in debt and want to manage it better

lukese

hi i currently have quite a bit of debt for my age, im 23 years old and i currently owe


4501 on an egg card at about 17.9%
3950 remaining on a northern rock loan @ 8.9
2855 on a virgin credit card apr unsure cant find on site.
500 on an hsbc card again apr not to sure will be high though as hsbc arnt great in my experiance.
also live in my overdrath (sp?) of £500.



i wouldnt say im having huge problems as a read other peoples threads and think wow im ok ill stop worrying, but i have come to the point where im thinking if i dont sort this out it could get messy, i over spend most months i think, i only ever make minimum plus a bit more on my credit cards and use them every so often so the repayments make no dent what so ever after intrest is added.


i have just added up my mimimum payments and they are as follows

£90~100 egg card
160 norther rock loan
70~75 virgin card
20ish hsbc card
dont pay for the overdrath but want rid.


i had a letter today from hsbc offering my 8.3% loan guaranteed rate. and i added everything up and the repayments over 5 years will be 240ish cant remember exact figures, do you guys think this is the right thing to do? allthough im replacing one debt with another i am in theroy lowering my repayments by around £100 a month which is much needed at the minute as me and my debt free girlfriend have just bought a place together. and also i know in 5 years i will deffinatly be debt free even though it seems like a bloody long time.

any hints, tips, advice gladly wecome.

RAS

Welcome


Please do NOT take out a consolidation loan unless

you have addressed the underlying reason why you got into debt in the first place,
you have checked that you will not be paying out more in interest on the loan than you would if you sorted out the CCs see www.whatsthecost and play with the snowball
and you have put up and SOA here so that folk can find out how to pay this little lot off most effectively, and spend less over the time.

Will post the SOA link in a minute.

poorandindenial

This is the SOA link:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=107280

Sorry RAS if you are off looking for it, I had it to hand

lukese

cheers gonna fill it out now

lukese

i dont know my yearly salary, im on course for 52k this year, but i work alot of hours, these hours are not guaranteed so when bugeting i dont like to rely on it. so my flat take home is 550 a week so thats 2383 over the year.

you will have to excuse the workings out as im payed weekley so i work everything out weekly

Monthly Incomings:
My salary - £2383
Partners salary - £1000ish
Total - £3383


Monthly Outgoings:
Mortgage/Rent - £1094
Council Tax - £100ish
GYM - £80
Gas - £30
Electric - £30 <---- the gas water and elec are pure estimates we moved in two months ago and havent had a bill as yet its a two bed flat though.
water - £30
TV License - £24.20 <

---

just got it so having to pay over six months.
Sky £38 <--- having never had it had to have it now regretting it and will prob drop the movies at first chance.
Phone (mine)- £40.00
phone (partners) £30.00
BT £10.50
Food - £260
Car Insurance - £42
Petrol partner - £80
petrol me. £40~60 ....varys from week to week i drive to work or get train both are refunded but added to my salary norm put it on CC then dont get round to paying off. (terrible i know)
Life Insurance £19
contents £20
Broadband £10
money for work partner £50 a month
money for me work £100 (work in the city alot lunch is costly, should take pack lunch).


think that is it but will really need to tak to my girlfriend about her out goings preety sure she doesnt have many more than me.
total outgoings

total £2147

my debt
4126 northern rock 8.9 apr 160 a month.
4500 egg card 17.9 arp minimum payments are 90~100 a month
2999 virgin card still cant find apr 70~75
500 hsbc card. cant find apr. 20 a month
500 overdrawn. not aware of a charge.

toal minimum payments £355



now i know im wasting a !!!! load of money but cant work out how

RAS

Hi

A few thoughts on where it is going

MOT, car tax, repairs?
Clothes, going out?
presents?
Holidays?

lattes, papers, magazines, haircuts?

poorandindenial

lukese wrote: »

i dont know my yearly salary, im on course for 52k this year, but i work alot of hours, these hours are not guaranteed so when bugeting i dont like to rely on it. so my flat take home is 550 a week so thats 2383 over the year.

you will have to excuse the workings out as im payed weekley so i work everything out weekly

Monthly Incomings:
My salary - £2383
Partners salary - £1000ish
Total - £3383


Monthly Outgoings:
Mortgage/Rent - £1094
Council Tax - £100ish
GYM - £80 - how often do you go (be honest) if not very then ditch, ditch, ditch, if you go and just use standard equipment then change to a cheaper gym
Gas - £30
Electric - £30 <---- the gas water and elec are pure estimates we moved in two months ago and havent had a bill as yet its a two bed flat though.
water - £30
TV License - £24.20 <

---

just got it so having to pay over six months.
Sky £38 <--- having never had it had to have it now regretting it and will prob drop the movies at first chance. - do ditch whatever you can as soon as possible, does this include broadband and phone too??
Phone (mine)- £40.00 - ditch the contract and go pay as you go
phone (partners) £30.00 - ditto
BT £10.50 - OK so separate phone and sky, could you integrate the two for less? is this just the line rental?
Food - £260 - you can probably cut this a bit
Car Insurance - £42
Petrol partner - £80
petrol me. £40~60 ....varys from week to week i drive to work or get train both are refunded but added to my salary norm put it on CC then dont get round to paying off. (terrible i know) - do you NEED to drive into work sometimes? you say you work in the city so do you pass theough the CC zone? Can you survive with one car? Ditto your partner, do they have to drive for woek or could they get a bus
Life Insurance £19
contents £20
Broadband £10 - put this in with sky and phone and you should save
money for work partner £50 a month
money for me work £100 (work in the city alot lunch is costly, should take pack lunch). I saved £100 per month by taking packed lunch and not buying coffee and breakfast at Pret on way in


think that is it but will really need to tak to my girlfriend about her out goings preety sure she doesnt have many more than me.
total outgoings

total £2147

my debt
4126 northern rock 8.9 apr 160 a month. - if you could change loan provider you might be able to get this APR down by a percent or two
4500 egg card 17.9 arp minimum payments are 90~100 a month
2999 virgin card still cant find apr 70~75
500 hsbc card. cant find apr. 20 a month
500 overdrawn. not aware of a charge.

