Debt Repayment - is there no hope for me??

nadnad

First of all take a look at your bills is there anything you could cut down on or out - take each one individually: telephone - do you have the cheapest provider? Do you have cable/sky - could you live with a cheaper package or scarier still none at all! Insurances - do you phone round/check out the net each year for the cheapest options. Then take the £360 - other living expenses - break this down further surely there are things in here that could be cut down. Food bills - do you buy ready made meals? Do you overbuy and end up throwing lots away? Do you eat out or get takeways each week?

The £2000 income - is that just yours? Does your wife work? If not could she possibly get a part time job - in the evening if childcare is an issue, even enough to cover her "£100 pin money" - it would certainly not take much to earn this and a little bit more to save/pay off bills.

This all seems straight forward enough - but if you think about it if you can cut even a few pounds of each area of expenditure - it adds up quite a lot. I found myself starting to wonder where all my money went - little trips here and there, the odd takeaway, clothes you don't necessarily need - it all adds up. When you want to save a bit and you try hard its not long before you see a result.

There is no point in worrying about the money spent its gone forget about it - think now about the future and what you are going to change.

In regards to your overdraft and credit cards - you have no money budgeted for this so obviously at the moment you aren't making a dent in them. You owe c£9000 - whats the interest on this and what interest are you getting on the savings? If it was me I would clear the debt - you will still have a little left over - start again and cut back on expenditure when you start to save and see your funds grow it gets easier and you'll feel so much better in yourself!.

Tony_H_3

I will move this thread over to the "Debt Free Wanna Be" as you will receive more advice & it would be better placed.

ceegee

Of course you deserve help....personally I cannot help but help a fellow human being in distress, if at all possible! :wave:

Right, do not beat yourself up over what happened in the past. What's done is done and cannot be undone. Look at it as an expensive lesson and don't do it again. Move on.

My twopenn'orth is that you should get a cheap notebook and write down in it every single penny you spend. You will soon get into the habit and it will show you exactly where your money is going. Write everything in it......even 60p for a paper. Tot it up every time. Yo'll be amazed at how quickly money can just d..r..i..p.. through your fingers without you noticing. Then you can see where it all goes.

:rolleyes: I am beginning to sound like a stuck record with this notebook business, but it really does work. I know. I've done it. :rolleyes:

Malestrom

This is a duplicate thread, can a board guide please delete it.

Willsnarf1983

or simply merge them

Will

barbie_babe

talk to wife if she dosnt want to get part time job maybe she can cut down bills.as you are working she might have more time to look around for offers on food and clothing.i would pay as much as possible off lloyds and ask barclaycard if they would up limit to clear rest of lloyds.as they are charging no intrest at moment.at least then you will only have two cards to pay.
could you then pay min amount on those cards and use them again to pay for bills.i know you will need to take intrest off that so you wont get back as much as you payed off but its worth a try.
hubby just lost his job and we are having to do that at moment hope this helps any way.good luck.

cifpower

Could you switch your mortgage if there are any better deals out there? Could you switch your utilities to a cheaper provider? Could you do the same with the insurance policies? Are all the insurances really needed? Could you cut down on the food you buy or buy cheaper food? Take a look at the thread at the bottom of the page for moneysaving ideas. Do you really need to go out as much as you do? If you have Sky could you lower your package and pay less?

A very important thing to do is make a budget of ALL your income and outgoings including small things like Sky, TV Licence, wine, petrol. It will show you what you are spending and where.

As for the overdraft, how about applying for an Egg Card and transferring the debt there instead of paying 18% interest on it. Once the transfer goes ahead DO NOT use the card.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.html?f=33

youngandreckless

Hey Jon_J,

If I were you, I'd use part of what you've stashed of your inheritance and clear all the debts. It may seem like the easy way out, but the money is there so it would enable you a fresh start. Once the debts are gone, you should emotionally and psychologically let the past go and make a fresh start for yourself. I know it won't be that simple, but you deserve to have a happy life as much as the next person and your guilt and stress seem only to make you more upset and will only chip away your self esteem.
You need to learn how to budget, strengthen your willpower and work together as a family to have a positive future financially, that way you won't repeat your mistakes again.
I'm still struggling to follow my own advice, but getting myself organised has improved my self confidence greatly. You may choose to leave the money in savings and tackle this from your monthly salary, which is fine as long as you're stricter with yourself (although not unrealistic - you'll find your feet) and committed.
Good luck, and never worry about deserving help, you're in the right place and you've made a good start.
Y&R x

ms_london

Jon_J wrote:

I am obsessed with knowing what other people do and how they apparently achieve more and spend more without having an inheritance.

I have now destroyed my credit cards but I am left with a £1600 overdraft and £7500 credit card debt.

Financial summary:

Income £2000
Bills £1100
Food £340
Other living £360 (going out, child's clubs fees, etc)
Wife part-time college costs £200
Wife's pin money £100

Hi Jon.

Welcome to the boards. As other people have mentioned, use your £14,000 to get rid of the rest of your debt - this will still leave you with £4,900 - still an adequate amount of savings. Pay off your debts, cancel the cards, cancel your overdraft, store cards - any means of credit you have available to you. See the £4,900 as an "emergency fund", and from today you need to start living within your means, preferably below your means. Sort out your finances for once and for all.

£1100 for Bills. Please could you break this down? I suspect that there are some things that could be reduced & perhaps other things you may have forgotten to add.

£340 for food. Far far too much - if you could get it down to £250 a month, thats £90 you are saving instantly.

£360 "living costs" - I suspect this could be reduced also, what other "living costs" does this entail? Not more food spent on lunches/meals out/takeaways? Please give us more information. Again, even if you could reduce it to £250 - thats £110 you could instantly save - a total of £200 already.

£300 - wife's pin money & college costs. How old is your child? As another poster said, could your wife not get a part time job? If she were bringing even £200 a month, think of what you could do with the £200 spare each month, it could go towards paying off your mortgage early, split between a holiday fund, or christmas fund, or a new car (whatever your goals/dreams might be). £200 a month of overpayments on your mortgage would drastically reduce interest I am sure.

Please dont beat yourself up about having blown your inheritance, although i know where you are coming from, having blown & run up £19,000 of debt. Just put your mistakes behind you & learn from them, dont keep thinking about it, be thankful that you didnt blown ALL of it, and MORE - then you could be in an even worse position now. Things could always be worse. Just put it behind you & move on.

If you want to talk money without boring the pants off people, talk about it here - we are all here for the same reasons, i am the same as you & have a bit of a budgeting obsession etc, constantly critising colleagues for never bringing food in/always eating out etc, when they are so obviously in debt - im not always the most popular here, i can tell you :0)

Dont go on to make the same mistakes, as i said, get rid of all of your credit, start today & change your life, stick to a budget & prove to yourself that you can be responsible with money, dont end up blowing a further £65,000 - as you wont have an inheritance to back you up this time.

Let us know how you get on, good luck.

Ms_London