10 year cycle of debt must stop

High_Peak_Lass

Right, this is it.
Thoroughly fed up with myself.

SOA

Incomings
Salary 1 £1130* Every 4 weeks
Salary 2 £1160

£2290

Home Insurance £10
Car Insurance £30
Phone £22
Council Tax £106
G and E £78
Broadband £22
TV Licence £11
Mobile £50
Credit Card £100* should be at least this but have only been min pay £60
Argos £ depends* just come out of IF period, not found any money to pay yet!
Water £28
Rent £525
Loan £194
Bus Fare £60
Quiz League £80
Football £200
Grocery challenge £300
Petrol £15
OH Ciggies £60

£1861

Which should leave £429 but where does it go???
My salary is 4 weekly and we always seem to be ‘behind’ so OH pay is ‘borrowed’ to put in bank for bills.
LTSB Loan £8500 - £6,447.61 to go 12.9%
Tesco CC £2000 - £2140 over limit again! 19.9%
Argos Card £159 29.9%

Have just paid the £61 emergency CC payment and can make another one on Dec 7th.
HAVE CUT UP THE CC ALSO!!!!
I found that I was paying off the minimum so that there was about £60 left on it.
Then when we were having a tight month I’d use it for emergency shopping.
This clearly isn’t getting me anywhere. It’s not as if I’ve got anything to show for the CC spend. It was used to ‘get by’ when we moved last Jan and I’ve frittered the bl**dy lot away again.

Background:
Original Loan £5000 to pay off CC £3200 and loan £1200 and CC £300, silly teenage spending.
I will not get into trouble again, she said.
So CC paid off but not cancelled.
£2500 on CC
So
£8500 loan to pay off
Remainder of £5000 loan
£2500 CC
£400 OD
£1500 moving fund.

Got stung on first rental property over here
Paid up for 6 months for long term rental, owners living abroad, day we moved in neighbour told us owners were actually travelling the world and that there was no way to extend after 6 months.
This turned out to be true so we had to move again.
So, thanks Mr.T, I’ll have a £2000 CC with 9 months 0%.
We’ll have paid it back by then. Whoops!
Now in a long-term rental and very happy apart from the money situation.
This has to stop. 10 years of being in debt and with absolutely b*gger all to show for it.


So here’s day one. Lightbulb moment 21/11/2007.
I am so far behind that this ‘spare’ money isn’t there ever!
The good thing is that next payday for me is the one payday I don’t have to pay rent from (the only bonus on 4 weekly pay!)
So if I can get my head round this lot, with MSE help. I should be able to get back on track for the new year?? - she says not very confidently.

Plan is :
Carry on with grocery challenge
Get rid of the Argos amount first. This would leave £450 credit for the ‘oh sh*t the TV, Fridge, (insert electrical appliance here) just -in-case fund.
Then tackle the CC
Then the loan.
I know some people might read this and think I’m odd or not in trouble but I can’t keep on with this cycle of crappiness with money. I should be able to afford some work clothes at some point but it don’t add up.
Spending diary started also.

sorry if this is a bit long winded and moany but it's therapeutic i think?

Also kind of panicking as the OHs job is a bit shaky at the mo and if one of us loses job, no savings etc. All debt in my name so flapping like a flappy thing and not sleeping.

Any help gratefully received.

High Peak Lass
xx

Scarlett.1974

High_Peak_Lass wrote: »

Right, this is it.
Thoroughly fed up with myself.

