In loads of debt and unsure where to start

ElleWoods

someone's_Mum wrote: »

Get Freeview....or if you are with Virgin haggle them. I was paying £60 a month for TV mix, 100mb Internet, line rental with evening and weekend calls and TIVO box. I rang to cancel as was approaching end of contract and after a few calls with retentions got 2 free months then £28 for above package for remaining 10 months.

Regards to shopping....2 adults, 1 7 yr old and 3 cats= £60 a week for all shopping. Combination of savvy shopping at Aldi, Lidl and B+M...last one mainly for cat food.

Well done on getting help. We are on DMP with Stepchange and biggest relief of our lives....still £34k to pay off but hey ho will get there.

Thanks Someone's Mum, I've recently re-started going to Aldi for the shopping but I was getting cat food at Morrisons or Asda when it was on offer. Never thought to try B&M, I'll pop there next time I need some - thanks for the tip.

I'm with Virgin Media for TV, landline (only needed for internet) and broadband but I hate their TV service so I'm looking to cancel that and go with someone else for BB only.

I'll look into a DMP as I don't really know what's involved with one but I'm hoping that once I get work I'll be able to plod on with the repayments. Good luck with your debt-free journey!

ElleWoods

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

Your soa has very little to trim beyond the cable tv and maybe the groceries figure. The car takes a big chunk of your income with the car payment and the tax, insurance, maintenance but as you only use £25 fuel you presumably do not use it much. Is giving that up an option?

If you can somehow manage to increase your income by £180-£200per month to stop the shortfall this would mean you could continue with your current payments for the next 18 months then use the car payment to snowball on to the credit cards and then in June 19 after the First Direct loan is repaid direct that payment to the credit cards also. They have reasonably long interest free deals and I reckon the debt would be cleared in 3 years if you manage to keep to the payments and schedules. Ideally though you would increase income to do this sooner if you could get a job.

Thanks for replying. I don't use my car a vast amount but I need it to get to client's houses (when I have clients!), and getting rid of it would reduce my job options while I'm looking for employment. I'd rather keep it if I can. It's still under finance so I can't sell it so would just have to hand it back, which I'd be pretty gutted about. I'm definitely reducing groceries spend and I'm looking into getting rid of Virgin Media.

Thanks for the snowballing info, that's genius - once I've paid off the car and the First Direct loan, I'll be able to throw the surplus at the credit cards. I'm not sure why I didn't realise that before. I think I've just been so overwhelmed with the amount of debt I'm in that I couldn't see the wood for the trees but that's given me a light at the end of the tunnel. And you're right - if I get a job and keep on track, I can clear this lot in about three years!

ElleWoods

macman wrote: »

Sorry to point out the obvious, but with an income of £50pm, you cannot afford to spend £42 on subscription TV! Get rid of that and you effectively double your income.
Your C Tax of £11 pm seems very low.

Thanks Macman. I'm looking at getting rid of the Virgin Media subscription, however I'll need to take out an internet-only deal with some provider or other, so it wouldn't double my income as such. If I can halve that amount I'll be happy.

My Council Tax is only £11 per month because I get the single person's discount, plus council tax benefit.

ElleWoods

chelseablue wrote: »

You're paying for a car and also bus fare for your child to get to school, could you drop them off instead?

Thanks Chelseablue, my child gets the bus there and back. I want to encourage independence and self-confidence but think I'll encourage (;)) walking home, so that will halve the bus fare if only going there on the bus and walking back.

Reb2016

I can't add anything to the great comments you have already have, but you are in the right place and you seem to have a really positive attitude, I'm sure you will get there :-)

ElleWoods

EssexHebridean wrote: »

Hi Elle - well done on your LBM and facing up to things.

It has to be said that you don't sound like an ideal candidate to be solely self employed right now - but perhaps a combination of a part time job for regular income and really throwing yourself into building up the self employed business might work? I think that first though you have to take a very objective look at your business - imagine that it was a friend you were talking to, and it was their business - is it truly sustainable? Would you be advising them to keep going with it or just accept that while it may have been a good idea on paper it's not working in reality? Try to take the emotion out of it and see if that helps to clarify things.

On things like phone/broadband look for the absolute best deal you can currently get, and diarise to shop around a month before that deal ends to see what you can switch to. Similarly with energy suppliers - make sure you're on the best deal but also look to cut use where you can.

