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Taking A Break From Collecting
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Taking A Break From Collecting
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Barrett
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Joined: 17 Nov 2008
Posts: 1122
Location: Liverpool, UK

PostPosted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 11:35 am 
Post subject: Taking A Break From Collecting
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After recently buying a new car and getting insurance on it for the first time (new drivers premium!) and also being quite silly with my spending the last 6 months or so I now find myself in about £2500 worth of debt in overdrafts and loans.

Now something has to give and the most obvious thing is not buying anymore programmes etc..

It's going to be hard to resist the temptation of not looking on eBay as I have been doing my daily check non stop for around 18 months now!

I'll still be on here most days helping with the site and queries people may have.

Maybe the break will even give me the oppourtunity to catalogue my programme's correctly now!

Has anyone else taken a break from collecting recently?

Also, does anyone have any help in getting rid of this bloody debt? Okay, yeah I know the most obvious thing is to stop spending but how can I manage my debt? What's the best thing to get rid of first? Overdraft or loan?

Any help is greatly appreciated lads.

Thanks
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surfinjim



Joined: 21 Nov 2008
Posts: 990
Location: South of South Shields, North of Northampton.

PostPosted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 12:51 pm 
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Check the interest rates applicable to both.

I would imagine the overdraft is carrying the highest level.

You just have a set mind to this, be determined.

Believe it or not, using cash is a good way to do this. Withdraw say £200 for spending money for the month. The rest you use to repay your debt. Youll soon learn to live within the means of your £200 or however much you set yourself.

If you have the £200 as pyhsical cash, you can actually see it going out of your pocket rather than using a debit card.

Cut up any credit cards!

Find some part time work, sell everything you don't need.

Had this when I got together with the Mrs before we where married. She was up to 4 times what you had. Cleared it all in 18 months!

It can be done, so NEVER give up hope!

ATB

Jim Thumbs Up

PS Make sure you pay for that job lot of Everton on Ebay first!!!!!
_________________
26th December 1979

Bolder, Blackhall, Williamson, Smith, Pickering, Hornsby, King, Johnson, McCulloch, Mellor, Curran.

Scorers; Mellor, King, Curran, Smith (pen)

GODS EVERY ONE OF THEM!
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Senior82



Joined: 25 Nov 2008
Posts: 982
Location: Near Sheffield

PostPosted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 12:56 pm 
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If you have a lot of debt on a credit card, it might be worth doing a balance transfer to a card offering 0% interest. You'll be able to pay more money off as you won't be getting hammered on interest charges every month.
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Barrett
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Joined: 17 Nov 2008
Posts: 1122
Location: Liverpool, UK

PostPosted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 3:39 pm 
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No credit cards, just £1500 on an overdraft and £1100 on a loan with the same bank. Lloyds TSB.
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ashburton-grove



Joined: 02 May 2009
Posts: 330
Location: Milton Keynes

PostPosted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 4:02 pm 
Post subject: debts
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Find yourself a local car boot sale. Get down there, use the knowledge you have about programmes and sporting memorabilia(you'll be surprised what you know!)and sell on ebay. It's a great way to make cash even with small sales like I do, but then the cash builds up in paypal and then transfer it to your bank when you reach a set target, e.g.£100.
The trick is to buy low, 50p MAX, and then sell for 99p on ebay this covers all fees and leaves you with a small profit. If there's no overtime at work then this is the next best thing to do.
Good luck. AG.
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CarlisleUtdMem



Joined: 20 Apr 2009
Posts: 359

PostPosted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 5:26 pm 
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I have everything coming into one account (wages, child tax credit etc) then all my direct debits go out of it on the first of every month.

These go out to the following:
1. ISA (for long term savings)
2. Instant access savings account (for the more expensive but essential items)
3. Cash account (for every day items)

ISA
This is simply a savings account for our future (new home, car etc)

Instant access savings account
This money pays for car insurance, car tax, mortage overpayments, home insurance etc. I tend to pay these outright at the start of the policy so it saves a little bit of money.

Cash current account
I then pay for petrol, food, programmes, cinema etc out of a standard current account. If the money is low in this then I know I've to spend less until next pay day.