SOA

Incomings
Salary 1 £1130* Every 4 weeks
Salary 2 £1160

£2290

Home Insurance £10
Car Insurance £30
Phone £22
Council Tax £106
G and E £78
Broadband £22
TV Licence £11
Mobile £50
Credit Card £100* should be at least this but have only been min pay £60
Argos £ depends* just come out of IF period, not found any money to pay yet!
Water £28
Rent £525
Loan £194
Bus Fare £60
Quiz League £80 - what is this?
Football £200 - what is this?
Grocery challenge £300 - you could reduce this by loads!! I spend £260ish a month to feed 2 adults and 2/3 (we have stepson at the weekends) children and 1 cat!
Petrol £15
OH Ciggies £60

£1861

Which should leave £429 but where does it go???
My salary is 4 weekly and we always seem to be ‘behind’ so OH pay is ‘borrowed’ to put in bank for bills.
LTSB Loan £8500 - £6,447.61 to go 12.9%
Tesco CC £2000 - £2140 over limit again! 19.9%
Argos Card £159 29.9%

Have just paid the £61 emergency CC payment and can make another one on Dec 7th.
HAVE CUT UP THE CC ALSO!!!!
I found that I was paying off the minimum so that there was about £60 left on it.
Then when we were having a tight month I’d use it for emergency shopping.
This clearly isn’t getting me anywhere. It’s not as if I’ve got anything to show for the CC spend. It was used to ‘get by’ when we moved last Jan and I’ve frittered the bl**dy lot away again.

Background:
Original Loan £5000 to pay off CC £3200 and loan £1200 and CC £300, silly teenage spending.
I will not get into trouble again, she said.
So CC paid off but not cancelled.
£2500 on CC
So
£8500 loan to pay off
Remainder of £5000 loan
£2500 CC
£400 OD
£1500 moving fund.

Got stung on first rental property over here
Paid up for 6 months for long term rental, owners living abroad, day we moved in neighbour told us owners were actually travelling the world and that there was no way to extend after 6 months.
This turned out to be true so we had to move again.
So, thanks Mr.T, I’ll have a £2000 CC with 9 months 0%.
We’ll have paid it back by then. Whoops!
Now in a long-term rental and very happy apart from the money situation.
This has to stop. 10 years of being in debt and with absolutely b*gger all to show for it.


So here’s day one. Lightbulb moment 21/11/2007.
I am so far behind that this ‘spare’ money isn’t there ever!
The good thing is that next payday for me is the one payday I don’t have to pay rent from (the only bonus on 4 weekly pay!)
So if I can get my head round this lot, with MSE help. I should be able to get back on track for the new year?? - she says not very confidently.

Plan is :
Carry on with grocery challenge
Get rid of the Argos amount first. This would leave £450 credit for the ‘oh sh*t the TV, Fridge, (insert electrical appliance here) just -in-case fund.
Then tackle the CC
Then the loan.
I know some people might read this and think I’m odd or not in trouble but I can’t keep on with this cycle of crappiness with money. I should be able to afford some work clothes at some point but it don’t add up.
Spending diary started also.

sorry if this is a bit long winded and moany but it's therapeutic i think?

Also kind of panicking as the OHs job is a bit shaky at the mo and if one of us loses job, no savings etc. All debt in my name so flapping like a flappy thing and not sleeping.

Any help gratefully received.

High Peak Lass
xx

Hi there and welcome to MSE!

You've made a great start by getting your SOA down in black and white, often the hardest thing to do, to actually face it, so big "well done" there.

A few things jumped out at me right away, I've highlighted them in red above

Your debt is not that bad, I promise, BUT if you really are serious about getting it cleared off asap then you're going to have to make some changes and sacrifices (as in the highlighted comments above!).

Scarlett xx

High_Peak_Lass

Hi Scarlett

Quiz League £80 - what is this? - Quiz League is my night out a week.
myself and OH are on local quiz league. £80 is max per month. Some weeks we have 3/4 drinks each, some weeks 1 each, away legs means chipping in for taxi home / petrol for the driver.

Football £200 - what is this? Non League football. £5 in each, £1 for programme, £1.40 for a pie each and some drinks, usually to pub after. £200 is what we spent last month as we had 5 home games in a row. Max is £200 per month, sometimes only £60. This is downsizing as we used to do a 300 mile trip for Premiership football 1-2 times per month at £250 per game!!! Looking to reduce it further though, less pies = smaller wasteband.

