!


Cheers

chloebelle

Well done for making some immediate savings, good for you! Its these little things that really add up, if you can save £60 in 24 hours, think how much else you could save, plus the possibilities of making extra money through daily clicks, ebay etc..

Floss

Will your ex be claiming Housing Benefit? and Tax Credits? and getting Child Benefit? and £350/m maintenance? Maybe she could take on one of the joint debts?