Re: Advice on Debt Needed

Tony_H_3

If it would've been £130 a month before you got a driving ban, expect that to at least double once you're back to paying for it yourself. So you're looking at probably £250 to £300 a month

That depends very much on the nature of the ban, generally only serious driving offences or drink & drugs result in higher premiums. But I agree, the car is a huge expense which would free up considerable finances.

Spendless

I think Phil has said that the car is on finance and is worth less than the outstanding balance on his debt. Anyone know how to get round this?

Tony_H_3

I think the only option would be to await for the outstanding amount / vehicle value to become the same. He might be lucky and be able to make up the shortfall with a reduction in interest due to early repayment? I think you know what I mean spendless.

Spendless

Good luck with sorting it out Phil & good luck with your new baby.
Tell us how you get on and if you need any money saving tips once baby arrives.
You are welcome to send me a pm

Debt_Free_Chick

Brilliant stuff Phil. I think you've had what some people call "a lightbulb moment".

When you have debt that starts to become "too expensive" then there are, I'm afraid, only 2 options. Cut your expenses and/or increase your income. You're already increasing your income through overtime, so your only option is to hit your expenses. You need to be very ruthless as your expenses will inevitably increase with a new baby.

Further back, you thought we were perhaps being a bit "unimaginative" with our suggestions, but there is no magic solution, I'm afraid. I think everyone made comments that they thought might not have occurred to you.

Understanding what you spent in the past & how you spent it is key to getting out of debt. It avoids you making the same "mistakes". Also, you can look back and ask yourself..."If I had known I would end up here, would I have spent in that way?".

You now seem really motivated to ruthlessly trim your budget - so I'm sure you'll succeed.

Yes please - do post back. We like to know how people get on (we're a nosey lot!  ;) ) and, as you say, it will help others too.

On the "swap the loans for one over a longer period", then yes, that could reduce your monthly repayment. But you will probably end up paying more in interest and you'll be condemned to debt for a longer period of time. I think you want "out", don't you?

Keep at it Phil and very best of luck.

LouiseW_3

i know you've said your mobile doesn't run out until Feb and i'm not sure if they still do this but when i cancelled my orange mobile, after questioning why etc they sent me a PAYG sim card. I think it was free? don't know if its any help at all .

good luck with everything

westernpromise

Another useful step is to download Martin's budgeting spreadsheet. Even if you don’t actually fill it in and use it, it is a very useful checklist of all the things you are spending money on. In almost every case, there is an article on this site on how to get the same thing for less.

A few suggestions I hope you find constructive. First, I don't know if you cohabit with the baby's mother or what, but if you do you will find you get very little time, if indeed any, to watch TV. This has been our experience with a 20-odd-month-old. When s/he gets to about 6 or 8 months, the baby will start to appreciate Cbeebies for half an hour at a time or so, and you can get that for no subscription at all. You just need the digibox (and there's Xmas coming up so you may be able to get someone to buy you one). So I would give very serious thought to binning Sky altogether because I betcha you won't get much time to watch it. If you're a sports addict or something, then catch the games at the pub, and make a bit of night of it (or get a part time job at the pub!). If it's the movies you like, rent them when you get time to watch one. But do not pay for something you don't use, just to have it on tap.

Next, go to https://www.pampers.com and register in as many addresses as you can where people will hold post for you - parents, friends, rellies, etc. Pampers regular send out free nappies, discount vouchers, etc., and so in fact do a lot of websites for parents. So blitz Huggies, Farleys, Cow and Gate, the whole lot of them - it adds up to about £50 or £100 a year just for registering. Not a lot but it's £50 you don't have to earn to get your debts down.

Babies get through stuff quite fast early on - toys, Moses baskets, baby baths, all that stuff. Anything you buy or are given for the baby, keep all the the packaging and keep the article itself as immaculate as you can, then auction it off on eBay as soon as the baby doesn't need it any more. Baby stuff sells very well there in my experience and more so if you've got the boxes, instructions, etc. You can also buy second hand Teletubbies videos there in immaculate condition for about a quid, for example.

Another point - are you optimising the way you spend money? You probably don’t have a cashback card and might have trouble getting one, but you can certainly enrol in things like Tesco Clubcard, Sainsburys Nectar, etc. Be a complete and utter tightwad, and exploit those to the limit. Also, Sainsbury's knock 5p a litre off their petrol if you spend £50 in the store. So when you go shopping take a calculator, tot it up as you go, and spend £50.01 per visit. The idea is that you time your shopping and petrol visits in such as way that you never pay the full pump price for the petrol.

You can get very cheap broadband these days from Wanadoo: £18 a month for 1Mb. It is supposedly limited download, but Martin has discovered that they have no means to monitor use. So for the time being in fact it is unlimited use for £18 a month. The link is on the https://www.wanadoo.co.uk homepage. For the minor inconvenience of changing your email address, you could save a fair amount of cash.

Switch your landline deal to connection only and sign up at https://www.call18866.co.uk for absurdly cheap calls. My call charges have gone from £30 a month to less than £1 thanks to them. Never ever call an 0845 or 0870 number from your own phone. Instead go to https://www.saynoto0870.co.uk, where you will find geographical or even freefone numbers for a lot of numbers - banks, utilities, TV licensing, and so on. Even if you have to pay to call their geographical number, it will only be 1p a time with 18866.

Basically, to deal effectively with debt, or with being short of funds, you have to get into a mindset where you never spend a dime until you've done your research and figured out if you’re getting the very best deal. None of the above entails cutting back on anything, it's just about spending smarter.

PhilWales_2

Thanks for the tips, they're all great and I appreciate them just as something to think about.

I signed up with 18866 last night

I'm cancelling SkyTalk today.

The Sky I had to sign up for for a year, I only signed up about 4/5 months ago or something like that.. so I'm stuck for a while but am getting it put on the bare minimum package.

The broadband I am tied in with the same.

As far as nappies go I am hoping to use washables, cheap and good for the environment!

Nickynoo1

Phil,

I would still call sky and explain your circumstances. Explain things have changed, you have debt that you are only just able to pay and you now have a baby on the way. Tell them if you cant cancel that you may not be able to eat, provide clean nappies etc. I know it's a sob story to them but they might just agree to let you break your contract, or postpone it.

Worth asking, all they can say is no, in which case your no worse of.

Nickynoo.

Jen_Jen_5

Dont forget to maximise your income, check out benefit entitlement for when your baby is due.