The First Step to freedom...

Superheavy

Sorry if the title is a little dramatic, but I can be prone to that....

Anyhow, I'll fill you in on the details as to why I'm in the present hole with money first, then have a look at the SOA.

A few years ago I purchased a flat in a small town believing that it would be a good investment, and encouraged by family to make the step into growing up, becoming a man, and putting something away for the future. So, two years later, having been working full time and not doing too badly, I felt a little stale, and maybe thought of a change, so I put the flat on the market, and started thinking about moving on. After a lot of early interest, I received and accepted a good bid, put in my notice at work, and decided to move to Swansea with a couple of friends.

And then everything seemed to crumble beneath my feet....

Having left work, and with the promise of money coming in, I thought things weren't too bad. However, I hadn't prepared for looking for work, and thought it would be easier than it turned out. So, a month and a few interviews down the road, I decided things were getting worse, and I was spending on CC's to cover bills etc thinking it wouldn't be long until the flat was sold, and I'd have a nice influx of money, pay everything off, and life would be good again. Anyway, the debts were rising steadily, and I applied for a few more cards, and then disaster struck, as the buyer pulled out of the flat sale right at the death. I desperately took the first job I was offered, working in a call centre for the bank, and cut back as much as I could.
Thus I arrive at my present predicament, with big credit card balances, a loan and rent etc to pay, and very little money left over to play with each month. My parents are helping with most of the mortgage on the flat, but I do chip in a fair bit to that on top of things here in Swansea. Here's my SOA as I have it:

Income:
Wages - £831.46
Loan from Parents - £250

Outgoings:
Rent - £285
Mortgage - £350
Loan - £128.78
S/O to pay off overdraft on other account - £20
Mobile Phone - £35
Internet/Satellite/Telephone - £18
Car Insurance - £57.19
Minimum payments on 5 Credit Cards - £200

Add to that the basics like food (£50 per month-ish) petrol (£50) and other occasional bills such as water (£40 per quarter) and electric/gas (£30 per quarter) and things look pretty hairy.

However, there are a few things in the pipeline which I'm trying to sort out....lessening the phone contract before eventually cancelling it. My car insurance is up for renewal in 3 months, which should lessen that significantly, and if my flat sells, then I'll be able to pay everything off.
I've been getting pretty stressed about it all, losing sleep as everyone does, and been working like a dog at work to try and exceed targets so I get a decent bonus in March/April time. Also, I'm paying off some mortgage arrears at a rate of £50 per month, which will be completed in May, and bring the mortgage back down to £300. The main problem, obviously, is the credit cards. They stand like this at the moment:

Virgin Credit Card : £3409.70 @ 34.9% (EEEEEK!)
Barclaycard : £2100 @ 14.9%
Capital One : £962.875 @ 22.4%
Amazon Halifax : 798.01 @ 19.4%
HSBC Card : 1469.81 @ 2.9% BT rate

They're all pretty close to the credit limits, so no immediate chance of switching things around, though I will be having a look into extending my limit on the HSBC card to take advantage of the BT rate some more. The main thing with the cards is which do I look to make inroads into most. Do I put most of my money into the Virgin card as that has the highest rate, or do I plough it into the HSBC one to clear that balance so I can BT more on to it?

Basically, I'm hoping I'm in short term dire straits, hoping a buyer for the flat might come along, but any help or advice you can give me would be very much appreciated. And once again, I apologise if I've rambled a little.

MrsTinks

Could you get a short term tenancy into the flat for the time being? Maybe offer a slightly reduced rent on the grounds that they will have to vacate when the flat is sold with 1 month notice?

Superheavy

tine wrote: »

Could you get a short term tenancy into the flat for the time being? Maybe offer a slightly reduced rent on the grounds that they will have to vacate when the flat is sold with 1 month notice?

I have looked into renting, but the rent on the flat long-term would just about cover the mortgage, but short-term tenants would be out I think, as, preparing to complete on the sale, I moved out the oven (which my sister commandeered) and the fridge-freezer (mum snagged that one), and the costs of getting them back into the flat (renting a van, petrol over long distance, installation/deinstalling oven) would make it impractical.

