Getting myself debt free - consolidation?

Onebrokelady

Please please please do not consolidate your debts,I did this several years ago now when I only owed £3000,I'm now back again paying back over £17,000, you have already been down this road before and still haven't learned your lesson,you have the means to pay your debt off without getting a loan and frankly £500 a month for the odd meal out is ridiculous,that's half my wages.......I will be here waiting for my lemonade when you get back:beer:

Willing2Learn

Well Ryan, despite all the advice the contrary, it appears you are going to go ahead with consolidation.

Since that is the case, I urge you to set your monthly budget according to income, and to stick to it. That is the only way forward that will let you do this without spending over your budget and increasing your level of debt. And good luck!

wjr4

If I were you, I would get a Netflix subscription and stay in for a few months! Or go to the park for free. I know this has been mentioned a lot but £500 pm is a crazy amount of money to be wasting! I'm sure your friends would understand not going out and spending too much? Earning around £47k per annum, you could get rid of the debt really quickly if you stick to budgeting properly! I use a spreadsheet on my iPhone which calculates how much I will have at the end of the month before I even consider going out spending money. I input my salary at the top, the essential bills (to live - not to have a social life) and then the non-essentials. It is broken down into every penny I spend! Have you thought of a spending diary?

Good luck with your journey!

ryanm8655

Thanks for the replies - am stuck in bed with the flu so that should save me some money ha.

Have officially given notice on current flatshare so will be saving an extra £200 a month as of next month.

Also going to look at promotions, am ready for one and will get a £10k plus payrise, so around an extra £300 or so a month after tax, pension, student loan etc.

Once I’m feeling better I’ll have a look at the SOA again and do some calculations re: debts and repayments.

I’ve tried Netflix and staying in, it works for a while but then I run out of good series to watch ha. Not a big gamer either...

I guess one easy way to still go out and save money is to drink water...dinner and drinks are my main way of socialising with friends. If I had my own place I could do those things at home but when sharing it isn’t practical (I’m not living with good friends). Now it’s summer could also suggest cheaper things like picnics etc.

I have a bike I can go out on as well and can get back into running. Did the marathon recently and thought the training would help save money, except I’d reward my sessions by eating out after (often because I was starving and a long way from home) but if I get back into it on a smaller scale and take a bag with food etc.

The new flat also includes free gym, so can get back into that.

Have started doing smaller things like leaving my cards at home when I go to work so I can’t be tempted by a post work pub trip.

Jox

Do you use an app like Money Dashboard? I've been using it recently and it really helps to shows all the incomings and outgoing and debts and what percentage I spend on travel, bills, grocery, going out etc.

ryanm8655

I don’t use any apps but have considered getting a Monzo card as that breaks down spending by category. It’s also prepaid so handy for stopping overspending, though of course you can just top it up...

wjr4

I'd recommend Starling over Monzo for overseas spending as Monzo has £200 per MONTH limit! Starling is £300 a day. https://www.finder.com/uk/revolut-vs-monzo-vs-starling

EssexHebridean

Tell you what Ryan - you say you'd definitely cut the cards up if you consolidated - so why not have a trial run on that basis. Go and grab your cards, and a pair of scissors, and cut any credit cards you still have up right now. Then get used to living without having them there as a safety net. If you have any of them on your phone for contactless delete them from the wallet there too. With you setting the payments to the cards at the minimum it's actually probably a good idea to remove any temptation.

ryanm8655

Not a bad idea. Only issue is I’d need the card details to do 0% balance transfer deals that come up as I clear them down. Could write them down though (I’m not an online shopper).

The only cards I have used for spending in the last 6 months are the BA AMEX which I have used as my monthly budget essentially and clear in full (only use it to get the points) and the Santander cards, which were the first cards I ever got. The others are in a box in a cupboard and I’ve put the Santander cards in there too now.

EssexHebridean

Card details needed for the transfers should be on the statements - problem solved!
Time to flex those scissors?