General / Off-Topic Financial Advice?

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

Hello!

Looking for a second opinion, as it were, when it comes to my finances. Or lack of. Lol

Long story short, my car is borked, again.
But I also have a large list of things I want and need, plus some debt on my credit card.

So, bigger loan + newer car + stuff. Or not?

Long story...
My car needs a load of work done for its MOT, which isn't until October, luckily, but also needs some non-MOT work, simply so it keeps moving. But the work is going to cost roughly the same as the car, which is £1000~.

I would like a new phone, to replace my aging 2013 Nexus 5. Because it's just becoming slow and useless. Lol
Looking at the OnePlus 5T or 6... (£550~)

We're also going on holiday to Seattle later in the year, most of its already paid for, and sat on my credit card (we really need a holiday... Lol. £1000~ sat on that...!)

And we also need a few things like a new bed and mattress. (Too accustomed to memory foam, so £500~)
And I need to pay for some exams to get better grades, so hopefully I can get a better job. £150 each)

So, should I take out, say a, £7000 loan (@3%~ interest), buy a half decent car instead of old bangers (I quite fancy a Prius... Lol), use the left over to pay off my credit card, buy a new phone, mattress, etc. Then just pay back the loan slowly...
What's more, is I'm more likely to get a good deal on a trade in with my old banger against a newer car.

Or....well, I dunno. I can't really afford to spend £1000~ on my car, and go on holiday, and do my exams, and buy a much needed mattress. Let alone anything I'd actually want on top of that. Lol
I mean, I could get a smaller loan, but then I'll be paying more interest...

And that's why I'm here... Lol

Option 3 is of course win the lottery, but they never pick my numbers, so I don't play...

CMDR Cosmic Spacehead

 

[Arry]

Sort out the difference between; want and need first.

Banks are being charged less than 1% for the money they borrow from the treasury. The whole loan business is a rip off. 3% in the U.K. is a good deal however.

Do you NEED the car? They cost £2000 per year, before you turn a wheel.

My family keep telling me that they NEED to eat; I try to explain, that we only have the cash to keep the Fridge Freezer going etc.. My bank has tried telling me to stop some of my direct debits and won't be told that the bills have to be paid, by law, being the council and water rates etc.. When I go on holiday; I save money, as living in a tent for a week, is cheaper than living at home.

This is all relative: Your income is greater than mine and therefore; so are your out goings. but as I said; look at the needs, as against wants.

 

[EUS]

You have CC debt, but thinking of spending money on a new gizmo?
Here's some advice; get rid of your high interest debt, before going into more debt, or spending on a feel good gizmo.

 

[starman]

Hello!

Looking for a second opinion, as it were, when it comes to my finances. Or lack of. Lol

Long story short, my car is borked, again.
But I also have a large list of things I want and need, plus some debt on my credit card.

So, bigger loan + newer car + stuff. Or not?

Long story...
My car needs a load of work done for its MOT, which isn't until October, luckily, but also needs some non-MOT work, simply so it keeps moving. But the work is going to cost roughly the same as the car, which is £1000~.

I would like a new phone, to replace my aging 2013 Nexus 5. Because it's just becoming slow and useless. Lol
Looking at the OnePlus 5T or 6... (£550~)

We're also going on holiday to Seattle later in the year, most of its already paid for, and sat on my credit card (we really need a holiday... Lol. £1000~ sat on that...!)

And we also need a few things like a new bed and mattress. (Too accustomed to memory foam, so £500~)
And I need to pay for some exams to get better grades, so hopefully I can get a better job. £150 each)

So, should I take out, say a, £7000 loan (@3%~ interest), buy a half decent car instead of old bangers (I quite fancy a Prius... Lol), use the left over to pay off my credit card, buy a new phone, mattress, etc. Then just pay back the loan slowly...
What's more, is I'm more likely to get a good deal on a trade in with my old banger against a newer car.

Or....well, I dunno. I can't really afford to spend £1000~ on my car, and go on holiday, and do my exams, and buy a much needed mattress. Let alone anything I'd actually want on top of that. Lol
I mean, I could get a smaller loan, but then I'll be paying more interest...

And that's why I'm here... Lol

Option 3 is of course win the lottery, but they never pick my numbers, so I don't play...

CMDR Cosmic Spacehead

Take responsibility for your own decisions. Don't outsource them.

 

[ethelred]

It's boring and you'll feel like a dork, but you need to budget.

Your disposable income each month is sadly something you need to be obsessive about.

