Hi everyone, newbie here

sickandtiredofdebt

Hi everyone, i have finally took the plunge and joined this site. I have been looking at threads on here for a while now, and been trying to pay off my debts but i just dont have the motivation and give up after a month normally. I thought if i joined it might give me the motivation to get sorted.
We are thinking of moving to cornwall and i would really like to get the majority of my debt paid off by april 08!
Basically im a full time mummy of 4, i am also a nail technician and i do friends and familys nails in the evenings for a bit extra cash.
I am in £13,573 worth of debt, it has just crept up on me over the years, lets say i love spending!
My husband pays all the household bills, shopping etc so i have all my own money to pay my debts, child tax £390, child benifit £217 and im hoping to be able to save £100 a month from doing nails. The only thing i do pay is my car ins £40/mth and mobile phone £45/mth.
I have snowballed my debt and i should be debt free may 2010, but im really hoping to do it a year earlier. i really want to do it but im so worried its all going to go to pot again after a month!
Has anyone else really found it hard at first, any advice on how to stay on track would be great.
Thanks x

Burlesque_Babe

hi there, welcome!

Sounds like you are getting to grips with things already by snowballing - if you pop up your SOA, it might be possible with a few nips and tucks to free up a few more pennies to chop a couple of months off your SOA.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=107280 gives you all the gubbins on doing an SOA.

It is hard to stay motivated, I agree. What I did was just take one day at a time. Every day I tried to do something - anything - to take me that tiny bit closer to being debt free.

Even if something doesn't seem very worthwhile now (ie saving £5 on a monthly outgoing by changing provider) it all adds up over time and in itself snowballs into bigger savings.

Joining the challenges can help keep you focused - What have you done that is DFW today or the weekly Spend challenge are good ways to ease yourself in and the Supermarket Challenge on the Old Style board is fantastic. I used to do that and although it took 6 months, chopped my supermarket bill from £300+ per month (I know - arrgh!) to £160.

Good luck!

jo1972

Hi there and welcome :wave:

You are in a great position as you have money coming in that you can learn to manage and throw at your debts. Why not list all the debt you have, who it's with, how much and how long for, interest rates etc. so we can help you prioritise which should be getting more than others.

Good luck, this money saving lark is highly addictive and believe me, that is something I NEVER thought I'd hear myself say!!

Jo.:D

blackangeluk

sickandtiredofdebt wrote: »

Hi everyone, i have finally took the plunge and joined this site. I have been looking at threads on here for a while now, and been trying to pay off my debts but i just dont have the motivation and give up after a month normally. I thought if i joined it might give me the motivation to get sorted.
We are thinking of moving to cornwall and i would really like to get the majority of my debt paid off by april 08!
Basically im a full time mummy of 4, i am also a nail technician and i do friends and familys nails in the evenings for a bit extra cash.
I am in £13,573 worth of debt, it has just crept up on me over the years, lets say i love spending!
My husband pays all the household bills, shopping etc so i have all my own money to pay my debts, child tax £390, child benifit £217 and im hoping to be able to save £100 a month from doing nails. The only thing i do pay is my car ins £40/mth and mobile phone £45/mth.
I have snowballed my debt and i should be debt free may 2010, but im really hoping to do it a year earlier. i really want to do it but im so worried its all going to go to pot again after a month!
Has anyone else really found it hard at first, any advice on how to stay on track would be great.
Thanks x

:hello:

Welcome to the board and it's good that you have a target to try and pay your debt off by. Am I right in thinking that your income is £607 per month (£707 with the nails?) and your outgoings are £95 a month? If this is the case you have £612 spare every month.

Do you have to use your money for other things, like taking the kids out, clothes etc. It might be best if you did a full Statement of Affairs showing your full monthly income and what you have to pay personally (i.e. clothes, petrol, outings for children, clothes for children). Also if you let us know your debts, monthly payments and the APR on them it would be helpful, as we could then suggest which debt you tackle first.

At first sight it seems that you have a lot of money that you could throw at debts every month and you could probably raise more money by selling on ebay, amazon etc Children go through a lot of clothes and toys in my experience and its amazing what you can sell them for (the clothes and toys - not the children :rotfl: )

shopsalot

I found it very hard at first. This is my second go and my strategy is slightly different now.