You can boost your income short term with things like surveys which will help along with the savings you can identify from the SOA to plug the gaps until you can get proper employment sorted.

Thanks Essex Hebridean, some great suggestions there. I'm already looking to get rid of subscription TV and just get a broadband only deal for now. My utilities deal ends in October so I'll definitely be moving - I'm with British Gas and they've just emailed to say that once I'm on the standard tarriff my annual bill will rise by nearly £400! No thanks! I change suppliers regularly anyway, so I'll definitely be looking into that in the next week or so.

I'm currently job hunting, so fingers crossed! I very much doubt I'd be able to do the business alongside a paid job because I wouldn't be able to get to client's houses if I was at work. I think paid work needs to be the priority here. In the meantime I'll check out the Boost Your Income board as you suggested, thank you.

My child's uniform has to have school logo so comes from their supplier (except trousers). Most things are bought now so from now on it's essentials only, for both of us.

Road tax and car MOT/service I pay annually and usually either add it to my overdraft (not ideal, I know) or save for the two or three months prior. My MOT & service are due next month and I've been putting a bit aside and have £150 saved but I didn't put this on here as I know it'll be used up once the service is done. This only covers basic things like MOT and service, not for any extras like new tyres if needed. I know I should put some aside for this each month but I don't have anything spare at the moment to do that.

Thanks for your comments.

ElleWoods

Reb2016 wrote: »

I can't add anything to the great comments you have already have, but you are in the right place and you seem to have a really positive attitude, I'm sure you will get there :-)

Thank you! I can see a light at the end of the tunnel - it's very small but it's there. Just need to get a job, make cutbacks and keep making those repayments.

cs1986_2

I reckon you could easily shave £75-100 per month off that food bill. Don't pay full price for anything. When I was living alone and trying to cut my food bill if it wasn't on offer I didn't buy it. Don't be scared to try own brand stuff, some of it literally comes out of the same factory and off the same production lines as the branded stuff.


Cutting the food bill will give you wriggle room and then you have a bit of breathing space. As soon as one debt is paid off that frees up even more money as has been said so really try and focus on 1 debt at a time.


Use TopCashback. I cannot emphasise this enough. I have had around £200 back off that site from buying stuff I would have bought anyway.


If I was being really hasty/stingy I would say it is time to give up the cat, you don't need another mouth to feed when you are in debt but I am assuming you have an emotional attachment to it so I guess it can stay haha.


You definitely need to create wriggle room, if the car fails its MOT next month and needs £500 of work doing, you are going to be even further in trouble. Do whatever you can to makesure you have a surplus each month.


Finally, you mentioned you have a child. One thing about children is that they grow very fast. Could you do a carboot with their old clothes/toys etc? Won't make regular income but it may pay for the MOT/Service next month.


You will get there!

System

ElleWoods wrote: »

Thanks Someone's Mum, I've recently re-started going to Aldi for the shopping but I was getting cat food at Morrisons or Asda when it was on offer. Never thought to try B&M, I'll pop there next time I need some - thanks for the tip.

I'm with Virgin Media for TV, landline (only needed for internet) and broadband but I hate their TV service so I'm looking to cancel that and go with someone else for BB only.

I'll look into a DMP as I don't really know what's involved with one but I'm hoping that once I get work I'll be able to plod on with the repayments. Good luck with your debt-free journey!

Recently found out that cat and dog food is loads cheaper at Poundstretcher.

Treats are two for a pound instead of one as most stores.
A 40 pack of cat food is usually £10 at Tesco, £9 when on offer. Poundstretcher is £8.
Biscuits are always £2.25 or £2.00 on offer at Tesco and are £1.79 at Poundstretcher.

I don't know if you've noticed that there seems to be a lot of Poundstretchers next door to Tescos at the moment.

Also, how old is your car? If it's under 10 years old consider using WeOnlyMOT - they don't do repairs and you don't pay if it fails and under 10 years old

ElleWoods

Since first posting I've mainly shopped at Aldi and saved money by doing a big shop once per fortnight, with milk/bread/fruit/veg top ups at the local supermarket in between, which has reduced the bill. I've also been meal planning and sticking to it!

I already use Top Cashback/Quidco and have done for years, so whenever I make an online purchase I check them both first. In fact I'm waiting for £25 to clear with TCB right now.

The cat stays! I'll check out Poundstretcher for cat food though. I've never thought of going there and there's one a couple of miles away.