Advantages
- Doing it this way means I know all my essentials are covered (home, car etc)
- Easy to manage your money
- I have savings

Disadvantages
Very few disadvantages although I keep getting asked by the bank why I have two current accounts!

I've found this to be an excellent way of managing money and I've gone from a similar debt before I was married to being in credit without feeling like I don't have no money to do anything!

Apologies if has been mentioned above - I've not had time to read all the other posts.
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craig
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Joined: 22 Nov 2014
Posts: 1349

PostPosted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 5:30 pm 
Post subject: Re: Taking A Break From Collecting
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Barrett wrote:
Any help is greatly appreciated lads.


Listen to me when i tell you to back USA and not Spain Laughing

In all honeslty, im worse off than you but the ideas above would all work its just im too lazy to really do anything about them so instead just pay a fortune each month in OD Intrest. Carlises ideas seem well planned out though.
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MisterGas



Joined: 21 Nov 2008
Posts: 869

PostPosted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 5:38 pm 
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After getting into money troubles many years ago, i do not use credit, i use Gold.
I porn it, when needed and get it back 4 weeks later, for a small interest rate.
Just now scrap gold could fetch you between £5-£6 a gram.
If you have some, may pay to cash it in.
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paulo



Joined: 20 Nov 2008
Posts: 1098
Location: Norwich, NR7

PostPosted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 6:23 pm 
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I do the same as Carlsile.

Money for Mortgage, Council Tax, Water, Gas, Electric transfers to a joint account with my other half, the day I get paid.

I then work out what I can afford to live on and put some savings to ISA that I can not withdraw from without notice.

Once I have spent what is left that is it for the month. If I have not got the money I dont buy suff.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Getting out of debt is harder, but if you can, pay of the loan as quick as you can. Do not put anything else on your card or take further loans.

As has also been said. Have a good clear out and get rid of any cds, dvds, football shirts etc that you no longer want via ebay or boot sales. Maybe decide to trim down what things you collect. I used to collect everything, but decided it would be better to have one great collection rather than 20+ average collections.

When I was saving for my house deposit I made nearly £3000 profit on ebay, just by seling bits that I had. I have never missed them, so it was good for me, however it would have been better if I had not bought the items in the first place!

Finally take extra work and use it to pay the debits!

Good luck and be strict with yourself, the sooner the debt has gone, the sooner the programme buying can begin again (set a monthly budget though), and just buy what you can afford.
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James



Joined: 22 Nov 2008
Posts: 484

PostPosted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 7:57 pm 
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Barrett wrote:
No credit cards, just £1500 on an overdraft and £1100 on a loan with the same bank. Lloyds TSB.


Lloyds TSB, be careful with them and make sure your checking your account and know how much they are going to charge you, interest etc.

Have had some fun with them recently when they messed up my debit card back in early march, phoned them up asking for the problem to be resolved (phoned each working day for 2 weeks), got fed up waiting and needed some cash, (sandwiches etc at lunch) used my credit card to take out cash, when i got my credit card bill for each transaction where i had withdrawn money from the cashpoint (from a lloyds cashpoint), they charged me £25/£30, over the time it totalled over £125 which they charged me , as you can imagine i was furious, as well as phoning them trying to get my debit card sorted out i was trying to find out why they were charging me that amount for using my credit card for each transaction, as it was there fault that i could not use me debit card, it took until mid June and me going to the local branch at opening time and refusing to leave until the manager at the branch resolved it for me, was also demanding compensation from them as well as a full refund for the amount they had charged (if it had been less than £10 i wouldn't have kicked up such a fuss), eventually had all the charges refunded and i managed to leave the bank after 6 hours (Didn;t get any compensation as there was apparently some damage to a chair).

My arguement was that i had the finances in my account to cover every transaction i was making and at no stage would I have gone overdrawn but the charges were because they were incompetant and failed to resolve a problem with a debit card for over 3 months, why should I be penalised for their incompetance, when i have the funds in my account and had no other means of accessing them.
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rokerprogz



Joined: 21 Nov 2008
Posts: 162
Location: Sunderland

PostPosted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 11:46 pm 
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MisterGas wrote:
After getting into money troubles many years ago, i do not use credit, i use Gold.
I porn it, when needed and get it back 4 weeks later, for a small interest rate.
Just now scrap gold could fetch you between £5-£6 a gram.
If you have some, may pay to cash it in.