That's not to say that you need to only eat beans and go on free holidays to the park, but it looks to me like you're on the edge of a debt spiral. A debt spiral starts when you start borrowing money for things - including borrowing money to pay off existing debt.

I speak from experience when I say that, yeah sure, you can buy a better car, and pay off that cc debt, and go on holiday. But what about when the more expensive car needs work for it's MOT. Or tyres? You sneak it onto the credit card, just this once, and before you know it you have a £7k loan you are behind on, as well as a maxxed out credit card, a broken car and you are on beans and bread each week.

What, honestly do you need a car for? You might need one, I don't know, but if you live in a city and live less than 10 miles from your place of work you could probably get by with a bike or public transport? Or using a car club for when you do need one.

If you haven't already, take a look at https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/ there are tips there to save cash on EVERYTHING.

It's well known I hate capitalism, but when we're living in a capitalist society, don't give "them" more reason to keep you living to work, rather than working to live - don't be paying more of your hard earned cash to a moneylender.

 

[MottiKhan]

Vegas, baby!

 

[Patrick_68000]

I think that with regard to your situation, you should to escape you in the deep space of the galaxy of ED and leave aside these purely material considerations

 

[ethelred]

Vegas, baby!

Vegas isn’t a bad shout for a short term high risk investment - much better than the lottery (dreadful odds) but worse than the horses or dogs.

Bear in mind though, as with all gambling, casino owners/bookies wouldn’t exist if the house didn’t win 99% of the time. (Over a long term)

 

[lysan]

Get out of the evil credit card circus, only buy what you really need. I know this sounds like one of these old folks speeches, but it’s true.

Budget, and stick to it, find a way to save money, like coupons to get cheaper food, or buy big amount to get a saving.
Put aside money of vacation, unforeseen expenses and so on, don’t touch it unless it’s for what you marked it for.

Getting a loan is just going to keep you locked and you will never get out of it.
Like ing in your pants to keep warm a winters day, first a nice fluffy feeling, next discomfort.

 

[Stigbob]

IIRC you are in the UK so you can get a free consultation from a financial advisor via your local Citizens Advice Bureau, either ring them and arrange an appointment or find out which day is financial advice day and just drop in. Given the state of the economy they may not be able to see you straight away.

 

[Insomnia]

As a person who always have had a decent economy I can say quit spending money on crap. You don't *need* a new phone, do you? Do you *need* a new bed? I mean, needing a new bed because your back aches is needing a new bed.
Vacation is great but a functioning car is more important.
My Peugeot 307 just came from repairs, costing 1k euros. Money I had already saved for this occasion because I always plan my economy.

I'd say your first priority is to fix your car.
Work overtime if it's possible to go on a vacation so you feel the overtime is worth it.
Then, new bed as you spend a lot of time in it. Lastly, new phone.

Plan, never take loans for these things, and don't expect these things to come to you overnight.

Also, always try to have like at least €2000 saved for car issues and stuff like that.

Good luck!

 

[verminstar]

Count yerself lucky ye can get a loan at all...Im blacklisted fer the rest of my natural life. Which actually doesnt bother me that much cos Ill never have the same issue yer having.

An example...few years back a company offered me a credit card with a 1k limit...right outta the blue. So I took it and spent it before they had time to cancel...when they started asking fer payments, I told them to go jump in a river and hung up. They should have done a background check but obviously didnt and they were dumb giving me anything at all...so I punished them fer being stupid.

I do have ways and means of making money...fear not I wont expand too much on what those ways and means are, but the point being that being in debt is the worst possible thing ye could do. It has the potential to ruin yer life...certainly ruined mine.

Ye see, a long time ago, I was very honest and paid all my taxes when I was self employed...never put a foot wrong. What I learned was that there are no rewards in life fer being honest, not when dishonest people were so much better off than I was with a few of them not needing to work at all. So now Im one of them...and so far, things arent perfect but life is a lot less stress free than when I was a model citizen. Theres simply no incentive to be honest...ye actually get punished in some cases.

The system is what it is...just have a care with loans op...they can spiral outta control very quickly indeed if even one little thing in life changes ^

 

[Dural]

Plan ahead. Create a budget for 12 and 36 months. List everything you spend, everything you expect to earn. Trim where possible. Getting a loan to pay off a loan is usually a bad idea unless you are lowering the interest rate, check the total amount payable at the end of the term.