I went all out in the beginning which is the quickest way and it seems to work for majority of people. I however could not do it. So i have allocated guilt free money - that way I am not constantly beating myself up. But its personal opinion and given your timescales all out saving might be the best option.

My first thing was to open a second current account, work out a weekly budget for spends and set up a standing order to that account. Then i gave He Who Does Not SHop my normal debit card so I have no access to the other money.

Next i looked at getting my debts in as fewer places as possible - it was just easier for me to track then. But you should check out the cost before doing it.

Then, (and I cannot see an end to this!) spreadsheets, spreadsheets, spreadsheets! List everything, set budgets, monitor it daily.

I am back on the wagon recently too - and this time I am looking at everything as a money saving scam, whether it is pennies, cashback, pigsback.com, changing my coffee - everything! That way it is always on my mind and I stay motivated.

Also dont think of what you have left to pay off - be pleased at the amount you have already paid.

Good luck, and keep coming back - they can be harsh sometimes but they keep you on the ball!

sickandtiredofdebt

hi there thanks for your reply, this is basically what i get in and out money wise a month.

incomings
Child tax £390
Child benifit £217
Nail money Between £68 and £260+/month
My nail money is going to be saved to use for birthdays, kids etc.

Out goings
Additions direct £5
Next £35
Capital 1 cc £30
Barclay card cc£30
Lloyds loan £90
Egg loan £106
Car insurance £40
Mob phone £45
DD Dancing £30
myself/petrol etc £60

There isnt much really i can do i dont think to save money on anything cos my husband pays all bills etc (luckily).
would be good to know what you think though, thanks x

redsquirrel80

According to my quick calculations (leaving out your nail money) you've got about £200 a month left over. If you don't actually have this left over then maybe you need to keep a spending diary and find out where it's going. If you can throw that much extra at your debts it'll get them down a lot quicker!

Good luck

OberonSH

What are the APRs on your debts? Can you shuffle them all onto a low interest (or preferalby 0%) card to make sure more of the payment goes on debt rather than paying for the priviledge of owning the card?

Join up to pigsback (head over to freebie board for details) - you can swap the points for vouchers - boots, Dotty P, Topshop, Pizza hut etc. These come in really handy for birthdays etc - therefore allowing more money for debt.

I take it your hubby is simply going to pay the bills, and not give your debts any of his money (which is fine) - just trying to ascertain iif cutting your grocery spend, utilities etc will affect your debt. If not, might be worth taking a look anyway - no point hubby paying more than he has to either!

blackangeluk

Hi, I agree with Squirrel, you do need to keep a spending diary to work out where the other money goes. It's amazing how the little things add up, like magazines, chocolate

If you overpaid the whole of your debts by £200 a month this would make a huge dent in your debts, I would start by paying off the highest APR first. From memory Next is about 29.9% so that is fairly high interest, what is your credit rating like, could you try and get a 0% Credit Card and try and move Next and Additions onto them.

How much do you have owing on each account, what is the APR and how much available do you have? If you could try and agree a low APR for the life of balance and transfer Next and Additions onto them you could start hacking away at them.

Also have you looked around for a cheaper phone and car insurance?

Hope this makes sense, am rushing as I'm supposed to be working

sickandtiredofdebt

i have worked out that i have £136 left over once everything is paid, thats without counting my nail money. i was shocked that i have this left over as i am normally skint! i spend it on rubbish, sweets when i pop to the shop, magazines (that i dont even read)etc, so from today im stopping that.
i get my child tax next friday so first of all im gonna pay off additions, at least thats one debt gone.
The interest on my barclay card and capital 1 are around the 29% mark but cant find my statements to know for sure. Next is with moorcroft debt recovery so interest is 0%, my other loan is also on a repayment plan around 9% i think. and egg is the normal around 8 or 9%. so i think the cards are gonna be the first to have to go. then next because its a pain having it hanging round my neck.
my credit rating is totally shot too so cant even get a 0% card.
I am also going to let my nail money build up in the bank on a monthly basis so i have a decent amount a month to be able to save and also hopefully pay extra on the dreaded debt!
I have joined quidco,and pigs back too and am also gonna have a clear out for ebay.
im feeling really positive now thatnks you guys for all your suggestions
H x

shopsalot

Try keeping an ongoing record in a spreadsheet - its very motivating to see the debts go down - even if its only £20 you pay off one day. It can be all to easy to forget what you have acheived when that huge read figure is staring at you!