Grocery challenge £300 - i'm positive this can be lower too. But we had absolutely no idea at all what we were spending so thought we'd start high, aim low. This should go alot lower.(do buy the occasional treat for next doors cat as she spends all day here)

I know it looks like we go out alot but these are absolute maximums. We have moved from a one bed flat in a crap area where people would shoot you rather than give you the time of day (I am not joking, it was dog rough) to an area where we have made many friends. We have cut down on spending a hell of a lot and now go round to each others houses for meals rather than pub.

i just need to get a bit of a handle on things at the mo

floss2

High_Peak_Lass wrote: »

Right, this is it.
Thoroughly fed up with myself.

SOA

Incomings
Salary 1 £1130* Every 4 weeks
Salary 2 £1160

£2290

Home Insurance £10
Car Insurance £30
Phone £22
Council Tax £106 over 10 or 12m?
G and E £78
Broadband £22
TV Licence £11
Mobile £50 can you reduce this tariff?
Credit Card £100* should be at least this but have only been min pay £60
Argos £ depends* just come out of IF period, not found any money to pay yet!
Water £28
Rent £525
Loan £194
Bus Fare £60 is this the cheapest way - monthly saver tickets?
Quiz League £80 NEEDS TO STOP UNTIL YOU ARE STRAIGHT
Football £200 NEEDS TO STOP UNTIL YOU ARE STRAIGHT
Grocery challenge £300 If this is just for 2 people, you can cut this right down - see Old Style board for help
Petrol £15
OH Ciggies £60 can he go onto rollies?

£1861

LTSB Loan £8500 - £6,447.61 to go 12.9%
Tesco CC £2000 - £2140 over limit again! 19.9%
Argos Card £159 29.9%

Just a few other things - nothing set aside for Road Tax / MOT / servicing / repairs for the car.

Quiz & football - yes I know you need to have a life, but maybe these could be cut or put on hold a for a few months?

Food - you can cut this down...try a storecupboard challenge first, then menu planning.

Also, are you going to use your "extra" wages to get straight & pay things off?

Good luck & welcome aboard! :wave:

Floss x

Kevicho

High_Peak_Lass wrote: »

Right, this is it.
Thoroughly fed up with myself.

SOA

Incomings
Salary 1 £1130* Every 4 weeks
Salary 2 £1160

£2290

Home Insurance £10 - is this the cheapest, and is it offering the cover you expect, worth chcking into, and if you find a cheaper, better offer use a cashback site to make some money out of switching
Car Insurance £30 - as above
Phone £22 - cant see sky, might be worth looking at there 26 pounds a month deal, especially if your net usage isnt worth 22 a month
Council Tax £106 - over 10 months or 12?
G and E £78 - again check uswitch or a similar site to see whats the cheapest deals available, and use a cashback site to switch
Broadband £22 - see phone
TV Licence £11
Mobile £50 - cutback available here? are these contract phones or payg, either way try to use less, or not at all to save money.
I went two months without a mobile, and barely missed it
Credit Card £100* should be at least this but have only been min pay £60
- you should try and overpay this amount if possible, as it will likely be your highest interest rate debt
Argos £ depends* just come out of IF period, not found any money to pay yet! - id imagine this could be higher interest rate! you need to make some sacrifices with your lifestyle for a while
Water £28
Rent £525
Loan £194
Bus Fare £60
Quiz League £80 - is this worth 80 pounds? id imagine lots of beer goes with this as well.
Might be worth doing home quizzes with friends, be a lot cheaper and more fun doing the questions as opposed to paying for the privalidge
Football £200 - seeing below, 200 for non league football is extortionate.
Why not drop down a level and go watch the pub team , seriously though, take food and flask with you, and avoid going drinking after, you will save the money you claim not have here
Grocery challenge £300 - is this for 2 people? Check out the old school board, im sure you could halve this
Petrol £15
OH Ciggies £60 - not good for health, or the wallet, check out the nhs for help with quitting, or indeed the threads on these boards for supportive people with lots of advice

£1861

Which should leave £429 but where does it go???

