# Age 30s, consolidate debts?



## longpockets (12 Aug 2008)

Age: 30
Spouse’s/Partner's age: n/a

Annual gross income from employment or profession: 40,000/2626 p/m
Annual gross income of spouse:n/a

Type of employment: e.g. Civil Servant, self-employed -- Full time permanent

In general are you spending more than you earn or are you saving? 

Yes generally struggle from month to month

Rough estimate of value of home -- n/a not a house owner

Amount outstanding on your mortgage: -- n/a

*What interest rate are you paying?  n/a*

Other borrowings – car loans/personal loans etc

Personal loan 10,000- 300p/m variable interest
personal loan 6,ooo-123.00p/m variable interest
Family loan to brother- 7,000 (really under pressure to pay back)
Overdraft of 2.500 which is met every month.Bad news.
Credit card --6,000


Do you pay off your full credit card balance each month? No

If not, what is the balance on your credit card? 6,000

Savings and investments:-- none, just generally spend everything

Do you have a pension scheme? No

Do you own any investment or other property? No

Ages of children: N/a

Life insurance: None


*What specific question do you have or what issues are of concern to you? *
*Just wondering if it would be better transferring all debts into one loan ? one payment ,one lump sum ,fixed interest ?*

*Also I have few referral charges on my own a/c's so current lenders that i have loans with will not entertain me for another few months at least until I manage my a/c properly. Should I go to a non-high street lender ? Any suggestions of what lender would accomadate me ?*

*Any ideas of how I get out of this mess.thanks in advance.*


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## legallady (13 Aug 2008)

*Re: Help and advice needed ..What should I do..?*

You are single, with no kids, you should be well able to live on 40k p/a. how did you rack up all that debt? What are you spending your money on every month?


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## Yellow Belly (13 Aug 2008)

*Re: Help and advice needed ..What should I do..?*

You are merely trying to borrow to replace borrowing? Is that really a good idea- I think not.

You earn roughly €600 per week in net income. What are you spending your money on? I would advise that you use a financial diary for 2-4 weeks, and keep a record of every penny you spend. Only then can you identify fully where your problems lie, and develop a solution to suit that problem.

If you have accumulated no property (that is probably an advantage at this stage due to negative equity!!), no savings & no other assets- what did you spend over  €30,000 to get to this stage? Even if you rescheduled your €30k debt over 5 years now you would expect to pay approx. €630 per month, so would you really be any better off than you are at the moment?

For your own sake, do the financial diary, and curb the spending i.e. bring a packed lunch to work, no lattes or costly coffees, cull eating out for a few weeks, cut back on the social life for a few weeks, and have an embargo on clothes spending for 2 months (i'm sure there are enough cloths in w/robe to tide you over), walk- no taxi or bus fares where possible. This might seem mad, but if you have lunch out everyday at work, pay €2.50 per day in travel fares, eat out once a week at nite, and have 7 drinks in a bar once a week- this costs approx. €600 per month.

Best of luck with it- have been there myself.


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## Gus2008 (13 Aug 2008)

*Re: Help and advice needed ..What should I do..?*

As per above posters, you should try identify where your money is being spent. Aside from approx €600 in loans ( €300 + €123 + approx. €150 minimum credit card payment), you've not given any other indication as to where your money is going!


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## longpockets (13 Aug 2008)

*Re: Help and advice needed ..What should I do..?*

Yes it is quite shocking alright.I will start a diary.

Apart from the loans etc I just seem to be spending the money on socilaising ,entertaining ,and general things for myself ,yes, the money does fly out my hands as well, running to bank every other day.My mobile bill can also be high, hundred or two.

 How did I rack up the debt..?

The debt i suppose has been accumaulated over a number of years, holidays,trips away,festive times,living the life over the good times etc so instead of paying off existing loans I would have just topped up the loan which the banks gladly did time and time again which in hindsight was a bad idea...thats why I'm in this position now..no one to blame but myself though.

My thoughts on compiling all debts into one loan was that with a fixed loan  I would'nt be hit with high interest charges every two months..which is nearly a loan payment..

What do you think of this approach..?  as I need to pay brother urgently as well or should I just tackle each debt seperately starting with the credit card..?

Thanks in advance.


