no more credit cards and gambling!

rangelife

Quite embarrassed about this, but anyway i suffered with gambling problems in the past and it was linked to depression.
I had received help in the past for a similar situation and managed to stop, clear my debt and I saved up around £10,000 and purchased my first home around 5 months ago.

I have recently been suffering from major depression and I had taken out a couple of credit cards after my house purchase, I then bought a car for around £2500 and some other items for the house, however my low mood led me back to gambling.
I managed to get this under control in the past by having a basic bank account and no credit cards , I was also able to budget with small amounts of cash.

I am about to get help again, i have joined GAMSTOP, self excluded from every account I had open and I have destroyed my credit cards.

my current debt

Virgin cc - £133
Barclaycard - £1834
MBNA CC - £5326

I managed to shuffle this around with balance transfers so it is all interest free until March 2020

after my bills and mortgage payments , I have around £500 to £600 per month available to pay this off.

would i be best to pay this off on my own every month? suggestions welcome

I have also realised credit cards are a problem for me and after clearing previous debt , not knowing what to do with my excess cash was also a major part of this slip up.
In hindsight i now know i need to stick to the basic bank account with no credit and I need to move any spare cash somewhere safe and out of reach.

I will post my progress here and keep this updated, I am positive this will help me focus again and stop for good this time.

I need to stick to my previous method for life!

fatrab

Hi and welcome along, and well done for confronting your gambling and debts head on.


First things first, you need to know EXACTLY how much you have available to pay towards your debts. If you pay too much off your debt and leave yourself short you'll go straight back into the credit card cycle of doom!


Do an SOA and post it on here, we'll poke holes where necessary and hopefully help you save if possible. http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php


If you have all your debts on 0% until 2020 then you need to have these cleared by the end of the 0% term. Divide the balance by the number of months and set this as the minimum monthly payment. You could however pay the Virgin card asap and then close the account, should give you a mental boost knowing one thing is gone.


You haven't mentioned if you have an emergency fund. As a home owner they recommend you should have around 3 times your salary set aside in case of emergency, redundancy etc. Depending on your income that might seem like a lot of money, but I would suggest at least £2000 would be advisable.


Keep us posted and best wishes

rangelife

Thanks , I will have a look.

I currently have no emergenycy fund in place.

MeenaM

Hi and welcome

First off pay minimums and build up an Emergency Fund , of either £500 or £1000, then attack the smallest debt first, put all extra onto that one and mimiums on the others , then when that has gone put payments from that to the second one, ie snowball the debt, Also make a budget each month and stick to it , You can do this!

rangelife

My income is also up and down every month as my work always rely on overtime. I can also work my day off if necessary.

rangelife

monthly income after tax £1400

this is the bare minimum, i usually take home closer to £1600

(monthly expenditure)
credit card debt
virgin £133.66 min payment £10
barclaycard £1834.20 min payment £20
MBNA £5326.50 min payment £55

(monthly expenditure)
mortgage £358
council tax/ water £111.67
gas/electric £103.85
mortgage protection £10
sky/broadband £58
food £80
(main meals are provided for me)
pertrol £40
haircut £15


(annual expenditure)
mot, maintenance (car) £200 rough estimate
tv licence £150
car insurance £230
buildings/contents £120

fatrab

£103.85 for gas and electric seems slightly high but not huge. Check the cheap energy club on the main MSE site for tips.

How much do you spend on socialising per month?

Establish the difference between wants and needs. Food and Mortgage are needs, sky tv and mobile phone (nothing in for this?) are wants. I'm not saying do without, just consider downsizing for a while until you clear your feet.

I'd definitely just pay off the Virgin card asap, the balance is too low to have it hanging over you. Then focus on Barclaycard.

Also, if you can work overtime I'd say go for it. Every little really does help.

rangelife

My gas and electric will be lowered a fair bit, when they work out my average after a few months, as I have just recently moved in, they started me at that price.

I signed up to a 12 month sky contract with broadband as I was given a good deal at the time for a new customer.
I have a giff gaff sim for my phone now which is £10 per month.

I don't go out too often, maybe once a month for a few drinks, every few months I might go to a gig or concert.

rangelife

Do you suggest I build up the emrgency fund as I go along, or put some money aside straight away?

fatrab

It would be better if you completed a full SOA on this link:


http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php


Format it for MSE and copy it into this thread. Be completely honest and include every single little thing that you spend on. Without knowing exactly how much expendable income you have it is difficult to budget.


I'd say you should begin to build up a safety fund, could you save maybe £50-£100 per month depending on how much overtime you do?

rangelife

yes...£50 shouldn't be a problem.

I always do pressure overtime so it varies, I should have no issue paying £500 per month towards to the debt though.