AIBU to think we can clear £12k debt in four months?

[Climbingoutofthered]

mumsnetters please help!

DH and I have 12k worth of credit cards debt between us - this is a mixture of doing up our house and then shoving a holiday on cards because we needed a break after the renovations, by this point DS hadn’t been away for 3 years either. So it’s not overspending- I know where it came from.

I now want to clear this debt very fast!! Within 3 to 4 months, we have the income to clear it down at a rate of 3200 a month. With all other bills paid.

this would mean 4 extremely TIGHT months. No coffee out, no takeaways….. nothing.

i have budgeted 600 pounds a month for food and household consumables such as laundry liquids etc. DH doesn’t believe this is possible!! We are two adults and one very hungry boy.

who is BU! Me or him 👍

Being able to pay off over £3k a month after all bills and still having £150 a week for shopping isn't really very frugal. I don't see how the 4 months would be tight, let alone extremely tight?

Of course it is possible and to be honest after this you should probably work on a better budget. You're both clearly earning very well but splurging a lot of money unnecessarily.

Probably yes, but it’ll be miserable if you’re cutting back on everything. Maybe do it over 5 months to give yourself some breathing space.

I can see how it is tight if youre not used to it. Basically you need to stay in as much as possible, excepting walks in the local park with a flask/ picnic. Pandemic style.

If you do that and eat as cheaply as possible it's doable but I don't envy your summer.

You can totally do it. Get into Dave Ramsey and Go Gazelle Intense!!

Wow! Haven’t heard of this, will look into it thanks 🙏

It sounds like a challenge, Op, but why not try? Is DH on board? If you have done the sums and accounted for all regular bills, planned events, birthdays, annual costs like house insurance, and you think it's possible, go for it. Are the credit cards 0% interest? If not, you could always put your food expenses on a 0% card for three months, only make the minimum payment on that, then pay off the debt that has high interest even faster than planned, then pay off the 0% card at the end.

Personally I think I'd go slightly easier on myself and give it 6 months.

It IS overspending, by the way. You need to change your mindset on that to avoid it happening again.

Yes…not looking forward to our summer either - but happy to make the most out of it! I’m keeping in mind how lovely the Christmas will be debt free 👍

ive never heard of this what is it?

You possibly can but I suppose I’d ask why 4 months if extremely tight instead of 6 months of restricted but still somewhat enjoyable. Especially given the next 4 months is summer holidays, fetes, days out etc and having to miss all of them by choice rather than necessity seems a bit silly.

this would mean 4 extremely TIGHT months. No coffee out, no takeaways….. nothing.

Some people just call that a regular month OP! And £150 a week for food is very generous imo
So yes, very doable albeit a bit of a change from what you appear used to

Why make it so quick and so tight?

Yes done all the sums and doubled checked - we have everything accounted for!

thanks for the 0% card tip for the food!

agree the holiday could been seen as overspending but the other 9k on the cards was absolutely needed at the time - sounds crazy but it was cheaper to finish parts of our house using credit cards than it was to continue renting whilst renovating.

Does this feel weirdly like a stealth ad to anyone else? 🤔

Anyway....
Unless there's a goal at the end of the 4 months, I'd stretch it over 6 and enjoy the occasional takeaway or trip to the cinema. You'll still be debt free for Christmas.

Are you paying interest on the CC? How much per month and is it cheaper to consolidate onto a 0% in the meantime?

Well, if your idea of “extremely tight” is no take-out coffee or takeaway, that’s just very odd. Most people would consider those as unnecessary luxuries as a matter of course, surely.

Can you do a 0pc transfer to another card?

Personally I would allow a few more months at least to pay off.

surely a tight month is just where you pay bills and buy food? What would you describe as a tight month?

quite possibly- another one of DHs points

I just want it GONE!!

That's what most people do each month though. The daily coffees and weekly takeaways are luxuries not part of most peoples budgets. Although most don't have approximately 4 grand a month left over after bills for food and extra spends.

Well yes course you can do it if have 600 for food so £150 a week and all bills paid

but does that mean literally no £2 for ice at the park or say a birthday party happened for your toddler

as in zero money for extras

if so I would pay it over 6mths so have a little spending money and it paid by sept so have some money for summer

I suppose there’s lots of people out there who consider a tight month barely paying that or having to choose between some bills etc .

if you think it’s doable then do it. Then start a savings pot @Climbingoutofthered with that much excess you should be saving 2k a month minimum!

My advice is aim to try and clear it in 3-4 months. If you don’t hit this target and you do it in 5 or 6 months then no big deal.

But if you aim for say 8 months then it’ll be a year or more.

Make sure to have an occasional treat to celebrate progress as if it gets too miserable then you may cave completely.

Best of luck!

Honestly I'd do 2 months, then have a maintenance/only repaying half month for the summer holidays, then another 2 months. You'll still be debt free by Christmas but that way your summer will be a bit more enjoyable. DH and I have gone hardcore on debt repayments before, it worked, we're now 100% debt free including mortgage. But when we've been nose to the grindstone for a period of time we give ourselves a break for the summer holidays and Christmas.

I agree with this.

£150 a week is hardly 'tight' to feed 3 people.

Being in a position to have £3200 a month "spare" after all bills, fuel, food and other groceries means you clearly have a very healthy income or free housing which suggests you really need to look at where that money is going usually, and why you've not saved up for the things that got you into debt.

All that said, I agree with other posters, that, if I were ever in a position to have that sort of income, and was therefore used to frivolous spending, I would probably spread out the cut backs over 6 or 8 months, and lessen the impact of the 'cutbacks'. It seems odd to have that much money and choose to not do any of your normal spending unless there is a particular reason for needing the debt cleared by a certain date.

You have a child and want to have 4 extremely frugal months over the summer holiday?

I think it's possible. It's not a choice I'd make unless there were dire consequences for not doing it.

I'd spread it out over 6 months, maybe reset spending more generally to that sort of level and save up after so as to have a buffer for the future (and a more regular holiday fund).

I’m in a similar situation but with even bigger numbers. I’m just doing the best I can and not get too stuck with rigid targets.