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## Oxford (13 Aug 2008)

*Re: Help and advice needed ..What should I do..?*

try this one http://www.walletwatcher.com/


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## Susanna (14 Aug 2008)

*Re: Help and advice needed ..What should I do..?*

You are a permanent employee in the Civil Service,are you sure you have no pension entitlement?


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## BoscoTalking (14 Aug 2008)

*Re: Help and advice needed ..What should I do..?*



longpockets said:


> The debt i suppose has been accumaulated over a number of years, holidays,trips away,festive times,living the life over the good times etc so instead of paying off existing loans I would have just topped up the loan which the banks gladly did time and time again which in hindsight was a bad idea...*thats why I'm in this position now*..no one to blame but myself though.
> .


glad you have recognised it! 
You totally need to just stop spending for 1 month, sleep, work and eat and thats it - they you can appreciate how much money you spend on "nothing" and how much you can afford to pay back. you will have to get back to basics for 2 years by my sums to pay it all back so 
cancel the credit card and only take out 20's out of drink link. get rid of overdraft completely. Set up S/O into your brothers account and at least he can see you are trying to get it sorted it. keep the other loans serviced and maybe get a CU loan for the credit card debt - assuming the interest is good. 2 years of tough will set you up in the red and i a good standing with your brother and the banks again!


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## alaskaonline (14 Aug 2008)

*Re: Help and advice needed ..What should I do..?*

My motto is: if you have only 1 euro you can't spend 2, 3, 4 or more regardless how much you would like to socialise, travel, go shopping etc. If you live with this motto you shouldn't be able to accumulate such high depths!
There was a very similar post here last week called "financial anxiety" and myself and other posters who earn half of what you earn, have kids, pay into a pension scheme, life insurance etc. all stated that it's hard to understand where you're coming from.

With your job and income you couldn't be in any better position to keep your account stable and out of depth, so just like the previous posters I would suggest you take a step back, stop spending your money on traveling, socialising, going out etc. and get serious about this!
Supermarkets like Aldi and Lidl are pretty much everwhere now and you save a hugh amount (over time) of money if you shop there. Needless to say how much you save by staying home in the evenings and reading a good book....

Also, start thinking about your future. You stated you don't pay into a pension scheme, life insurance etc. Who do you think will support you later in life when you can't work anymore? You really need to sit down, make a list and put your priorities right.


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## truthseeker (14 Aug 2008)

*Re: Help and advice needed ..What should I do..?*

OP - Are you paying any rent or bills (besides phone)?

Really if you could give a breakdown of weekly or monthly spending here people could advise you on where to make the cut backs.
The fact you dont mention rent or household bills anywhere would indicate you still live at home - which is an even bigger reason to be able to save.

If I were in your position I would immediately cut up credit cards, and do as another poster suggested, work, eat, sleep for a month and absolutely nothing else (unless its free).


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## rmelly (14 Aug 2008)

*Re: Help and advice needed ..What should I do..?*



longpockets said:


> My mobile bill can also be high, hundred or two.


 
Is this all personal calls/texts?


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## Gus2008 (14 Aug 2008)

*Re: Help and advice needed ..What should I do..?*



Susanna said:


> You are a permanent employee in the Civil Service,are you sure you have no pension entitlement?


 
Don't think OP is in Civil Service... Just said full time and permanent. 

Regarding mobile phone, change to pay as you go and take advantage of the "free calls and texts to any network for life" offer being offered by at least 3 main mobile network providers. That'll only cost you €20 a month!!


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## Elphaba (14 Aug 2008)

*Re: Help and advice needed ..What should I do..?*

_Avail of 02 or vodafone free web texts, 250 per month._ Start chipping away at your credit card bill. I racked up a large debt, but I find I can
manage 35 euro per week, rather than larger amounts every month. Check out the snowballing thread of money makeover. Reducing your lowest debt by small amounts gives you a psychological boost, rather than worrying about where you're going to get larger amounts. Plan down to the last penny, this takes time and can be frustrating, but you'll start seeing results 6 months down the line. Stick with it and prioritize your debts, loan to brother no. 1 - If you can manage to squirrel away 50 a week, then give him 200 per month, much better than nothing, and he'll see you are trying.


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