Small debt problem

I can't touch the 750e in the work scheme.

I didn't want to break in on my savings, but I guess it's the easiest way to clear this quickly.

At this stage I hadn't planned on using the credit union cheque.

I have a monthly budget spreadsheet I did up a few months ago, if I could just stick to it i'd be fine.

Here's what I have forecast for November:

Wages November 2046


Rent 380
Tax 100
Insurance 42
VHI 10
Lotto 20
Food 160
Petrol 120
Phone 20
Gym 42.5
Loan 539
Christmas 400
College 150
Littlewoods 30

Totals 2033.5 Disposable 32.5
 
Danielle24 said:
I have a monthly budget spreadsheet I did up a few months ago, if I could just stick to it i'd be fine.
Click to expand...

Ok so you've got two problems, you cannot stick to a budget and you are spending 25% of your salary on a loan.

What is the loan amount, interest rate and term. Please tell me you didn't borrow that for a holiday, I have some memory of you and a holiday to Oz.

How about changing the budget. If you pay off Littlewoods you get an extra 30 Euro, ditto the Lotto of 20 Euro, ditto the gym (for now - unless there is a health reason/benefit). I presume you are getting the cheapest petrol and that high figure of 120 is a necessary commuting cost?

Food

Are you really really managing to live on 37 Euro a week or 5.27 a day?

Xmas

Don't you have enough in the Credit union for Xmas?

Car tax and insurance

Do monthly costs for these not work out more expensive? If you saved the annual amount it costs you a lot less - going back to my point on a savings fund for annual expenses.

80 Euro loan to friend

You shouldn't have loaned your friend the 80 Euro, stick to the 'neither a borrower nor lender be'. And honest to goodness you actually borrowed the money to loan - that's just plain madness. Sorry has to be said.

Pay off debts

If your serious about this, this time, today you pay off Littlewoods 319 and the AIB account of 339 = 658. And you close both accounts never to be reopened. Credit union of 1300 minus 658 = 642. You'll have to withdraw from the Credit union to live on for 2 weeks. After this you start saving again.

Fair play to you for going back to education and holding down a job, no mean feat. But all this money juggling must be stressful. There is nothing in your budget for fun, a young person must go out on occasion. Or even have a coffee with your friends and college buddies? You're going to have to tacke the budgeting problem. What makes you go off budget do you think? Have you tried to keep a spending diary?
 

I'm gonna work backwards. That last bit about having fun and being a young person, well that's my problem i'd say i'm not going to lie. Some times I just say feck it i'm going out, even though I know deep down I can't afford it. Then the guilt sets in.

I am going to pay off the littlewoods and try clear the loan from my wages, take a bit from the credit union to pay off the rest etc.

The €80, I know it was madness, it was a once off to a family member for something.

The gym is really health related, so i'd like to keep this. I've been shopping around for cheaper car insurance as I just got my full license.

I do have enough in the credit union for Christmas, I guess that would be the easiest way to do it.

I know it looks bleak paying 25% off the loan etc, but it has only gone that bad the last couple of months digging in to it more and more and having to pay it back. I know I have to put a stop to it.

Thanks Bronte as always for the great advice.
 
I'm not sure where "Get this creditor off my back" applies. I'm not in trouble with any creditors, none of them are on my back?
 

But there's no reason for guilt and no reason why you cannot go out. If you budget.

If you want further help come back when you've paid off some of the debt and when you've drawn up a proper budget, with a bit of fun time built in.
 
Lots of good advice here. Do get rid of those loans and be strict with your budgeting... Do you need to spend 400 euro this month for Christmas?
 
It seems you want to reduce the AIB one due to the ability to draw down more on it which presumably creates a temptation issue to use it. I agree with the other posters on the need to pay off the high interest Littlewoods balance so can you convert the AIB one to a term loan with a definite repayment schedule and no ability to draw down? If not perhaps remove it from your online banking profile to at least make it harder to make impulse drawdowns on it.
 

I don't know if it is possible to do this
 
Two minor points briefly.
1) The fact that you haven't cashed the CU cheque does not mean that the loan is not taken out. Either use it or bring it back and say you don't want the loan as they may be adding interest on this at the moment.
2) 42 p.m for a gym is quite expensive. Could you rein this in to 30 ? If you're in Ranelagh see here
 


The total cost of the loan is 20e. My credit union isn't near me so I haven't had a chance to bring the cheque back in. Changing the gym isn't really an option at the moment, i'm trying to squeeze it in between work, college, meeting for projects, study, having a life, the gym i'm in is 5 minutes from me. Ranelagh is completely out of the way.
 
Bottom line message Danielle, is that you need to curail your borrowing and also control your spending. I acknowledge that at times it can be difficult to postpone a spend when you have a credit card or other means of getting the money. However, all you are doing is extending a problem rather than resolving it. Self responsibility and control is what my granny though me to excercise. I haven't always followed her example, but I do know the consequences of spending today is having to pay tomorrow.
 
Excuses excuses excuses, is Littlewoods paid off ? Is a proper budget completed. I feel like a mother hen here Danielle. Is this the future for me with my own kids I wonder.

You make the credit union loan sound like it's nothing with the 20 Euro. You also have to pay back the capital.

Hope you're not tempted to pay nothing back and use the credit union for Xmas etc thus perpetuating the cycle.
 

Bronte, i'm not making excuses. I have paid of Littlewoods. I'm working all week and have been in college 3 nights, so haven't had a chance to do anything, i'll be doing my budget going to the credit union at the weekend when I have time. I have already said i'm not using the credit union loan, so not sure what you mean about capital???

I find that last comment extremely insulting, the future of your own kids? What does that mean exactly. Mother hen? Because you've given a bit of finanical advice on a website?
 
It wasn't at all meant to be insulting, I know you're quite young and I know you were on AAM before trying to sort out your debts, and you've come a long way and I was just wondering if in my future I'll 'still' be at my kids to do this and do that, after spending the morning persuading them that porridge (back to porridge from Weetabix in November) is the best thing ever, that one cannot have toast as they came down too late and proving that they lied about brushing their teeth (no water in sink or toothpaste residue), it was in the context of having to go back over the same ground with younger people. That's all. Maybe I'm just a bit tired and probably need a rest from AAM.

Good on you for paying off Littlewoods.
 
Well if its tea and sympathy you are after then you are on the wrong website.
 
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