New DFW seeks advice

mr_benn_2

I guess the first thing is I am admitting to myself that I have a problem with debt, I worry about money a lot and I find that I cannot admit it to my friends or family. It has put me on anti-depressants and I feel it has come time to do something about it. The problem is, I don't really know where to begin...

My job is not great pay (£14,000) per year but I do like it and am surrounded by people I like in it, which is always a boost.

I am a bit of a shopoholic and mistakenly believed in "retail therapy" when the depression was at its height, so with 2 personal loans and 3 seperate credit cards my total debt is in excess of £19,000.

I had to move back into my father's house few years ago for financial reasons so I have no mortgage to pay, but my contributions to the household amount to £50 per week plus the money I use to buy most of my own food for lunches,breakfasts etc.
I drive a small 1996 Corsa so my outlays on insurance and tax are low and I try to do as little driving as possible (tbh if I lived closer to my job I would not even have a car but here in N.I. it rains way too much for cycling during the winter and public transport is hopeless)

I do not have an overdraft with my bank and so far have been able to keep my head above water, trying to leave a cushion in my account of around £300 in case of emergency as I have no savings to dip into

For me credit card shuffling is probably a no-go as I do not believe my credit score would allow me to take out any more cards then I already have. I am currently looking into Payplan and CCCS but am wondering if I would "qualify" for their services as I have not missed any (minimum) payments so far.

Any advice anyone here can offer would be greatly appreciated, thank you for reading


Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 950
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 50
Total monthly income.................... 1000

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Rent.................................... 120
Management charge (leasehold flat)...... 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 80
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 35
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 50
Internet Services....................... 10
Groceries etc. ......................... 120
Clothing................................ 10
Petrol/diesel........................... 40
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 15
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 5
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 20
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 545

Assets
Cash.................................... 800
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 1300

No Secured Debt

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Egg Card.......................1097.89...35........17
Egg Loan.......................9642.79...243.......6.73
Amazon Card....................3687.......75........14.94
Household (HFC)................4600......149.......22.9
First Trust Card...............800.......25........0
Total unsecured debts..........18729.79.......527.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,000
Expenses (including secured debts)....... 545
Available for debt repayments........... 455
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 527
Surplus(deficit if negative)............ -72

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 1,300
Total Secured debt...................... -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -NaN
Personal net worth...................... NaN

Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission.

======== Enter any other useful information below ========

poppyg_2

Hi and welcome to the DFW forum! I'm pretty new here too.

It would probably help if you posted a full soa, there'll be loads of advice people can offer you

Miss_Marple_2

Hello mr_benn :hello:

Welcome.

Just to say that I had never missed a minimum payment before I went to Payplan, so that won't stop you being accepted. They (CCCS & Payplan) won't normally take you if you can afford your monthly minimum payments, based on a budget they think is reasonable (so if you can't afford your minimum repayments because you spend £500 a month on eating out, then they won't take you). It doesn't sound like this applies to you - so I'm sure they will be able to help

Why don't you try the Remedy thing on the CCCS website - you tell it your debts & your outgoings & incomings & it gives you a recommended solution. There's no obligation. I'm with Payplan, not CCCS, but I did find the remedy tool very useful

Jvic28

Hi,

1st of all well done for "coming out". This website is so helpful if you have money worries (or even if you don't and just want to save).

It doesn't sound as though your money problems are too bad to be honest. You have no overdraft and say you have a buffer of £300 (trust me - I wish I was in that situation).

Maybe you could reduce your payments by combining the 2 personal loans. Maybe one company would be willing to reduce their rate (as you would be borrowing more from them), this could possible reduce your monthly loan repayments.

Your groceries could probably be saved on if your only buying from one. Sit down and plan what you need for the month and stick to it rigidly. There is a grocery challenge thread on here somewhere which may help.

As you haven't missed any monthly payments you may be suprised at your credit score. Maybe worth checking it online. If it's good (which it could very well be) then maybe transfer credit cards to interest free.

Best advise I can give you is to have a good look around this website. There are a million suggestions on how to save money on here and loads of people who want to help.

x

mr_benn_2

Mobile is a new contract in the past few months, so lowering the tariff is not possible until 6 months is up, but will def look into that when its available
I usually take in homemade sandwiches for lunch in work.
Unfortunately there is only 1 supplier for electricity here in NI so switching is not possible
I went onto Payplan's website with low expectations, but they rang me back almost immediatley and I have a phone appointment with them this evening at 8, will post after that.


I did my credit report online with Experian but don't really know if what i am looking at is good or bad

mr_benn_2

I got my call from Payplan this evening, lady was very friendly and pleasant, she took all my details and said a representative will call me in the next few days. She said I should open a new bank account elsewhere and get my wages paid into it. Can anyone recommend the best bank to open this in? I would prefer ideally one that has online account management so I can look at statements online etc.

poorandindenial

Hello Mr Benn

Well done for getting on to PayPlan. Here is a thread about basic bank accounts, there should be some pretty honest feedback about them on there and I would have thought that would include access to intenet banking too. I have seen lots of people saying good things about the co-op basic account but have had no first had experience so I wouldn't rely on my dodgy memory.

Good luck.

EDIT: these are actually for people with shot credit ratings and just realised yours probably isn't that bad

Have a search around this forum: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.html?f=20

Or this bit of the main website: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/compare-best-bank-accounts

poppyg_2

Mr Benn, I opened a new bank account with Lloyds, you can manage your account online with them and I opened the account via their website didn't even need to speak to anyone to set it up

I just need to sort out getting my wages paid into it and dds coming out of it now

mr_benn_2

Dont think they have any branches here in NI, Alliance & Leicester looks like their current account is pretty good, anyone able to recommend them?

mr_benn_2

Should I open the A&L account now and transfer all the direct debit stuff etc over to them right away, or wait until Payplan get back in touch and then do it?

KiKi

Hi there

Well done for taking action to deal with it. My comments in red - I hope they're useful for you. I reckon you could save £150 a month, here, to go towards your debts.

KiKi

mr_benn wrote: »

Monthly Expense Details
Electricity............................. 80
This is very high. Go to www.moneysupermarket.com and compare to see which provider would give you a better deal. Then go to uswitch and Quidco to see which site would give you the best cashback to change provider - that cashback can to go paying off your debts.

Mobile phone............................ 35
This is high. If you're not bound in by a contract, then call them and say you want to leave; they'll get you a better deal. Either that, or change provider. You can get this down to £20 a month, comfortably.

Satellite/Cable TV...................... 50
If you share this with your dad, then that's £100 a month and totally unecessary. If you pay it yourself, then I presume your dad previously had aerial TV only? Either way, you don't need it when you're in debt. Get freeview or terrestrial TV. It's £50 down the drain.

Groceries etc. ......................... 120
This is high. Buy supermarket cheaper brand foods where you can, meal plan and only buy what you need. Stop buying lunch and/or breakfast out. Or coffees etc. It all adds up HUGELY. I live alone and can buy a month's food shop for £50, and that includes litter and food for two cats. You can save £50 here, easily. Use Quidco for all shopping, and get cashback on what you buy.

Car Insurance........................... 15
Go to www.moneysupermarket.com and check for the best deals, make sure you're not paying over the odds.