However, with the market as it is, if nothing comes along in three or four months, renting long-term might be unavoidable.

Superheavy

Doing all that last night has really given me a boot up the backside. Applied for two jobs (much better paid) today, and also checked up on the estate agent. Someone coming for a second viewing of the flat on Friday, so who knows, the new week might bring a bit more sunshine on things.

RAS

Virgin Credit Card : £3409.70 @ 34.9% (EEEEEK!)
Barclaycard : £2100 @ 14.9%
Capital One : £962.875 @ 22.4%
Amazon Halifax : 798.01 @ 19.4%
HSBC Card : 1469.81 @ 2.9% BT rate

Put anything and everything you can agaisnt the Virgin card.
Anything that would go on e-bay or ayt a car boot sale? over time - bar job?

Superheavy

RAS wrote: »

Virgin Credit Card : £3409.70 @ 34.9% (EEEEEK!)
Barclaycard : £2100 @ 14.9%
Capital One : £962.875 @ 22.4%
Amazon Halifax : 798.01 @ 19.4%
HSBC Card : 1469.81 @ 2.9% BT rate

Put anything and everything you can agaisnt the Virgin card.
Anything that would go on e-bay or ayt a car boot sale? over time - bar job?

All against the Virgin Card....check! I think I'll probably have to have a filter through my numerous bookcases....books are my main vice, though I doubt there's anything too valuable there.

Also have a collection of boxed Corgi Cars which might go on ebay too. Every little helps, even if it is just a few quid here and there.

Running_man

Hi
Could you not move into flat or in with parents for the short term.This would release £285 to throw at debt.If distance a problem could you not get job in either area
Car insurance seems high.
Mobile phone £35 .go on payg.Or at least change tariff

CUT up credit cards then not tempted

Superheavy

Running_man wrote: »

Hi
Could you not move into flat or in with parents for the short term.This would release £285 to throw at debt.If distance a problem could you not get job in either area
Car insurance seems high.
Mobile phone £35 .go on payg.Or at least change tariff

CUT up credit cards then not tempted

The mobile phone tariff is one thing that I've already been on to, but they won't let me go down more than one tariff at a time, nor will they let me terminate early...another 6 months or so left before I do go PAYG. Down to £25 as of next month. I'll be changing the car insurance come june when its up, but moving isn't really an option, as my parents are 120 miles away, and the flat about somewhere in between.

Thanks for your help, I'll be cutting up the CC's for sure.

On the dark side of things, my estimated payoff for the old a/c's overdraft was thrown up the proverbial creek, when they slapped me with £130 more charges, which I'll have to cover, or I'm then over my overdraft again and back in the bank charge square dance....

Superheavy

OK, a bit of an update on what's happened this weekend. I've accepted an offer on my flat, which I hope will go through this time, but I'm still scraping things together for the next few months and praying that goes through.

Had a major stressout on Thursday night too...where I slept about two hours and ended up counting out all my change in the penny bottle. Nearly £14, which is off to the bank sometime this week.

tealady

Hello. If you have books for sale check out Amazon and Green Metropolis.
Also you haven't mentioned Council tax, if you live on your own you need only pay 75% and I would check to see if you have to pay on the empty flat.
Good luck with the sale.

Superheavy

tealady wrote: »

Hello. If you have books for sale check out Amazon and Green Metropolis.
Also you haven't mentioned Council tax, if you live on your own you need only pay 75% and I would check to see if you have to pay on the empty flat.
Good luck with the sale.

Thanks ever so much. I just had the council chappie around the empty flat today....and they were willing to backdate my council tax exemption back to when I moved out, in November, and I've got £160 winging its way to me via BACS from the council, and I have two months after April in its exemption too.

Anyhow, I accepted an offer on the damn thing on Friday, from a couple looking to buy the flat for their daughter who is going to Uni in the town, so hopefully they won't do what my previous buyer did and Welsh on the deal days before completion.

Looking at what I can do with the credit card debts now, as I hope I can do somethign about them once the flat sells.