The key thing to not spending too much (I think) is looking at quality of life now vs quality of life in a year or so. How loudly would your future self be tutting at your current self for making sub optimal financial decisions to get nicer things? What do you need vs what would you like? You can get a perfectly functional car which is cheap to insure and run without spending too much money. Long term running costs of a Prius are pretty decent providing the batteries don't need replacing but loan interest will eat into that and depreciation needs to be considered too.

The sooner you can get cash positive without making sacrifices which affect your quality of life too much, the better. Unless there is something you absolutely must do which you won't be able to do in a few years, try and wait. All probably easier said than done.

 

[Gortron]

Hello!

Looking for a second opinion, as it were, when it comes to my finances. Or lack of. Lol

Long story short, my car is borked, again.
But I also have a large list of things I want and need, plus some debt on my credit card.

So, bigger loan + newer car + stuff. Or not?

Long story...
My car needs a load of work done for its MOT, which isn't until October, luckily, but also needs some non-MOT work, simply so it keeps moving. But the work is going to cost roughly the same as the car, which is £1000~.

I would like a new phone, to replace my aging 2013 Nexus 5. Because it's just becoming slow and useless. Lol
Looking at the OnePlus 5T or 6... (£550~)

We're also going on holiday to Seattle later in the year, most of its already paid for, and sat on my credit card (we really need a holiday... Lol. £1000~ sat on that...!)

And we also need a few things like a new bed and mattress. (Too accustomed to memory foam, so £500~)
And I need to pay for some exams to get better grades, so hopefully I can get a better job. £150 each)

So, should I take out, say a, £7000 loan (@3%~ interest), buy a half decent car instead of old bangers (I quite fancy a Prius... Lol), use the left over to pay off my credit card, buy a new phone, mattress, etc. Then just pay back the loan slowly...
What's more, is I'm more likely to get a good deal on a trade in with my old banger against a newer car.

Or....well, I dunno. I can't really afford to spend £1000~ on my car, and go on holiday, and do my exams, and buy a much needed mattress. Let alone anything I'd actually want on top of that. Lol
I mean, I could get a smaller loan, but then I'll be paying more interest...

And that's why I'm here... Lol

Option 3 is of course win the lottery, but they never pick my numbers, so I don't play...

CMDR Cosmic Spacehead

This has been playing on my mind all day. I cancelled a response last night.

I got horribly into debt at one point in my life and I recovered from it. People warned me and I ignored them and it really did go horribly wrong.

If you can't afford it don't do it. If you are paying interest it means someone is making money from you.

If you have a crapy old car that is costing you a fortune to run then PCP might be an option...... https://offers.dacia.co.uk/cars/sandero

 

[Flimley]

If you have a crapy old car that is costing you a fortune to run then PCP might be an option......

Drugs is bad M’kay.
[video=youtube_share;Uh7l8dx-h8M]https://youtu.be/Uh7l8dx-h8M[/video]

Flimley

 

[Necronaught]

Sounds like you are living way above your means. I would bin any idea of a new phone or mattress and get that vehicle fixed. Another option sell the car and get a push bike and get after it on the road. You can cycle 10 miles in an hour if you are a beginner. If work/college is no more than 10 miles then you can get a decent workout in everyday. You will feel amazing after a couple of weeks. Shop at Lidl or Aldi, stay away from takeaways and tighten that belt. What's wrong with going to Weston Super Mare for a holiday?

 

[GJ51]

Neither a borrower nor a lender be

Get, and stay out of debt - it's the single biggest obstacle to obtaining wealth

Simple formula

Spend less than you earn

Fiscal discipline is one of the hardest things to master for most people

But it is the most REWARDING by far

Litterally

Retired at 55 - quite comfortably

 

[DoctorDanny]

Sounds like your expenses are higher than your income. If you stay in that situation for too long you'll end up in a world of hurt.
I recall from another thread that you also have relationship problems. Financial and relationship problems tend to help eachother increase.

The way I see it you have two options. Either increase income or decrease expenditure.
Like somebody else said: you dont *need* a new car or a thousand pound holiday, you *want* them.
My final piece of advice would be to get rid of the credit card ASAP, it's the most expensive way of borrowing money (mafia aside) and make it way to easy to get into even more debt.

 

[Patrick_68000]

I hate having debts

It is a deprivation of my freedom and the possibility for parasites (bankers and others) to make money with my misfortune

 

[Stigbob]

I hate having debts

It is a deprivation of my freedom and the possibility for parasites (bankers and others) to make money with my misfortune

Same here, I haven't had to borrow money in decades thankfully. Not everyone is that lucky though, and the UK's economy seems to be going exactly the way we were warned it would so it'll probably get worse.