I owe so much money... help with organising please!

SugarSpun

Hi everyone, I'm just hoping for some advice. I've just started a new job, but I've been a student and then a postgrad for ten years and I have a lot of debts.

My student loans are deferred till next April, so I'm going to ignore them until it's time to repay them and concentrate on my credit cards. I just don't know which to cover first - the one with the higher amount on it also has the higher APR, so I'm not sure whether to get rid of that one first or else to get rid of the "smaller" (ha!) one. My mother is mad for me to get a 0% card and transfer the balance but to be honest I doubt any company would go near me.

My SOA summary looks like this:

Summary of Monthly Income, expense and surplus

Total monthly income: £ 2500
Expenses (incl. secured debts): £ 1245
Available for debt repayments: £ 1255
Unsecured debt repayments: £ 184
Surplus: £ 1071

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Assets: £ 170
Secured Debt £
Unsecured Debt £ 11 918
Personal net worth £ - 11 748

So I can hopefully cover the whole thing in a year or so, but I just don't know where to start. I owe £5k on one card and £3k on another, I also have a £700 overdraft and owe a family member £3k.

Help please?

jenevieve

Hi sugarspun, welcome to the forum. Lots of other much more experienced people will be along to help soon.
Are you able to break down you outgoings a bit more so we can see if we can suggest any savings there?

In regards to which debt to pay first, it makes the most sense to pay off the one with the highest APR first but some people go for the smallest debt as this can be more motivating (as you see it paid off quicker).

Good luck and welcome!

ltm07

Hi.first of all you need to break down your SOA & list exactly what you pay to whom,so we can try & help you lower your outgoings. And as jenevieve says it is better to pay the highest interest debts off first. Check out www.whatsthecost.com & put all your debts,APR's & monthly payments into the snowball calculator,which will help you prioritise which debts to pay first. Good luck!

In_Search_Of_Me

welcome sugar spun! Would be great to know what your full soa is so that we can see where you can save. ie what do you spend on food/bills a month? Often an area that can be cut down...Thankfully you have lots of disposable income by the look of it & in view of this I would pay the majority off the highest interest but I would try & get a 0% card as you have lots spare to put into it & unless you have defaults cant see why you wouldnt get one...

elantan

you should try snowballing it i think the site is called http://www.whatsthecost.com/default.aspx?country=uk that shows you how to snowball your debts show you how to pay them off the quickest...good luck

SugarSpun

Thanks everyone.

My rent is inclusive of all bills except my phone, which costs me £50/month (high, but my job moved me to a different country from my partner and a different one again from my family). I spend about £100 on groceries per month, which includes the times I buy lunch at work.

My outgoings:
rent 1050 inclusive of all bills and property taxes
phone 50
food 100
clothing/nonessentials 25
transport 40

I've been a student so long that my lifestyle is already just about as pared down as it gets. My rent looks very high, but it's actually quite a bargain for where I'm living, I'm paying the non-inclusive rent amount but getting the bills included, and it's exactly average for this city.

The problem with a 0% card is that I don't live in the UK any more, and my German bank won't give credit cards to new immigrants till they've been here for six months.

So throwing money at the higher interest card will be less motivating but better for me, is what I think you're all saying. I agree, and will start doing that as soon as the end of the month and my paycheque come!

GeorgeUK

You may also be able to get 0% on your existing cards once you clear one. Some banks offer this as an incentive to stay rather than have you close down your account. You may want to consider this as well as which has the highest APR.

SugarSpun

GeorgeUK wrote: »

You may also be able to get 0% on your existing cards once you clear one. Some banks offer this as an incentive to stay rather than have you close down your account. You may want to consider this as well as which has the highest APR.

Really? That's AWESOME!