Philanthropy got me in debt

Sophos

Thanks for the above comments.
Just to respond to them and give you more information on my situation.
Duchy queried my £40 medical/prescription expenses. My private medical insurance with BUPA costs me about £25/month (with £500 excess on any claim). The balance of about £15 is just to cover dental work etc although this is probably way overestimated. The other £8 insurance is for a life assurance policy that would pay about £27,000 should I unexpectedly depart this mortal vessel which isn't something I intend on any time soon! ;-)

Poo queried my grocery expenditure. I had a look at my grocery bills again and suspect that maybe £100 is more accurate. I buy mostly organic produce at the supermarket which partially accounts for my higher expenditure on this and the rest may be explained by me often buying sandwiches from a local shop when at work rather than making them at home. I could certainly save a few pounds if I made them at home. I don’t put £100/mth aside for holidays. I reckoned I might spend up to £1,200 for holidays in a year but some years I would spend much less than that. That figure was based on a trip to the Caribbean about a year ago.
Taking on a lodger would be a possibility that I'd have to clear it with the house owner first and I don't think they'd be all that keen on me subletting it without them getting a cut of the action. Moreover, given the busy lifestyle I lead, I love the peace and quiet of living on my own . . . although should a gorgeous lady come along and seem a fitting companion I might consider sharing it! J

Re Tyllwyd’s comments: I have no pension! (arguably shows a serious lack of foresight – I know, I know). I was chatting to my bank (Lloyds TSB) on the phone the other day re my current account and they said I was eligible for a loan and the insinuation was that it would definitely be approved, although they couldn’t say for how much. I have in mind getting a load for say £25,000 over 4 years and pay back about £600/month much like the Alliance and Leicester loan that I'm currently repaying. I’m sure there will be other loan providers more competitive that LTSB but I’m wondering if I apply elsewhere and get refused might that negatively impact on my chances of then getting a loan from Lloyds as they see, upon doing a credit check, that I have made applications for credit elsewhere?

Re George’s comments: I’m 36 years old. I’m eminently employable because of my profession, qualifications and experience and short of ill health (only missed ½ day of work through illness in the past 10 years!) I can’t see myself being out of work any time soon. I may well grab a hold of a copy of my credit file from Experian – thanks for that tip. All payments to my debts are by Direct Debit and with my current payment timing in relationship to my salary coming in and the size of my overdraft facility it is unlikely that I am going to miss any of those any time soon.

Thanks to all of you once again for your really helpful comments. It’s great having this sort of support from others. :-)

tyllwyd

Sophos wrote: »

Re Tyllwyd’s comments: I have no pension! (arguably shows a serious lack of foresight – I know, I know). I was chatting to my bank (Lloyds TSB) on the phone the other day re my current account and they said I was eligible for a loan and the insinuation was that it would definitely be approved, although they couldn’t say for how much. I have in mind getting a load for say £25,000 over 4 years and pay back about £600/month much like the Alliance and Leicester loan that I'm currently repaying. I’m sure there will be other loan providers more competitive that LTSB but I’m wondering if I apply elsewhere and get refused might that negatively impact on my chances of then getting a loan from Lloyds as they see, upon doing a credit check, that I have made applications for credit elsewhere?

About getting a loan - the biggest question is what the APR they would offer you would be. (I've had lots of letters from LloydsTSB offering me loans at a 'typical' rate of 6%, but when they did the illustration of what they would actually offer, it was more like 15%, so I take their adverts with a pinch of salt) But if you could get a loan at more like 8% and use it to pay off some of your card debts at 14%, that doesn't seem like a stupid option. Of course, with a credit card you are more flexible to pay it off quickly, so if you've got extra money it can be best to stick with the cards. But in your situation, if it was me I'd be tempted to get the lower interest loan over as long as possible to get the payments down, then put all the rest of the money you can spare into paying off the other debts asap.

There is a debt consolidation calculator here http://www.thesalarycalculator.co.uk/debt.php
that might help you compare options.

I can't believe you don't have a pension at all yet - at your age and your salary, you should have 15 years worth of contributions by now, so you have really made your life difficult. Does your employer have a scheme? You will get better advice on the pensions board, but if you are a higher-rate tax payer now and likely to be a basic rate tax payer when you retire, and you can get some contributions from your employer, then you really should look into starting contributions to your pension asap or you are throwing away money that could have been invested in your future. Like I say, if you get the information together there are some very smart people who post on the pensions board who can tell you (very bluntly, some of them!) what they think.

PasturesNew

Sophos wrote: »

I love the peace and quiet of living on my own . . . although should a gorgeous lady come along and seem a fitting companion I might consider sharing it! J

Well I would .. but you've spent your money. None left for ME to spend!

Good luck with clearing the debts. The hardest bit is doing what you've just done: realising and doing something proactive towards it.