I think you need to keep a spending diary, but id hazard a guess that socialising (ie football and quiz teams) take up the majority of this

My salary is 4 weekly and we always seem to be ‘behind’ so OH pay is ‘borrowed’ to put in bank for bills.
Argos Card £159 29.9%
Tesco CC £2000 - £2140 over limit again! 19.9%
LTSB Loan £8500 - £6,447.61 to go 12.9%

With the money you spend on football, if you missed it for one month you would clear the argos, then you could start iverpaying the Tesco card as well.
Id seriously look at getting a 0% balance transfer card, or a low life of balance card, and move this debt onto it.
Cancel the tesco and argos cards.


Have just paid the £61 emergency CC payment and can make another one on Dec 7th.
HAVE CUT UP THE CC ALSO!!!!
I found that I was paying off the minimum so that there was about £60 left on it.
Then when we were having a tight month I’d use it for emergency shopping.
This clearly isn’t getting me anywhere. It’s not as if I’ve got anything to show for the CC spend. It was used to ‘get by’ when we moved last Jan and I’ve frittered the bl**dy lot away again.

Background:
Original Loan £5000 to pay off CC £3200 and loan £1200 and CC £300, silly teenage spending.
I will not get into trouble again, she said.
So CC paid off but not cancelled.
£2500 on CC
So
£8500 loan to pay off
Remainder of £5000 loan
£2500 CC
£400 OD
£1500 moving fund.

Got stung on first rental property over here
Paid up for 6 months for long term rental, owners living abroad, day we moved in neighbour told us owners were actually travelling the world and that there was no way to extend after 6 months.
This turned out to be true so we had to move again.
So, thanks Mr.T, I’ll have a £2000 CC with 9 months 0%.
We’ll have paid it back by then. Whoops!
Now in a long-term rental and very happy apart from the money situation.
This has to stop. 10 years of being in debt and with absolutely b*gger all to show for it.


So here’s day one. Lightbulb moment 21/11/2007.
I am so far behind that this ‘spare’ money isn’t there ever!
The good thing is that next payday for me is the one payday I don’t have to pay rent from (the only bonus on 4 weekly pay!)
So if I can get my head round this lot, with MSE help. I should be able to get back on track for the new year?? - she says not very confidently.

Plan is :
Carry on with grocery challenge
Get rid of the Argos amount first. This would leave £450 credit for the ‘oh sh*t the TV, Fridge, (insert electrical appliance here) just -in-case fund.
Then tackle the CC
Then the loan.
I know some people might read this and think I’m odd or not in trouble but I can’t keep on with this cycle of crappiness with money. I should be able to afford some work clothes at some point but it don’t add up.
Spending diary started also.

sorry if this is a bit long winded and moany but it's therapeutic i think?

Also kind of panicking as the OHs job is a bit shaky at the mo and if one of us loses job, no savings etc. All debt in my name so flapping like a flappy thing and not sleeping.

Any help gratefully received.

High Peak Lass
xx

Do you have any savings? If so clear off as much debt as you can with it all, leave a little saved if it makes you feel better as an emergency, but make sure its in the best savings account interest wise you can find.

I think you could be a little more creative with how you spend your leisure time.
300 a month (at least is going on this)
Instead of paying to go to a quiz, invite friends round (alternate) and do your own quiz.
You can do BYOB or the host that week provides, will be cheaper in the long run, and probably more fun.

Anyoos good luck

best wishes

kev

High_Peak_Lass

CT is over 12 months - although they will ask for 10 for next year (v small council, like it up front!)
Mobile - usually £40 max but heavy month last month, job hunting!)
Bus fare is cheapest at moment I think but will have another look - thanks.x when I get a new job this will increase as we both get free trains at the moment.
Ciggies = rollies. Have got the patches but can't persuade him yet, still working on it.
Grocery - will def. go down. By EOM will review all receipts and see where the luxuries were (don't think there were that may this month?). Have started batch cooking already and use own brands etc.
December should be much less.