There is a bit in a paper I read today (either local paper or national red top) about people buying, selling and trading gold. Big business again apparently!.

p.s - I hope you mean you pawn it, the thought of porning gold bullion is enough to bring tears to your eyes! Wink
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Barrett
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Joined: 17 Nov 2008
Posts: 1122
Location: Liverpool, UK

PostPosted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 12:30 pm 
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Thanks to all that have replied so far and I've taken alot of advice on board. Here's how I stand at the moment.

Current debt:

£1500 Overdraft - Interest is 1.48% Per Month and 19.3% EAR
£1000 Loan for Car - Interest is 24.9%

Both with Lloyds TSB.

Total: £2500

Current Direct Debit's Each Month:

Mobile Phone Contract - Between £40 - 50
Local Gym - £42
Rent Money to Parents - £200
Train Pass - £55
Car Loan - £95
Football Team Subs - £15
Car Insurance: - £170

Total: £617 - £627


I have those direct debit's already set up so they automatically come out each month.

I have a Post Office Instant Saver Account that I'm going to get a Direct Debit set up to from my bank account to pay in maybe £50 a month.

Just 3 questions I have at the moment:

1) What does EAR stand for on my overdraft?
2) Should I go by the monthly rate of 1.48% or the EAR of 19.3%?
3) From the above info would it be best paying off the overdraft or loan first? The loan is a set amount each month by direct debit over a 12 month period (2 months already paid) and the overdraft is just ongoing.
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craig
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Joined: 22 Nov 2014
Posts: 1349

PostPosted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 12:39 pm 
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EAR is equivalent annual rate so it doesnt matter if you use the EAR or Monthly interest as they add up to the same thing.

Do you pay for a bank account so that you can have an overdraft facility? IE £25 a month for Lloyds Gold Service account which overdraft where you could get a basic account with no overdraft for free. Also do you go over your overdraft and incur further charges monthly?

If you do its best to pay off your overdraft first and then concentrate on the loan. If you dont then its best to sort out your loan first as your paying more interest. But check that there are no "early pay back charges", if not pay as much a month as you can afford to.

The worst thing i find about Lloyds is they let me increase my Overdraft freely online but you have to go through the hassle of phoning up to reduce it. If i was able to do it freely online when i had a few hundred quid in there i could clear it without a problem. But because i always have the facillity available i just make use of it and will not be clearing my OD any time soon!
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Barrett
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Joined: 17 Nov 2008
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Location: Liverpool, UK

PostPosted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 12:44 pm 
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Thanks for the quick reply there Craig!

I'm on a standard Current Account with Lloyds TSB.

Unfortunately I use nearly all of the £1500 overdraft each month, but never go over.

I also get an Account Charge of £9 each month but I'm not sure what thats for. I think it just gives you the option of different insurances? But I'm scared to cancel that option incase they charge me more for my overdraft.
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surfinjim



Joined: 21 Nov 2008
Posts: 990
Location: South of South Shields, North of Northampton.

PostPosted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 1:16 pm 
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Quick point for you.

When does the phone contract run out?
Get onto PAYG as soon as you can and don't make any calls!

What's the train pass for when you have a car?

Get the gym membership cancelled! Start jogging on the street for free/ find a football/rugby club who do midweek training. Buy a cheap bike and cycle instead.


Lots of free stuff you can be doing matey!

Have you approached your parents about reducing your board money, even for 3/4 months just to help you out! You don't get owt unless you ask!

Jim Thumbs Up
_________________
26th December 1979

Bolder, Blackhall, Williamson, Smith, Pickering, Hornsby, King, Johnson, McCulloch, Mellor, Curran.

Scorers; Mellor, King, Curran, Smith (pen)

GODS EVERY ONE OF THEM!
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Barrett
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Joined: 17 Nov 2008
Posts: 1122
Location: Liverpool, UK

PostPosted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 2:03 pm 
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Thanks for the advice Jim.

Just a few points about the suggestions you made:

I'm on an 18 month phone contract that doesnt run out until christmas. Can't cancel in the meantime without charges.

I have a train pass as if I tried to drive into Liverpool City Centre during rush hour it would take me 45 mins to an hour. Plus if I used my car for commuting it would make my insurance even higher.

