Debt issues amongst others.

MovingForwards

One thing I would say is you need to learn to save yourself, it's great that you are sending your GF money every payday*, but you need to be able to save in your own account and draw on your willpower not to take it back out.

Start small to begin with and look at the 1p a day savings challenge, whilst it won't make you rich in a year, it will give you the skills of saving and not touching the money.

Once you have done the 1p challenge, next year you can look at the 52 week challenge, bigger pot of money at the end of the year.

* How much debt is your GF in and what is she doing about it?

Please don't take this the wrong way but any money in your GFs account is hers, even though you transferred it for her to save.

Without beating around the bush, if your GF isn't dealing with her debts and gets pushed into making a payment either due to panicking from a debt collector letter or court proceedings, your money could be at risk.

Floorspeed

Movingforward I think you are 100% correct that I should save myself and show will power and strength to be able too. I did some calculations and have decided that I am also going to save the same amount as I am sending my girlfriend once more money starts to come in. Yes you showed concern about her getting into problems and it being her money. Fortunately she has never missed a payment and has a excellent credit score at the moment, I trust her enough to save the money for both of us to use towards renting when I get back to uk.

So this Friday I started to send money to my girlfriend so we are building towards are goal.

Here is my break down for this weeks pay check.

£55 bamboo loans ✅
£135 capital one ✅
£24 Vanquis credit card ✅
£25 phone bill tick ✅
£250 girlfriend rent savings ✅
£183 in euros for the week ✅

Total: £672
Total debt payments: £214

Below is a break down including payments of my current debt position.

£464.52 Satsuma loans
£1379.76 capital one credit card
£608.72 uncle buck pay day loan
£1026.92 PayPal credit
£495.94 Vanquis credit card
£592.7 bamboo
£394.52 amazon credit card

Total £4,963.08

I emailed Bamboo loans about my current outstanding balance and this is corrected now from £1000 to £592.7. At the time of starting this thread i wasn’t 100 percent how much I owed them but I was glad it wasn’t the higher amount and I must of made extra payments in the past in which I feel lucky I did.

Overall I feel I am set up for the week with my euros to get any essentials ready for my off site work, another bonus is that my accommodation and food will be proved free of charge which is great but I know I have a lot of hard work ahead working 6 days a week �� potentially 60+ Hour weeks

Next week my next goal is to put £50 into savings and keep it their and then revert to what I have said above.

Thanks again for your comments

Floorspeed

31st of January 2020

£250 Girlfriend rent savings ✅
£154.84 satsuma loan ✅
£153.37 uncle buck loan (tick)
£55 bamboo loans ( pay next week)
£102.80 binary bull sol Noctis coin purchase. ( purchased ��)
£10.93 in savings account ✅

Total pay: £671.94

£394.52 amazon credit card.
£1,379.76 capital one credit card
£1,026.92 PayPal credit
£494.06 Vaqnius credit card
£455.35 uncle buck loan
£592.7 bamboo loan
£309.68 satsuma loans

Total outstanding debt: £4652.99

Well this weeks pay was some what abused a tad with me purchasing a coin I wanted partly as a investment in the future. Some how I had some money left over to put into my savings account and I am hoping I can keep it in there and not do anything stupid with it either buying something or worse.

I wrote to my payday lenders this week and luckily I will be about to save some interest of around £24 with satsuma loans if I make a settlement on the 14th of February. Depending on my wage slip next week I may be able to pay that off on the 7th of February.

Unfortunately uncle buck pay day loans never emailed me the amount I could save but instead said too call in which I will on Friday the 7th of February.

Overall aside from the money side of things my mind has been flipping towards buying things as seen above so I am trying to focus on other stuff and keeping myself busy where ever I can.

It’s been a long week and it’s not over yet as I am working on Saturday �� kind of looking forward to having a few drinks tomorrow night while making some purchases in cash for essentials too.

Overall I feel a bit drained mainly due to work but I shall crack on and focus on being debt free and gambling free too.

floorspeed_2

7th February 2020

With the new forum layout I have had my email address linked to my previous account on moneysavingexpert and I will give my updates with this account now as I don’t wish Too continue to make posts left right and centre.