Quiz/Football - looking to reduce definitely but can't stop. I know this sounds stubborn but both suffer from the big D which is part of the reason we've moved out here. Gets worse by just work/sleep/work but am cutting down drinking so this should reduce further.

If i can be sensible during December's 'rent free' month it should get us back on track more

High_Peak_Lass

Home Insurance £10 - This is the cheapest and for a higher level of cover than previously paid

Car Insurance £30 - 2nd cheapest but with reputable firm rather than sharks we used previously!
Phone £22 - not got sky as LL not keen. tied into cheapest BT deal i could find at the time till July. Will be changing then and linking into broadband

G and E £78 - need to switch, just trying to dig out last 2Q bills!-

Broadband £22 as phone July switch

Mobile £50 Contract usually sub £40. am going to download last 6 months bills to see max useage and hopefully move to slightly lower tariff

Credit Card
Hoping to start with £120 DD in Jan and use up l/o grocery money to top up.

Argos - Hopefully get rid of this on next month if can but cheap xmas pressies duiring Rent free month

Quiz League £80 - is this worth 80 pounds? - not too much beer consumed as it's on a school night. Am trying to cut down drinking so should drop down. Also OH drives t some away legs so i feel guilty for having a drink if he isn't!

Football £200 - If you'd see my local team they may as well be a pub team!!!. As i said this is an absolue max based on 5 home games in a month.

These two things are important to do as we both suffer from the big D and i know what happens when we lock ourselves away. i just need to do them cheaper.

Grocery challenge £300 -on to it!

Petrol £15

OH Ciggies £60 - we've cut this in half as i've quit. Am 'pecking his head' and on standby with the patches.

-Diary started
I think you need to keep a spending diary, Diary started


Id seriously look at getting a 0% balance transfer card, or a low life of balance card, and move this debt onto it.
Cancel the tesco and argos cards. Not a cat in hell's chance of getting another CC at all as missed payments recently. Tesco card is in 4 pieces in front of me. Am i being daft here but thought i ccouldn't cancel until it's paid off?

Any spare money from GC will go onto Argos (if still there) then CC.
Also joined quidco in case of online shopping

Thanks all for your help so far
HPLxxx

Kevicho

High_Peak_Lass wrote: »

Id seriously look at getting a 0% balance transfer card, or a low life of balance card, and move this debt onto it.
Cancel the tesco and argos cards. Not a cat in hell's chance of getting another CC at all as missed payments recently. Tesco card is in 4 pieces in front of me. Am i being daft here but thought i ccouldn't cancel until it's paid off?

Sounds like most things seem to be improving, I would apply for one of these cards regardless of recent history, just you never know until youve tried applying.

Also check out http://www.annualcreditreport.co.uk/ for a free credit report, you will see if your report is in "tatters" or is better than you expect, it will give you some hints on improving it as well.

Kevicho

These two things are important to do as we both suffer from the big D and i know what happens when we lock ourselves away. i just need to do them cheaper.

MSE and DFW doesnt mean locking yourselves away, and you are right when you say about doing things cheaper.

Just creativity, i mean why not mystery shop, this will get you out one night for a meal, which you rate, but it will be paid for.

Also why not volunteer at this club in some form, they may need some professional skills you could offer, in exchange for reduced or free entry.

Also there is a website for watching films which are yet to be release called seefilmfirst

might be worth a look

HBFS

What level of non-league football is it? Would it help, perhaps dropping down a level? I know that Conference/BSQ Premier teams aren't that cheap anymore.

Perhaps dropping down to a local North/South team? Even perhaps a bit lower?

High_Peak_Lass

Kevicho - I know it's not locking yourself away but sometimes it feels like you'll have to. Have you got any details for mystery shop, that sounds like good fun. Would it fit in with FT work though? Definitely worth having a look.

HBFS - NWCFL - fairly low already!!!
The entrance fees aren't really the issue, it's the associated spend see, i've owned up now!


Thanks both