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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

How skint are you ?

584 replies

Jbrown76 · 20/01/2024 16:34

Inspired by this thread on Reddit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskUK/s/iR5TPqfSR7

OP posts:
Missimnot · 25/01/2024 18:21

EvangelicalAboutButteredToast yes i get you and recall having no money. I remember breast feeding and asking my family for support ( well off) for food . I was given one pound. Felt insulted.

since then I have realised i am alone with money even though I come from a well off family. They are spending it all on private number plates , long haul month long holidays , but would not think to help our dc out in any way when it would not affect them in the slightest. Their choice . But i never want to be insulted like that again .

Due to this i constantly feel skint - in that i save and live frugally - i am choosing to be skint ( ie skint not poor) because i do not have to financial room to save money( its a new thing to have hard won savings and it is worth it never to feel i have to ask fromhelp again)AND eat other than the absolute basics etc .
so i live and feel skint now because I feel i cant be in that position again .
sometimes even if people have savings they have psychological reasons why they cannot allow themselves to feel safe money wise .
money can be odd .

Nanaof1 · 25/01/2024 23:46

Mybigtoenail90 · 25/01/2024 10:40

@midnights0 we have £22k of debt not including the mortgage. I don't advertise this to friends or family. They all know we have some debt but not to this extent or that I am having to work overtime every week night. They just think I start later in my job each day when in reality I am doing 8am-8pm. I am totally exhausted.

Edited to add we can pay the debts every month, but I cannot see that we will ever get to the end of the all the debts. We have 2 large ones that are due to end Dec 2024. We have been paying these for 5 & 3 years respectively at a combined amount of £500pcm. Once these are gone, then the £500 will go towards other debts each month so we can start paying off larger amounts. I am wishing my life away to settle/clear the debts.

Edited

Hang in there @Mybigtoenail90. Debt can feel so overwhelming, can't it? We had a lot of debt, poor choices and "set-backs". We went bare-bones and have started to see the end of the tunnel after 7 years. Or were, until the car bill that we just got for 5.5K. But, we did it once, we can do it again. But it does feel like it is never-ending.
I am so sorry that you are having to do so much now. Working 12-hour days would drain the best of us.
I wish you the very best and hope that you keep on moving forward. The light at the end of your tunnel will start with a flicker, then burn much brighter in time.

Mybigtoenail90 · 26/01/2024 10:30

@Nanaof1 is it very overwhelming. I sit doing sums every day trying to work out how we can pay some more off each month and looking at different repayment plans/budgets/options to see where we will be financially/debt wise in a year/2 years. The debt is all on the lowest interest possible and I move it around to get the lowest rates. The 2 loans will end Dec this year, we will then be left with the credit card debts of £13k, family debt of £4.5k & a store card £1k.

@Happilyobtuse it's a combination of some poor planning/budgeting and some very unexpected expenses.

@Rogley you've done so well to get the debt cleared. That is really good going.

I have looked at second jobs, plus my overtime. Potentially working overnight shifts on an ad-hoc basis as I couldn't do every night due to working FT in the day. DH wont get a second job. That is a long story. He works FT and while I am doing overtime he sorts the DC & house etc.

Hollyhead · 26/01/2024 11:30

@Mybigtoenail90 that sounds hard, but I think when you’ve finished paying off your loans this year and you have 500 a month to throw at the other debts you’ll find the snowball effect snowballs quickly. Especially as your store card debt is quite small - that will be gone in just 2 months of you new payments. 💐

Catpuss66 · 26/01/2024 13:49

Mybigtoenail90 · 26/01/2024 10:30

@Nanaof1 is it very overwhelming. I sit doing sums every day trying to work out how we can pay some more off each month and looking at different repayment plans/budgets/options to see where we will be financially/debt wise in a year/2 years. The debt is all on the lowest interest possible and I move it around to get the lowest rates. The 2 loans will end Dec this year, we will then be left with the credit card debts of £13k, family debt of £4.5k & a store card £1k.

@Happilyobtuse it's a combination of some poor planning/budgeting and some very unexpected expenses.

@Rogley you've done so well to get the debt cleared. That is really good going.

I have looked at second jobs, plus my overtime. Potentially working overnight shifts on an ad-hoc basis as I couldn't do every night due to working FT in the day. DH wont get a second job. That is a long story. He works FT and while I am doing overtime he sorts the DC & house etc.

Edited

Seems like you are trying to swim upstream, with one half of the team not playing ball. Why are you killing yourself taking on extra working to get rid of the debt but your other half refuses to get a second job? Who incurred this debt or should I not ask this question?

Mybigtoenail90 · 26/01/2024 14:43

@Catpuss66 TBH, I don't think my OH is as concerned about the debt as I am. I'm not worried about it in terms of not being able to pay each month, but I don't want the debt hanging around my/our neck (coz that's how it feels) for any longer than it needs to be. It's a burden. I want it gone forever. We could have so much more money to enjoy each month if we weren't paying (around) £800 a month towards debt. My goal is to pay off as quickly as we can. I do not want years and years of more debt. DH is (slightly) ignorant to it all, IMO.
It's all joint debt.

Catpuss66 · 26/01/2024 15:00

Mybigtoenail90 · 26/01/2024 14:43

@Catpuss66 TBH, I don't think my OH is as concerned about the debt as I am. I'm not worried about it in terms of not being able to pay each month, but I don't want the debt hanging around my/our neck (coz that's how it feels) for any longer than it needs to be. It's a burden. I want it gone forever. We could have so much more money to enjoy each month if we weren't paying (around) £800 a month towards debt. My goal is to pay off as quickly as we can. I do not want years and years of more debt. DH is (slightly) ignorant to it all, IMO.
It's all joint debt.

Not sure I would working extra & killing myself if it’s not a joint effort. He will get to the end & think oh that wasn’t too bad as it didn’t directly affect him. Not sure how you can make him sit up & take notice, meeting with the bank to discuss finances ? Financial advisor ? pensions advisor. His Dad? Wonder if he would actually take more notice of a man rather than you, just a thought.

WillYouPutYourCoatOn · 26/01/2024 18:22

How is he supposed to get a second job too? Surely only one of you can, so someone is in the house with the children of an evening?

Rainbow1901 · 04/02/2024 13:55

Boydd · 21/01/2024 21:27

@Rainbow1901 thank you so much, I will look into this tomorrow. I was on the verge of stopping treatment as I felt I couldn’t carry on so this advice means more than you know x

@Boydd Just checking in to see how things were going. I hope you have been successful in getting a little help at such a difficult time.

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