So my wages this week I can not complain about what so ever but I was taxed a lot and my expectations were higher but the tax man had taken his cut with 12 hours overtime on top of my 48 hour week which is understandable and fair. ( or tax woman)

Because of my expectations I was already spending my wages in my head so a crash to reality came in with my wage slip. But I did end up making a purchase of silver coins again, once upon a time that was real money so I see it as a good investment against inflation.

Unfortunately I did email bamboo loans explaining I would make a £110 payment to cover last weeks arrears and this weeks payment but what ended up happening is that I paid the £110 and then they took a automatic payment of £55 approx.

I am not too bothered but it could of been placed either on my higher interest rate cards instead, potentially saving some pounds in the long run. At least I am ahead in regards to that loan.

With all of my cards having interest added and requiring minimum payments needing paying I am glad I have managed to play above the minimum on all cards as well as make dents in loans

My state of mind has been focusing on buying Items and probably down to my bipolar but I am holding up well with keeping things realistic. I mean this is the first week I have ever kept money in my savings account without spending it so I am very happy I have been able to add more this week as a emergency fund. Yes it maybe small but hopefully I can grow that over time and the months ahead.

Me and my girlfriend have been looking for places to rent and I have now saved about £750 towards it. I know I will need more for many many items that will need to be bought and she will be all over Facebook marketplace for potential items. Bed frames, sofas hoovers, etc.

If anyone has any advice in regards too renting that would be very much welcomed.

I know I don’t really give a breakdown on what I spend on my living expenses but that’s normally converted to euros and I normally buy what I need and enjoy a few drinks on the night before my day off for the week.

I am looking forward too a pizza take away on Saturday night... go me lol.

Anyways here is my current weekly position with the numbers 

£49.27 Valentine’s Day ✅

£100 living costs ✅

£250 Girlfriend savings rent ✅ 

£40 PayPal  ✅ 

£164.89 bamboo loan ✅ 

£40 Vanquis  credit card ✅ 

£38 amazon credit card ✅ 

£52 capital one credit card ✅ 

£48 silver coins investment ✅

£22.48 savings account ✅

£285.11 satsuma settlement loan (next week)

Total: £804.64

Total debt repayments for this week: £ 334.89

Current outstanding balance debt:

£986.92 PayPal credit card

£1360.49 capital one credit card

£365.46 amazon credit card

£454.06 vanquis credit card

£344.79 Bamboo loan

£309.68 satsuma loan

£455.35 uncle buck loan

Total outstanding debt £4276.75

Total savings: £33.41

I will keep on fighting.

Comments appreciated I hope everyone has a great week next week

Kitten868

What is the threshold that means you can go home? Saving to a certain point or paying off a certain amount? I'm wondering if you might be better served leaving the savings with your partner once you've reached £1000 and then ploughing all the money into debts. It's not a huge amount but it is high interest so the more you pay off the quicker it's over with. I also wonder if you're snowballing enough? I love snowballing as it feels more like your winning against the debts. So just paying minimums to debts except one where you funnel all the overpayments and clear them off. 
I think you're doing so so well and it really is a struggle when you're away from all of your home comforts and your support. Plus I get the obsession over certain things and wanting to buy them. Would visuals help? Would focusing on rightmove help? I can easily go down a rightmove black hole. In terms of renting you can rent furnished or unfurnished and it doesn't always make a big difference on price. You will need a deposit to put down but you don't have to worry about savings for repairs as it's the landlords responsibility. Don't be wowed by the flat - focus on location. 

You can do this. Keep going! Xxx

floorspeed_2

Kitten868 said:

What is the threshold that means you can go home? Saving to a certain point or paying off a certain amount? I'm wondering if you might be better served leaving the savings with your partner once you've reached £1000 and then ploughing all the money into debts. It's not a huge amount but it is high interest so the more you pay off the quicker it's over with. I also wonder if you're snowballing enough? I love snowballing as it feels more like your winning against the debts. So just paying minimums to debts except one where you funnel all the overpayments and clear them off. 
I think you're doing so so well and it really is a struggle when you're away from all of your home comforts and your support. Plus I get the obsession over certain things and wanting to buy them. Would visuals help? Would focusing on rightmove help? I can easily go down a rightmove black hole. In terms of renting you can rent furnished or unfurnished and it doesn't always make a big difference on price. You will need a deposit to put down but you don't have to worry about savings for repairs as it's the landlords responsibility. Don't be wowed by the flat - focus on location. 