The gym is a 12 month contract that cannot be cancelled for any reason according to the contract. I already play train with my football team 3 times a week and play twice on the weekend.

I can't ask my parents for a break in rent payments at the moment due to personal circumstances. Have a young baby in the house, mum is off work with very limited pay due to having Chemotherapy for Breast cancer and step-dad is a taxi driver so can't guarentee a certain amount coming into the house. Stressful times at the moment!

I appreciate your comments though in trying to help!
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surfinjim



Joined: 21 Nov 2008
Posts: 990
Location: South of South Shields, North of Northampton.

PostPosted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 2:25 pm 
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Barrett

No problem mate, just trying to think of everything possible for you. As already posted, been there myself with the Mrs, more money involved, but sounds like not as many "other"issues.

It does get better......honest!

This will sound corny, but if its ever getting too much, just log on here, someone will soon cheer you up! Thumbs Up

Jim


PS
Your Everton's are in the post in the next hour!
_________________
26th December 1979

Bolder, Blackhall, Williamson, Smith, Pickering, Hornsby, King, Johnson, McCulloch, Mellor, Curran.

Scorers; Mellor, King, Curran, Smith (pen)

GODS EVERY ONE OF THEM!
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Barrett
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Joined: 17 Nov 2008
Posts: 1122
Location: Liverpool, UK

PostPosted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 1:22 pm 
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Just realised I owe my mum £1500 aswell Sad

In normal circumstancea I'd ask her to let me off with it until I pay off my other debts but due to the circumstances with her getting treatment for cancer and not getting much from her work salary while she is off I'd feel really bad and wrong not to pay her off first.

Infact thats what i'm going to do, but it just means my total debt has now gone up...

Mum - £1500
Loan - £1000
Overdraft - £1500

Total = £4000 Mad

I need to really get my head down to deal with all this now.

When I get paid on the 25th of each month i'm going to do what Jim said and take out £200 each month for 'spends' which will include dinners at work, going out and petrol money.

The rest can be used to pay off the debts so hopefully I can be clear of these by May next year. Well thats the target I'm going to set anyway.
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ToffeeDan



Joined: 21 Nov 2008
Posts: 2148
Location: Wirral

PostPosted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 2:18 pm 
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It's not easy but I guess you have to budget.

Income:

Current (after tax)
Potential -- odd car boot, work one night in pub etc.

Expenses:
Direct debits (now).. with potential to restructure - take out loan to cover debts at very good rates

Current arrangements: re-negotiate mobile phone contract - or put up with cheap pay as you go when contract ends...

Local Gym - sack it at end of current contract and find better deal - if ex-student of Liv Uni use theirs for example (free-ish?)

Balance:
What do I have on a daily basis after my fixed bills are sorted? This is your daily spend. Make some room for a night out with mates etc. Think about being a skinflint for a while - staying in, DVDs from Blockbusters, giving up (pub) booze or fags or whatever is your vice and costs a lot more than necessary... maybe take (some) food to work instead of the carry-outs, also coffee flask or whatever reduces the incidentals to a minimum - after a few months you'll have a bit of a balance to ease off the throttle. I assume you would want to spend on football etc.
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giorgio



Joined: 09 Jun 2009
Posts: 186
Location: London

PostPosted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 7:00 pm 
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I can't believe that no one has suggested consolidating the debt. Take out a bank loan and pay off all your debts. Interest should definitely come to less and be a lot more manageable.
Tips for the future:
never borrow money if you are going to pay interest.
If you do have to borrow, borrow from a bank who will charge less interest.
Never borrow money or get into debt on your credit card: the interest penalties are unreal.
I personally would never pawn anything as you will usually get a rubbish rate and have to pay interest penalties.
When you can, try opening up some sort of savings account or even a Premium Bonds account - put away a small amount each month and in 10-15 years it will be a tidy sum. It's a long wait but it is nice when it arrives.
If you have Microsoft Money, I would recommend using this to keep track of your finances. If you don't have it, don't buy it - but keep check of your finances manually and check off your bank statements each month.
And try not to worry too much. At least you have some assets if the worst comes to the worst - you could sell some programmes or the car even. Best of luck. Sorry for posting so late but only just came across this post.
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