Debt advice required

Pixie5740

If you only spend £25 a month on petrol/diesel do you actually need a car? Would it be more cost effective to hire a car as and when you need one?

You need to include your annual expenses such as as the MOT and car insurance in your SOA. All you do is divide the total amount you spend on car maintenance etc by 12.

Even taking those things into account and the £100 you pay your sister each month you have over £600 spare so where is it going. Try keeping a spending diary to find out exactly what you are doing with your money each month.

enjoyyourshoes

I would suggest searching al main comparison websites for best price, I did this for my Wife the other week and was surprised at the vast range between them !

As I said before you really have to sort out your priorities over continued spending and debt repayment.

At £600m per month it will take you 6-7 years to pay back debts ?

Si1983_uk

Again all, thankyou. These are all things that I promise I am taking all on board when I start to re do my budgeting and planning.

Just one thing, I get paid 13 times a year rather than 12 because I’m every four weeks pay? Do you think this helps? Or makes things worse?

I’ve seen a lot of questions of asking where my money is going and that I need to do a diary to keep track of it, I can put my finger on it more or less straight away and as well as relationships and cars, it’s also been one of the biggest contributors to my debt problem.

Now I’m on here and registered to talk To you fine people, I’m going to make sure that issue is knocked on the head good and proper. It’s not drink and certainly not drugs! It’s actually Gambling which has caused me problems.

As I’ve said before, I’m determined to do everything possible to sort this and I will. If anybody wants to know the bigger story about it all then I’m happy to share or PM you but it’s rather long winded and I don’t think it’s really necessary, the important bit is to accept it’s all happened and that it will now be past and dealt with.

You may or may not realise how hard it was for me to write that.

enthusiasticsaver

If gambling is what has got you into this mess you need to contact gamblers anonymous and make sure your sister no longer bails you out. She is not helping you, she is enabling you to carry on with your overspending and careless finances.

You have a large surplus although you should do a spending diary to see where that spare £790 is going each month. I would tackle the overdraft first either from savings or income. Which 0% deal finishes first?

starting_again_in_the_sun

Well done for facing up to your addiction, it's a very difficult thing to do. Now, please follow enthusiasticsaver's advice and seek help.

Regarding the pay days, is the amount on your SOA the 4 weekly amount? If so, that's great as the extra pay day can go straight towards the debt.

Si1983_uk

My sister hasn’t been bailing me out for the last three to four years, I’d say the last few years I’ve always kept my debt but never majorly reduced it because I have either a) helped the ladies out (stupid of me) or b) got my self into gambling (even more stupid) And I’ve always got myself into that vicious circle of using the transfer money to bank feature, never actually used a card physically.

I don’t want to go down that route of speaking to gambling people for help, I know I can now deal with it and I will. Just need to find the right route to now get the finances sorted and in order.

I’m quite aware that my finance handling is very careless, but not anymore from now.

The Tesco 1 is the one that ends first in Dec 2018. Very ends in October - that’s a £729 payment.

Si1983_uk

Yes sorry, it is the four weekly amount on the SOA so effectively yes it can go onto the debt and I’ll make sure it will!

enjoyyourshoes

You need a system that you can apply to your finances.

Just a suggestion:-

1.0 Accrue for 1/2, 1/4ly and annall bills (car insurances etc) cheaper to pay insurances annually rather than monthly

2.0 Have 1 bank account with all SO/DD & ensure this does not go into OD

3.0 keep a reconciled balance on this account (accounting for all DD/so, accrual as per number 1.0. Also deduct all other expenditure for this account (if you use CC (which I suggest you don't and should cut them up) then also deduct this cost

4.0 Allocate as much to debt repayment and start setting up DD/so for these payments. Based upon my suggested payment schedule

Stay within remaining monies for the remainder of the 4 week period

Save for hols etc (but probably can't afford this with current debt)

enthusiasticsaver

I would follow enjoyyourshoes advice re budgeting and tackle the overdraft and very first and then the Tesco 1. You will need to make some sacrifices to sort this out by being very careful with your money and not overspending and saving for things like car insurance, holidays etc.

Si1983_uk

Hi,

Thanks again for your messages and advice which I have took note of, I appreciate everybody’s advice and am willing to give some of these a go.

I’ve sat down and created myself a budget, might still need work on it but it’s a start so here goes:

This is based on an income of £1500 which I know that I am due on 14th February.. maybe more

Mom /Dad 120.50
Sister. 100.00
Church. 15.00
Car Tax. 11.81
Gym. 15.38
Car insurance. 43.46
Tesco 1. 65.00
Tesco 2. 65.00
Lloyd’s. 10.00
Barclaycard 41.00
Very. 92.00
Myself. (Four week allowance). 250.00
Phone. 27.99
Overdrafts. 27.00

That leaves £615.86

My plan for February and March is to pay the overdraft which stands at £1092.79

Minus £615.86 plus £27 will leave £449.93

In March, based on 1500 again, i can then pay the remaining £449.93 and still leave me with £165.93 to use on something else I.e maybe Tesco or save a bit in holiday fund.

I’ve also found that I have £100 worth of change in my bottle as I counted it earlier!!

Any thoughts on the above? Any advice /comments always appreciated even if you think I’ve got something wrong.