You can do this. Keep going! Xxx

1. The threshold to go home would be debt free and some savings of around £3k on top of rent savings to my girlfriend of 3k.

2. Snow balling, no I am not snowballing at the moment as much as I wish too but next week I should be able to Able to get rid of the high interest payday loans.

3. Visuals? I think in terms of seeing all my debts on one app which I have helps me see the realistic side of it.

4. Right move well I have looked at a few places but it’s a high turn over in my location and as soon as some thing pops up it’s gone as my girlfriend has been disheartened some times. Kind of glad she has £750 handy so deposits can be made and she’s learnt to be quicker now when find a place.... on that note it is possible we could be renting sooner or later so that could be another burden.

overall I am trying to educate my girlfriend that she doesn’t have to be in the city area or just outside it and a train commute wouldn’t be bad. She’s ruled that out because of the expense of train travel and to be fair it would be more expensive than a 20 min bus route into town. 

Oh on a side note I had like £3.96 left after my withdrawal of euros and put that into my ISA.


thanks for commenting kitten868 I hope your debt journey is over swiftly and I will try to get lost in right move :-)

Sarahwithlove

I think you need to have an open talk with your girlfriend, if you are making this effort to be debt free she needs to do the same. Ideally when you both move in together you need to both be debt free so you can have a clean slate and pass any possible checks that may be done on you. Here is the girlfriend living at the moment? Instead of building up a rent pot would you be better off paying your debts off quicker and avoid the interest and then save afterwards for any kind of deposit. I know you both probably want it to happen as soon as possible but right now your debts need to be the focus and paying as little interest as possible which in turn will mean it gets paid off quicker. 

floorspeed_2

Sarahwithlove said:

I think you need to have an open talk with your girlfriend, if you are making this effort to be debt free she needs to do the same. Ideally when you both move in together you need to both be debt free so you can have a clean slate and pass any possible checks that may be done on you. Here is the girlfriend living at the moment? Instead of building up a rent pot would you be better off paying your debts off quicker and avoid the interest and then save afterwards for any kind of deposit. I know you both probably want it to happen as soon as possible but right now your debts need to be the focus and paying as little interest as possible which in turn will mean it gets paid off quicker. 

Correct and timing of such a suggestion is best, of course that’s the most logical answer but she has refused a number of times for me to help her. With third party family pressure and a bit of common sense I am hoping once the savings for rent exceed a certain amount And I make that suggestion. There is zero point in having unnecessary arguments with some one who finds it hard to change there ways or tackle a problem. It’s easier to provide the answer within a relatively short period of time before making that suggestion makeing the option more attractive.

i

Sarahwithlove

floorspeed_2 said:

Sarahwithlove said:

I think you need to have an open talk with your girlfriend, if you are making this effort to be debt free she needs to do the same. Ideally when you both move in together you need to both be debt free so you can have a clean slate and pass any possible checks that may be done on you. Here is the girlfriend living at the moment? Instead of building up a rent pot would you be better off paying your debts off quicker and avoid the interest and then save afterwards for any kind of deposit. I know you both probably want it to happen as soon as possible but right now your debts need to be the focus and paying as little interest as possible which in turn will mean it gets paid off quicker. 

Correct and timing of such a suggestion is best, of course that’s the most logical answer but she has refused a number of times for me to help her. With third party family pressure and a bit of common sense I am hoping once the savings for rent exceed a certain amount And I make that suggestion. There is zero point in having unnecessary arguments with some one who finds it hard to change there ways or tackle a problem. It’s easier to provide the answer within a relatively short period of time before making that suggestion makeing the option more attractive.

i

I wish you the best of luck with it. It’s very easy for us to bury our heads in the sand. Maybe you could recommend some of the small changes you have made as suggestions or the links to a statement of affairs so she could complete one for herself if only for her own information purposes it would help her get an idea of how it stands. 

floorspeed_2

Yeah, she seems to ignore/put her head in the sand. She said she would talk with her mother about her cards and debt and create a plan which I will continue to ask about.

i asked her last night and she seems to ignore it. I ll keep on pushing.