To reduce debt/borrowing or not to reduce debt/borrowing

[Deleted User]

I do live in the real world thanks, hence why I asked the question

Dobbibill

If you want to head over to the DFW board then here's the SOA link.

http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php
You can format it for MSE and paste it into a thread.

Sometimes a set of fresh eyes on your budget can highlight things you had never considered to be expensive or something you can cut back on.

Lolly18

!!! wrote: »

I do live in the real world thanks, hence why I asked the question

Just because he earns good money people expect him to have a lot of savings.

People were posting the same things on one of my threads. Jumping to conclusions that he must be wasting money without him posting anything that he pays for. When I explained to the people on my post that I’m paying near on £1000 a month on child care it explained where my money was going and people understood.

People just need to understand that 36k does not go far for everyone.

jonesMUFCforever

Lolly18 wrote: »

Just because he earns good money people expect him to have a lot of savings.

People were posting the same things on one of my threads. Jumping to conclusions that he must be wasting money without him posting anything that he pays for. When I explained to the people on my post that I’m paying near on £1000 a month on child care it explained where my money was going and people understood.

People just need to understand that 36k does not go far for everyone.

Someone on £37k per annum is A - educated or they would not be in a high paying job B- in a better position to save a little as they earn good money!

welly_59

Both answers there are rubbish!

Willing2Learn

The true answer is that for some people, 36k allows enough headroom to save for white goods etc. Whilst for others who earn 36k, it remains a struggle. For me, because I have learnt the hard way, about the need for budgeting, I can survive and save on a lot less.

@Graham1982 OP - From reading this thread, it appears as though day-to-day budgeting is a genuine struggle for you. I suggest you do the SOA and post it up in the DFW board. You will get lots of guidance and support to move forward.

[Deleted User]

Lolly18 wrote: »

I’m sorry but no one here knows this guys situation, you can’t say he should be putting £100s a month away.

You do not know his situation, what he pays for, where he’s from, how much his rent is, childcare costs, nothing.

Just because he earns 36k does not mean he should have loads of savings

Which is precisely why a Statement Of Affairs (SOA) is required on this forum.


Of course members attempting to help will be wrong if they're being given very limited, or even inaccurate information.
Also, don't forget that many members here have been in the exact same scenario and they're drawing from the painful experiences they encountered themselves.


When a SOA is shown it cuts out the guesswork and gets to the details of the matter, plain open-ness and honesty allows for the best and most helpful advice on the situation.

[Deleted User]

welly_59 wrote: »

Live in the real world Gary, I earn pretty much the same and I'm the same age. Rent for me is £600 plus childcare bill of £1300 a month. That leaves £500 for everything else, plus whatever his partner, if he has one, brings in. And as is well known, women earn less than men on average.

Factor in student loan repayments, council tax, utilities, transport, there's not much left!

As previously mentioned, until a situation is laid bare none of us can see the true state of affairs, get a SOA done and then you can see exactly where the money goes.

Nebulous2

When I left school a family friend told me, "It's not what you earn that's important, it's what you do with it. One man will keep a family and save on £80 a week, another will spend £120 a week on his own."

I've come to believe that more and more as the years go on.

If £37k isn't enough to live on, how much is? In a brief stint as a financial advisor, in 1994, I met a couple earning £120k between them, who couldn't live on it.

The only answer to managing money is to live within your means. That includes an emergency fund and not wasting money on charges and interest. Increase your income by all means, but you still need to live within it.

Charles Dickens had Mr Micawber tell us that long ago, but it's still a tough lesson for many people to learn.

Graham1982

Dear all:

Many thanks for your replies. I am unsure if this will be looked at again as it is relatively old. That said:

All of my debts will be gone by April/May apart from credit card which will be sitting at 6.5k (I will be increasing the repayment on this as all other outgoings on debt will be removed).

To be honest, I expected the roasting on here as I am kicking myself with how financially irresponsible I have been thusfar. Effectively, I now completely understand the comments regarding paying out money on overdrafts etc as now that I don't have such fees it is somewhat liberating.

That being said, in later life my spending hasn't been irresponsible, having a family with large bills meant that I made some stupid decisions. I now need to ensure this doesn't happen in the future.