Debt issues amongst others.

Sarahwithlove

Good idea you don't want to work hard to be debt free yourself to then have to take on someone else's. I have a budget spreadsheet. Could you maybe help her create one? 

floorspeed_2

Sarahwithlove said:

Good idea you don't want to work hard to be debt free yourself to then have to take on someone else's. I have a budget spreadsheet. Could you maybe help her create one? 

That might be a simple and effective idea, her mum is a accountant and has tried too help with such a idea but she hasn’t followed it that well in the past. The problem is she ignores the problem but seems to be very good at managing it. Today she applied for 0% interest credit card for a number of months probably 29 months. Her credit rating is 987. So she’s done really well to make sure she hasn’t missed payments and towed the credit line line.

anyways I may have to be up front with her in regards to that because I will be taking on her debts if I was to live with her and having that hanging over her head and mine would be a worry.

thanks for the suggestion tho Sarah

Sarahwithlove

floorspeed_2 said:

Sarahwithlove said:

Good idea you don't want to work hard to be debt free yourself to then have to take on someone else's. I have a budget spreadsheet. Could you maybe help her create one? 

That might be a simple and effective idea, her mum is a accountant and has tried too help with such a idea but she hasn’t followed it that well in the past. The problem is she ignores the problem but seems to be very good at managing it. Today she applied for 0% interest credit card for a number of months probably 29 months. Her credit rating is 987. So she’s done really well to make sure she hasn’t missed payments and towed the credit line line.

anyways I may have to be up front with her in regards to that because I will be taking on her debts if I was to live with her and having that hanging over her head and mine would be a worry.

thanks for the suggestion tho Sarah

That's great news about the balance transfer and that she has such a good credit score. If she has 29 months to clear it maybe now is the time for her to tackle it head on so that it can be cleared by that date. I think maybe being honest an sup front is what's needed, it's very easy t9 ignore a parent when they tell you to sort it out but if you explain your concerns and your plans for the future then ma Bye she might take it on board. I imagine a5 some point you would like to be able to have your own place together so having something to aim for is a good incentive so maybe talk to her about that as well. Cutting back doesn't mean she has to cut everything out which is what a lot of people fear and causes us to ignore it. So encourage her to find a good balance between debt repayment and enjoying her life. Good luck 

Timpanum

Been reading with interest.
Good luck with your journey!
Timps

db2016

reading with interest and subb'ed!
one thing i would say, and this is just based on the maths side. and it does seem to be a mindset / comfort / treat thing for you..
BUT
the coins? i know you see as investment, but whilst you have debts, the only investing most do are into the emergency pots.
from the maths side, it seems a lil unusual to trying to save on 3% inflation eg, when loans or credit cards are 20%+ (im guessing some of the payday ones are 100s of %.. so in effect your ruining your OWN inflation, i'd throw the cost of these investment coins at the debt and then once that's gone, well then think longer term for the future of these

hope that helps.

floorspeed_2

db2016 said:

reading with interest and subb'ed!
one thing i would say, and this is just based on the maths side. and it does seem to be a mindset / comfort / treat thing for you..
BUT
the coins? i know you see as investment, but whilst you have debts, the only investing most do are into the emergency pots.
from the maths side, it seems a lil unusual to trying to save on 3% inflation eg, when loans or credit cards are 20%+ (im guessing some of the payday ones are 100s of %.. so in effect your ruining your OWN inflation, i'd throw the cost of these investment coins at the debt and then once that's gone, well then think longer term for the future of these

hope that helps.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Yes it is a valid point in noting that buying the coins are some what negative to my goal of being debt free sooner and they can be seen as a extreme emergency fund in which I hope not to use.

I have been better this week so far and haven’t been bidding on any coins and have a plan to eliminate the pay day loans this Friday. The interest is already added into my total debt and I am genuinely interested to see how much I save when I pay them this week. Once again it’s a bit of a guessing game this week with my wages but I am pretty sure I can cover them both now that all minimum payments have been met on all my credit cards.

expected salary for this week is £1063 approx. Depending on how much I save on interest,  I ideally need £1100 but can work around if a lower amount.

On a side note I am going too have to get some new boots for work which I am hoping I can get at a reasonable price here in Germany. I guess there is always a bit of guilt when I make a purchase that’s not 100 percent needed like the coins but the boots i need.

Timpanum said:

Been reading with interest.
Good luck with your journey!
Timps

Thanks for contributing and the support Timpanum.