toal minimum payments £355



now i know im wasting a !!!! load of money but cant work out how

keep a spending diary and you will a) think twice about what you spend b) be confronted with all the cr*p you buy and don't realise

You should also budget for things like going out, birthdays, holidays, car repairs, car tax etc

lukese

Monthly Outgoings:
Mortgage/Rent - £1094
Council Tax - £100ish
GYM - £80 - how often do you go (be honest) if not very then ditch, ditch, ditch, if you go and just use standard equipment then change to a cheaper gym
Gas - £30
Electric - £30 <---- the gas water and elec are pure estimates we moved in two months ago and havent had a bill as yet its a two bed flat though.
water - £30
TV License - £24.20 <

---

just got it so having to pay over six months.
Sky £38 <--- having never had it had to have it now regretting it and will prob drop the movies at first chance. - do ditch whatever you can as soon as possible, does this include broadband and phone too??
Phone (mine)- £40.00 - ditch the contract and go pay as you go
phone (partners) £30.00 - ditto
BT £10.50 - OK so separate phone and sky, could you integrate the two for less? is this just the line rental?
Food - £260 - you can probably cut this a bit
Car Insurance - £42
Petrol partner - £80
petrol me. £40~60 ....varys from week to week i drive to work or get train both are refunded but added to my salary norm put it on CC then dont get round to paying off. (terrible i know) - do you NEED to drive into work sometimes? you say you work in the city so do you pass theough the CC zone? Can you survive with one car? Ditto your partner, do they have to drive for woek or could they get a bus
Life Insurance £19
contents £20
Broadband £10 - put this in with sky and phone and you should save
money for work partner £50 a month
money for me work £100 (work in the city alot lunch is costly, should take pack lunch). I saved £100 per month by taking packed lunch and not buying coffee and breakfast at Pret on way in


think that is it but will really need to tak to my girlfriend about her out goings preety sure she doesnt have many more than me.
total outgoings

total £2147

my debt
4126 northern rock 8.9 apr 160 a month. - if you could change loan provider you might be able to get this APR down by a percent or two
4500 egg card 17.9 arp minimum payments are 90~100 a month
2999 virgin card still cant find apr 70~75
500 hsbc card. cant find apr. 20 a month
500 overdrawn. not aware of a charge.

toal minimum payments £355



now i know im wasting a !!!! load of money but cant work out how



Gym, we go most nights even if it is just for a dip in the pool and a sauna, its a part of our lives i would say on average we go out less than once a month with friends so the gym is a sort of alternative, yeah its expensive but its cheapest in area, well the council one was 38 each and crap.

Sky cant ditch untill i have been with them a certain amount of months think it is 3 will look into it.

phones, both use alot and would not be cost effective to go pay as you go. well maybe my partner but not me.


BT is just the line rental, im currently in a dispute with them as when i signed up i was not informed i was entering a twelve month contract, they can not find the tape recording, ofcom are getting envolved. i cant get the sky deal, but got a deal with my mobile provider for ten a month they give me free calls to anywhere in uk plus internatiall so dont use bt and want rid.

i need to drive in to work, im an electrictian, i drive a van all expenses are covered ie c charge, parking, petrol, tax, insurance, tyres.

my partner needs to drive also as the train ticket just about meets the petrol money and is quicker. allthough there is no need for her to work so far away, its just because we have just moved and she hasnt got a more local job yet so hopefully within a few months that will be back down to at least half.

packed lunch is the future and im trying but i sturggle with ideas. same for the food bill as a whole, im positive we could shop for the month with packed lunch for the two of us and have loads of change out of 260 but we really struggle to come up with meal ideas and eat the same meals most weeks, which are normally out of a jar.


thanks for the reaply.

lukese

also what i dont get is how people knock there debt down. i know you can over pay credit cards but do people save the money in the bank to pay of the loans?

poorandindenial

Check out the old style board on the main forum page (not the DFW forum)

There are people there that make an art form out of eating well and not spending a fortune.

Sorry I think I mixed up you and your partner for train and cars. I thought you got train and partner always took car.

Do speak to Sky about combining your sky and broadband though, you will probably save.

You can also shop thorugh sites like Quidco.co.uk that give you cashback (this includes food shops like Tescos (home delivery, it does cost to get home delivery but you can often find free delivery promo codes on this site as well as if you google) as well as insurance and stuff - have a nose around to see what you can do to make things cost a bit less by getting cash back)

poorandindenial

You can overpay credit cards (always do this if possible) and many loans will take overpayment. My Egg loan has no early settlement fee and my Lloyds one would charge me £180 for settling early which is a hell of a lot less than the interest that is charged. If you can overpay on anything that attracts interest then do it as long as it won't leave you racking up the debt again.

Edit: my egg loan I just change the monthly payment amount myslef over the phone or online.