Bizzywizard

Hi Dave,
 Have you both checked your credit scores, to make sure everything is up to date and correct? As a letting agent will do a standard credit check if you are looking to rent. So might be worth using this as the excuse with your girlfriend to get her debt in order. I wish I had done this with my husband years ago. Only, late last year has he pulled his head out of the sand and I am now sorting out his debt. I/we are determined to be debt free by the end of this year!
So might be worth getting her to write down all the debt and interest and see if there are any chances of moving the debt to interest free cards for example.
 By the way. I am very impressed with the amount of your own debt you have moved, keep going, you are doing an awesome job!

floorspeed_2

Bizzywizard said:

Hi Dave,
 Have you both checked your credit scores, to make sure everything is up to date and correct? As a letting agent will do a standard credit check if you are looking to rent. So might be worth using this as the excuse with your girlfriend to get her debt in order. I wish I had done this with my husband years ago. Only, late last year has he pulled his head out of the sand and I am now sorting out his debt. I/we are determined to be debt free by the end of this year!
So might be worth getting her to write down all the debt and interest and see if there are any chances of moving the debt to interest free cards for example.
 By the way. I am very impressed with the amount of your own debt you have moved, keep going, you are doing an awesome job!

I had not thought of that Mrs wizard!

Currently my girlfriends score is very good even tho her income to debt is very high at the moment compared to mine. I need to sit down in person with her too help her in regards to a plan, she’s already working on 0% interest cards at the moment. I guess it’s about timing and money, I am just going to keep bringing it up in conversation to keep her aware of it.

i currently have a black mark on my credit file from once again a payday loan in 2014/2015 ( I moved house and missed the payment) no doubt this was my fault for not keeping track back then, i had a lot on my mind amongst other creditors to deal with. With that in mind I have a question for anyone who maybe knowledgeable in regards to this.

 I paid the loan off (£150 to cash and go) on the 01/01/2015 when I received a letter at my new address and was pretty disheartened because I knew my credit file would mean nothing with that on it. So moving on 5 years and a month I am aware it takes 6 years too come off my credit report! Now is it taken off from the date i took out the loan or when it was settled? August 2015 was when I took the loan out!

(I have also contacted the creditors nicely to have it removed with no luck)

Any solid links or information in regards to this would be very much welcomed. I always seem to end up in a google rabbit hole looking for information about it  .

Also I hope you achieve your goal by the end of the year.

thanks for the support too.

floorspeed_2

I thought I would give a bit of a update because i managed to save some money!

being in Germany I still use a UK phone which allows me 20GB a month and due to a location change I have had to rely on my phones internet more so.

carrier: three
February bill £63.25

Normal sim only monthly cost: £20.50
This month sim only bill £31.99*
Extra roaming charges: £18.26*
extra data added: £8*
not having a direct debt: £5*

pretty shocking bill this month as my contract ran out and they decided to add another £11.49 For the pleasure of staying with them.

Yesterday I decided too contact them through their app on a live chat and requested my money back from the extra data (£8) I had added which didn’t account for roaming as I thought at the time and a lack of information and explanation when purchasing. The operator said that I had been with them for a while... (7 years) and made the data charge into credit and also included my extra roaming charges (£18.26)  as credit also  I was thankful and closed the chat.

then today I decided to contact too them again asking about the extra charge to my normal payment and they made the £11.49 into credit too whichI was happy about.

through this whole process I did not get any creditable answers too why the extra charges to my contract where added. I can only assume there are clauses in the contract which state the change after contract length is gone over a increase applies. All they asked is... are you a happy customer? In which I replied ‘yes thank you’ 

That’s a total of £37.75 saved for my next bill via a few minutes in live chat.

all in all I am on a new contract that’s £10 a month for 6 months then doubles to £20 again which is still cheaper than my last contract £20.50. One could argue why haven’t I created a direct debt? I have missed a few in the past resulting in £25 charge by my bank per missed direct debt... so I have kind of let myself get hit with the extra monthly £5 charge instead for a while.

maybe I can get myself in a position where I can trust myself with a direct debt.. fingers crossed!

i am sure my bills will vary over the next couple of months and it’s up to me how frugal or lavish I will be with my roaming. 

Sarahwithlove

Do you get paid weekly or monthly? I have two accounts one is a bills account where all my DDs come out and other is everything else. I then pay in enough each month to cover my DDs and have an overdraft of £100 just in case one is more then expected. Might be something to consider when you're feeling more secure money wise.